What will tomorrow bring

According to reports, Occupy Wall Street protesters plan an event tomorrow to shut down the city.  According to the video in this article:

In a rant that appears to have been captured after Tuesday’s Zuccotti park eviction in New York City, a man in the middle of the angry protesters reveals his idea of what’s next for the movement: “we’re going to burn this shi* to the motherfu**ing ground on the 17th!”

If it weren't enough that the protesters are planning this, SEIU is also planning to help out.  According to this article:

The SEIU is planning a “Bridge Action Day” for Obama.The overpaid government union goons will shut down traffic on US bridges and harass US workers going to work on Thursday morning.

According to this article:

One of the boldest labor thugs in America today is Stephen Lerner, a crafty economic terrorist who manages to sound like a folksy self-improvement seminar leader while he explicitly calls for the overthrow of capitalism.

An SEIU board member, Lerner is one of the architects of a subversive plan that aims to destroy the nation’s financial system through intimidation, mass protests, and the mob violence that accompanies it. As part of it, Lerner targeted JPMorgan Chase for attack earlier this year because the bank would be “a really good company to hate.”

What can we expect?  Maybe it will be a non-violent event.  I hope so.  With the history of the violence that has already occurred in many places with this "movement" and with the support of SEIU, I have my doubts it will be peaceful.  We will have to wait and see.

Unions right or wrong for the U.S.

I have written about the unions before.  I will say once again, that I am sure there are some things good about belonging to a union.  I have also stated that I believe the union leaders are out to put more money in their pockets than in the pockets of the union members.

Here, I will put some articles to understand better who the unions really look out for.  In this article:

All it took to give nearly two dozen labor leaders from Chicago a windfall worth millions was a few tweaks to a handful of sentences in the state's lengthy pension code.

Twenty years later, 23 retired union officials from Chicago stand to collect about $56 million from two ailing city pension funds thanks to the changes, a Tribune/WGN-TV investigation found.

Because the law bases the city pensions on the labor leaders' union salaries, they are reaping retirement benefits that far outstrip the modest salaries they made as city employees. On average, their pensions are nearly three times higher than what the typical retired city worker receives.

Remember the Boeing Plant being attacked by the National Labor Relations Board?  According to Wikipedia:

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the United States government charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. Unfair labor practices may involve union-related situations or instances of protected concerted activity. The NLRB is governed by a five-person board and a General Counsel, all of whom are appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate.

Now reports have come out about the NLRB and their decision to fight the Boeing plant. According to this article,  on April 22, 2011:

Acting NLRB General Counsel Lafe Solomon sent an email to Wilma Liebman, outgoing Chairwoman of the NLRB, “The article gave me a new idea. You go to geneva [Switzerland] and I get a job with airbus [French company]. We screwed up the us economy and now we can tackle europe.”

Last year, President Obama bypassed the U.S. Senate and recess-appointed Craig Becker to head the NLRB’s five-member board. The Becker appointment was made after the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate refused to move forward on his confirmation. An ally of ACORN, Becker had previously worked for the SEIU and the AFL-CIO, major financial backers of Obama and the Democratic Party. Controversially, Becker has refused to recuse himself from certain NLRB decisions affecting his former union clients.

According to this article:

The new Obama DOL Union Officer and Employee Conflicts-of-Interest Disclosure Reports will no longer require disclosure of:

• Salary payments by employers to union officials who do absolutely no work for the employer except grease the skids in “grievance adjustments”;
• Bonuses and raises paid by employers to union officials who do absolutely no work for the employer;
• Promotions by employers to union officials who do absolutely no work for the employer;
• Director stipends of $20,000 or more to union officials for attending annual or quarterly labor-management conferences often held at a lush resorts;
• Labor union presidents’ spouses who receive payments of $250,000 a year from a HERE union pension trust will no longer be required to disclose it because Obama’s DOL believes that congress was uninterested in these types of conflicts.

Have you ever heard of the National Mediation Board?  Well, according to this article:

This board is specifically focused on labor relations between the railroad and airline industries. And just like the NLRB, the NMB is aggressively pushing Big Labor’s agenda. Last July, the NMB overturned nearly a century of precedent and issued a new pro-union rule regarding union elections. Instead of requiring the traditional democratic practice of a simple majority of members to unionize, now the rules only require a majority of votes cast for unionization.

So, what is next?  Do we want the Unions taking control of all the jobs in this country?  Do we want to be forced into joining a union in order to get a job?  Do we want to be like this family who is forced to pay Union Dues to take care of their disabled children?  Here is the story.

The price for Occupy Wall Street

When the protesters began to occupy Wall Street, it was a given to anyone who had any common sense that it would end up costing the citizens money.  How much was the question.  In this article, the price tag so far is now  $9,111,487.  How much more will it go up depends on the politicians that are in charge.  How long will they be willing to put upstanding, law abiding citizens at risk?  With the amount of police presence to keep the protesters from breaking the law, it takes away protection from those who abide by the law.  I'm not saying the protesters shouldn't protest if they feel as strongly as they do, but, do not put other peoples lives in jeopardy because of it, don't destroy other peoples property or try to prevent them from making a living.

The woman in this video, whom is wheelchair bound and works for a living, talks about the protestors preventing her from leaving the building.

And in this video,  children are being used as human shields.  This is just going to far.  If you want to protest, go for it, just don't place your children in harms way.

How long will this go on?  It's hard to say.  If those that believe in civil unrest and are not afraid of being arrested, it may be a while.  Are we heading for riots like we see going on in other countries.  That is a possibilty we cannot afford to dismiss.  According to this article: United Steelworkers international president Leo Gerard states:

I think we've got to start a resistance movement. If Wall Street occupation doesn't get the message, I think we've got to start blocking bridges and doing that kind of stuff. This doesn't have to be this way. The economy doesn't have to be this way. It's being put this way because the Wall Streeters are getting their way.

According to this article, dates October 6:

Several influential New York state lawmakers have received threatening mails saying it is “time to kill the wealthy” if they don’t renew the state’s tax surcharge on millionaires, according to reports.

“It’s time to tax the millionaires!” reads the email, according to WTEN in Albany. “If you don’t, I’m going to pay a visit with my carbine to one of those tech companies you are so proud of and shoot every spoiled Ivy League [expletive] I can find.”

Instead of threats, maybe they should contact their Senators and Congress on the wasteful spending of our money.  If our government stops spending money like these then maybe we wouldn't be in this mess.

US bankrolls Pakistani sesame steet

Tax dollars being spent on rubber chickens

or:

State Department buys $70,000 worth Obama memoir books

Thoughts on the Day of Rage

I've been watching the live feed, for several days trying to figure out exactly what they stand for.  I read many of the comments on chat and the post that people made about "revolution" was "corrected" by the moderators.  The moderators would say that this is not a Revolution.  I think that is interesting considering their live feed is called "Global Revolution".

On Saturday, the protesters had clashes with the Police and reportedly, there was over 80 arrests made.  With the people that are involved with "Occupy Wall Street", calling for help from the Unions, and yesterday they interviewed a person from "Code Pink", I feel like their fight is not going to turn out the way they want it.

It is my opinion that they have not done their homework well enough.  With "Code Pink" involved, which is a leftest group, it makes me feel more and more as though the protestors don't really realize what they have gotten themselves into.  Code Pink does not have a peaceful reputation.  If the Unions get involved, with their reputation of violence, things will not turn out well.  The protestors have said they wanted a "peaceful protest". Don't they know what will happen with Code Pink and the Unions involvement?

I don't know if the protestors have thought things out.  What type of system do they hope to have by doing the protests?  Have they really thought this out?  As I have been told many, many times in my life, "Be careful what you wish for."

I heard a protestor ask where the Tea Partiers are.  It is real simple.  The Tea Party is not a Left movement.  They know what they want, they did their research.  Many of the Tea Party members know what the outcome would be if the Constitution was honored, as it should be.  They know what it would be like if the government were smaller and not involved with our every day life.  Many of the Tea Party members know what common sense is and they know how to apply it.   Most know their history.

Unfortunately, some of what these protesters want, means more government involvement, not less.  They say they want their rights and freedoms restored, but, with single payer insurance, for example, this means more government involvement.  They will have less rights and less freedoms.

Obama's love for the Unions

I have written before about the connection between Obama and the Unions.  I am sure there are some good things that come out of being a member of the Union, and I am sure that some Union members are decent people.  I want to take a closer look at the Unions.  Let's take a look at how Obama is putting the Unions ahead of the non-union workers.

According to this article, "I’m sure there are sophisticated arguments for why the UAW members shouldn’t pay back the taxpayers who bailed their employer out of bankruptcy before they negotiate a deal that gives them each a $5,000 bonus. I just can’t think of them right now."
 
According to this article, "Most city workers spend decades in public service to build up modest pensions. But for former labor leader Dennis Gannon, the keys to securing a public pension were one day on the city payroll and some help from the Daley administration.

And his city pension is more than modest. It's the highest of any retired union leader: $158,000. That's roughly five times greater than what the typical retired city worker receives.

In fact, his pension is so high that it exceeds federal limits and required the city pension fund to file special paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service to give it to him."

According to this article, "Collective bargaining agreements with seven labor organizations require the city to pay union officers and provide members with thousands of additional hours to conduct union business instead of doing their government jobs.

The total cost to Phoenix taxpayers is about $3.7 million per year, based on payroll records supplied by the city. In all, more than 73,000 hours of annual release time for city workers to conduct union business at taxpayers’ expense are permitted in the agreements."

Lastly, according to this article, "Taxpayers across the nation are spending millions of dollars to pay the salaries and benefits of government employees to work exclusively for labor unions, an investigation by the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute has found.

The practice is called “official time” in federal law, or “release” time in local labor agreements reviewed by the Institute. At the federal level, it cost taxpayers more than $129 million in 2009, the last year for which figures are available, according to a report from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management."

Now personally, if I were a Union member, I would not like my money going into the Union Bosses pockets.  The Unions are suppose to help workers, not to fatten their wallets.  I have to wonder if the Union members realize that every time they get a better "contract" for their work that not only do the non - union member have to pay for it, but, so do they.  Every time the Unions negotiate a contract, the new benefits they receive, they are paying for it as well as everyone else.  It just doesn't make sense to me, that union members have to pay more out in taxes or whatever the government wants to call it, in order for them to have better pay or benefits.  Is it really worth it, when you see the bosses of the Unions making as much money as they are and everyone is paying their salaries?