NOW that a Wisconsin judge has temporarily blocked a state law that would strip public employee unions of most collective bargaining rights, it’s worth stepping back to place these events in larger historical context.
Republicans in Wisconsin are seeking to reverse civic traditions that for more than a century have been among the most celebrated achievements not just of their state, but of their own party as well.
Wisconsin was at the forefront of the progressive reform movement in the early 20th century, when the policies of Gov. Robert M. La Follette prompted a fellow Republican, Theodore Roosevelt, to call the state a “laboratory of democracy.” The state pioneered many social reforms: It was the first to introduce workers’ compensation, in 1911; unemployment insurance, in 1932; and public employee bargaining, in 1959.
University of Wisconsin professors helped design Social Security and were responsible for founding the union that eventually became the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Wisconsin reformers were equally active in promoting workplace safety, and often led the nation in natural resource conservation and environmental protection.
But while Americans are aware of this progressive tradition, they probably don’t know that many of the innovations on behalf of working people were at least as much the work of Republicans as of Democrats.
Although Wisconsin has a Democratic reputation these days — it backed the party’s presidential candidates in 2000, 2004 and 2008 — the state was dominated by Republicans for a full century after the Civil War. The Democratic Party was so ineffective that Wisconsin politics were largely conducted as debates between the progressive and conservative wings of the Republican Party.
Article continues: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/opinion/22cronon.html?_r=2
William Cronon is a professor of history, geography and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
via nytimes.com
Yes republican politicos were reasonable people at one time, even progressively so.
Found at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/opinion/22cronon.html?_r=2
This new book should shake a few trees. Hope it helps to improve healthcare in my lifetime.
Link: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=demand-better-health-care-book
Women: use your power to change the subject from defunding Planned Parenthood to giving it even more funds, because it's that important!!
Thanks to Second City.
Check out how much the very rich earn in comparison to the other 96% or so earn. Look at the article for details.
Seems pretty accurate to this day. Don't know when or where I saw this but I thought it should be posted again.
Can the EU Spark Global Insurrection Against Shock Capitalism?
Across Europe people are taking to the streets to protest the ravaging of their economies by the global financial elite. The very banks and financial institution that have caused the economic crisis enveloping the world are now squeezing the working class for repayment of the debts they incurred. Neither their scheme, nor their remedy, has been subtle. They’ve been arrogantly transparent with their machinations. The financial sector greedily, and perhaps purposely, overextended itself, demanded bail-outs from their allies in the IMF, World Bank, WTO, et al, and then insisted that the money be recouped from citizens and tax-payers.
By Liam Fox NEWS JUNKIE POST
Nov 29, 2010 at 10:45 pmIt doesn’t simply end with higher taxes and lower civil services. In addition to the direct theft of those dollars is the proposed privatization of education, and health care, and the chance to purchase public land and resources with the grotesque profits they made from crashing the economy and demanding bail-outs.
Greece
Immigration Hysteria Gone Crazy: Deporting A Resident of 50 Years
By Ole Ole Olson NEWS JUNKIE POST
Dec 5, 2010 at 11:04 pm
55diggMike Burrows came to America when he was two years old, and has lived here for 50 years. Due to a technicality in harsh anti-immigration laws, he will likely be deported to his birthplace of Canada within weeks, a country that he has no current connection to and no memory of.
I was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. My dad worked for a division of Capitol Records. He received a transfer to Los Angeles, got permanent resident visas for the whole family and when I was two years eleven months old, we moved to the States. I grew up in Glendale, California, where I said the pledge of allegiance, played baseball, and lived like any American. Except for a first grade teacher who told me I could never be President, I thought I was just like everybody else. In high school, I played guitar in a band, played first base for the jv then varsity baseball team. All in all, I was living an American life.
-Mike Burrows
