Hundreds rally at Iowa Capitol over labor laws

"The Protests Continue To Spread"

Read the article: Hundreds rally at Iowa Capitol over labor laws @ The Raw Story

It's the Inequality, Stupid

"Eight charts that explain everything that's wrong with America."

Facts and figures in handy chart form can be found at: It's the Inequality, Stupid @ Mother Jones

Wisconsin and Beyond: 8 Things All Working People Need to Know

"Working people did not create the recession or the budgetary crisis facing Washington or state or local governments, and there can be no more concessions, period. "

Wisconsin and Beyond: 8 Things All Working People Need to Know @ AlterNet

Signs of the Times: The Best Signs and Slogans of the Wisconsin Protests

"In Madison, Wisconsin, public workers—and their supporters—have been protesting by the tens of thousands, night and day, at the state's capitol building. They're hoping to block a proposed bill that would curb workers' wages, benefits, and bargaining rights."

"Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign..." (Five Man Electrical Band)
Signs of the Times: The Best Signs and Slogans of the Wisconsin Protests @ Yes Magazine

5 Ways You Can Fight "Citizens United"

("This [is the] decision [that] effectively grants corporations the same First Amendment Free Speech protections granted to real live people.")

Here are some things you can do: 5 Ways You Can Fight Citizens United by Annie Leonard and Allison Cook @ Yes Magazine

Corporations to Government: Give Us More, Tax Us Less

"If corporations paid taxes proportionate to the benefits they get from government and/or to what individuals pay, most US citizens would finally get the tax relief they so desperately seek. "

Read the rest at: Corporations to Government: Give Us More, Tax Us Less @ Truthout.com

How the middle class became the underclass

Here's more on the war against the Middle Class...

Even CNN talks about the challenges facing the Middle Class in their story: How the middle class became the underclass @ CNN Money

Tennessee teachers fight bill to end collective bargaining | The Raw Story

More "Union-Busting" behavior on display, as the "divide-and-conquer" attack on the Middle Class continues unabated...

Read the story (Thank You, Reading Teachers for making this possible!) at: Tennessee teachers fight bill to end collective bargaining @ The Raw Story

Two Libyan Fighter Pilots Defect Rather Than Bomb Protesters

While not necessarily "Jeffersonian," this was still note-worthy:

Read more of the story: Two Libyan Fighter Pilots Defect Rather Than Bomb Protesters @ Truthdig

Capitalism at Its Finest: Pizza Solidarity for Union Workers

Just a reminder of how people from all over the world are calling in Pizza Orders to Madison, WI area restaurants and having them delivered to the protesters at the Capitol!

See more (or place an order) at: Capitalism at Its Finest: Pizza Solidarity for Union Workers @ They Gave Us a Republic

Stand in solidarity against Walker's radical proposal and threats - sign the open letter

Here is a link to the letter:
Stand in solidarity against Walker's radical proposal and threats - sign the open letter | Progressive Change Campaign Committee

A Facebook Post About Teacher Salaries

This is great... Read this if you appreciate or even hate teachers.
by Eedroj Remier

Are you sick of high paid teachers? Teachers’ hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or 10 months a year! It’s time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do - baby sit! We can get that for less than minimum wage.

That’s right. Let’s give them $3.00 an hour and only the hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time, or any time they spend before or after school. That would be $19.50 a day (7:45 to 3:00 PM
with 45 min. off for lunch and plan — that equals 6 1/2 hours).

Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children.

Now how many do they teach in day…maybe 30? So that’s $19.50 x 30 = $585.00 a day. However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! I am not going to pay them for any vacations.

LET’S SEE…. That’s $585 X 180= $105,300 peryear. (Hold on! My calculator needs new batteries).

What about those special education teachers and the ones with Master’s degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage ($7.75), and just to be fair, round it off to $8.00 an hour. That would be $8 X 6 1/2 hours X 30 children
X 180 days = $280,800 per year.

Wait a minute — there’s something wrong here! There sure is!

The average teacher’s salary (nation wide) is $50,000. $50,000/180 days = $277.77/per day/30 students=$9.25/6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour per student–a very inexpensive baby-sitter and they even EDUCATE your
kids!)

Paul Craig Roberts: A Tool for Class War

"Too many Americans have been brainwashed to believe that America is in trouble because of its poor and its retirees."
Read more of: Paul Craig Roberts: A Tool for Class War @ counterpunch.org

Debunking Tea Party Talking Points in Wisconsin

"In typical Tea Party fashion, the talking points are filled with pejorative terminology like egregious violators, strong-arming, absurd contract, bullying, plush benefits, lavish contracts, extravagant health benefits, and bloated pension. They are designed from the top down to give the illusion of a common voice among conservatives about this issue, and like all propaganda, when the points are actually examined in detail, the whole charade begins to unravel."

Read more of: Debunking Tea Party Talking Points in Wisconsin @ newsjunkiepost.com

Like weekends? Thank Wisconsin unions.

Here's an unusual twist - a video post here at Jefferson Weeps...
Take a couple of minutes and watch: MSNBC video: Like weekends? Thank Wisconsin unions.

The Wisconsin protests and the re-emergence of the American working class

"The financial aristocracy that rules America is every bit as removed from and hostile to masses of working people as the dictatorial regime that was headed by President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. In the face of the worst economic crisis in generations—as millions lost their jobs, homes, and incomes—no measures were taken to help working people. Instead, trillions of dollars in public funds were handed over, no questions asked, to Wall Street and a financial elite whose reckless speculation had triggered the crisis in the first place."

Read more of:The Wisconsin protests and the re-emergence of the American working class @ wsws.org

Richard Trumka: This Isn't Deficit Control. It's Assault.

"No job safety inspections while inspectors are furloughed for up to three months. No food safety inspections while inspectors are off the job for more than a month. Ten thousand teachers and aides cut from struggling schools and 7,000 special education teachers and staff gone. State and local job training and employment services phased out for up to 8 million workers. Medicare and Social Security operations crippled. Fewer local police officers. Wall Street reform stymied. Policing of the financial practices that sank our economy gutted. More than 340,000 transportation jobs killed."

"This isn't "fiscal responsibility" or "deficit control." It's about the most bald-faced assault on America's middle class I've ever seen -- and clear political payback to CEOs who poured millions into the 2010 elections. CEOs don't like job safety regulations, so the politicians they elected are trying to cut the funding and fire the inspectors. CEOs don't want environmental safeguards, energy improvements or curbs on health insurance companies, so their politicians are pushing to just defund the programs.

The team of Wall Street CEOs and the politicians they support dug a massive deficit hole by tanking the economy and handing massive tax cuts to the very rich. Now they're throwing the middle class into that hole and shoveling on the dirt."

Read more of: Richard Trumka: This Isn't Deficit Control. It's Assault @ Huffington Post

A Jefferson Quote

From a friend on Facebook...
Bill O'Neill
“I hope that we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.” - Thomas Jefferson, 1816