No Rest

"Men walkin' 'long the railroad tracks
Goin' someplace there's no goin' back
Highway patrol choppers comin' up over the ridge
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretchin' round the corner
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleepin' in their cars in the southwest
No home no job no peace no rest

The highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad

He pulls prayer book out of his sleeping bag
Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag
Waitin' for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass
Got a one-way ticket to the promised land
You got a hole in your belly and gun in your hand
Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock
Bathin' in the city aqueduct

The highway is alive tonight
But where it's headed everybody knows
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad

Now Tom said "Mom, wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight 'gainst the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me Mom I'll be there
Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to stand
Or decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes Mom you'll see me."

The highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' downhere in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad"

Park It

Rob Henken, of the Public Policy Forum, has an op-ed about the "reality" facing our parks. He considers the maintenance and infrastructure needs, the cost of retiree benefits and county-wide administrative overhead, public/private partnership options, and closing certain amenities.

"What is clear is that the county's property tax resources no longer have the capacity to adequately support non-mandated services, meaning big decisions about the future of its beloved parks and cultural facilities are required. While other pressing issues facing our next county executive may have greater legal and financial implications, perhaps no other issue will attract greater passion from county residents," writes Henken.

This is a microcosm of the larger economic question we're facing. And, as usual, we're getting the cut, cut, cut answer. Our parks, like our wages, health care and benefits, could gain from increased taxes on the rich. Making the modern-day robber barons pay their fair share would solve federal, state, county, and local fiscal problems. But, for some sad reason (especially in a supposed representative democracy), the only option is more sacrifice from workers and citizens having to get by with and accept less.

The past few weeks in Madison should have shown us there is strength in numbers. In a democracy, we can have, and can afford, a good quality of life with the amenities we all enjoy. To paraphrase a another recent Journal Sentinel op-ed, You Heard It Here First: Tax The Rich To Solve The Park Crisis.

The idea that we are broke, that we can no longer have parks, that we can no longer have professional teachers and good schools, etc. completely mischaracterizes the situation and feeds into the conservatives' framing of this issue.

The idea that we must choose between Miller Park or good county parks, between a convention center or good learning centers (schools), or between any of the other false choices we are constantly fed is a BIG LIE! (And, if we did have to choose, schools and parks are more important to our quality of life than a stadium and a convention center.)

Milwaukee spends $59 per resident on our county park system. The data for 76 cities, as gathered by the Trust for Public Land, shows the average park-spending per city is $102. Our park acres as a percent of land area is 9.7%, the average is 10%. Whether it's baseball diamonds, basketball courts, community gardens, golf courses, ice skating rinks, dog parks, playgrounds, recreation centers, skate parks, swimmings pools, or tennis courts, Milwaukee County is near or below the average per resident among all cities studied. We still have a good park system, but it's barely hanging on. We don't spend that much nor do we have a bloated system as is, yet we should spend less?

Just because we have a bad economy (not a spending problem, and primarily caused by Wall Street) doesn't mean we should start selling off and/or dismissing public goods. The economic downturn is the culprit behind our budgetary woes. We are not spending too much. As David Cay Johnston states, "We have a revenue problem."

We can either roll over and allow corporate behemoths to ruin our public services and amenities, by usurping state and local revenues into their private accounts through subsidies, tax cuts, and other giveaways. Or, we can demand they pay they fair share to fund the goods and services that make all our lives better.

Even in the age of Citizens United, the Wisconsin 14 have shown us anything is possible. For those pushing austerity and cuts, I say, "Park it!"

For Further Reading:

Measuring the Economic Value of a City Park System

Public Parks & Recreation

Laborious Budget Excuses

Bruce Murphy introduces some sanity and reason into Scott Walker's manufactured budget battle:

"In the last 10 or 15 years, the state has also passed spending caps for municipalities and counties, which have created a downward pressure on public worker compensation. A Wisconsin Taxpayer's Alliance study showed that local government employees earned 2.9 percent less in total compensation than local public employees nationally.

In truth, the givebacks he is getting from employees, while a heavy sacrifice for individuals, who will lose an average of some $4,500 per year, are only saving the state $150 million a year on a $15 billion budget. To put this in perspective, the state could raise its beer tax to the national average of 19 cents per gallon - up from the current 6 cents - and generate $217 million more per year. In short, it doesn't require a revolution in labor/management to accomplish the savings Walker desires.

It is no coincidence that the wage gap between average workers and CEO pay has exploded while private sector unions have declined. The average pay of America's top CEO was $479,000 in 1979, according to Business Week, but had jumped to $9.5 million by 2009. CEOs who once earned 40 times the pay of the average worker now make at least 400 times more.

The wealth gap in America is the greatest it has been since the Roaring Twenties. In 1928, the top one-hundredth of 1 percent of American families earned 892 times more income than the bottom 90 percent of Americans. That gap declined for decades before it began climbing in the late 1970s. Today the top one-hundredth of one percent of American families earns 976 times more than the bottom 90 percent of Americans.

As public worker unions and public employee wages decline, we're likely to see this gap increase."

Now More Than Ever

Unions are passe. They're antiquated. No one needs a union anymore.

We've all heard this sentiment in some form or another. More so recently among some folks due to what's happening in Wisconsin.

Unions fought and struggled for years for many of the labor rights and protections we now take for granted. And, as union numbers have declined, so have labor rights and the proper enforcement of such.

• Inequality is higher now than during the Gilded Age.
• Workers wages have stagnated for decades.
• This is the first generation that will do worse, economically speaking, than their parents.
• Workers are working longer hours now than they have in decades.
• Many workers are not properly being paid for the hours they are working. A phenomenon known as wage theft.
• Workers are working to a later age. And it's not out of choice.
• Health care costs are bankrupting families across the country.

As the list above shows, workers still need someone fighting for them. There is strength in numbers.

How did we get all these rights which some want to take for granted and/or dismiss? Some want to forget. Some can't remember. Some just don't know. It was unions! The private sector and the all-knowing market didn't have our best interests in mind and develop these rights for us. Workers stood up and demanded respect.

Citizens that feel unions are overcompensated not only have their facts wrong, they are fighting against their own economic interests. Why would someone think that by ending collective bargaining and workers' representation it would benefit all workers? When you take away labor rights and bargaining leverage, that is a loss. No worker gains from such.

Labor's battles have accomplished gains for all workers.

• Minimum wage
• Workers compensation
• Overtime
• Employer-provided health care
• 40-hour work week
• 8-hour day
• Unemployment insurance

When workers fight with other workers, guess who loses? That's right - workers. Stop belittling and fighting with workers, just like yourself, who only want to earn a dignified living. [If you're bellowing how well-paid public workers are -- please -- read the recently released studies which completely dispel this myth. The average Wisconsin public worker earns $45,000 and has 17 years of experience. The average retiree has a pension of only $19,000.] Let's start supporting the bottom and middle, rather than beating each other up to the benefit of the uber wealthy.

Tell the rich to pay their fair share. The richest in America have seen explosive growth in income over the past few decades. They didn't do this through magic. They did it by dividing us against each other. They did it by usurping our rightful gains - earned through our productivity - into their own compensation. This is a direct result of campaign finance and our pay-to-play democracy. As corporations have bought more courts, state houses, oversight committees, and such, they have seen humongous legal and fiscal gains. As they've controlled more of the institutions of our society, they have concentrated all the economic gains into a select few hands.

Workers need to be fighting to hold onto what they've earned. We must stop fighting each other. We all (the bottom 99%) need to start demanding that we get more compensation for our productivity. The richest have made out like bandits, while we've all been battling each other over the crumbs. Let's stop beating each other up and join in solidarity to develop policies that help share prosperity. No longer can we allow policies that solidify winners (the top1%) whilst merely hoping something trickles down to the rest of us.

Getting Squeezed

In a great article, by Heather Boushey and Joshua Holland, they explain the falsity behind the message, being spread by Republicans, that we don't have money to afford a safety net any longer.

Read this article!

Here are some excerpts:

"The top 1% has grabbed most of the gains, seeing an impressive 250% increase in income between 1973 and 2005 from an economy that's grown by 160%."

"The share of federal revenues contributed by corporations has declined by two-thirds since 1962."

"The typical married couple works an additional 13.3 weeks per year - 533 hours - compared to a generation ago."

"The share of income going to wages is at the lowest level ever recorded, while the piece of the pie gobbled up by corporate profits is at its highest point since 1960."

Income Inequality

Excellent discussion and charts of income inequality, via Ezra Klein and Karl Smith.

Bold Bernie

Nice catch by Blogging Blue.

Weekend Reading

A Million Here, A Million There
Recessions and Recoveries Are Not All The Same
Sad History of Trusting The GOP On The Economy
Tax Rates For Top 400 Earners Fall As Income Soars

Sunday Reading

Explaining The Impact Of Ultra-Low Rates To Greenspan
Government's Share Of Economy, 1950-2075
Has Social Security Begun Tapping Its Trust Funds?
Obama Attacks Wealth Inequality

The Power of The Anointed Few

A really great article - No sense in relying on feudal capitalism