Get Your Money Out of Banks!

In the past, I've written about the importance of budgeting and being frugal.  Not only does it help you and your family, it works towards depriving the oligarchs their lifeblood -- money.  Today,  Occupy Wallstreet and other activists are promoting another wise way to protect your money and work toward an equitable future for everyone.  Today is Move Your Money Day!

Partially spurred on by the, now dead, move by Bank of America and other banks to charge their customers a monthly fee to use their debit cards (in addition to all the other ridiculous fees they charge), Move Your Money Day was thought up as a way to have people register their disgust with the banks and keep their money local.  As many people know, banks like Bank of America and Wells Fargo took bailout money from the Government after they helped create the financial crisis from which we are currently suffering.  These "too big to fail" banks then proceeded to generate outrageous profits and give enormous bonuses to their 1% officers -- all on the backs of the 99%.

Now, there is nothing wrong, on the face of it, in making profits or giving bonuses.  However, these banks were only able to do so because they took the people's money.  Had they not taken the cash, they would have, if not failed outright, crumbled partially functional bankettes as they would have had to possibly divest to survive.  Sure, they paid the money back BUT they have yet to be held accountable for the damage they have wrought upon the economy of the United States, Europe, and the World!  Seeing how the Government is proving to be spineless when it come to making Wallstreet pay for its crimes and more than happy to give these banks a free pass, it is now up to the people.

How do we get at them?  Through their religion -- the free market.  That's right!  You have a choice and you can take your money out of these "too big to fail" felons and put it into a local banking establishment.  First, you'll be registering your discontent with Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase, and their ilk.  Second, you will be helping support your local economy because local banks and credit unions use local money to make local loans.  Third, you will be helping support a much more equitable banking industry over that of the industrial, heartless TARP-fueled banks of the world.

The Union Legion strongly endorses the use of local credit unions.  Your narrator has exclusively used one for many years.  Often, there are requirements which have to be met before you can join but those requirements may only be that you live in a certain area.  In a credit union, you are not a "customer" per se.  You are an owner.  When you join, you deposit a share.  This share is then kept with the bank and you can not withdraw it unless you are leaving the credit union.  Worried about accessing your share?  Don't be.  The share is a low sum -- around $20 or $25.  Once you are a member, you can enjoy many, if not all, of the products commercial banks offer -- but they will be called something different.  For example, CDs are not called CDs -- they are called share certificates at my credit union.  My "checking" account is called a share draft account.  Regardless of their names, these accounts function exactly the same as traditional accounts.  Plus, I have free checking, a free debit card, and I earn interest on both my draft and savings accounts.  Many credit unions also share an ATM network and, wouldn't you know it, they don't charge ATM access fees!

Even if you feel a credit union isn't the right answer for you, there are still local, traditional banks.  Again, these banks keep your money local but, most importantly, they aren't responsible for the economic mess everyone is slogging through.  As technology has improved these small banks have proven they too can provide the services of the big monster banks.

Don't get worried about moving your money.  It is a fairly simple process.  Take this point of advise though -- do your research first and know the features of your prospective new bank.  Then, open your new, local account first and link up your bill payments and direct deposits before you move your money.  Otherwise, you may run into some automated headaches later in the month when your rent isn't automatically paid.  Once your new account is set up, close out your account with the "too big to fail" bank.  I would even go so far as to encourage you to politely tell them why.  When finished, you will be saving more of your hard earned cash, keeping your money local to do local work, taking control over your money away from the "too big to fail" banks, and doing your part to let the wealthiest 1% know there will be an accounting for their actions.

Vampire. Serial Murderer. 1%

For your Halloween delectation:

STRIKE! CWA 1118 is on Strike Against Verizon

Verizon has refused to negotiate with the members of CWA 1118 and CWA's membership has been forced to strike.

Come out and support your fellow Workers and stand against big business choosing profits over people!

My Comments About the Newly Announced JCOPE Deal

by Clayton Bradt

Today's post is from our newest contributor.  He's a bit “free range” in that his writing is not necessarily written specifically for the Union Legion.  However, he gave us permission to edit and post his writings and this is, currently, the only place you'll be able to read them unless you are fortunate enough to share a mailing list with him or he sends you something directly.  --EvV

All of the Commission members will be politically connected hacks. Splitting the membership between the "two major parties" accomplishes nothing. Leaving aside the fact that this completely marginalizes the many other political parties, we need to recognize that the New York State kleptocracy is run by a syndicate of political “crime families” who have divvied up the spoils of government (patronage jobs and vendor contracts) so that each family gets its agreed-upon share of the loot.  Minor power shifts within and between the families (Democrats and Republicans) make no real difference in the total "take" from the public treasury, just a difference in the cut each family gets.

When for example, when there is a Democrat in the Governor's Mansion, a few more patronage slots go to Democrat hacks, but the Republican Senate stills gets its somewhat smaller cut, and the Democrat Assembly gets theirs. Nothing changes but the names [or the letter after their name – EvV] of the people stealing our money.

If we are ever to make an effectual change in the way New York State government operates, oversight must be taken out of the hands that are already in the cookie jar! A Public Employee Free Speech Act would be a major step toward true ethics reform. Political crimes (waste, fraud and abuse) are designed to be hidden. Only by keeping their dealings secret can our political rulers get away with their crimes. As brazen as the abuses may be, the perpetrators are confident they can get away with them because they are legally able to intimidate the witnesses to these crimes: public employees. Retaliation against public employees who report or merely witness wrong-doing in government, is routine and is an accepted business practice in every branch and agency of government. If public employees were no longer afraid to say what they know, the kleptocrats would no longer be assured of keeping their wrong-doing hidden. Not only would current crimes be uncovered, but future crimes would be inhibited by the knowledge of certain discovery by the would-be perpetrators.

Charter School Group Caught Lying

Congratulations Albany!

The citizens of Albany, NY have pushed back against a blatantly dishonest, last minute campaign by a corporate charter school group.  While the fight went to the final round, the honest people of Albany chose to support the education of children over the profits of the charter chattel school system.

Yesterday the Times Union published a story which revealed a Big Business campaign against the Albany School District's budget -- using fliers with out-right false information -- wait, I'll say it LIES about taxes.  Then there was a push poll.  In the event you aren't familiar with them, push polls are an inherently dishonest means to propagate lies.  Well, maybe not always lies but the methodology is a deliberate way to try to obfuscate a direct message through suggestion.  Someone receives a call, agrees to take a quick survey, and then is fed a series of leading questions to the ultimate conclusion the push poller wants.  An example might be something like "Do you approve of Candidate X's refusal to address questions about marital infidelities?"  It doesn't matter if Candidate X even has a history of cheating or even has ever been accused of cheating.  The impression has been left in the voter's mind that X is of questionable morality.  Push polling is nothing but emotional and psychological manipulation.

Further proof, I suppose, that, if Corporations were people, they'd be psychopaths.

Albany is a city which has seen considerable scandal and failure in the realm of education.  Simply put, Albany is failing its children.  However, blame can not be placed solely on the education system.  Sure, it plays a major role but poverty, I believe, is the prime-mover of Albany's  education problem.  Chattel schools, at least in Albany, don't seem interested in the solving the problem.  Instead of supporting the community with committed, Unionized teachers, these corporations seek to make a profit first.  Their teachers are, I'd guess, no less committed than the Public School teachers but they aren't Unionized and that has real drawbacks.  They have no job security; have no real say over their work conditions or retirement, and are paid less.  Their stress must be greater in some ways than the Public School teacher's.  They are expected to perform with less support and less stability.

The obvious campaign of lies and deceit by the chattel school industry was geared to destabilize the Albany Public School system.  I presume this would have then been used as a lobbying wedge-issue as well as a means to try to get more chattel schools built in Albany.  Despite having the Mayor in their back pocket, chattel schools recently lost in an attempt to get a new school built.  Chattel school accountants must be looking at their balance sheets.  No new schools = no new profits.

Wait a minute!  Isn't the point of education our children?  By lying about the Albany School District budget, the chattel school industry has illustrated just how much they value children.  Chattel schools are supposed to be a compliment to Public Schools -- not a for-profit replacement.  By trying to get Albany's Citizens to vote down the District's budget, the chattel schools were, in effect, saying "defund your schools, don't support education and teachers, harm your children, and hand them over to us."

Chattel schools do not view themselves as partners in education with Public Schools.  They see themselves as competitors.  The free market belief system holds that the better school will get more students.  What does "better" mean anyway?  Unfortunately for kids, it does not necessarily mean "education".  The corporation better at misleading parents, better at cutting enriching services, or better at scaring honest citizens could also be a top performer -- without benefiting a single child.  It's a despicable shame, on a National level, we value under-served children so little that we'd wash our hands of the problem and hand them over to corporations with the mentality of Ayn Rand and compassion of a cactus.

I'm certain charter schools have a place in the education landscape and I am no fan of the Albany school system.  I moved out of Albany, partially, because I have a child and I do not want her in Albany's schools.  While I could afford to leave, there are many people who can't.  They are stuck in a cycle of poverty and, in the developing economy of the future, education may be the only way out.  If we are to "win the future", people have to stop handing it over to corporations who are willing to lie in order to profit off our kids.  Through grass-roots action like a Facebook page, citizens of Albany chose the future over corporate profits.  They won a fight for kids who really can't speak for themselves.  Way to go!  While the margin was not great, I feel the Albany School District should use this affirmative vote (despite the lies and lobbying) as a mandate.  In a troubled, inner-city school district, the budget passed and did so in a time of Cuomo education starvation as well as other financial hardships.  This opportunity can not be wasted adn teachers, staff, and administrators must rededicate themselves to improving the education and future of the District's children.

Belated Earth Day Post! Save Money and Help the Environment

Reducing your impact on the environment isn't just some Hippy dream or agenda to turn us all into vegan bark-eaters. While I'm not denying a lot of Progressives seem focused entirely on the environment to the detriment of other important issues such as Human Rights and Social Equality, I would like to point out that some of their ideas and approaches can be beneficial to your budget, help the environment, and do damage to the heartless corporations and oligarchs which currently rule our country. As this blog is for Labor and other Human Rights issues, I've been slowly illustrating ways you can save money at home (benefit to the individual) and, in doing so deprive corporations of their life-blood -- your hard-earned cash (benefit to the country).

To that end, you can easily make your own laundry detergent in your own kitchen.  I made my own yesterday and it only took about 30 minutes (tops) to do -- and that was only because I was making my daughter lunch at the same time!  The recipe I used only has 4 ingredients:  Fels-Naptha® (Ivory soap can also be used), Borax, washing soda, and water.  With the exception of the water, all these ingredients are probably in the laundry isle of your local supermarket.  Combined, the ingredients cost me about $9 after tax.  "But that's not cheap!" you're probably shouting at your screen.  Hold on.  The recipe only uses ½ of the bar of Fels-Naptha®, 1 cup of Borax, and one cup of washing soda.  When these volumes are considered, the cost per batch is reduced to about $1.70!  Frugal eh?  Where are you going to find laundry detergent for that price? 

What would you do if I told you that it costs $1.70 to make not 1, not 3, but 5 GALLONS of laundry detergent!

Now are you interested?  Now, go out and get yourself a 5 gallon bucket (around $2 from a hardware store).

Here's the recipe:

1. In a saucepan or pot, grate ½ of the Fels-Naptha® bar and top off with water -- filling the saucepan.  Don't worry, you won't ruin your pot or poison your kids, this stuff is only soap and less harmful than the stuff you use to wash it normally.
2. Heat the water at medium-high and stir every so often to help melt the soap.  This will probably take about 15 minutes.
3. Fill up your 5 gallon bucket with hot water from the tap leaving some room for the melted soap mixture.  I did this in my bathtub.
4. To the water in the bucket, add 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of washing soda, and stir.
5. When the soap has completely melted in the saucepan, pour the mixture into the 5 gallon bucket and stir.
6. That's it.  You've made liquid laundry soap.  However, it does need to cool so wait overnight or so.  You'll find the liquid soap has congealed a bit.
7. Once cooled, mix up the liquid soap and pour into what ever smaller vessels you may have laying about.  I used my old laundry detergent container, gallon milk jugs, an empty shampoo bottle....

When you do your laundry, use ¾ a cup per load.  When you do the math, the cost of soap per load for your new, environmentally safer liquid laundry soap will be somewhere between 1 and 2¢!  Beat that!  The savings can go into your bank account and stay away from greedy corporations and their plutocratic overlords.  On top of that, your liquid laundry soap isn't being transported from some factory (reducing carbon emissions), adding phosphates to the environment, encouraging the abuse of petrochemicals (whether in the manufacture of the detergent or its container), and reducing landfill waste (you're reusing containers you would probably throw away).

There you have it:  good for your bottom dollar, good for the environment, and bad for greedy bastards.

The Right's War on Labor and Everyone Else

Ignorance must be blissful. Otherwise, I can not see how Conservatives live their lives. How else can one deliberately deny the evidence they can see with their own eyes? How else can they forget recent history? It does not matter if the issue is Global Climate Change, Human Rights, or Poverty, Conservatives will almost certainly vote against their best interest and for the interests of Big Business. Now, the nascent Astroturf (né “Tea Party”) movement gives a populist shine to the corporate turd which it conceals. This continues despite the evidence of the Koch brothers' direct orchestration in the movement and the continuing disparity between the moneyed oligarchs that run this country and the Citizenry.

Americans, it seems, go around believing they are going to become millionaires someday. Sorry to piss on your parade but the odds are very slim this will ever occur to most of us. Somehow deluded into this belief by billionaires, these people then vote as though they were greedy millionaires. See, I don't believe they view themselves as greedy. Of course they don't – they're voting “responsibly” (because that's what the Kochs and their ilk have told them). Lacking any sort of critical thinking skills and an inability to take into consideration their actual situation, these people vote to put more money into corporate coffers and less into their own pocketbooks.

These same people, for the most part, have shunned the Labor Movement in the private sector of the economy. They actually believe that Home Depot is an “employer of choice”. What the hell does that actually mean? Home Depot wants you to believe it means you don't need a Union to represent your interests and that they've got all your needs covered. Despite this fact, I personally know at least two Home Depot employees who continued to work with serious conditions when they should have been home recuperating. Additionally, I have exchanged stories with workers at one store where plantar fasciitis is a chronic epidemic. These people can barely stand on their feet – despite the fact their job requires they stay on their feet all day without appropriate measures to prevent this type of an injury. Why do they stay? Easy. They need the money. They live paycheck to paycheck. A work force that is underpaid is a workforce that is easily manipulated. These people, as a group, have not utilized their right to organize and be represented because it has been placed in their heads that the Labor Movement is “bad”. What are the results of this blind acceptance of the message put out by the wealthiest and corporations? The adjusted income for non-unionized private sector workers has decreased. For the first time in history, the standard of living of a child can be expected to be less than that of his or her parents!

In an effort to continue a concentration of their power, the oligarch and plutocrats that run this country have now set their sights on the last stronghold of Unionized Labor representation – public sector employees. Social workers and their kin have managed to hold on to their standard of living. While the private sector's income has decreased, the modest income of public sector workers has held and, in doing so, has become a source of envy and jealousy. Not being stupid, Astroturf founders have utilized these emotions to gain a foothold in public opinion. You see, they don't want people in the private sector realizing they can Unionize or worse, acting on it. You see, public employees are not paid too much – the private sector is paid too little.

The United States of America is a Corporatocracy. Pure and simple. If you doubt my position, just take a look into the money that is thrown into politics and where it comes from. Not only that, lobbyists often write laws that are then voted on completely unaltered. The concept of Democracy has been corrupted when corporations are writing our laws. Now, corporations are considered “people” when it comes to free speech thanks to a Supreme Court dominated by individuals beholden to the moneyed oligarchy operating our political system. In New York, we have Andrew Cuomo who was bought by the Kochs (they paid him more than Wisconsin's Governor Walker). His recently passed budget directly attacks things like public employees, public education, and MedicAid. All of these areas are ones where the Kochs of the world lust after in the hope of turning a profit. We also have other legislators who have been bought and paid for by their respective lobbies trying to pass laws to mess with our fully-funded pension plan, and undermine the Triborough Amendment.

Privatization was once hailed as the answer to all of Governments problems. In a society where the Poor and Middle Classes are under represented by their government, I say somethings should never be privatized. In the interest of representing everyone, the government must maintain control of certain areas. As I write, conservative Republicans are now suggesting the privatization of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. This really is an attempt to drive more money and more profits to the ruling class. Corporations are salivating at the money in pension plans, Social Security, and Medicare-aid yet they can't get to it. They can't make a profit on that money and, in turn, reward their masters with enormous bonuses. Privatization is nothing more than an attempt to redistribute wealth from the poorest in society to the wealthiest. It has nothing to do with efficiency or savings. There is a class war going on but it isn't coming from the Left.

We have to stop this trend in centralizing power. Hell, the United States was founded by people dead-set against the centralization of power in an elite few. Yet, we, as a nation, are allowing it to happen. Fortunately, history is on our side. It is because of Progressive movements like Labor that women can vote, slavery was abolished, and people can expect to work in a safe environment. We can do it. We have done it in the past. Now is our time to take a stand and push back against the rich elitists and their faux-populist movement. Not just for ourselves as individuals but, rather, for everyone regardless of the amount of money they have.

Liberté, égalité, fraternité!

The Clash and Bread

I've got another post I'm formulating in my head about some bullshit legislation being introduced in the New York State Legislature but I'm going to ruminate upon it a little longer while I'm working out.  Hopefully, I'll get it out tonight or tomorrow.  Until then I present you with this tidbit:

I recognize the Unions are trying to get caught up with the tastes of their younger members.  However, "We're not Going to Take It" by Twisted Sister, while awesome, is getting a little old to this listener.  In an effort to improve the cool factor for the Unions, I'd like to suggest they investigate the Clash.

If there ever was a band tailor-fit to the Labor and Social Justice Movements, it would be the Clash.  As an illustration of their awesomeness, I simply present their take on the Southern story of Stagger Lee -- Wrong 'em Boy-o:

Stagger Lee met Billy and they go down to gambling
Stagger Lee throwed seven
Billy said that he throwed eight
So Billy said, hey Stagger! I'm gonna make my big attack
I'm gonna have to leave my knife in your back

Why do you try to cheat?
And trample people under your feet
Don't you know it is wrong?
To cheat the trying man
So you better stop, it is the wrong 'em boy-o

You lie, steal, cheat and deceit
In such a small, small game
Don't you know it is wrong

Billy Boy has been shot
And Stagger Lee's come out on top
Don't you know it is wrong
To cheat the trying man
To cheat Stagger man
You'd better stop
So you must start all over again-all over again
You got to play it, Billy, play, you got to play it, Billy, play
And you will find it is the right 'em boy-o

But if you must lie and deceit
And trample people under your feet
Don't you know it is wrong
It is the wrong 'em boy-o

If I heard

Why do you try to cheat?
And trample people under your feet
Don't you know it is wrong?
To cheat the trying man
So you better stop, it is the wrong 'em boy-o

at a rally, I'd be psyched -- as would a lot in my generation (Gen-X -- we're notoriously hard to pin down but we do like our music).

Attention Unions of the World: Get some Clash for your rallys!  They are profoundly intelligent and their music is kick-ass.

---

The invention of bread was one of humanities greatest advancements in the manufacture and storage of food.  Why is it people now buy this nearly essential food stuff as though it is a commodity?  Shelved and packaged in a supermarket.  Over priced with the profits going to some corporation somewhere?  We really ought to be distancing ourselves from the over reliance on corporations for our means of survival.  It really is a shame that, as a society, we have fallen into the "convenience trap" when we don't need to.

Making bread at home is amazingly simple and it costs pennies (yes, pennies) on the dollar when you compare it to the cost of bread in the store.  Plus, it tastes a lot better and makes your house smell great!

If you're interested in baking your own bread but you don't want to deal with kneading and all that nonsense, you're in luck.  You don't need to buy some expensive bread machine!  You can make bread at home with a bowl that you can cover (I use my crock pot) and a dutch oven (or a pizza stone and a oven-safe pot)!

Here's my recipe for a no knead whole grain bread:
Dry ingredients

1. 2 cups white flour
2. 2 cups whole wheat flour (or 2 more cups white)
3. 1 cup quick oats (or rolled oats)
4. 2 - 2.5 teaspoons salt
5. .5 teaspoon bakers yeast
6. (optional) 4 teaspoons wheat glutin
7. (optional) 4 maybe 5 tablespoons milled flaxseed

Wet ingredient -- 2.5 (maybe a touch more) warm water

Directions

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in your bowl.
2. Add the water and mix.  Your mixture should be a sticky mess but not runny.  Add small amounts of water until you get something that looks a similar to sticky oatmeal.
3. Cover the bowl and leave it alone for 8 to 24 hours.  It should, roughly double in size.  Don't worry about messing things up.  If you go too long, everything will be fine (assuming it's been covered the cat hasn't sat on it).
   
4. After the dough has risen, dust a surface with flour to prevent the dough from sticking and scoop the dough out on to that surface.
5. Spread the dough out a bit and dust the top.  Fold the dough over on to itself 1 or 2 times.
6. Let the dough rest for 15 to 30  minutes (again, don't worry about going long on time).
7. After the dough has rested, form it into a boule.  Oh yeah, this recipe is for an "artisan" bread -- that expensive stuff and it's cheaper than many brands of white bread!
8. Let the boule rise for about 2 hours (at 70F, longer if cooler).
9. Preheat your oven and dutch oven to 475F.  If you are using a pizza stone, heat that up.
10. After the boule has risen and the oven has preheated, open the dutch oven and place you boule in it.  Be careful not to burn your hands.  Place the top back on the dutch oven and return it.  If you are using the pizza stone, pull it out and place the boule on it.  Then, take your oven-save pot and fill it with water and place that in the oven as well.
11. Bake the boule for 30 minutes with the top on the dutch oven (or with the pot of water in the oven).
12. After the 30 minutes, take the top off (or remove the pot with water) and bake an additional 15 minutes to crisp up the crust.  Do this final step to taste.  Some people like really crispy crusts while others like softer crusts.
13. Remove your new loaf of bread and place it on a rack to cool.  Listen to it and it will "talk" to you as it cools.  This is the sound of the crust crackling.
    

There you have it!  A loaf of healthy artisan bread that costs about less than $1.00 (cheaper if you find deals) to make.

---

Edit 4/10/11: Changed cost of bread from >$1.50 to >$1.00. The loaf of bread I just baked cost about 50¢!

Budget to Help Yourself and to Help Weaken Plutocrats

In honor of the agreement (behind closed doors) and passing of the New York budget, I thought I would take a moment to write a little about how the poor -- because there will be more -- and the middle class can help remove themselves from the system that created monsters like the Kochs who fund Plutocrats like Cuomo.

I am well aware of the boycott of products made by Koch Industries or their subsidiaries.  While I support the boycott in principle, most people will be inclined to engage in it only for a limited period and, while it does single out a specific target, it does little to nothing to damage the system that created the Kochs and those like them.  A system which undervalues human rights and views people as a "resource".  A system profoundly anti-labor, anti-equal rights, and dedicated to a financial caste system.  If people want to take a stand against this system, it really isn't as hard to do as one might think but it does require a change in lifestyle and, surprisingly spending less and saving more.

While I do not have a credit card and haven't had one for almost 20 years, I realize getting rid of yours may prove rather difficult.  The United States, in particular, has become addicted to debt.  However, getting rid of a credit card and budgeting wisely will go a long way towards improving your personal financial health.  Think of it this way: every time you buy something with a credit card, instantly add 20% (or whatever your interest rate is) to its cost.  In other words, a $100 purchase really costs you $120 -- but only if you pay it off before the interest is added to your balance.  Then, that $100 becomes $120, then $144 and so on.  You can see the pattern, in short order (on the order of months) the value of your $100 is over shadowed by the debt generated by your credit card.  In an effort to eliminate financial waste this cycle has to be stopped.

While getting rid of your credit card makes good sense for your pocket book, how does it limit the system that creates plutocrats?  Simply put, the "economy" (the term is ironic because our financial system is not efficient) runs on debt.  Things like interest and debt are what makes the system run.  "Me alone can't make a difference", you might say.  I would counter that small groups of people, working together can change history -- and they have time and time again.  Look at Gandhi's salt protests or the American Revolution.  Keep that in mind whenever you feel overwhelmed by society's inequalities and corporate indifference.  You are not alone.  Only a 3% decrease in the debt generated in the United States would have a reverberation that could not be ignored.  The place to start is getting rid of your credit cards.

Alright, getting rid of your credit cards may involve a lifestyle change you need more time to prepare for and there are many websites (like Getting Rich Slowly) out there that can help along the way.  Fundamental to a change of this nature is coming to an understanding of the differences between "wants" and "needs".  The most basic needs would be things like nutritious food, clean water, and safe shelter.  As you can see, Society fails many of its Citizens on these basic needs -- largely as a result of a mistaken faith in the "free market".  Think about that for a moment, the "economic" system that feeds the Kochs denies some of its most vulnerable Citizens of their essential needs. 

Back to how "wants and needs" can be used to help you take a stand against plutocrats and corporatocracy.  Every single time you buy something, ask yourself "Do I NEED this or do I WANT this?"  There is nothing wrong with wanting something.  However, corporations go to great lengths to confuse us with what we want and what we need.  Have you ever told yourself you "need" that new pair of shoes or smart phone?  Sure, it is immediately followed up with a rationalization as to why you "need" that thing but, the truth is, you do not need a new pair of shoes unless you have worn out your last pair.  Smart phones....while they are pretty damn cool no one really needs one (yes, I have one but I'm honest with myself -- I wanted it).  Instead, be honest with yourself and your rationalization will become an explanation!  Instead of saying you "need" (the lie) a new pair of shoes for a job interview (the rationalization), realize you want a new pair of shoes (honest statement) for the interview (now, an explanation).  If one consistently applies this method when shopping for anything, you will find that you will see a beneficial impact on your budget.  You see, you will become aware of how much you buy that you do not really need and, possibly, may not want.  If you are uncertain as to whether you need or want something, put off the purchase for a week or so.  If you suffered no ill effects, you didn't need that item; you wanted it.  By decreasing your consumption, you put less into the system that demands rampant consumerism to survive.

Food budgets are a large part of most families budgets.  If you are a public servant like a teacher who may be laid off, your food budget is going to take up even more of your household budget should your income be cut off because of plutocratic cuts to the services you used to provide.  How can one make a significant impact in this spending area?  First, never, never buy your food with a credit card.  if you ever find yourself in a situation where you do not have the cash to buy food, ask family or friends to borrow some cash.  You can pay them back and not have to pay interest and you will be turning to your support system -- not a debt machine -- for assistance and, in doing so, you will be actually engaging society.  We should be depending upon each other and not some heartless corporation. 

Ask yourself if you want or need that food you are looking to buy and make sure you make a grocery list before you go in to the store.  Seems simple but, a lot of the foods sold in groceries these days are nothing but junk food meant to be bought on an impulse and no one "needs" them.  Having said that, the cheapest way to eat is to make your own food.  The real needs for a healthy diet are the raw ingredients, vegetables, meat, flour, and so one.  Instead of buying factory-prepared foods, buy the raw ingredients and learn to cook that food at home.  Not only will you be spending less, you will be learning how to cook, and you will be giving less monetary fuel to the likes of the Kochs.  For example, I can feed my daughter and I for about $40 a week.  Before I got smart about my shopping, I would spend around $100 a week just on myself (before I became a dad).  The difference?  I cook.  I cook everything from pizza to bread, to gumbo, to whatever catches my fancy and I cook extra -- to have leftovers for lunch at work, etc.  Recently, I've started looking into the cooking of the Shakers (a Christian religious sect known for their woodworking but who were also very efficient and hardy cooks).  Books like Seasoned with Grace: My Generation of Shaker Cooking can provide valuable tips.  Whenever possible, buy local food or grow your own.  The food is usually cheaper (when things like transportation are figured in), you cut out the middlemen (read: the Kochs and their ilk), and you keep the money local (thus helping preserve local agriculture).  Oh yeah, avoid fast food restaurants.  Sure they are convenient and their food tastes good but it is overpriced and continues a system that hates workers rights.

Ok.  I've written enough for one post and, undoubtedly you're ready to anything more exciting than continue reading (oh, things like cleaning your toilet probably seem more interesting).  No, I'm not some grubby Hippy so put that thought away.  I'm just like you -- an honest American worker trying to do the best he can for his family in a time where the government and society is run by greedy corporations.  I'll write more in later posts but before I go, I want to leave you with this thought,  the less you pay to ensure your needs are met and you maintain a comfortable quality of life, the more efficient you are.  The more efficient you are, the less money you waste and give to the wealthiest 1% and, therefore, limit the amount of money they can use to buy plutocrats like Cuomo, Obama, or Walker.  Finally, a great book to read to help get a grip on your finances is Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence: Revised and Updated for the 21st Century.  There are many tips and techniques in that book which will go a long way of letting you take control of your budget and, as a result, take a little power back from the corporations that are running our country.

Andrew Cuomo's Koch Problem

I was handed the flyer below by a student at yesterday's rally in support of Wisconsin Public Employees and Worker's Rights by a student.  I foolishly forgot to ask his name so that he could get proper attribution for his work.  However, he did some leg work I was planning on doing and, low and behold, he found what I expected would be the case -- Andrew Cuomo has a Koch habit.

As you can see in the pdf below, Cuomo has accepted $92,000 from the Kochs -- yes those Kochs who are working as hard as possible to eliminate the Human Right of Collective Bargaining in Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinios, and New Jersey.  The very same people, so addicted to greed that they feel entitled to trample on the lower and middle classes in their quest to acquire more.

Cuomo's Koch Problem

In case you were wondering if this was faked, I went and checked it out myself.  Granted, the first time I did it was the really dumb, hard way of scrolling through names (I didn't see the link for the search page!).  As this student demonstrates, there is an easier way.  You can check for yourself by going to the New York State Campaign Financial Disclosure Database's Search Page and entering the search criteria he outlined above (Andrew Cuomo 2014, Inc.; 1/1/2009 to 1/1/2011; donations from $1 to $100000).  If you want to skip entering everything online, you would get this page.  Then, just hit <alt>F in your browser to find text and enter "Koch".  You can see for yourself.

If the student who distributed this flyer reads this post, contact me if you want me to give you appropriate credit.

Albany's Wisconsin Support Rally

Here are some photos I took from today's rally in Albany.

Enjoy:

Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio Labor Solidarity Rally Tomorrow!

Come on out and show the Corporatocrats running New York that you stand with Civil Servents.  Demonstate for the Public Employees of Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, and where ever the far right and Republicans are trying to steal and deny collective bargaining rights -- a fundamentally American and human ideal.

Where:  Capital Park, Albany, NY

When:  Saturday, February 26^th, 2011

Time:  12:00pm (noon)



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Conservative Misrepresentation of the Triborough Amendment

Here in New York, there has been some discussion from the far right and their corporate lackeys in government (read: Andrew Cuomo through his senior advisor Larry Schwartz) and corporate lobbying groups (read: Committee to Save New York [for Corporations]) to repeal or "selectively" enforce New York's Triborough Amendment.

If you were to read stories in papers such as the Times Union or any of the far right, conservative or anti-labor/pro-corporation blogs, you would be left with the conclusion that the Triborough Amendment is a law that was passed to, somehow, make public sector employees a (as Koch-brother-supported autocrats like Governors Walker (WI) and Daniels (IN) say) "privileged" class.  Quite to the contrary, the Triborough Amendment levels out a profoundly skewed playing field created by New York's Taylor Law

The Taylor Law, basically, establishes the right for public sector employees to organize and have Union representation. Think of it as New York's version of the Taft-Hartley Law.

However, the very same law prevents public employees and civil servants from exercising something their private industry counterparts can -- the ability to strike. Section 210 of the Taylor Law clearly states, "No public employee or employee organization shall engage in a strike, and no public employee or employee organization shall cause, instigate, encourage, or condone a strike." In case you missed it in high school Social Studies class, the strike is Labor's last recourse against abusive management.

Taking away the right to strike (on a legal level) effectively made Civil Servants and Public Employees a kind of indentured servant. Maybe that is a little hyperbolic but there was nothing that really could be done if management treated Labor poorly. Civil Servants could quit but what good would that do the State in the long run? If the State wants to attract quality employees away from the private sector, this is not the way to manage their employees. Generally speaking, the Government does not pay as well as the private sector when comparable jobs are examined side by side.  While many public employees are willing to take the decrease in pay in exchange for a reliable pension and benefits, and many work in the civil sector in the interest of helping their fellow citizens, almost all are unwilling to do so if there is no protection of their rights. The Triborough Amendment aims to help protect those rights.

Section 209-a, subsection e of the Taylor Law states:

...to refuse to continue all the terms of an expired agreement until a new agreement is negotiated, unless the employee organization which is a party to such agreement has, during such negotiations or prior to such resolution of such negotiations, engaged in conduct violative of subdivision one of section two hundred ten of this article.

This is the Triborough Amendment Big Business and the Koches of the world have set their sights on. What this section is saying is that the contract settled on by Executive Branch and voted on by the Union membership will remain in effect even if the old contract expires and a new one is not negotiated to fill its place unless the Union strikes.  Previous to this amendment, a Governor could refuse to negotiate, allow a contract to expire, and then do what ever the hell he felt like (I say "he" because New York has yet to have a woman Governor). Hardly fair when you are the head of the State and dealing with people who can not strike.

So now you can see why corporations want Cuomo to repeal, erase, or "selectively enforce" the Triborough Amendment -- to undermine the Unions and force a Big Business agenda down the throats of honest, hard-working, tax-paying New Yorkers. To hell with the fact those honest, hard-working, tax-paying New Yorkers are Public Employees. Corporations do not care about people. It is not even in their DNA. Humans are only resources. They care about the almighty dollar.

Is it not curious that the rhetoric being propagated by Big Business and their media cohorts seems to omit the fact that Public Employees are tax payers too? I doubt they want people to realize that Civil Servants are shouldering their obligation to the State. It is easier to paint them as greedy do-nothings.  I digress....

If one spends any amount of time online researching this topic, they will encounter one particular argument over and over -- that the Triborough Amendment gives the Unions too much power over the Government. As I have already pointed out above and provide links to that you can read for yourself, the Triborough Amendment does nothing of the kind. It is a part of the Taylor Law's checks and balances. It should also be noted that the Administration can (and has) use the Triborough Amendment to its advantage. In times of plenty a Governor can hold off or delay negotiating with the Unions in order to increase revenue for the State. Governor George Pataki did exactly this maneuver much to the chagrin of the Unions. I suspect there are a lot of boards of education and mayors across the State who have done similar things. So, contrary to what the far right says, the Triborough Amendment does not tip the scales for the Unions and it must be kept in place to maintain appropriate checks and balances within the Taylor Law.