Occupy Wall Street : "What's it all about?"

in a nutshell

I've posted this before. This is what the teaparty is angry about (but don't realize it),
too. It's what everyone should be angry about. 

It's About an Economy that has Screwed the Middle Class and Poor for 30 years. It's About a Political System that has been Corrupted by Big Money Controlling Policy

The Middle Class Fights Back: Wisconsin and more

(related content at: On Unions, "Class Warfare" and "It's the Economy, Stupid" posts)

Those greedy, lazy teachers succubi (from 2/28/2011)

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Teachers vs. Wall Street 3/2011

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Contact Scott Walker directly : govgeneral@wisconsin.gov or (608) 266-1212\

On the Protests/Argument

• Sarah Palin Bombs In Wisconsin As Only 6,500 Attend Tea Party Rally, Politicus (April 16, 2011):

• "Forget being a presidential candidate, Sarah Palin isn’t even a decent headliner" 
• More on Sarah Palin in this separate blog entry
• MoJo, 3/1/2011: How will it keep going?

Polls, polls, polls

• Baacklash: Cops, firefighters turn on GOP in labor fight - POLITICO.com  (3/2011)
• Wisconsin Poll: Republican Enthusiasm Gap Vanishes in Wisconsin. Silver lining. 3/2011
• Daily Kos: Majority of early emails sent to Scott Walker were oppositional  ((3/2011)  

In Bed with the Corporatocracy

• The Republican governor's budget plan would open the state up to a corporate asset-grab not seen since robber baron capitalism (3/2011, Guardian)  
• A peek into Governor Walker's so-called "budget repair bill" reveals a shop of horrors that is just the opposite of actually repairing the budget. Among the items listed in the bill until Wednesday night were selloffs of state power generation facilities – in no-bid contracts notoriously prone to insider dealing. The 37 facilities he wants to sell off that produce heating and cooling at low cost to the state's universities and prisons. Walker's budget repair bill would have unloaded them at a low price, presumably to campaign contributors such as Koch Industries – and then stick the bill for producing this power at higher rates to Wisconsin taxpayers in perpetuity. (And this is all being sold as a "taxpayer relief" plan!) Invariably, this will make its way into new legislation once attention is diverted from the current controversy.

This is a Political not a Fiscal Issue

• Walker Emails show steps considered to punish Democrats (3/2011) 

Allies/Supporters of WI Union

• Catholic Bishops Back Wis. Union Protesters - Beliefnet News (3/2011)
• The Back Forty » Hey, GOP: How’s That Union-busting Thing Working Out for You?  (5/12/2011)

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(3/3/2011, Crisis in Dairyland: For Richer and Poorer)

Government/Public Employee Compensation

• Wisconsin public unions: Don't join the government to get rich | The Economist (2/2011)

Dying Middle-Class = Dying American Greatness

Is THIS a message that should resonate with our frustrated and angry Tea Party brothers and sisters? 

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For decades, the American middle class has been working harder/harder to get less/less (stagnant wages). Big, moneyed interests have a LOT to gain by pitting working Americans against EACH OTHER, scrabbling over the same, shrinking piece of pie. The more we give in to that, the less we are likely to actually bring economic prosperity back to the American Middle Class, which is what made our country so great in the decades post WWII. Dying middle class = dying American greatness.

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SOME READING:

http://robertreich.org/post/3353591266

http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/16/news/economy/middle_class/index.htm

http://www.ips-dc.org/reports/executive_excess_2010

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2011/02/are_wisconsins_state_and_local.html