"CWA, America's largest communications and media union,
represents over 700,000 men and women in both private
and public sectors..." -excerpt from cwa-union.org/news website-
CWA Local 4309
Communication Workers of America
Local 4309
2728 Euclid Ave, Suite 300
Cleveland, Ohio 44109
Main Phone #: 216-579-4309
____________
Archive - May thru July 2011
America is not Broke ...
by Michael Moore, Open Mike Blog
America is not broke.
Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you'll give up your pension, cut your wages and settle for the life your great-grandparents had, America is not broke. Not by a long shot. the country is awash in wealth and cash. It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist n history, from the workers and consumers, to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich.
Write, Call or Email Your U.S. and State Representatives .... tell them:
(1) "Legislation that's bad for the American Worker is bad for the American economy!"
Until the "huge profit margins" are eliminated or countered, profit margins that corporations steal from workers and consumers (not earn) by making and assembling products in poor overseas countries with workers earning per week what it costs us in America for a cup of coffee ... corporations will continue to operate with the lowest cost workers they can find anywhere in the world. If you want to make it in Pakistan, great, then sell it in Pakistan; make it in India, sell it in India or any country that has the equivalent standard of living ... but no American worker should be made to compete for work with workers in third world countries making products that these corporations send back to the U.S. You want to sell in the U.S., then make it in the U.S. or in an overseas country that pays worker wages equivalent to U.S. worker wages. We should not be in a race for the bottom if the U.S. middle class is to survive. We should not become slaves or indentured servants for the corporate world. We already went through that part of our embarrassing history. Only new "Trade Legislation" that charges importing corporations fees based on "the wage differences between the U.S. and importing corporation worker wages," (not the suggested retail or wholesale pricing because that will still provide corporations with their windfall profit margins) will remove the motivation for moving work overseas.
(2) "When we look for money to buy a home, we go where the money is ... the banks. Now you're looking for money to balance the budget, and where are the Republican leaders looking? ...to take from programs needed by people who are barely hanging on. It doesn't make sense to go after money in a budget from those who have the least. However, It does make sense to go where the money is ... increase taxes on those with the money. The cost of extending the Bush tax cut to those in the wealthiest tax brackets cost the U.S. budget $42 billion for every extended year. A 2% income tax increase on those earning $500,000 or more per year would not make them miss a meal, lose a roof over their heads, pay their utilities. They may have to scrap a Tropical vacation or delay the purchase of that $100,000 sports car or collectible. The Republican leaders say this will hurt business ... but this was to be a small tax on personal income, not business income. The next argument is that it will hurt the small business owner who is a sole proprietor and reports all their profit as personal income. The tax would stop the owner from a business investment. Any business investment is still tax deductable so no tax would be paid on that amount. Taxes collected go right back into the cash flow of the economy and create jobs or save jobs unless it goes to big business (corporate tax breaks) who uses it for foreign outsourcing.
No amount of tax breaks or other incentives will have these large corporation hire U.S. workers when they can get workers overseas to work for 1% of what American workers earn. We've all heard about the carrot and stick motivations. We cannot motivate corporations with a carrot big enough, so we need to use the stick. The Republicans may call it "protectionist" and I guess it is. We need to protect American workers. That isn't stopping imports. This would only even the playing field and tell corporations to seek their profits, not by cutting worker wages or seeking low cost workers, but by legitimately creating new products or innovating or competing for the consumers by great customer service and great products.
