LET'S TALK ABOUT RIGHT NOW

There are serious issues going on right now, both locally and nationally. Many of my CAO brothers and sisters have become desensitized to annual budget stresses and have adapted themselves to accept it as part of the job. I have not, and I will not allow anyone else to succumb to this train of thought. Instead of sitting back and seeing what happens, this year we will be proactive and exercise our rights within the contract, along with state and federal government.


What is happening in our various local levels is happening on the state, national, and global levels. Workers, unionized and not, are aggressively being attacked around the globe. There has always been the battle between "the boss" and his workers since the beginning of Capitalism, but we have reached a stage within both our governmental and economic systems where something has to give.


By that, I mean Capitalism is not an economic model that can last forever. Due to the fundamental mission of corporations to do whatever they can to maximize profits, there inevitably will come a point where the profits are maxed out. Then, the very workers providing the service cannot afford to buy the services they provide.


The most important obstacle preventing this from happening right now is Unions. A lot of what's happening right now is the direct result of policies and ideologies implemented during the 1980's, under President Reagan. I won't bore you with the concept of projection, and how the Republicans use it brilliantly as a political tactic, but that's the reason for all of the "Reagan-mania" we hear so much in the media from members of Congress. One of Reagan's most notable moments is when he busted the air traffic controllers union. And more than the effect that had on the actual individual people, what it did was make it acceptable for future leaders to attack and attempt to bust unions. In addition to that, Reagan was also famous for discrediting the value of government, while decreasing the tax rate on the rich from somewhere in the 70% range to the 30% range. Since his presidency, the gap between the rich and poor has widened to the largest since the Great Depression.


One could say that it is only coincidence that the drastic decrease of unionized workers happened during the greatest increase of wealth in history, but I would say to them to pass that this way. LOL!


The government and its regulations is the only protection provided to those not exclusively chasing a profit, workers and consumers. Knowing that, the profit-chasers have systematically integrated themselves into government and lawmaking. This revolving door between private corporations and agency-level positions that directly regulate the same industries of the corporations has resulted in corporate welfare and total disregard to any environmental repurcussions or accountability.


For Pennsylvanians, we don't have to look far to see it in full operation. The ex-Vice President, Dick Cheney, was the CEO of Haliburton, and was head of the committee to research the environmental effects of gas-drilling. Their findings resulted in whats known as the "Haliburton loophole," which prevents drilling companies from having to disclose any data regarding environmental effects, or even the chemicals used in the procedure itself. After receiving numerous no-bid federal defense contracts, they moved their headquarters to Dubai in 2007, where they pay no US tax.


Now Governor Corbett does not want to tax them whatsoever. This corporation does not pay Federal tax, while extracting the natural resources of Pennsylvania and not even hiring Pennsylvanians to do the work. Meanwhile, the people who unknowingly leased their land to a foreign corporation are now encountering the environmental effects, which although were known weren't required by law to be disclosed, the government cannot conclude that the cause of people's faucets catching fire is not the direct result of fracking.


Needless to say, I have a lot on my mind right now. =)


ALL THAT BEING SAID, THE POINT IS MAY 3 AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE MUST BE AT THE RALLY!!!


IT IS VITAL THAT WE SHOW UP AND PROVE THAT ACTIONS ARE LOUDER THAN WORDS!


I GOT TWO SIGNS ALREADY MADE. MAYBE WE SHOULD HAVE A CONTEST FOR BEST SIGN OR POSTER???