This just in from the AFL-CIO

We need your help. CEO pay is out-of-control, but we have a chance to rein it in. CEOs of the largest companies now make 380 times the pay of the average worker in the United States. Yes, that’s right. 380 times!

This growing income inequality is hurting our nation’s economy and working families. 

Luckily, some small steps have been taken to bring CEO pay out into the open but, as The New York Times editorialized recently,¹corporate lobbyists are pressuring the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to drag its feet about making this information public.

Click here now to tell the SEC to take a step in the right direction and disclose CEO-to-worker pay ratios. 

Runaway CEO pay is bad for our economy and it’s bad for the morale of working families. Employees at every level, from the executive suite to the mailroom, contribute to making a company successful. 

But companies act as if CEOs alone are responsible for the success of their organizations. That’s why the average CEO of an S&P 500 company received a 13.9 percent raise in 2011 compensation—to an astounding $12.94 million.

Tell the SEC: Make CEO pay more transparent by disclosing CEO-to-worker pay ratios.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires public companies to disclose CEO-to-worker pay ratios. Disclosing these pay ratios will shame companies into stopping runaway CEO pay. 

But corporate executives are lobbying hard to keep this pay information secret. We need to let the SEC know that a few corporate lobbyists advocating for the interests of the 1% does not outweigh the views of working families who feel CEO pay has run amok.

Click here now to send a quick e-mail to the SEC and demand that the CEO-to-worker pay ratio disclosure rule be issued ASAP. 

Equality

One of my favorite MASH episodes is L.I.P.'s. It's in the second season and consists of Hawkeye accomplishing two missions. First, he hooks up with the girl he wants and second, he helps a soldier marry an L.I.P. or Local Indigenous Person. The part that sets this one as a favorite starts at 22 minutes. When Hawkeye rejects the girl because of some unsavory ideas. Go ahead and watch, I'll wait.



Pretty awesome, huh?

The real point of this opening is one of the main reasons I like to watch MASH. Hawkeye sees everyone pretty much as equals (except women which he learns in later episodes). There is no reason that Kim in the above episode should not be allowed to marry an American or why Klinger shouldn't be allowed to walk around in dresses or the gay guy in another episode be allowed to continue to fight after he is outed to his unit and they beat the shit out of him.

Other Options...

OK. Here's the road map.

Article here, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/world/europe/greek-workers-strike-against-new-round-of-austerity.html?_r=1&hp

The other option.

Article here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_economic_crisis_(1999%E2%80%932002)

Then this happens.

There are alternative options. These are not new situations. It is best to learn from the past.

In solidarity with the Greeks.

Vote for you!

Master of the Obvious

Rich patrons are a major source of Romney's cash, are you serious? That's like reporting that the Japanese Tsuanmi did a lot of damage when the huge wave rolled over its beaches. I didn't check, but I'm guessing the NYTimes doesn't have a "Master of the Obvious" category for their news. It goes without saying that a party that, for the past year or so, has done nothing but try to convince everyone that taxing the wealthy is a bad idea would have very wealthy patrons funding their campaign. At least here in the good old US of A where wealthy individuals and corporations have full access to donate whatever money they want to influence the American public as part of the election process.

Anyway, here's part of the role call:

All told, the group, Restore Our Future, raised about $18 million from just 200 donors in the second half of 2011.

Millions of dollars came from financial industry executives, including Mr. Romney’s former colleagues at Bain Capital, who contributed a total of $750,000; senior executives at Goldman Sachs, who contributed $385,000; and some of the most prominent and politically active Republicans in the hedge fund world, three of whom gave $1 million each: Robert Mercer of Renaissance Technologies; Paul Singer of Elliott Management, and Julian Robertson of Tiger Management.

Not to be out done, the other half of our one party system has also raised a huge sum of money.

But as Mr. Romney sailed to an overwhelming victory in Florida’s primary on Tuesday night, fund-raising documents filed by President Obama showed the kind of financial juggernaut he will face if he becomes his party’s nominee: Mr. Obama reported raising a total of $140 million in 2011, far eclipsing the $57 million Mr. Romney raised for his campaign for the year.

So between the two front runners for dictator there has been a total of $197 million dollars raised. $197 million to do what? Influence the American public to allow those who are in power to remain in power so the status quo doesn't shift. I can think of lots of things that would be a more worth-while use of those funds. Like paying for health care for millions of Americans or improving our education system, but I guess those aren't worthy causes or, better yet, good investments.

Vote for you!

Finally?

Four years. Is that what we were talking about. Let's explore that idea a little bit further. Four years and no one has ever been held responsible...

The Obama administration tried to instill confidence in the effort by installing Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York state attorney general who is viewed by liberal groups as a crusader against big banks, as one of the leaders of a new unit within the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. But skeptics still doubted the sincerity of the new effort.

Well, I was excited about this in the first paragraph of the story, but somehow the second one, quoted above, took all the wind right out of my foreclosed sails. Thanks a lot NYTimes.

Full article here, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/new-housing-task-force-takes-aim-at-wall-st.html

In other news, these two posts were juxtaposed on my Fbook page. It made me do a double take...

The top post is a quote from MLK, Jr. - "It’s all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps. It is even worse to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps when someone is standing on the boot."

The next post is about boicotting Starbucks because they support Gay Marriage.

We can obviously see some difference in ideas/opinions.

Vote for You!

Bail You Out.

Four years has passed since we bailed out the banks. Four years that they didn't have to wait around on the verge of collapse, wondering if they would be able to make it to the end of the month. Wondering if their decisions would leave them with nothing. They spoke and those in power reacted, quickly.

Four years has passed

Four years that the average person has been toiling, working, hoping that with their efforts, their decisions they may be able to hold on till the end of the month, that they might be able to make ends meet. Four years of wondering if anyone would come to their aid. Four years of anguish and anxiety waiting for that notice to come for you to vacate your home.

Four years has passed and we still have no bail out for the average person....

A Deal on Foreclosures Inches Closer - NYTimes.com


Why is a deal even in the works, political pressure and hoping to yet again win an election.

But a final agreement remained out of reach Monday despite political pressure from the White House, which had been trying to have a deal in hand that President Obama could highlight in his State of the Union addressTuesday night.

Wow. Thanks governing leaders. We are all so very happy that it is so easy to see where your loyalties lie...

Luckily for us, the Occupy movement has shifted the context of political debate in this country. Ideas and movements that were unheard of or scoffed out of existence before they had a chance are up and running. The recent blackout of the internet being a fine example. Followed by the take down of a slew of government websites when the DOJ shut down Megaupload.com.

One of those ideas is similar to the Voteforyou! creed, Americans Elect is an organization that is setting up to be the first real attempt to get a non-partisan primary going allowing any and all Americans to vote for a third party candidate that suits their ideologies.

Is it in the right direction? I believe so. Is it where we want to be? Not quite yet, but I'm willing to support it in an effort to move in the right direction. Democracy is about making choices, not having choices made for you.

P. L. and R.

I think I'd rather not, but they do have a point.

Dear MoveOn member,

You should run for office. 

No, really. You, Moose Knuckler, should run for elective office: maybe city council or school board in Washington, or the state legislature in Salt Lake City.

Here's why you're exactly the kind of person who should run:

1. We need more true progressives in office—more MoveOn members!--and fewer career politicians.

2. This is exactly how the tea party took power in 2010—running grassroots candidates in as many districts as they could.

3. With a wave of at least 2,012 American Dream candidates running up and down the ballot, we can start to defeat corporate Republicans and disappointing Democrats, and not just for one or two election cycles but for a generation.

Would you ever consider running for office? It's easier than you think, and there's lots of help available. So what do you think? Are you in?

 

Yes, I'd consider running for office.

The tea party movement has recruited thousands of candidates for office over the past couple of years, and used them to spur a wave of attacks on progressive policies across the country.

We're working with partners like the New Organizing Institute's Candidate Project to find strong progressives to run for office and fight for our rights, state by state. That's how conservatives are working to change America, and that's how we're going to beat them in 2012 and beyond.

It's a whole new strategy for MoveOn. We can connect you with the resources to help assess what running for office would take, to find an elected position that could be a good fit for you, and to provide you with expert training, winning strategic advice, and other campaign help.

If you've ever thought you might be willing to take your local involvement to the next level by running for office—or if this is the first time you've considered it—let us know and we'll help you get started. 

Yes, I'd consider running for office.

Thanks for all you do,

–Adam R., Elena, Tate, Kat, and the rest of the team

Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way.Chip in here.

There is a war going on for your dollar.

There is a war on Christmas.

It is being waged every second, every minute, every time you turn on your TV. It has been going on since the beginning of the last century. And it gets worse every year.

The conservative media will tell you that it is being waged by the PC fascists of the left. The Liberals laugh it off as they should. They are not the ones waging the war.

For a holiday that is meant to celebrate Jesus Christ, the only thing that is promoted is greed and consumption.  We have people pepper spraying other shoppers to get gifts. We have incessant advertising. The all mighty dollar rules from Black Friday till Christmas Eve.

All in the name of a holiday that is supposedly celebrates the birth of a man who overthrew the money changers to preserve the sanctity of the temple of god (Mathew 21:12) and whose followers shared all things in common (Acts 2:44).

I may be off track, but it seems those who are waging a war on Christmas are the corporations and vendors attempting to ring every dollar they possibly can out of this misguided celebration.

I leave you with Bill Maher's thoughts on the matter.




Merry Xmas!

This Occupy Movement gives me hope

The season is upon us.

The campaign signs are out.

This is means that it is time for us to put our collective nothingness to good work and do some campaigning.

I've checked the local campaign sign codes and as long as we are campaigning for something, any political sign is legal this time of year.

So lets make some signs...

I'll let you know when and where.