Roomin' House Blues

Polls are showing wide swings of voters away from recently elected Republicans who are charing ahead with budget cuts and dismemberment of collective bargaining for public employee unions.   These polls are holding also for many of the recently elected Republican Congress people and in many states where the politics has been less volatile than the Upper Mid-West States. In Wisconsin, polls suggest that if there was a do over of the gubernatorial race in which Scott Walker decisively beat Tom Barret, Barrett would easily win by 52%.  Walker's support in union households has dropped from 40% to 33% and Tom Barrett's union household support has jumped from 54% to 64%.  Barrett's support among Republicans has risen to 10%.  In Michigan the new Governor created what people are calling financial martical law, where he can declare a financial emergency in a local government, take it over, and void union contracts. ...

Pete Seeger here introduces Woody Guthrie singing songs of the American worker people, including John Henry with Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.  Singing gets us through the hard times. 

In 1964 Pete Seeger introduced Woody Guthrie to British TV audiences with Hard Travelin' and a clip of Woody Sining Rangers Command.  Hard Travelin' is a dust bowl song from the Great Depression ear--another hard time in America. Woody was dying of Huntington's Corea in a hospital but his friends were sining his songs. 

Gov. Kaisch, God will get you for what you are doing to Ohio's working people. It's defintely against the social teachings of the church. And we have the poll numbers to prove that people of faith know that. See: New Poll: Ohioans of Faith Reject Gov. Kasich's Unfair Budget Proposal, Attacks on Workers - ProgressOhio

In keeping with this blogs tradition, I keep adding "hard times" music, labor songs, and other songs of the people for your listening pleasure.  Blink Blake was one of the great Blues players of his time. 

Tonight, Thursday March 31st, at 8PET,   Kevin Appleby, Migration Policy Director for USCCB, will appear on “The World Over”, a show on the Catholic network EWTN.   USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) has worked very hard for a fair and just immigration policy. Justice for Immigrants is asking supporters of Catholic teaching on immigration to call in with questions.  Catholic teaching on immigration, while taking into account the right of a nation to protect it's borders, is primarily motivated by the churches teaching on social justice. 

Public Citizen has sent me more email that may be of interest to you my readers. Special interests have politicians in their pockets because they have millions to spend and free rein on spending it. Joseph, Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that corporate political spending is the same thing as free speech by living, breathing people. Hundreds of thousands of people like you have signed petitions calling for a constitutional amendment to reverse this absurd ruling.  Now, let’s tell our members of Congress where we stand. Tell your members of Congress to support a constitutional amendment and legislation to undo the damage of  Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission .  Thanks to people like you, the movement to amend the Constitution to combat corporate control of our elections is growing stronger every day. In addition to a constitutional amendment, there are several steps Congress can take to help stop the corporate takeover o...

This is a humorous look at squatting, but I've posted a couple of items on the serious side, caused by the "Great Recession" elsewhere on my blog.  Enjoy!

Many low income people get under counted in the census. I myself was missed in the census of 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000 for various reasons. I was counted in 1960 and in the last census, although in the rooming house I live in, some people were missed. Homeless people are regularly missed and I personally believe that the annual count on homeless people is always an undercount, because they are so hard to find. Equal Voice concerns itself with issues of equality and this article about the Census adresses the issue well.  Please click on article below. Equal Voice Newspaper | Census Undercounts Costs Communities Millions

Happy Cesar Chavez Birthday.  I have received a letter from the United Farmworkers Union I want to share with you. March 31, 2011 Dear Joseph, Cesar Chavez speaking at the UFW's 1991 Constitutional Convention in Delano Click here to honor Cesar on his March 31 birthday Happy Cesar Chavez Day! Throughout his life,  César inspired millions of people – from the fields and in the cities-- to commit themselves to the fight for social, economic, and civil rights.  When he was once asked by a union member how he wanted to be remembered,  Chávez replied,  “If you want to remember me, organize!” César knew as you and I do--there is still much to be done. The struggle for a contract with Giumarra (one of the largest producers of table grapes ), injustice in the wrongful death of farm worker Maria Isavel Vasquez Jimenez, and the continuing legislative attacks on immigrants, unions and the poor remind us of the challenges we face this very moment. So today, w...

Here is another email I received from one of the groups addressing the economic crisis in America today. Yesterday, thousands of you called your Attorney General and demanded that they choose a side: the homeowners they've sworn to protect or the big banks that broke the law and bankrupted the economy.  Calls were made in 47 states! This is no small feat. And it's all because of you. Because of your call, the Attorneys General will have YOUR WORDS in mind as they sit down  today  with the big banks to hammer out the terms of the settlement to their fraudulent practices. They know that we will accept nothing less than a settlement that saves homes and forces the banks to pay for their crimes. Here's what some of you reported after the call: I tried 3 different numbers to leave a message and they were all FULL! I had to keep calling back. I'm glad so many people called, I've been so looking forward to today!! I told her (the receptionist) th...

Is micro-finance the way to  go? Or does it just enslave the poor to the lenders?  How much new economic activity does it allow and how much does it increase poverty for some?  Is it really different than pay day lenders in the United States?   View this video and read other articles on my blog to ponder this. 

Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi made it clear   that her judicial order  for officials not to implement the new  Wisconsin collective bargaining law meant what it said, Tuesday, and said defiance risks sanctions. But today Wisconsin's Governor was back at implementing the controversial law past under dubious circumstances.   Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller said of the Governor and the Republicans,  "They seem incapable of hearing people who say they are wrong,"  "I cannot understand the legal rationale of attorneys who are apparently advising this administration to ignore this order for whatever reason," Democratic Sheboygan County D.A. Joe DeCecco 's. He added that, "The very fabric of a just society is based on the rule of law. We don't have the option of which law we will obey and we don't have the option of which court order we'll ignore." " They're in contempt of court already," Uni...

A Modest Essay on Extraordinary Paychecks Here is a an essay on the vast disparity of incomes.  Compare the incomes of hedge fund managers to ordinary workers (or for an even greater contrast, a worker in a third world country) or even to the well paid, like the President or TV personalities, you will see what a vast amount of money Wall Street is raking in. This essay was sent to me by Public Citizen.  ( http://www.citizen.org/Page.aspx?pid=183 )

April 4th is the 43rd Anniversary of the Assassination of Martin Luther King and it's coming in the middle of a re-ignition of the labor and civil rights movements in the wake of Wisconsin.  The spirit of the Cheddar Revolution is spreading and hundreds of rallies, protest actions, leafleting, picketing, faith events, teach ins, work site discussions, and marches are scheduled.  A broad spectrum of labor and progressive organizations are taking action for Martin Luther King Jr.'s call for economic justice for all. Martin Luther King was in Memphis 43 years ago this April 4th, helping striking sanitation workers demand a living wage and better working conditions when an assassins bullet struck him down.  Across the country a wave of riots struck poor African American neighborhoods, college campuses erupted in protests and progressives took to the streets as grief and anguish motivated a broad spectrum of Americans.  ...

This just in, Wisconsin Judge Rules:  “Apparently that language was either misunderstood or ignored, but what I said was the further implementation of (the law) was enjoined,” said ticked off Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi. “That is what I now want to make crystal clear.”  Meanwhile the Gov's chief aide, Mike Huebsch, rather than agreeing to comply, says they will "evaluate" the courts orders.   “We will continue to confer with our legal counsel and have more information about how to move forward in the near future,” Huebsch said. Earlier in the Day: Gov. Walker of Wisconsin, defying a court order that placed the controversial law stripping collective bargaining on hold pending court review of the extraordinary conditions under which the legislature passed the law, stated that the fact that the State Senate's publishers had printed the law meant it is in effect anyway.  This may be the first time in which a printer has been allowed to overrule a cou...

The Republicans should have known that if you kick a sleeping dog you get a snarling dog and a snarling dog owner.  The attacks on labor, the extremism of budget cuts at a state level and by the House Republicans have stirred friends of  labor, friends of the poor, and the middle class.  

Got a favorite phrase you would like to translate into gobbledygook in case you ever land in the land of Gook on the Planet Gobbly?  I had "The buck stops here" translated into "Thegge Begguck Steggops Heggeregge!"  Go to:  http://www.chienworks.com/elecpark/egglatin.html

I also received another organization's email urging me to call the AG's office today.  See below: Greetings, Right now, the 50 State Attorneys General are in critical negotiations with the big banks. They need to hear from YOU that you want them to stand up for accountability for the big banks, real change in the banks abusive and illegal foreclosure practices, and real justice for millions of homeowners. CALL your state Attorney General today at 866-200-6444 or click here to find your Attorney General Tell your Attorney General that the country needs them to stand up TO the big banks, and stand WITH homeowners.  Tell them you are asking them to fight for justice for millions of homeowners, and to hold the big banks accountable for their illegal actions. Even with millions of families in danger of losing their homes, and with new evidence of law breaking by the big banks at every stage of the lending and servicing process surfacing daily, the financial industry lobb...

I got email today reminding me to call my Attorney General today to ask him to join in taking action.  See Below:       Joseph, TODAY we make our voices heard.  With the Attorneys General starting negotiations with the big banks this week, we need tell the AGs to stand with us and not the banks.     Washington  Attorney General Rob McKenna needs to hear from you today. See Rest of article at:   http://www.actonsoftware.com/acton/rif/710/s-0164-1103/-/l-1f19:1d16/l-1f19/showPreparedMessage

I just made sure my Attorney General is holding the big banks accountable for their crimes - Call your AG today!

I got another email about Washington State Workers' Comp legislation today from the Washington State Association for Justice.  If you haven't yet sent email to your legislators about this there are links to do this on a prior post: http://roominhouseblues.blogspot.com/2011/03/special-interests-pocketing-politicians.html And here is the new letter: Joseph, I have spent five years as a judge and 24 years as an advocate fighting for Washington workers in the courtroom, but my ability to help injured workers in the future will be dramatically impacted by our state legislators' actions in Olympia in the next two weeks. The good news right now is that grassroots supporters like you have shifted the momentum in the debate. Both HB 1487, the "retro claims bill" Carol Johnston emailed you about last week on which we have made great progress, and SB 5566, the so-called Compromise and Release ("C & R") provision, are now being re-evaluated by the House...

Are you a slave to the credit card companies? The American system is not one of wealth but debt. 

Local Catholic Workers sent me email with a link to the Sentence of the Disarm Now Plougshares activists. The Disarm Now Plowshares activists who entered U.S. Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor to symbolically disarm the nuclear weapons stored there were sentenced today at the Tacoma Federal Courthouse, receiving sentences of 6 months to 15 months confinement, plus one year supervised release.    More at:  http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com/

For those of us who have no children, and have an empty space in our lives, and do not have the financial ability to adopt children, there now comes help--adopt a snowflake:   http://www.chienworks.com/elecpark/snowflake/

Now sing this again for all the guys out of works with these lyrics: 99 Weeks of Checks in the Mail 99 weeks of checks in the mail, Open one up And pass it around Pay the bills down 99 weeks of checks in the mail 98 weeks of checks in the mail...

Three guys get together in a room with a plate of cookies on the table.  A dozen cookies.  The first guy is a billionaire, the other two are a union worker and a tea party activist.  The billionaire garbs 11 cookies and says to each of the others --hey he's trying to grab your cookie. 

With the high unemployment the total unemployment that one can be eligible for is 99 weeks.  By the time you have reached to 99 week maximum, if you are not at least temping, or getting a couple part time jobs, you will be in serious trouble, Most 100 'weekers' become "discouraged unemployed" who along with temps, part timers, those who retire early, and those who go on welfare, are not officially considered unemployed, but are part of a larger "underemployed figure that politicians don't like to see publicized if they think they will get blamed for it.  the reality is that real unemployment is nearly twice the "unemployment rate", a rate based on those who have done 3 or more searches a week or go regularly to a union hiring hall.  If you are long term unemployed, or forced into early retirement, or skating by on a part time job, you wait for a job opening you feel confident that you will be seriously considered for before applying. ...

This Morning the PICO National Network sent me a reminder email that tomorrow is the national call in day to demand AG's hold banks accountable for the foreclosure mess.  Read below: Tomorrow, on March 29, we have the opportunity of a lifetime to save millions from losing their homes and hold accountable the big banks that caused this crisis. Right now, the 50 state Attorneys General are in critical negotiations with the big banks. The outcome of these negotiations could mean the difference between millions of struggling homeowners finally getting the help they need from their lenders, or the big banks continuing with business as usual, foreclosing on families needlessly. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and other big banks could easily walk away scott-free, if thousands of us don’t call our Attorneys General tomorrow. Read 5 reasons to call your Attorney General tomorrow The time is now to collectively fight back.  We can work together to demand that the big ...

It is Lent and I have to ask - am I walking with Jesus?  Can I walk with Jesus?  In Pier Palo Pasolini's  masterpiece,   "Gospel According to St. Matthew" Jesus moves, talks and works with relentless intensity and sense of direction, and from that film I have formed a sense of how Jesus moved in the world from his Baptism until his crucification.  In this film he often preaches to those he passes while he continues walking in his single minded direction.  He gives people sometimes just a one line chance to consider the Kingdom of Heaven. While the language of this film is faithfully and exclusively from Matthew, it's relentless motion reflects Marks tersity and drive. but certainly in every Gospel Jesus is always on the move.  He tells us himself that "Foxes and birds have nest and lairs, but the Son of Man has no where to lay his head."  Last Friday night at Stations of the Cross , language out of the pr...

Note to my readers.  If you like me are a blogger, do not try grilling the cheese sandwiches while to write a blog post, unless you love the charcoal side.  And remember the "image of the Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich?  This was the image of the dark side of hell grilled cheese sandwich.  anyone want to bid on it? 

Prayer Request    Prayer request for a little girl in the hospital on my friend Mark's blog.  Please reac

Excerpt from an article from Life News.  While Is sometimes disagree with Life News conservative slant, it's publisher, Steven Etelt is a very nice man whom I have been privileged to correspond with numerous times.  He has never held my being a progressive side pro-lifer against me. Bishop Robert Hennessy presided at a special Mass at Our Lady of Czestochowa Church, and Marek Lesniewski-Laas, honorary consul of the Republic of Poland, delivered greetings from the Polish government. But Flynn, who was born in the neighborhood, spoke personally of the Holy Father he got to know so well while serving at the Vatican: I spoke with the pope on numerous occasions and traveled to several countries with him, but his personal kindness to my family will be what I will always be most grateful for. I was with him in Boston long before he became Pope, and was in Rome when he died. .... Ray Flynn is a Democrat who embodies precisely what he admired so much about John Paul II — a...

Democrats for Life, on their Facebook page, called attention to something of merit: ”Early on the morning of Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent’s season of penitence, Gov. Pat Quinn of Illinois went through some final, solitary rumination. For much of his political career, he had supported capital punishment, albeit with reservations, even debating it at the dinner table with his mother. Now a legislative bill abolishing it was waiting for his signature, or his veto…And when he signed the bill striking down the death penalty, he cited one influence by name: Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago.”  From the NYT

Another email newsletter I get is Life News.  I often disagree with some of the partisan perspective in it --that is pro-life Democrats, independents and 3rd party progressives are given little favorable coverage, dismissed or ignored, while the Republican Party is seen as the savior of the pro-life cause.  However, as I am a pro-life progressive I ignore some of the news and issues they raise at my own peril.  I keep getting it and if there is news  that I wish to share I will not make the error in logic of considering  the source beyond the question of credibility. Here is an article that I think should prick the conscience of even pro-choice die hards. Firebomb Thrown at Elderly Woman at Pro-Life Prayer Event A homemade incendiary device was thrown at one of the participants of the 40 Days for Life pro-life prayer vigil at an abortion business in Kalispell, Montana on Thursday night. The woman walked on the public sidewalk ne...

Under the title Springing Forward I recently got this email about Washington State political developments: Dear Friend, It’s been an exciting few months. Fuse members have turned out in force for two major rallies in Olympia, sent thousands of emails and attended dozens of town halls asking legislators to close unfair tax loopholes. We stood up to A.G. Rob McKenna’s conservative, anti-health care agenda, and we helped efforts to stop predatory lending and transition away from dirty coal power plants in Washington. During this flurry of organizing and activism, it’s important to step back for a moment and look at the big picture, as well as the impact we’ve made so far.  Fuse has four basic goals. We work to:  1) Engage more people in the political process, 2) Help progressive campaigns communicate more effectively with the public and the news media, 3) Increase collaboration between progressive groups, and  4) Increase leadership and accountability with elected...