Meet The Real Stephen Fincher...6/30/11

Rep. Stephen Fincher(R) ~ District#8-Tennessee ...Useless !

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Records show Rep. Stephen Fincher raked in another $88,000 in crop payments from the federal government in 2010 — at the same time he was campaigning against government spending. During his career as a subsidy farmer, Mr. Fincher siphoned off $3,342,062 in tax dollars from the farm subsidy payouts, according to the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit consumer advocacy group. “Mr. Fincher is just another hypocrite who’s willing to slash spending for Medicare, women and children, but is happy to keep raking in tax dollars for himself,” said Chip Forrester, Chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party. “Mr. Fincher has shown us over and over again that his lips don’t tell the same story as his actions. “Mr. Fincher is feckless, pretending to be caught in a game. He says he’s just playing by the rules that Congress sets for farmers,” said Forrester. “But the fact remains, he had a chance to make meaningful changes to the farm program as a member of the House Agriculture Committee and he abandoned that post.”

BACKGROUND:

Fincher Continues to Criticize Federal Spending While in Congress. “The federal government simply cannot afford to keep spending money that it does not have. Washington must begin living within its means.” [Fincher Press Release, 6/1/11]

Fincher Received $87,738 in Farm Subsidies in 2010. While running for Congress, Fincher received $87,738 in farm subsidies for Stephen and Lynn Fincher Farms. Stephen and Lynn Fincher farms have received $3,342,062 since 1997. According to his 2011 financial disclosure, Fincher earned $103,882 in farm income from Stephen and Lynn Fincher farms. [Environmental Working Group Farm Subsidy Database, accessed 6/23/11; 2011 Financial Disclosure, 6/16/11]

Fincher Had Received $3.2 million in Federal Farm Subsidies. “Other freshmen not on the Agriculture Committee have done even better by the feds. The farm owned by Tennessee Rep. Stephen Fincher and his wife, Lynn, has received $3,254,324 from 1995 through 2009.” [Politico, 6/12/11]

Fincher Received Additional State Subsidies. “Republican Stephen Fincher, who has spoken against government spending and ‘bailouts’ in his congressional campaign, applied for and received a $13,650 grant from the state Department of Agriculture last year, records show. The state grant is in addition to federal farm subsidies of at least $3.2 million he and his wife have received over the last 10 years.” [Commercial Appeal, 10/14/10]

Fincher Recently Gave Up Spot on the Agriculture Committee. “Fincher won a coveted appointment to the House Financial Services Committee — a move that forced him to give up his spot on the Agriculture Committee […] Fincher will no doubt reap the other great benefit of the Financial Services Committee: It’s a lot more lucrative to serve on a panel that interests banking lobbyists than on a panel that handles agriculture policy. Fincher was one of the better-funded first-time candidates in 2010.” [National Journal, 6/10/11]

Editorial : It seems that Rep. Fincher talks out of both sides of his mouth ! Tennesseans , you got what you asked for !

Goodyear/USWA Union City Tennessee...

Rumors Are Flying Fast Now !
Underdog = Don Jones

6/30/11

I seem to be hearing and receiving a barrage of rumors in regard to our Goodyear Plant in Union City Tennessee. I cannot substantiate any of them. I do not like to dabble in these rumors. In this case, I will make an exception. I`m hearing that Goodyear Corporate will lock-out those working there now ? Remember, these are rumors. Why would Goodyear do that ? If they thought that equipment would be sabotaged, they will do it. It is neat and clean and final ! The only people hurt are those employed there. That is one rumor, I`m hearing. Another is that the plant building is going to be sold to a tire maker ? Again, I caution you, these are rumors. Another is that Goodyear will close it down and re-open non-union ? This one is too far fetched even for this writer. I`m sure there are more out there ? I`m just not hearing them. Let me say this about sabotaging equipment. It serves little purpose at this time. Goodyear Union City Employee`s have been outstanding thus far in their work ethic and behavior. I realize how tough it must be to know that you are being closed down. I urge you to be exemplary in your behavior and your reputation will stay in tact. To all of you working on the floor, you are a Class Act. Keep the faith ! Solidarity Forever. I ask you to remember one thing, your UNION did not cause your plant to shut down ! Republican unfair trade Caused it ! And that`s a fact !

Underdog Missing in Action ? Vanderbilt for Three Days

In Patient Vanderbilt University Hospital !

By Underdog = Don Jones

I hope you`ve noticed that I have been missing for the last few days ? On Friday, June 24, 2011 I e-mailed My Dr.Mark Wigger(upper left) at Vanderbilt. Dr. DiSalvo (upper center) was in on this also. I informed them, my breathing had become very labored. He called me and said, Go the emergency room at Vanderbilt, they will be waiting on you. I did. They were ! I was admitted to 7-North (VUH) I stayed for three days. They ran all kinds of tests. The Heart-Transplant Team and The Pulmonary Team Dr. Anna Hemnes)(upper right) came to see me, in Vandy. My Spo2`s (oxygen saturation in blood) were terrible. They started a regimen of Lasix shots. I began passing the water off. They measure your urine output. They also measure your intake of liquid. They gave me a drug called Azithropin (anti-biotic) They came to the conclusion that I was retaining to much fluid. Making me very short of breath. Today I have felt much improved. During my stay at (VUH) They monitor almost all of your vitals through blood. On Monday June 27, 2011 My PCV (Determines how much oxygen is in your blood) It was 49 normal ! I have not seen it that low for a very longtime ? Usually 56-60 ! Blood tests for my kidneys were also taken. Remember, I have been on immune-suppressants for almost 17 years ! These drugs are hard on the kidneys. Tests were great. A Heart-Transplant patient, who now has Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Not exactly the perfect thing to have. On the day before being admitted to (VUH) any kind of movement, made me so short of breath, it was a nightmare. I e-mailed Dr. Hemnes, in regard to mt PCV stat of 49 and asked her what was this all about ? She, said and I quote "lets take a wait and see attitude"! I hope you have missed my publishing ? I will try to keep you updated as to my progress or lack of same. Vanderbilt is a marvelous place. However, even they do not know everything. The care I received on 7-North was fabulous. I have come to expect no less than perfection from the Nurse`s and assistants on 7-North. Thank You one and All !

Congressman Cohen calls for end to War on Drugs

The War on Drugs was lost a longtime ago. This congressman has it right !

Middle Class Abandoned by REPUBLICANS ! So Whats New ?

America Sacrificed for Ultra-Rich ~ You Bet`Cha !
6/23/11

Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor quit negotiating and walked out of critical budget talks with House Democratic Leaders and Vice President Biden.
Why ? Because Republicans aren’t willing to budge on ending tax breaks for millionaire$ and billionaire$. Eric Cantor is willing to sabotage our economy just to provide more red meat to the Tea Party and protect Republicans and their secret anonymous Koch Brothers backed billionaire donors. This is all part of a political stunt that they think will help them win in 2012. But we can fight back. We only have days left before the mid-year FEC reporting deadline to prove grassroots Democrats have the momentum to win in 2012. Republicans are playing with fire. By walking away, Cantor showed Republicans are willing to risk economic disaster to protect taxpayer giveaways for Big Oil and more tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. The Republicans are so committed to protecting millionaires and billionaires that Speaker Boehner announced he’s personally pledging $1 million to our competitors in the House, the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Editorial : Better watch Tennessee Congressman Fincher(R), District#8-Tennessee . Republicans Love the Millionaire$ ! Hey Fincher, looks like you have found a bud in the house. (Cantor upper left) (Fincher upper right)

Tennessee Millionaires ~ Well Represented ! You Bet~cha !

Sen. Bob Corker
DC Address:

The Honorable Bob Corker(R)Tennessee
United States Senate
185 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-4205

DC Phone: 202-224-3344

Contact Form: http://corker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactMe

WWW Homepage: http://www.corker.senate.gov/public/

On the Issues:

Sen. Bob Corker’s CAP Act is a recipe for “savage cuts to federal programs” including Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid. “If that’s what you want to do, OK, go ahead and say that; but the whole point of the cap proposals is, of course, to call for drastic benefit cuts without admitting that that’s the actual goal.” [New York Times, 5/10/11]

Editorial : Com`on Bob ole boy, admit it, you`ve never met a millionaire, you did`nt like ! Better wake up Tennesseans !

Congressman Cohen ~ Makes Sense To ME !

Finally A Congressman who makes sense ! Thank you Rep. Cohen !

Company Across the Street...Fat Cat see...Fat Cat Do !

Collective Bargaining ~ HELPS EVERYONE !

NLRB...Please Help !

National Labor Relations Board

Check the attachment below. The NLRB is try to help UNIONS organize more members with a new ruling for organizing workers that would like to have UNION protection. This ruling should stop Company's from holding up Union elections and scare tactics., or click on title.

Solidarity,

Don Jones = Underdog

http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2011-06-21-union-elections-nlrb_n.htm#.TgCgdQaudME;email

Free Trade...Not So ! Better Call

Reminder : National Call-In Days to Stop Free Trade Agreements

Free Trade Agreements Begin Tomorrow!

Call Your Representative Beginning Tomorrow (6/20/11)

Dial the Capitol Switchboard toll-free at:
866-311-1889

Ask for your Representative.*
Tell your Representative you are a constituent and you want him or her to OPPOSE the Colombia, Korea and Panama free trade agreements.
Ask for his or her position.

The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to begin discussions on the Colombia, Korea and Panama Free Trade Agreements this week. We need to turn up the heat by calling our U.S. Representatives and telling them to oppose these dangerous agreements. Please make calls tomorrow and Wednesday. Take a stand FOR the good jobs that are at stake and AGAINST the violence facing union members in Colombia !

For more information:

• View the InfoAlert outlining the problems with these agreements: http://bit.ly/mkLSe8

• Check out the AFL-CIO ad that just ran in Politico, an influential D.C. publication, that denounces the Colombia agreement: http://bit.ly/ioeo7c

The Rich, Do not Want to Pay Tax`s !

The Growing Desperation of the Don't-Raise-Taxes-on-the-Rich-Crowd
by : Robert Reich, Former Secretary of Labor
Posted: 06/16/11

The much-vaunted Republican pledge not to raise any taxes is crumbling. Today 34 Senate Republicans voted to end the special tax breaks for ethanol.

According to no-tax-increase purists like Grover Norquist, this is tantamount to a tax increase.

The truth is, Republicans are divided between those who want to bring down the budget deficit and those who want to shrink government. Ending a special tax subsidy helps reduce the deficit but doesn't necessarily shrink government. That's why Norquist and his followers have insisted any such tax increase -- including even the closing of tax loopholes -- be directly linked to a corresponding tax cut.
In order to save face on today's vote, Norquist says renegade Republicans will still be considered to have adhered to the pledge if they vote in favor of an amendment offered by Senator Jim DeMint to eliminate the estate tax. Talk about grasping at straws. DeMint's amendment isn't even up for a vote. In short, the no-tax pledge is evaporating in the fresh air of reality. What are anti-tax Republicans to do now? For one, continue to distort the arguments of those who believe corporations and the rich should pay more taxes. For example, in the lead op-ed piece in today's Wall Street Journal, Cato Institute fellow Alan Reynolds claims a higher marginal tax on the super rich will bring in less revenue. Reynolds uses my tax proposal from last February as his red herring. "Memo to Robert Reich," he declares, "The income tax brought in less revenue when the highest rate was 70 percent to 91 percent [between 1950 and 1980] than it did when the highest rate was 28 percent." Reynolds bends the facts to make his case, picking and choosing among years. In truth, the most important variable explaining the rise and fall of tax revenues as percent of GDP has been the business cycle, not the effective tax rate. In periods when the economy is growing briskly, tax revenues have risen as a percent of GDP, regardless of effective rates; in downturns, revenues have fallen. Reynolds also distorts my proposal, implying that the bracket on which I call for a 70 percent tax is the same as in today's tax code. Wrong. My proposed 70 percent rate would apply only to incomes over $15 million. $15 million, Alan ! Under my proposal, incomes between $5 million and $15 million would be subjected to a 60 percent rate, and incomes between $500,000 and $5 million to a 50 percent rate. Importantly, my proposal calls for a substantial rate reduction for families with incomes under $100,000. (Conveniently, Reynolds fails to mention this.) Reynolds entirely ignores my central argument, which is that rather than depress economic growth, higher taxes on the rich correlate with higher growth. During almost three decades spanning 1951 to 1980, when the top rate was between 70 percent and 91 percent, average annual growth in the American economy was 3.7 percent. Between 1983 and the start of the Great Recession, when the top rate dropped to between 35 percent and 39 percent, average growth was 3 percent. How to explain this ? Easy. Since the early 1980s, a larger and larger share of total income has gone to the top (the richest 1 percent of Americans got 10 percent of total income in 1980, and get over 20 percent now). That's left the vast middle class with insufficient purchasing power to boost the economy - without going deep into debt. Lower tax rates on the rich -- including lower capital gains rates -- have exacerbated this regressive trend. Finally, having misread the facts, distorted my proposal, and ignored my argument, Reynolds fails to rebut my conclusion that raising middle class purchasing power by lowering their tax rates while raising the rates at the top will help spur growth, to the benefit of all. Top earners will do better with a smaller share of a more rapidly-growing economy a larger share of a slower-growing one. If I were a cynic, I'd say the Republican right is showing signs of desperation.

Robert Reich is the author of Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, now in bookstores. This post originally appeared at http://www.robertreich.org/

Editorial : The Rich do not want pay tax`s. Hey, neither do I ! Folks somebody has got to pay and that somebody is US, the middle class.

It`s Trade, Trade, Trade !

National Call-In Days to Stop Free Trade Agreements
Make Calls Next Week on Tuesday and Wednesday...

The House Ways and Means Committee announced that they will start work NEXT WEEK on free trade agreements with Colombia, Korea and Panama.

Now is the time to turn up the heat!

Please call your U.S. Representatives on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, June 21 and 22. View the InfoAlert outlining the problems with these agreements: http://bit.ly/mkLSe8

Check out the AFL-CIO ad that just ran in Politico, an influential D.C. publication, that denounces the Colombia agreement: http://bit.ly/ioeo7c

Call Your Representative on Tuesday or Wednesday !

Dial the Capitol Switchboard toll-free at:
866-311-1889

Ask for your Representative. In Tennessee : Click link below !

http://www.tennesseeanytime.org/topics/Elected+Officials

Tell your Representative you are a constituent and you want him or her to OPPOSE the Colombia, Korea and Panama free trade agreements. Ask for his or her position.

Underdog = Don Jones

The Truth About the Economy

Now you know ! Mr. Reich is former Secretary of Labor and now Teachs at a University !

Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Gov. Walker and his Henchmen, Can Do Whatever they want too !

Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Collective Bargaining Can Be Gutted
by Tula Connell, Jun 14, 2011

According to http://www.wispolitics.com/ , the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a 4-3 decision, threw out a lower court ruling invalidating the collective bargaining law passed by the Republican-led legislature and pushed by Gov. Scott Walker (R).

The decision had not yet been posted at the court’s site by late this afternoon. But a posting at the court’s site for the appeal described an order in which Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi’s orders in the case are vacated and declared void.
“The court has ruled Walker and the legislature can do whatever they want, however they want, with no regard for the rule of law.” The brief description on the court site said the court concluded the Legislature did not violate a provision in the Wisconsin Constitution that the doors of each house shall be open except when public welfare requires secrecy. During oral arguments last week, there were a series of questions about public access to a conference committee meeting in which lawmakers took up the legislation. That meeting was the basis of the open meetings violation Sumi found in invalidating the law. In her dissent, Justice Shirley Abrahamson says it is ridiculous the court would decide to take the case and decide it on the same day. A reasoned decision is the cornerstone of democracy, and the court simply didn’t take the time to address all the substantive matters of the case. In short, the court has ruled Walker and the legislature can do whatever they want, however they want, with no regard for the rule of law.

Editorial : A sad day for our Democracy ! Most Americans donot know or care now. The day will come, when they will !

Hey Senior`s...Whoops, That`s Me !

Hey Senior`s...whoops, that`s me ! Better listen up !

Hands Off Social Security & Medicare !

Protesters Spread the News: Keep Hands Off Medicare
by James Parks, Jun 13, 2011

U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards addresses protesters opposing the Republican budget and supporting Medicare.

About 100 working men and women told Congressional Republicans to “Keep Your Hands off Medicare” Monday in front of the Newseum in Washington, D.C., where CBS was hosting a town hall meeting with members of Congress. Holding signs with headlines from various newspapers about the Republican budget’s proposal to replace Medicare with underfunded vouchers for private insurance, the protesters lined up and unfurled a banner that read, “No News Here…Republicans Want to Eliminate Medicare to Give Tax Breaks to Millionaires.”
Passers-by honked horns along busy Pennsylvania Avenue at lunchtime, tourists walking by gave the demonstrators the thumbs-up sign and one woman pushing a stroller invited the protesters to move to Canada where she lives “because we have health care there.” Carrie Biggs-Adams, a member of NABET-CWA from Burbank, Calif., said she was protesting the Republican budget plan to privatize Medicare, cut corporate taxes and taxes for the wealthy, cut Medicaid funding repeals health care reform and cost up to 2 million jobs. She said the budget, which was proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) wouldn’t solve any of the country’s real problems. She said it was built on “fairy tales” and “lies.” Instead of giving tax cuts to millionaires, she said we should make sure they pay their fair share and tax their offshore profits as well. Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) told the crowd that Medicare is not charity. Working people have paid into it for years. She added: (House Democrats) are going to stand with the American people who paid into Medicare. We know Americans want and deserve Medicare. She said Republicans had to hold a town hall meeting behind closed doors because they couldn’t hold one in their districts due to mass opposition to their votes for the Ryan budget.

Editorial : Republicans are not running scared. If elected, they will end Medicare and Social Security as we now know it ! They have proved that, by their attacks on Free-Democratic Trade Unions.

Don't End Medicare

GOP’s Social Security Privatization 2.0

Republicans are rolling out another plan to "privatize" and end Social Security as we know it, turning seniors’ guaranteed benefits into a guaranteed gamble. The last time they tried this was 2005. Just think, if they succeeded then, seniors would have lost trillions more in the 2008 financial crash. We protected Social Security then. Let’s stand together to protect it again now. Help us get 100,000 signatures for our petition calling on House Republicans to drop their reckless plan to end Social Security as we know it. Add your name and then spread it far and wide to your friends and family. Ever since Republicans began their radical push to end Medicare for America’s seniors, while giving more tax breaks to America’s billionaires, we’ve been holding them accountable. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out our powerful video of real Americans telling their own personal stories of how they rely on Medicare benefits -- then sign our petition telling Republicans to drop their disgraceful demands to end Medicare. Tea Party Launches “Super PAC” Want to see something really scary ? This week, the Tea Party’s biggest Washington, DC lobbying group ripped a page out of Karl Rove and the Koch Brothers’ playbooks by forming a “Super PAC” that can spend unlimited amounts of secret money attacking Democrats. This has raised the stakes for the upcoming June 30th Federal Election Commission (FEC) fundraising deadline.

Goodyear Moving Operations to South Korea ! .

Associated Press

Goodyear Sells Tire Wire Business to Hyosung
06.10.11

AKRON, Ohio --

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said on Friday that it has agreed to sell its tire reinforcement wire business to South Korea's Hyosung Corp. for $50 million.
The business makes the wire at facilities in Asheboro, N.C. and Colmar-Berg in Luxembourg, and employs about 600 people. Goodyear said the two companies will also sign a multi-year supply agreement when the deal closes, expected in the third quarter. The deal requires government and regulatory approvals.
Goodyear said the sale is not expected to result in a significant gain or loss. Hyosung is based in Seoul and has made tire reinforcements since 1968. It bought Goodyear's global tire fabric operations in 2006.

Editorial : Can this be interepted as more USA job losss ? Ask those in Asheboro N.C. ? I think it does ! I`m sure the Union caused it. *ROFLMAON*! Is Goodyear to become the Wal-Mart of the Tire business ? Kinda looks like it.

The War on Unions ?

Is The USA Going to Become a Third World Country ? !

By Don Jones = Underdog...

6/09/11

War has been declared on the middle class. How ? Republicans have learned that through unions, the middle class have an input in their work place. They don`t want you and I to have a say, in where we work. Why ? They want you to compete with third world countries in labor cost. It can`t be done. You take Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, they close down a domestic plant in Union City Tennessee(UC) and build those tires in Chili South America or China. Ship those tires back over to the good ole USA, the price never lowers. Free-Democratic Trade Unions negotiate livable wages and at one time medical benefits and retirement. In China, they have state operated unions. Not so good. In Chili, they murder Union leaders at their leisure. I really hate to call it a class war, but that is exactly what is going on. Here are questions for those opposed to free democratic labor unions ? What is wrong with me having a say in my work place ? What is wrong with electing my own union representatives ? What is wrong with negotiating on my own behalf or those who elect me ? I have never met a Union Official who wanted to put their employer out of business. I have always advocated, that with descent and livable wages comes responsibility, of building the best made union/company product possible. In my case Goodyear Tire`s ! In fact, that is being proven now in Union City TN. It seems that my/our plant is building the best tires and is the most productive plant in North America ! They are Union and doing a great job. They are scheduled to shut down this year. I now come back to original question, as to why this Republican assault on Unions/Middle class ? Adolph Hitler made a speech in Berlin Germany in 1933. The crux of the speech was do away with unions, kill all union officials. It was done ! Where did that get us ? All I`m asking is a level playing field for Americas Middle Class/Union Workers. No special privileges. Just an even chance to compete. American Union Workers can and will compete with any workers in the world and win. Oh yes, one more thing, as a union official, I`ve never killed anyone. I have no connection with the mob. Free-Democratic Trade Unions are the most needed self operated organization in the world. Also the purest form of Democracy, I know of ! If you do not understand that fact, Please read about Union Organizing in the 20`s and 30`s ! "God Bless America"!

Fiat Lux

Republicans Continue Attack on Free Democratic Trade Unions

Alexander(R)TN ~ Graham(R)S.C. ~ Demint(R)S.C.

Declare War on Middle Class, Under the Guise of Helping the Middle Class - Right to Work for Less Law ! Zeig Heil !

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) today introduced the Job Protection Act (S. 964), a bill to preserve federal law’s existing protections of state right-to-work laws.
On April 20, the acting general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board moved to stop Boeing from building airplanes at a nonunion plant in South Carolina, suggesting that unionized American company cannot expand its operations into one of the 22 states with right-to-work laws, which protect a worker’s right to join or not join a union. Alexander said: “This is not just about South Carolina and it’s not just about making airplanes – this is about jobs in every state in the country, and whether or not manufacturers are going to be able to make in the United States what they sell in the United States. I can’t think of one single action the federal government would take that would make it harder to create new jobs in Tennessee than this Boeing complaint, if it’s allowed to move forward.” Graham said: “The NLRB is doing the bidding of the unions at a great cost to South Carolina and our nation’s economy. I do not believe unelected bureaucracies should be allowed to go down the road the NLRB is charting. The foundation of the NLRB complaint against Boeing would destroy the American business community’s ability to negotiate and make rational business decisions. Our legislation prohibits the use of statements made during negotiations – involving legitimate business concerns – to be used as a legal basis for a violation of the National Labor Relations Act. It is time for Congress to speak out in a common-sense way against the outrageous and frivolous complaint by unelected bureaucrats at the NLRB.”

DeMint said: “Right to work states are winning the future for America's economy, yet this administration seems intent on stamping out this model of success. Right to work states have more business growth, more new jobs, and faster rising incomes than forced-unionism states. What the NLRB has done in the Boeing case is a threat to workers and businesses in every state. The NLRB is encouraging companies to take their jobs and investment overseas. This is a reprehensible act and an obvious kickback to union bosses the President is depending on helping his reelection. Unless we pass this bill, every worker and business in this nation is under the threat that if they don't do what union bosses want, this administration will come after you. Businesses have the right to invest in any state in America and states shouldn’t be penalized for protecting the rights of their citizens not to be forced to pay union dues. Right to work states should be applauded, not attacked, as they are attracting new investment and creating new jobs precisely because their policies encourage innovation and competition.”

The bill would:

•clarify that the NLRB would not be able to order an employer to relocate jobs from one location to another.

•Guarantee an employer the right to decide where to do business within the United States.

•Protect an employer’s free speech regarding the costs associated with having a unionized workforce without fear of such communication being used as evidence in an anti-union discrimination claim.

Editorial : Remember, these Senators all, voted against the minimum wage law ! Their so called Right to Work, is no more than an assault on the middle class !
You must understand, that none of the above is even close to TRUE ! Evidently, none of them have had to work for a living ? Adolph Hitler proposed something similar in 1933. Where did that get us ? WAKE UP AMERICA !

The Rich Get Richer...The Poor get Poorer ! Robin Hood Rides Again

Not a Happy Anniversary: 10 Years of Bush Tax Cuts
by Mike Hall, Jun 7, 2011

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/07/let_cuts_expire.html

Today is the 10-year anniversary of President Bush’s tax cuts that went mostly to very rich individuals and big corporations. According to the rosy economic scenario Bush and the Republicans painted, the nation today should be figuring out to what to do with a $5.6 trillion budget surplus and just how to fill the tens of millions of new jobs that were supposed to generate new wealth for all of us.

How’s that worked out ? There’s no trace of the $5.6 trillion surplus. Instead we have a record budget deficit.

Jobs ? Job creation under Bush, even when the economy was expanding between 2002 – 2007, was dismal, barely keeping pace with population growth and the worst performance in the post-World War II era, says the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). We’re not sharing the wealth either. In fact, the top 1 percent of earners pocketed 65 percent of the income growth during those years, widening even further the income gap between the rich and the rest of us. Even scarier: Despite all the evidence that the tax cuts not only didn’t work and the outcome was even worse than opponents predicted, congressional Republicans and presidential candidates want to make the Bush tax cuts permanent. That would be a terrible blow to the economy, says the new EPI Policy memo, “Tenth Anniversary of the Bush-Era Tax Cuts: A decade later, the Bush tax cuts remain expensive, ineffective, and unfair.” If made permanent, these tax cuts would still fail to generate strong employment and wage growth, and they would cost many more trillions of dollars, crowding out other budget priorities. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) finds that the Bush tax cuts, along with two unpaid wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, are by far the main drivers in the projected budget deficits over the next eight years. Just two policies dating from the Bush Administration—tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—accounted for over $500 billion of the deficit in 2009 and will account for $7 trillion in deficits in 2009 through 2019. The price tag for making the Bush tax cuts permanent is not just in trillions of dollars aded to the deficit, says EPI: If continued, they will crowd out budget priorities such as economic security programs and investments in education, infrastructure, research, and health. The EPI policy memo outlines the top 10 worst outcomes of the Bush tax cuts. Here are just a few.

•The Bush tax cuts disproportionately benefited the wealthy.
•The Bush tax cuts did little for low-income families
•The Bush tax cuts never trickled down.
•The Bush tax cuts did little for long-term job and economic growth.

Click http://www.epi.org/page/-/EPI_PolicyMemorandum_184.pdf <> for the full EPI memo and and here for more on the Bush tax cuts from the Center for American Progress (CAP). http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/07/let_cuts_expire.html

Tomeka Hart vs. Steve Cohen ~ District#9-Tennessee

Steve Cohen Pulls a Primary Challenge
By Joshua Miller
June 2, 2011

http://www.cohen.house/.gov/

Third-term Rep. Steve Cohen (D), who represents Tennessee's majority-minority Memphis-based 9th Congressional district, will face an African-American primary challenger. Tomeka Hart, president of the Memphis Urban League and a member of the city's school board, told the Memphis Flyer this week that she would be filing to run for Congress. Cohen, who won the general election in 2010 with 74 percent of the vote, handily beat former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton, who is African-American, in the Democratic primary last cycle. In 2008, he beat Nikki Tinker, an African-American challenger in the primary, by a 5-1 margin.

Editorial : My questions WHY ? When you have a Congressman like Steve Cohen, Just consider yourself fortunate and move on.

Recent Events in District#9~Tennessee

Steve Cohen District#9~Tennessee Leadership !

http://www.cohen.house.gov/

Yesterday I traveled to the White House with members of the Democratic Caucus to meet with President Obama to discuss how best to create jobs, boost the economy, and raise the debt limit – which if not increased will make our country default on its debts. Our economy is recovering but the recovery is quite fragile. Since taking control of the House in January, Republicans have been playing politics with our economy. They seem more concerned with cutting funding for Social Security and gutting Medicare by turning it into a voucher program – an initiative put forth by Congressman Paul Ryan. I also participated in a House Judiciary Committee markup that reinforced the GOP plan to harm our social safety net programs for seniors. The markup focused on several bills, including a proposed balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that would force draconian cuts to Medicare, Medicaid (which helps many seniors living in poverty) and Social Security. This is yet another example of Republicans playing games with our economy and our future. Our country needs jobs, and we need to work together to help those in need. The time has come for the GOP to stop playing games and put forth real solutions that will help Americans during these tough economic times.

Editorial : What a great Congressman you are for your District#9 and our Country ! You actually serve your constituency ! What a modern day miracle. Have you ever considered moving to the 8th. Distict ? We would love to have you.

Reich`s Take on Double Dip ?

Back Toward Double-Dip
By Robert Reich, Former Secretary of Labor

The May jobs report is a disaster -- the weakest reading since September. Non-farm payrolls grew only 54,000 last month, according to the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Private employment rose only 83,000 -- the smallest growth since last June. Government payrolls dropped 29,000.

The overall jobless rate rose to 9.1 percent.

Together with plummeting housing prices, falling wages for non-supervisory workers, a paltry 1.8 percent growth in the first quarter, and a precipitous drop in consumer confidence, the picture should be clear to anyone able to see clearly. The recovery has stalled. We're not in a double-dip yet, but the odds are increasing. The question is whether all this will wake up Washington, and stop the monumental distraction of the games being played over the debt ceiling and long-term budget deficit. The Republican lie that the nation's long-term budget deficit is responsible for high unemployment would be laughable if it weren't so tragically irrelevant to the current situation. The President cannot be reelected if the economy tanks. He may not even be reelected on an anemic recovery in which unemployment remains nearly this high. But all incumbents are endangered. Republican House members from swing districts are toast if they don't show voters they're actively working on the twin problems of jobs and wages. Several steps need to be taken right away. Exempt the first $20,000 of income from payroll taxes for two years. Lend money to cash-starved state and local governments. Initiate a new WPA for the long-term unemployed. Amend bankruptcy laws to allow homeowners to include their prime residencies in personal bankruptcy (giving them more bargaining leverage with their lenders to renegotiate mortgage loans). Above all: Washington needs to show Americans it's taking seriously the ferocious problem of jobs and wages, and the trend back toward a double-dip.

Robert Reich is the author of Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, now in bookstores. This post originally appeared at http://www.robertreich.org/.

Real or Not ? Take The Quiz...Unbelievable !

Not Real and We Elect These People !

http://realornotquiz.com/

No question about it: State legislators and Governors elected in 2010 have been bringing the crazy.

We’re not just talking about the multiple instances of attacks on workers’ collective bargaining rights. And we’re not just talking about governors refusing to accept job-creating funds from the federal government while 25 million people are unemployed or underemployed. We’re talking about proposals that are, as one governor eloquently put it, “bat-crap crazy.”

Take the quiz: See if you can guess which loony legislation is real and which we made up. > http://realornotquiz.com/ You can click on links provided or title of this article !