#Unions

"Do not seek to follow the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought."

Basho

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Established in 2005, Back on the Block is a progressive publication whose mission is to educate, enlighten, entertain and sometimes challenge. Often critical, sometimes cynical, sometimes irreverent – but always hopeful that what we say and the information that we provide touches the heart and mind.

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Jay Murdock

Mar 30, 2011
3 min

Injustices, From Memphis to Madison

Rev. Jesse Jackson: Civil rights activist On Monday, April 4, the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination in Memphis, Tenn., workers across the country will honor Dr. King by standing in solidarity with the public employees under assault in Madison, Wis., and in other states across the Midwest. The protests, fittingly, are organized under the banner of We Are One. I was in Memphis at Dr. King’s side — and on Monday I will be in Madison, for there is a straight l

Maine Governor Paul LePage Reveals the Fears of the Right

Jay Murdock

Mar 26, 2011
4 min

Maine Governor Paul LePage Reveals the Fears of the Right

Harvey J Kaye Professor of Democracy and Justice Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay One thing you have to say for Governor Paul LePage of Maine is that he’s an honest guy. Right-wing Republicans incessantly proclaim their reverence for the American past. But the Governor has made it quite clear that, contrary to their repeated claims, conservatives do not revere the nation’s history but actually fear it and believe they must act to control what people remember a

Wisconsin Continues Right-Wing Structural Reforms That Have Transformed the United States

Jay Murdock

Mar 16, 2011
5 min

Wisconsin Continues Right-Wing Structural Reforms That Have Transformed the United States

Mark Weisbrot: Co-director, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Washington, D.C. Posted: March 15, 2011 04:15 PM With the latest turn of events in Wisconsin, Republican state senators have circumvented the need for a quorum vote on Scott Walker’s budget bill by leaving out the fiscal clauses and passing the new laws curbing collective bargaining rights for state and public employees. This dubious tactical maneuver strips away the pretense that Walker and his GOP allies

Jay Murdock

Mar 13, 2011
2 min

Did They Die in Vain?

On May 4, 1886, in Haymarket Square in Chicago, the public rallied peacefully in support of 40,000 workers in Chicago who had gone on strike, to win the right to organize. The police attacked, and eight died. On July 6, 1892, in Homestead, Pennsylvania, 3800 workers went on strike, to win the right to organize. Three hundred hired and armed goons attacked them. Five people died. On April 20, 1914, in Ludlow, Colorado, 1200 coal miners went on strike, to win the right to organ

MadisonWorld: A Future Where Corporations Have Human Rights … And Humans Don’t

Jay Murdock

Mar 11, 2011
8 min

MadisonWorld: A Future Where Corporations Have Human Rights … And Humans Don’t

Richard (RJ) Eskow – Consultant, Writer, Senior Fellow with The Campaign for America’s Future: Posted: March 11, 2011 01:09 AM Today we saw state troopers in Madison tearing peaceful protestors out of their own capitol after the state’s Senate voted to deprive them of their rights. Video footage of that event should come with a label: Brought to you by the State of Wisconsin, a wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries. Right now Wisconsin is serving as the prototype for Un

Jay Murdock

Mar 10, 2011
3 min

Crushing Workers Won’t Solve Deficits

Rep. Jim McDermott: Represents the 7th Congressional , District of Washington (Seattle) in the U.S. House – Posted: March 9, 2011 02:24 PM While millions of ordinary Americans have been struggling to cope with the harsh economic realities of the last two years, Republican elected officials have focused their attention on ways to take political advantage of widespread hardship. Republicans have decided that ongoing economic turmoil offers a perfect opportunity to go after thei

Jay Murdock

Feb 28, 2011
4 min

The Real Issues: A Wisconsin Update

George Lakoff – Author, The Political Mind, Moral Politics, Don’t Think of an Elephant! Posted: February 26, 2011 01:19 PM The Wisconsin protests are about much more than budgets and unions. As I observed in “What Conservatives Really Want,” the conservative story about budget deficits is a ruse to turn the country conservative in every area. Karl Rove and Shep Smith have made it clear on Fox: If the Wisconsin plan to kill the public employees’ unions succeeds, then there wi

Attacks on Unions Barking up the Wrong Money Tree

Jay Murdock

Feb 27, 2011
4 min

Attacks on Unions Barking up the Wrong Money Tree

Michael Winship – President, Writers Guild of America, East; Former senior writer, Bill Moyers Journal – Posted: February 25, 2011 03:07 PM “More cheese, less sleaze!” That was the funniest group chant at Tuesday’s rally of several hundred union and other progressive activists outside the Manhattan headquarters of Fox News. Several “cheeseheads” were in attendance, their noggins topped by the now familiar wedge-shaped, orange hatwear made popular by Green Bay Packer fans. O

Jay Murdock

Feb 23, 2011
2 min

Wisconsin: Four Facts You Need to Know

Like Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow’s love child making the world safe for progressive ideas – Posted: February 22, 2011 02:04 PM What’s happening in Wisconsin isn’t about budget deficits or government spending or even public employee benefits. It’s class war, wherein the big business, conservative Right tries to pit working class Americans against one another so that the super-rich can continue to pilfer our private and public coffers for their own boundless gain. Here are t

Jay Murdock

Feb 22, 2011
4 min

The Monsters Are Due on Maple Streets

Marty Kaplan – Director, Norman Lear Center , Professor at the USC Annenberg School Posted: February 21, 2011 01:19 PM The power has gone out in a typical American town. Wait — it’s not just the electricity. The phones don’t work, either. Portable radios are dead. Cars won’t start. But then lawn mowers and cars and lights inexplicably start and stop on their own. What’s going on? A meteor? Sunspots? Or are there, as Tommy’s comic book suggests, aliens among us, preparing for

The Madison Protests: It’s Not About the Money

Jay Murdock

Feb 21, 2011
6 min

The Madison Protests: It’s Not About the Money

Howard Schweber – Associate Professor of Political Science and Law, University of Wisconsin-Madison – Posted: February 20, 2011 09:57 PM Madison, Wisconsin, The Heartland, America. I am not what you would call a real “progressive” in the modern sense of the word. I actually have significant concerns about the role of public sector unions when they become too large — they can begin to act like monopoly players in the labor market and to exert an unwholesome amount of politica

This Isn’t Deficit Control. It’s Assault.

Jay Murdock

Feb 17, 2011
3 min

This Isn’t Deficit Control. It’s Assault.

Richard Trumka – President, AFL-CIO: Posted: February 16, 2011 09:17 AM 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 operatio

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"Do not seek to follow the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought."

Basho

News and Opinion Channel

Recommendations

The Hartmann Report

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The Banter - Washington DC

Roland Martin Unfiltered

Back on the Block

Music, News and Conversation for Grown Folks

Politicon

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RadioActive1 WBOB

Your place in cyber space for the most unique
listening experience on the internet.

Follow Us On

"Do not seek to follow the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought."

Basho

News and Opinion Channel

Recommendations

The Hartmann Report

The Signorile Report

The Banter - Washington DC

Roland Martin Unfiltered

Back on the Block

Music, News and Conversation for Grown Folks

Politicon

Coming to you from the heart of the 330

RadioActive1 WBOB

Your place in cyber space for the most unique listening experience on the internet.

Your place in cyber space for the most unique
listening experience on the internet.