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.