Working Life

It is a waste of time to jump up and down and scream about the ludicrous nature of the Republicans “ideas” about the economy, and, specifically, the proposal put forth by John Boehner regarding the phony debt and deficit “crisis”. These people are nuts and, worse, they either lie or are ignorant about the facts when it comes to the economy. So, it’s more important, in my humble opinion, to ponder the proposals floated out there by people who claim to be representing the “left” or “center” and, even more astonishing, “the last good economy”.

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Some days, I find the whole thing ludicrous and immoral. Some days, I laugh. And sometimes it’s a little of both. As in today’s installment of fiscal Kabuki Theater.

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Ah, so many thieves, so little time. I’m not a big fan of fines that get thrown around as punishment for crimes. But, it’s worth keeping a tally anyway.

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Personally, I’ve never minded paying taxes. Sure, I’d prefer my money stop going to immoral wars, bloated defense contractors, tax breaks for polluting companies, and the very wealthy. But, the burden is not a big one — maybe it’s also because I’m not obsessed with shopping (but that’s a different problem in society). And the reason most people should not feel a burden is that, well, taxes are pretty low.

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No secret — working in a fast food restaurant is not a ticket to a middle-class life. But, it’s not because of a natural phenomena or because of a penalty you pay for serving grotesque food. It’s about power and greed. Some people are trying to change all that.

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Enough already. Yours truly would really like to be able to stop being a monitor of the transcribers of press releases (formerly known as “journalists”). But, I can’t help point out outright falsehoods, especially when it comes to economics and Social Security.

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Let me start by immediately apologizing for using a sexual act in a headline and, particularly, in reference to an article written by a woman transcriber of press releases (formerly knows as “journalists”). Apology now behind me, I can go back to the point: Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson could not have paid enough money to get the kind of fellatio they were blessed with by Jackie Calmes of The New York Times, the paper, by the way, that is making it a habit of putrid reporting about the phony debt and deficit “crisis” — I suppose having been a cheerleader for the Iraq War, to devastating effect to the country’s bank account (not to mention devastating to the families of all the dead people killed because of the immoral war), The Times just feels obligated to find something else to trumpet…phony as it may be.

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I write often about the transcribers of press releases (formerly known as “journalists”). Every day, I am ashamed of the profession I generally am associated with — lazy, stupid, ideologically blind. It’s not an idle annoyance — the absolutely bankruptcy of most of the traditional press ends up costing lives, not that the transcribers of press releases understand this. Which brings me to the shameful article by Robert Pear.

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One of the most powerful weapons used against unions is to essentially write them out of history: children don’t learn about unions in schools. Most politicians only mention unions when they are slumming for a check for their campaigns or they promise to put on sneakers and walk picket lines when elected but somehow that promise is forgotten once the election is over; they talk great rhetoric about the “middle class” but you almost never hear, unprompted and certainly not in front of crowds outside a union hall, a great speech about unions and their central place in making a healthy economy. Which is why the despicable refusal to elect Marvin Miller to baseball’s Hall of Fame matters–and it should matter to every person who cares about unions, even if you’ve never watched a minute of baseball in your life.

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New York state, and the city, are having a rough time of it — if we’re talking about the real people. Sure, the very wealthy are buying up all the shit they bought up before. But, workers are struggling.

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