"Jobs Not Cuts": Crowd calls for "New" New Deal

Several dozen protesters gathered at the federal courthouse at 6th & Broadway Wednesday to deliver a "Contract for the American Dream" to U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell. The "contract", written by over 125,000 Americans, is a plan to create jobs rather than destroy them through budget cuts.

After delivering the message -which will be ignored by McConnell- the protesters marched down to the state unemployment office chanting "Jobs not cuts!".

The event, staged by Move on.org, raised a good point. We should be focusing on job creation instead of slashing programs that help the middle class and poor people. This country asks nothing from its millionaires or corporations and places the burden squarely on the shoulders of those who can least afford it.

Much attention was given to the nation's crumbling infrastructure and the jobs that would be created by fixing it, but sadly, everyone seems to have forgotten about the WPA and the New Deal. Except these guys:

Have any money in the bank? It's FDIC insured, thanks to the New Deal. Ever get an FHA home loan? Is anyone in your family collecting Social Security? That's all New Deal territory.

Full employment is a goal we should set. A major result of full employment at high wages is a sharp, permanent decrease in the level of income inequality.

That's what created the middle class. And that's good for America.

Paul to U.S. workers: The war is on

Confirming our suspicions, Senator-elect Rand Paul has hired one of the most anti-union bastards in the country to be his Chief of Staff, thus having applied the "boot heel" to the throat of America's union workers.

Doug Stafford, former Vice President of the National Right to Work Committee, believes in absolute corporate tyranny - total freedom for businesses to do whatever they like while employees are fitted with leg irons and ball gags.

Stafford's ruthlessly conservative opinions are well documented. (See HERE - hat tip to Ville Voice)

Paul and Stafford are part of a group of millionaires that want to take away a worker's right to organize, lobby for better conditions and bargain collectively all while protecting the businesses right to join things like manufacturer associations that lobby for weaker safety laws and bargain collectively with other companies.

This move should come as no surprise to anyone that followed Paul and his insane campaign, but should be recognized as what it is: A slap in the face to American workers.

Wednesday Updates

- Architects have completed plans for the new Southwest Regional Library that is planned to be built in Valley Station. The public is welcome to view the architect's renderings of the new library at the current Southwest Library on Tuesday, October 26 at 6:30pm, 10375 Dixie Highway. [The Local Weekly]

-  Southwest Pride Community Clean-Up: Saturday, October 23, 7053 Dixie Highway. Cleanup is from 9:00am until noon. Registration begins at 8:30am.  For more info, contact Kim Leanhart at 502-367-3880 or prpaba@insightbb.com

- According to the site FactCheck.org, Jack Conway's "Aqua Buddha" ad isn't all that far from the truth. [FactCheck.org]

Rand rolls in, out of Southwest Louisville

The Rand Paul for U.S. Senate campaign rolled into Southwest Louisville Government Center tonight, and as quickly as it began it was over.  What was billed as a two hour event lasted just over half an hour, as the good doctor bailed for the exits after speaking about 12 minutes. I have in my hand a written estimate of the attendance.  It says:

"84 people seated, 70 standing, 154 total.

Faithfully submitted,

Ron Mexico"

Rand Paul, U.S. Senate Candidate

There is one fact clearly missing from my friend's excellent reporting. 100 of said total were Louisville union members that showed up to ask questions. The crowd from organized labor, most wearing t-shirts emblazoned with union logos, certainly took organizers of the event by surprise. When Rand arrived to mingle, the union insignias stunned his eyeballs and nearly ruined his mind.

The speakers, in order of appearance:

- Rachel Ford - Tea Party Organizer (and amateur pollster)
- Chris Thieneman -Former mayoral candidate
- Dan Seum - State Senator with 27 years on the government dole
- Rand Paul

It seemed to me that the speeches given were altered a little due to the overwhelming labor presence. Ford and Seum both touted their "union family backgrounds" during their short presentations. What began as the "Betrayal of Union Values Tour" ended with a whimper as Paul claimed a prior engagement with family and sped away. When the room emptied into the parking lot, there were chants of "Run, Rand, Run", much to the chagrin of the remaining Paul supporters, most of which were too disgusted or too aloof to realize they were attending a Rand Paul rally at a government center.

The best contradiction of the evening came when Paul commended Sen. Seum for his eons in public service, then only minutes later restated his firm belief that term limits must be imposed upon politicians.

I'm looking forward to the next meeting.  Hopefully, Dr. Paul will clear his schedule.

Medical Experts, Housing Projects and A Retarded Senator

- Two medical "experts" disagree on a central fact of the Max Gilpin case, with one saying the prescription drug Adderall caused Max's heat stroke and another calling the link to the drug "tenuous". HERE is the link to the Courier-Journal article. The experts do agree on medical documentation that states Gilpin was not dehydrated upon his arrival to the hospital. Still no word on JCPS's "investigation". The drama continues...

- In a piece of good news, Fox41 is reporting some stimulus money will go toward finishing the demolishion job at Iroquois Homes. The housing project is one of the last remaining, and is a disgraceful mess. This area will prosper when the project is completed. The sooner, the better.

- WAVE3 has a story on Alabama Senator Richard Shelby's comments about the United States-based auto manufacturers. The Senator claims the UAW "will run those companies and run them into the ground." Yet another reason to be embarrassed to hail from Alabama. The outrageously ignorant statement came on a day when local UAW members working at Ford's two plants in Louisville voted on more contract concessions and wage giveaways to benefit the company. That's hardly "running them into the ground" if you ask me. Alabama is home to several non-union, foreign-owned auto plants.

Bunning Vs. McConnell: Dumb & Dumber

Jim Bunning, the confused, doddering Foul Ball supposedly serving as Kentucky's junior Senator is "defiantly" seeking reelection in 2010, according to this Courier-Journal article. Among the article's notable items include a terse statement by Bunning toward McConnell, McConnell acting as though he knows nothing of Bunning's plans for reelection, and the most hilarious, Bunning crying about receiving "the Fletcher Treatment" from ol' Mitch.

I usually don't get into big-time federal politics on this blog, but I couldn't resist this nonsense. It is truly an embarassment to the Commonwealth.

Chief Obstructionist Served with Petition

Here are some photos of today's gathering where a petition was delivered to Senator Mitch McConnell. As you recall, I posted an item on this gathering a few days ago. Thanks to the couple of dozen folks who braved the frigid air to deliver the message to Sen. McConnell that the people will not allow the President-Elect's agenda to be mutilated by he & other obstructionist politicians.

Protest the Hijacking of America's Agenda - January 14

There is a serious a fight brewing around the economic recovery plan that President-Elect Obama is going to offer to Congress. Lobbyists and stupid little gunsels from the soon to be departed Bush Administration are pushing hard to load the plan up with more billionaire tax cuts to slow the plan's progress. This puts the future of the new legislative agenda in serious jeopardy.

So, in the spirit of democracy, and because it is the right thing to do, there will be a gathering among concerned citizens on January 14 @ 1pm, outside of Senator McConnell's Louisville office at 6th & Broadway.

If you own a small business, have a "green" job, work in health care, face foreclosure on your home, or lost your job as a result of this greed-driven economic disaster, the organizers would like to extend a special invitation to you to share your story at the event.

Dress warmly, load up on good coffee or whatever you like to drink in below-freezing temperatures, and come on down. It should be fun.

Help Is On The Way

Help is on the way for United States-based automobile manufacturers in spite of Mitch McConnell & Co.'s best efforts to bust the Autoworkers Union.

Yesterday, right before the U.S. Senate loan deal for automakers fell through, Senate Republicans like Mitch demanded the UAW agree to lower pay and benefits "that would be in line with compensation earned by workers at U.S. factories producing cars for Japanese companies such as Honda, Toyota and Nissan." Having Senate Republicans try to set salaries for autoworkers is reckless and idiotic. Consider this: THEY are the ones who have spent this country dry on pork projects and a misguided war to the tune of $600 billion, and just last month gave away, without condition, $700+ billion to banks that didn't even ask for the money. To think they could set an hourly wage for an autoworker in this country is downright insulting to Americans. How about we Americans get a chance to set THEIR salaries?

This is an excerpt from an article by Eric Boehlert on Media Matters:
Felix Salmon at Portfolio did perhaps the best job explaining the misinformation at play:

The average GM assembly-line worker makes about $28 per hour in wages, and I can assure you that GM is not paying $42 an hour in health insurance and pension plan contributions. Rather, the $70 per hour figure (or $73 an hour, or whatever) is a ridiculous number obtained by adding up GM’s total labor, health, and pension costs, and then dividing by the total number of hours worked. In other words, it includes all the healthcare and retirement costs of retired workers.

Indeed, according to this Associated Press report, a chunk of GM’s $70-an-hour labor costs goes toward paying current retirees’ pensions and health-care coverage. In other words, that’s money that’s not going to end up in the pocket of any autoworker when he cashes his paycheck this week. That’s money GM has to set aside in order to pay off costs associated with workers already in retirement. That money has absolutely nothing to do with calculating the hourly wage of a full-time UAW employee today. None.

The United States helps foreign auto companies; gives them land worth billions, state incentives worth billions and training funds worth tens of millions of dollars. Japan helps the Japanese automakers, Germany helps the German automakers, Korea helps the Korean automakers. The United States had better start helping Americans keep American jobs at American auto companies. The nonsense you are hearing from Republicans in the Senate, the idiots on talk radio and the anti-union, corporate-owned media crowd only glosses over the facts. FACT: Senator Shelby from Alabama has no problem throwing piles of your money at foreign based automobile companies to locate a plant in his state. HERE'S THE PROOF. McConnell has no problem making sure we negotiate crooked, one-sided trade deals where foreign cars get dumped in America but American products have no chance being sold overseas. Wake up!!

There are a lot of union autoworkers in Louisville, and many reside in Southwest Louisville. These people are your friends and neighbors. You go to church with them. Your kids play with their kids. Don't insult and degrade them by acting as though you think you know how much they deserve to be paid per hour. With these high-paying jobs, they are paying more taxes so you don't have to. But when these jobs are gone, watch your tax bill, because the shortfall in receipts must come from you.

This matter affects all of us. Stand with American industry, and back the union autoworker. Thanks to the government, you are all the support he/she has left.

Call Senator Bunning (202-224-4343) and Senator McConnell (202-224-2541). Tell them to get their asses in gear.

McConnell Says "NO" to Automaker Loan

UPDATE 12/12/2008, 12:22am: Mitch & Co. just killed the automakers loan bill. Read the disaster HERE.


Aren't you glad that Mitch McConnell got re-elected? Mitch came out today and said "No" to a bridge loan for the Big 3 automakers. Yes, the same Mitch McConnell that voted to give away money in a bailout of banks with no string attached. A free bailout to firms whose CEO gets $354 million in total compensation over the past five years as Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers has. But when unionized companies come and ask for a loan, there are conditions.

McConnell seems to want a guarantee that the unions will be busted at the companies before he agrees to LOAN money. What an ass.

HERE is a take from the West Coast.

CNN has it HERE.

Local coverage is lacking at the moment. All the C-J has is an opinion piece on the matter. When there is a local news outlet that covers McConnell's statement, I'll put the link up. Until then, enjoy this video clip by my friend Jim Pence from The Hillbilly Report. It is good stuff.

Karma Is A Bitch; Ad Bites McConnell's A$$

Mitch McConnell is getting blasted by a revision of his own ad. The following is the spot Sen. Chicken Lips ran to beat Dee Huddleston....



Here's Bruce Lunsford's new spot:



Hilarious...