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.

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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.