The Crimes of Marco Rubio, Part II

[LDAHL]

I see DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is attacking Marco Rubio for allowing a fundraiser for his campaign at the home of a collector of historical art and memorabilia because the fellow owned a few Hitler-related items. He also owns artifacts related to Stalin, Churchill, Lincoln and Castro.

Already reeling from the New York Times revelations that his wife had some parking tickets and that he took out a student loan, could this be the end of Marco Rubio’s ambitions?

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/debbie-wasserman-schultz-marco-rubio-tasteless-fundraiser-213933

[iris lilies]

is nice for Debbie to signal who the Dems believe is a threat.

I sort of thought that Walker or Rubio would be fine compromise candidates and with Walker gone, Marco is the new shiney object to break.

[Williamsmith]

Walker never had a prayer. Too many enemies and not enough juice.

[jp1]

is nice for Debbie to signal who the Dems believe is a threat.

I sort of thought that Walker or Rubio would be fine compromise candidates and with Walker gone, Marco is the new shiney object to break.

Well, she's at least signaling who the party management thinks is a threat. But then they thought Jeb! and Walker were threats, so I guess now that they're failing/out it's on to the next most mainstream R candidate to worry about. The republican voters apparently didn't get the memo though. They seem to be all about the non-DC type candidates this year if the polling numbers are to be believed.

[kib]

According to someone on NPR, if I understand it, Rick Perry's super pac supporters cannot allocate his remaining SP funds toward another candidate, but if they wish, they can use them to launch a smear campaign against one of the other candidates. I ... guess that's legitimate, if you can't support your guy at least you can work against what you consider the greater evil, but it just adds another strange twist to the mess that is the current election process. Theoretically, it could be his own party, in effect, pulling up "dirt" on Rubio. He probably uses name brand deodorant and toothpaste, he might even buy bottled water. Horrible, how could we possibly consider such a filthy swine. >8)

[Williamsmith]

That any of this makes any difference ....meh. .. The nominee will be whoever the oligarchy sees as the best organ for political bribery. For both parties. And so from the list if I were a member of the ruling financial elite Rubio would be second to Jeb Bush. Thus Rubio and Bush will prop each other up and Bush will make Rubio a figurehead in his election campaign.

All the the others are just entertainment for the masses.

[LDAHL]

Walker never had a prayer. Too many enemies and not enough juice.

I think he would have had a prayer if he were a stronger campaigner (which has always been a problem for him). As far as "too many enemies", I think you could argue that his national prominence was largely a creation of his enemies. The frenzied hatred on the left that grew out of his and the the GOP legislature's ending of mandatory union membership for many public service jobs are really what put him in the spotlight.

[Alan]

The frenzied hatred on the left that grew out of his and the the GOP legislature's ending of mandatory union membership for many public service jobs are really what put him in the spotlight.That and the entire Democratic legislature going into hiding in neighboring states to avoid voting on the issue. And, the entire recall election fiasco waged by the left. Whata buncha goobers.

[Ultralight]

That and the entire Democratic legislature going into hiding in neighboring states to avoid voting on the issue. And, the entire recall election fiasco waged by the left. Whata buncha goobers.

Hey guys, trash talking the unions is not cool. Didn't anyone tell you it is wrong to speak ill of the dead? hahaha

Walker and WI made me realize (as I was a staffer for a union at the time) that the labor movement was over. Finito. No mas. El fin.

38% of union members voted for Walker...wait for it... in the recall!

I was like, "Yeah... I need to find a job being a sycophant for the rich otherwise I will be unemployed and blacklisted."

[LDAHL]

That and the entire Democratic legislature going into hiding in neighboring states to avoid voting on the issue. And, the entire recall election fiasco waged by the left. Whata buncha goobers.

With enemies like Michael Moore and Ed Schultz who needs friends?

[LDAHL]

Hey guys, trash talking the unions is not cool. Didn't anyone tell you it is wrong to speak ill of the dead? hahaha

Walker and WI made me realize (as I was a staffer for a union at the time) that the labor movement was over. Finito. No mas. El fin.

38% of union members voted for Walker...wait for it... in the recall!

I was like, "Yeah... I need to find a job being a sycophant for the rich otherwise I will be unemployed and blacklisted."

In fairness, a lot of people who had no particular love for Walker voted against the recall because they felt it was an abuse of Wisconsin's recall process to try removing an incumbent for political reasons as opposed to criminality or incompetence. Also, a lot of private sector union types had no problem with public employees paying for half their pension contribution. There was probably a certain degree of "pension envy" helping the Governor.

[Williamsmith]

The labor movement is not over. Born out of the Homestead Strike of 1892. Not a strike by union workers but instigated by the employer to oust the union. The point, to cut costs of production no matter what the effects on labor was. It has never changed since then. Business versus labor. The pendulum swings back and forth but continues to swing. It is swinging back toward the unions. Walker is finito...no mas....el fin.

[Ultralight]

The labor movement is not over. The pendulum swings back and forth but continues to swing. It is swinging back toward the unions.

I was a Teamster for 3 years -- a proud Teamster. I grew up in a union family. I interned with UNITE HERE in graduate school. I worked my first "real" job as a union staffer for 3 years after finishing graduate school.

Every sign I have seen is that the unions are going extinct. I think this is because most people are really dumb. And that is sad...

I left the labor "movement" because there is no future in it.

[LDAHL]

The labor movement is not over. Born out of the Homestead Strike of 1892. Not a strike by union workers but instigated by the employer to oust the union. The point, to cut costs of production no matter what the effects on labor was. It has never changed since then. Business versus labor. The pendulum swings back and forth but continues to swing. It is swinging back toward the unions. Walker is finito...no mas....el fin.

How do you figure? Half the states now have Right to Work laws in place, and card check seems pretty much dead in the water.

What trends do you see favoring organized labor? I don't see the Walker collapse as due in any way to Labor's political might. He's just a tragically bad campaigner. They pulled out all the stops during the recall and re-election, and suffered an ignominious defeat.

[Williamsmith]

Trending: Workers are tired of being cut hours so that they don't qualify for any benefits, workers are seeing no wage increases for many consecutive years, workers are tired of being labeled "exempt" so that they are not eligible for overtime pay, workers are tired of management making promotions based on favoritism and not on qualifications, workers are tired of be intimidated and working in hazardous or abusive environments, workers are plain sick and tired of being treated this way.

[LDAHL]

Trending: Workers are tired of being cut hours so that they don't qualify for any benefits, workers are seeing no wage increases for many consecutive years, workers are tired of being labeled "exempt" so that they are not eligible for overtime pay, workers are tired of management making promotions based on favoritism and not on qualifications, workers are tired of be intimidated and working in hazardous or abusive environments, workers are plain sick and tired of being treated this way.

None of that is anything new, and it hasn't seemed to translate into increased organizing and public support.

[jp1]

None of that is anything new, and it hasn't seemed to translate into increased organizing and public support.

I would agree with you. The pendulum still appears to be swinging away from labor. But at some point it will swing the other way. But not until it gets so bad for workers that they figure out that old saying, taken out of context, united we stand, divided we fall.

[Williamsmith]

Using your comparison to a pendulum. The velocity of the bob on the pendulum is greatest at the bottom of the arc. That is where the swiftest change takes place and is easily observed. The velocity decreases as the bob swings up until it changes direction at zero velocity. If in fact we are about to change directions in favor of unions....then we are at the top of an arc of the pendulum at or near zero velocity and by appearances not making any changes at all at least to an outward observer.

Now that John Boehner is resigned as Speaker .....the inmates are poised to run the asylum. I don't think the middle class/working class will tighten their belts at the request of the oligarchy. the unions are formed up and ready to roll.

[Ultralight]

Workers would rather spend money they don't have on credit cards than organize and strike for higher wages.

[LDAHL]

Using your comparison to a pendulum. The velocity of the bob on the pendulum is greatest at the bottom of the arc. That is where the swiftest change takes place and is easily observed. The velocity decreases as the bob swings up until it changes direction at zero velocity. If in fact we are about to change directions in favor of unions....then we are at the top of an arc of the pendulum at or near zero velocity and by appearances not making any changes at all at least to an outward observer.

Now that John Boehner is resigned as Speaker .....the inmates are poised to run the asylum. I don't think the middle class/working class will tighten their belts at the request of the oligarchy. the unions are formed up and ready to roll.

I think it will take more than righteous anger. Union membership has been declining for sixty years. For some time government has been the last closed shop bastion, but that appears to be crumbling with defeats in places like Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin. It’s hard to see any evidence out there for a coming resurgence of organized labor.

[Ultralight]

I think it will take more than righteous anger. Union membership has been declining for sixty years. For some time government has been the last closed shop bastion, but that appears to be crumbling with defeats in places like Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin. It’s hard to see any evidence out there for a coming resurgence of organized labor.

You are right, sir!

[Williamsmith]

i guess there are three options: take the credit as far as it will go before you crash, go homesteading, or join a union and start fighting. Well you could wait for your employer to suddenly become socially conscious and quit trying to cut employee costs each quarter but how's that been working for you?

[Ultralight]

i guess there are three options: take the credit as far as it will go before you crash, go homesteading, or join a union and start fighting. Well you could wait for your employer to suddenly become socially conscious and quit trying to cut employee costs each quarter but how's that been working for you?

I believe in the union as an organizational form.

But my experience with the unions has not been amazing.

[Williamsmith]

I grew up in a western Pennsylvania steel mill town. My father worked for mill in the rank and file and hated the politics of getting better jobs and promotions. So he transferred to payroll and became salaried and non Union. he never got the benefits the union guys received because he relied on the generousity of the company....and they were never generous with him. He retired....two years later the company filed bankruptcy, reduced his pension check 40% and cut his health benefits. The union guys......never lost a thing in retirement.

When the exponential nature of our financial system finally comes to a grinding halt......it will be time to fight for survival. I suggest that someone will figure this out and fight to change the financial scam before this happens and I think Unions of some sort will be involved. The current so called republican conservatives are merely pointing the finger at the middle class while they fleece the public by a for profit monopoly. Slavery is not dead.

[LDAHL]

I believe in the union as an organizational form.

But my experience with the unions has not been amazing.

Maybe the organizational form could evolve.

The old-style Joe Hill vision of organizing large labor cartels in huge industrial plants is probably dead. Could there be a bigger place somehow, for employee owned organizations competing with shareholder owned companies? Could specialized labor of various types be organized like a professional services LLC? Could a manufacturer simply contract with a union to outsource the HR function, including training, insuring and compensating a contracted workforce? It might only work well for the higher-skilled end of the labor force, and you would need to work out some equitable way to assign voting right, but it might be worth considering.

I don't think there's much chance of a general uprising of the sans culottes anytime soon. If organized labor wants to regain some degree of relevance, it will need to experiment with different strategies.