Some restaurant workers are striking today for a liveable wage and teabaggers are responding at the Twitter hashtag #EatFast where they are posting mocking photos of themselves gorging on fast food.
1. IT WOULD CREATE JOBS.Low wages are holding back economic growth, but a raise for our country’s lowest paid workers would put money in the pockets of those most likely to spend it, generating much-needed consumer demand and contributing to economic growth across industries. That translates to higher GDP and new hiring in the labor market. 2. IT WOULD REDUCE POVERTY. More than ten million Americans—and the family members they support—live beneath the poverty line even though they have jobs. With a median wage of $8.85, a fast food cook in a family of three lives in poverty even if she never takes a day off. Raising wages in the fast food industry could improve living standards for millions of hard working people. 3. COMPANIES CAN AFFORD IT. With annual profits in the billions, the largest fast food companies could raise wages for their entire workforce and shareholders would still see a return. In fact, many of these employers already do pay higher wages to workers in other countries without wrecking their bottom lines. 5. COMPANIES THAT INVEST IN THEIR WORKERS THRIVE. Low-wage jobs are a business choice, but some employers take the high road offering fair wages, hours, and benefits. This investment in the workforce pays off in lower turnover and higher worker productivity, generating good service to customers and a solid bottom line. 8. IT WOULD PUSH UP WAGES FOR OTHER UNDERPAID WORKERS. Increasing the standard for decent pay in fast food could be a boon to low-wage workers across industries. The ripple effects start with increased consumer demand and economic growth, and create pressure in the labor market to raise wages in other low-pay positions. Contrary to popular myth, the vast majority of those affected by a raise at the bottom are working adults, struggling to make ends meet for themselves and their families. Even in fast food, most workers are 21 or older and have at least a high school degree. Raising wages in fast food could impact living standards for millions of American workers and the families that depend on them.
Dana's baseless smears of fast-food workers who are striking:
Visiting fast food businesses today to support free enterprise.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 5, 2013
What makes these strikers so much better than my single mom who worked her way up from 3 mim wage jobs?
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 5, 2013
I worked mim wage jobs through school. What makes these strikers better than me that they should get more $ than some MO cops?
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 5, 2013
I was a statistic, a kid raised by a single mom who worked 3 jobs to not go on gov't dole. Don't tell me there isn't opportunity.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 5, 2013
Who decided that there is shame with a job? A job is a job. There is shame in NOT working, not shame IN working.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 5, 2013
Who is pushing the theory that you cannot leave the station into which you were born? Is this a feudal society?
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 5, 2013
I have way more more respect for a fast food worker putting in 8 hours a day than a community organizer on the gov't dole. #fastfoodstrikers
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 5, 2013
Fast food workers are planning a strike to force employers to pay them $15 per hour. This Thursday, in over 100 cities across the nation, Big Labor is coordinating with “grassroots” activists to pressure these employers to pay a “living wage.” From all the press, you’d think the push toward higher wages was something noble. But, this is Big Labor. And no one will bully, threaten or intimidate to steal your hard earned money more than Big Labor. The group Fast Food Forward, one of the organizations in sync with Big Labor to shame fast food restaurants into extinction, states their purpose:
In America, people who work hard should be able to afford basic necessities like groceries, rent, childcare and transportation.
While fast food corporations reap the benefits of record profits, workers are barely getting by — many are forced to be on public assistance despite having a job.
Raising pay for fast food workers will benefit workers and strengthen the overall economy.
It’s not the workers that Big Labor wants to benefit. It’s Big Labor that Big Labor wants to benefit.
[...]
There is no way to determine a living wage anywhere in America. It’s a lie, and so is the idea that groups like Fast Food Forward and Big Labor care about fast food employees. Listen up, fast food workers, because you’re being used! Not by McDonald’s or Wendy’s or Chick-Fil-A, but by Big Labor and the political candidates (ideology) they support. BIg Labor wants you to unionize because Big Labor wants you to pay union dues. They want your money, and they don’t give a good holy damn about you!
Today, in reaction to school transfers from unaccredited Normandy and Riverview Gardens School Districts into other accredited school districts (Francis Howell, Mehlville, Kirkwood, and others), anti-teachers' unions advocate Dana Loesch downplays racial concerns about the transfers and misleadingly blames unions for allowing it to happen.
A disgusting, race-baiting article from a clueless out -of-towner. Schools LOST ACCREDITATION ... http://t.co/ZRqtczQAWo
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 1, 2013
... in a historically Democrat-run city where teachers's unions reign supreme, edu has been ruined ... http://t.co/ZRqtczQAWo
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 1, 2013
I hate to break this to you, Dana, but the teachers' unions DID NOT cause the demise of Normandy, Riverview Gardens, and other school districts.
And the same people who ruined these unaccredited districts are anti-voucher for these students. http://t.co/ZRqtczQAWo
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 1, 2013
Myself and friends live near and in these districts. I don’t live in West County. Some1 making up racial strife to blame for operation? LOL
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 1, 2013
These hacks who excuse DECADES of operation and union control enable the very thing which tanked these schools originally. Shameful.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 1, 2013
Right off the bat the article excuses decades of mismanagement by educrats as a racial issue. Race has nothing to do with why these schools in a historically Democrat-controlled area ran by administrators who pay more lip service to teachers’s unions than parents. [...] I live in the city. I don’t live in West County suburbia. Some of my friends and I live near or in the very districts this article discusses. Part of my family has lived in North County since WWII when the country women like my great-grandmother went to the factories. The problem with these districts are numerous and also include the breakdown of the family unit with no direction provided at home. Sending a kid to school for a few hours a day isn’t going to correct the established learning given to her or him through their home life. Unfortunately, the political leadership of this area cheerleads policies which obliterate the American family, economic opportunity, and after controlling this area for longer than even my parents have been alive, there is absolutely nothing to show for it aside from failing schools and failed kids. That’s what is shameful, that is the story, had it been written by someone with more devotion to truth than identity politics.
ST. CHARLES, Mo. — When the Missouri Supreme Court upheld a law in June allowing students from failing school districts to transfer to good ones, Harriett Gladney saw a path to a better education for her 9-year-old daughter. But then she watched television news clips from a town hall meeting for the Francis Howell School District, the predominantly white district here that her daughter’s mostly black district, Normandy, had chosen as a transfer site. Normandy, in neighboring St. Louis County, has one of the worst disciplinary rates in the state, and Francis Howell parents angrily protested the transfer of Normandy students across the county line, some yelling that their children could be stabbed and that the district’s academic standards would slip.
“When I saw them screaming and hollering like they were crazy, I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God, this is back in Martin Luther King days,’ ” said Ms. Gladney, 45. “ ‘They’re going to get the hoses out. They’re going to be beating our kids and making sure they don’t get off the school bus.’ ”
Public schools here in the St. Louis region, as in many other metropolitan areas across the country, have struggled for decades to bridge a wide achievement gap between school districts — a divide that often runs along racial and socioeconomic lines. By affirming the right to transfer students out of failing school districts, the State Supreme Court opened the doors for hundreds of families to cross the lines and move their children into better schools.
But the ensuing contention has shown that the process remains a tricky one, complicated by class, race, geography and social perceptions.
“Most folks are for having equal opportunity, having good schools for everyone,” said Patrick J. Flavin, an assistant professor of political science at Baylor University who recently wrote a report on the black-white achievement gap in schools. “We’re all about that in the abstract. You start to see support levels drop when it turns into a real-life thing.”
[...].
More than half of the 28 public school districts — excluding charter and specialty districts — in the city of St. Louis, St. Louis County and St. Charles County combined are at least 75 percent black or white. Of the nine districts that are at least three-quarters white, all but one scored a perfect 14 on the state’s performance rating scale. The six mostly black districts scored an average of 7.
Racial segregation has lingered in this region, the result of generations of discriminatory zoning and real estate practices. Efforts to reverse it have included a court-ordered program that has been busing thousands of black St. Louis students to mostly white suburban schools since the early 1980s.
[...]
Normandy and Riverview Gardens, also in St. Louis County, have each received transfer requests from about 1,000 students. Riverview Gardens administrators chose a second district, Kirkwood, to bus their students to, because their first choice, Mehlville, said it could not accommodate all of the transfers.
Some parents have criticized the law for not giving taxpayers a say in what happens in their own districts and accused the state of abandoning the unaccredited districts instead of working to improve them.
It’s insane to allege that Crowder — who wasn’t standing near the union member, who appeared to trip over his own feet rather than was “pushed,” and who had his back turned and turned with hands up in a non-threatening manner — pushed the union member. Where is Dunnings’ evidence? Why didn’t the union bring charges? Because it’s a bogus assertion.
Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings said he didn’t obtain the full video until he got it from a far left group which is an absolute, outright lie as the full, unedited video was posted by Crowder when he posted the edited-for-TV video. The full, unedited video was always available. Dunnings is simply protecting the union members behind the riot which saw them destroy property, put women and children in harm’s way, and assault those who were videotaped simply asking questions. It’s an embarrassment to the office in which he serves.
Dunnings did his job properly, and this is typical of her to demonize unions.
LANSING — Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said he won’t file criminal charges after reviewing unedited video showing events that led to a Fox News contributor being punched during December’s right-to-work demonstrations.
Steven Crowder filed a police report following the Dec. 11 incident at the Capitol, which Michigan State Police had referred to Dunnings’ office for review. The fight occurred amid generally peaceful demonstrations involving more than 10,000 people who had gathered in Lansing that day as lawmakers voted on a package of bills that ban requiring union dues as a condition of employment.
Both videos that Dunnings reviewed are available on the YouTube website, he said.
The edited clip was an 80-second video Crowder swiftly uploaded to the web following the incident. To date, it’s drawn nearly 1.4 million views on YouTube.
Crowder said on Twitter later day that he suffered a minor cut to the forehead and a chipped tooth after being “sucker-punched” four times. However, unedited footage shows that the union member who apparently punched Crowder appeared to have been pushed to the ground seconds before the brawl.
It’s unclear who pushed the union member. Crowder was standing nearby and appears to throw his hands up in the air in a gesture of innocence after the man fell, the video shows.
Nobody is safe. Apparently union protesters targeted anything that had a white tent yesterday, even reportedly taking out the hot dog stand of Lansing fixture Clint Tarver.
LANSING, MI – A fixture on the local food scene was in the wrong place at the wrong time Tuesday: under the Americans for Prosperity tent on the lawn of the state Capitol when it collapsed, allegedly at the hands of pro-union protesters. Clinton Tarver operates a popular hot dog stand at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Capitol Avenue, across from the state Capitol, from March to November each year. In the offseason, he takes on catering work.
Tarver was set up under the Americans for Prosperity tent, his wife, Linda Lee Tarver, said Wednesday. When the tent came down, allegedly at the hands of pro-union protesters, Tarver and his catering equipment were caught inside. His cart was not on-site, Linda said.
She estimates the equipment losses totaled at least $500; other losses include supplies, condiments, coolers and food. He crawled out of the tent. Tarver, who is black, was also the victim of racially-charged verbal attacks, his wife, Linda, said.
On her Facebook page, she wrote that union protesters called her husband "an Uncle Tom [n-word]" when he attempted to retrieve his equipment from the collapsed tent. "When he came back to get his stuff, people called him the n-word," she said. "They said he deserved what he got and he was on the wrong side. I think they thought he was part of [Americans for Prosperity]." But Clint is not a political man, she said; she herself is, and has been involved with Americans for Prosperity.
There was no excuse for Tarver to be racially insulted by a few protestors; however, this is no excuse for right-wing nuts to blame everything on "union thugs."
This is a far cry from the all-caps-can-you-believe-what-these-union-thugs-did freak out by conservatives who would have you believe that Tarver lost his entire livelihood at the hands of union goons. Tarver was set up on some tables under the tent and did not even have his cart. He must have had a very slow day. Anyone who was at the rally and wandered by the two giant AFP tents will tell you that they were essentially empty all day. There were a few AFP folks standing out front, taunting union members and provoking confrontations, but there was not a lot of activity inside the tent where Tarver was.
Nonetheless, much like, Kenneth Gladney, the St. Louis guy who faked getting injured at the hands of union members then solicited funds for his hospital bills even though he had health insurance, a collection has been taken up on Tarver’s behalf. According the article, they have raised over $10,000 for him (UPDATE: MIRS News reports that it’s now over $16,000.) The total value of what he lost in the scuffle? $500.
I wonder what they’ll do with the thousands of extra dollars not needed to buy more buns, hot dogs, ketchup, mustard and a couple of folding tables and coolers? Certainly Clint Tarver didn’t deserve to be treated as shabbily as he was by the union folks there. His wife claims he was called a “nigger” and jeered for working for the enemy. If true, that’s reprehensible and inexcusable. But the off-the-charts poutrage from the right on this is an absolute joke. Some of the same people decrying the verbal taunts that Tarver experiencde are here on this very website calling union members all sorts of hideous names. So let’s keep it real, shall we?
Adding… Let’s not kid ourselves about what “Tentgate” and “Hot Doggate” are all about:distracting the country from noticing that corporatist ideologues have turned the birthplace of American organized labor into a Right to Work for Less state. It’s a smokescreen, chaff to make sure the conversation is not about screwing union members and is, instead, about the AFP losing a couple of tents.
Deranged anti-union extremist Dana Loesch is lying as usual. This particular "offense" in Loeschworld: A Democratic Michigan State Representative by the name of Douglas Geiss had the nerve to say that "there will blood on our hands" because of Michigan likely going to be the latest state added to the Right-To-Work For Less list.
Did @mihousedems have second thoughts about encouraging violence over the legislative process? Deleted Tweet: bit.ly/ZaWVhE
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 11, 2012
Everyone should tell @mihousedems that deleting a Tweet encouraging violence isn't enough. They should apologize. bit.ly/ZaWVhE
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 11, 2012
This is the lawmaker who said "there will be blood" over RTW on Michigan floor: bit.ly/ZaYtZ0
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 11, 2012
The argument regarding wages used by RTW opponents is wrong. Here's why: bit.ly/SS01TX
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 11, 2012
Unreal. @mihousedems owe a massive apology for suggesting violence over the legislative process. This isn't a 3rd world country.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 11, 2012
Patiently awaiting for the New Tone Crowd® to condemn the violence being perpetuated by the left in Lansing right now.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 11, 2012
Hi, @mihousedems . Do you feel bad about the violence now after you were suggesting it on the floor and online?
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 11, 2012
I wonder if those protesting approach kids' education with the same fervor as tearing down tents and punching people in the face?
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 11, 2012
Dana's husband, Chris, also makes phony accuasations about "Democrat violence":
I can't believe that the unions & Dems who coerce through violence & promises of "blood" would do that. @scrowder please be safe!
— Chris Loesch (@ChrisLoesch) December 11, 2012
Want I know why #proglodytes want to ban you from having guns? It's because they want mob rule & their violent tactics to work.
— Chris Loesch (@ChrisLoesch) December 11, 2012
She even takes a cheap shot at Michigan native Michael Moore:
If you write, direct, edit, shoot, or do sound for me on my next movie, you will not work for me unless you belong to the union.
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) December 7, 2012
The vocally anti-union activist Dana Loesch was in rare form today... by cheerleading for Michigan's disastrous Right-To-Work For Less legislation that was passed by both the Michigan State House and the State Senate. That state's Governor, Rick Snyder (R), is very likely going to be turning Michigan into yet another RTWFL state by signing the bill, possibly as early as tomorrow.
The President went to Michigan with the obvious purpose of throwing punches in the right-to-work battle. Interesting. Remember when Obama told a senator “I won” when questioned on his stimulus plan? Well, Republicans won in Michigan. Elections have consequences.
More importantly, the President’s argument makes zero sense. He presupposes that with right-to-work comes lower wages, which is categorically false.
From 2000 to 2010, employment in right-to-work states increased 2.3 percent, compared to a 4.0 percent decline in non-right-to-work states. Indiana saw employment decrease 6.9 percent over the same period. That means Indiana lost roughly 207,000 jobs over the past 10 years. In contrast, 1.2 million jobs were created in right-to-work states.
The President’s claim that RTW brings with it lowered wages is demonstrably false. It’s the statement of a politician working to save one of his biggest cash cows: union bosses.
Yet these are the same individuals who vote for a party whose mantra is “spread the wealth” and “pay your fair share” towards entitlements mostly used by 46% of people who don’t pay anything into the system via income tax. “Freeloaders,” as my caller would describe them.
It’s illogical and betrays the truth: it isn’t about workers’ rights, it’s about control. Maybe big labor should “spread the wealth.”
She defended RTWFL and bashed unions on twitter:
24 states rejecting the Obamacare exchanges. 24 states going RTW. Telling.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 10, 2012
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama weighed in on the contentious labor battle playing out in Michigan, condemning the Republican push to make Michigan a so-called "right-to-work" state as nothing more than a partisan maneuver that will hurt the working class.
"And by the way, what we shouldn't do -- I've just got to say this -- what we shouldn't be doing is trying to take away your rights to bargain for better wages and working conditions," he added to loud applause from the audience. "We shouldn't be doing that. The so-called 'right-to-work' laws -- they don't have to do with economics, they have everything to do with politics. What they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money."
Michigan is set to become the 24th right-to-work state, with Gov. Rick Snyder (R) poised to sign the controversial bill after it was fast-tracked by the GOP-controlled legislature. Thousands of union supporters protested at the state capitol in Lansing last week, and more protests are planned for Tuesday.
Michigan's rules require that the House and Senate wait five days before voting on each other's bills. The legislature is set to approve final passage of the right-to-work legislation on Tuesday, and Snyder could sign it the same day.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder rose to power in 2010 cloaked in the veil of a moderate. He appealed to voters by saying he was going to be "laser focused" on the policies that grow Michigan's economy rather than get mired in the politics that have kept us off that track for too long. He promised he understood what it would take to prop up the middle class despite being a millionaire himself. He said time and time again that he would run Michigan like a business and forge bipartisan coalitions to end politics as we know it.
The one problem with that? It was all a lie.
Last week, in a press conference hidden safely away from the scrutiny of Michigan's public, Governor Snyder removed any remaining shred of credibility as a moderate with a stunning about-face on "Right to Work," a policy that he himself had recently declared "too divisive" and not something that was in Michigan's best interest. Snyder said not only was he now going to sign Right to Work into law, but that he and his fellow Republican legislative leaders had already schemed to set the bills for a vote that same day, eviscerating the public's right to input.
In a matter of moments, Governor Snyder did more than go back on his word to the people of Michigan, he exposed the "tough nerd" persona he rode to office in 2010 as a complete fraud. This was not a decision based on economics, it was one based on partisan politics driven by special interests at its absolute worst.
In the days since, the governor's allies have defended his actions by saying that the legislation provides workers "freedom" and "choice."
No matter how they try to spin it, Right to Work is solely about taking away the strength of workers as they collectively bargain for a decent wage, better working conditions and improved benefits. It's anti-worker, anti-family, and the way they're subverting the democratic process to pass it is simply anti-American.
Despite the photos of devastation and families who’ve lost everything, union bosses still found time to play politics in the middle of a natural disaster. This is similar to what union bosses pulled during the blizzard in New York. I thought Chris Christie was infamous for taking on the unions? Some via Twitter have speculated that Gov. Christie may be unaware that this is happening. I’m willing to extend him the benefit of the doubt for then, but now after this story has blown up online there can be no ignorance of the matter. People need help. Sandy didn't happen in August or early September like Katrina, Ike, and Irene. It’s November now. People are cold.
Excuse me, righties! The unions are NOT playing politics during the post-Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts, and it's folks like you, Twitchy, and otherright-wingcuckoos that are politicizing this, NOT the unions or the left!
Representatives with Huntsville Utilities and Joe Wheeler Cooperative, two area utilities mentioned in media reports claiming their crews were not allowed to help with storm aid in New Jersey because they were non-union, said this morning the story is untrue. The general manager of the other department mentioned, Decatur Utilities, has been unavailable for comment this morning. One of its crew members was quoted in the initial reports.
Bill Yell, spokesman for Huntsville Utilities, said nine of his employees are currently helping with recovery from Hurricane Sandy and had no union-related issues. "That's a rumor," he said. "We are starting work this morning with Long Island Power Authority. We were headed to a New Jersey utility but they had all the crews they could handle."
A spokeswoman for Joe Wheeler Electrical Membership Cooperative said the crews from Trinity also are assisting with storm recovery and, in fact, are unionized. "It is not true for us," she said. "I don't know how we got lumped in there (in that report). We sent eight guys to Maryland, not New Jersey. They have been there since before the storm but they've finished work and are headed home this morning."
"We were not turned away," he said. "It's a lot more complicated than that. One of the problems is whenever this kind of thing happens people call and ask, 'Are you going to send crews out?' but it's not a situation where everybody jumps in truck and heads up there. You have to work through trade associations. You have mutual-aid agreements and you've got to find a system that needs you and is able to take you."
He said some systems don't use the same voltage and may have different configurations. "You don't just go up there and say, 'Hey, we're here. We're going to start putting up poles for you."
Labor Day, a time where labor union groups celebrate their hard-workingness and widely considered the symbolic end of the Summer season, is a time to celebrate the labor movement in America.
In reality, they are the 11% considering that just that small number of the workforce is unionized labor, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But hey, math. You wouldn't know it watching them march through the streets; it seemed the goal of the parade was to attack private sector workers. It was a blatantly political event, with support for Democrat candidates evident throughout the parade and parade-goer signs repeating the "you didn't build that" refrain which has cost President Obama support from small business owners.
I'm not sure why non-union private sector workers are demonized by big labor when they private sector is burdened with the responsibility of their own overhead plus the cost of the public sector. When union bosses like Trumka, Stern, and Hoffa Jr. support the policies of an administration that has caused 41 straight months of +8% unemployment and a devalued American dollar, it's difficult for the private sector to meet the demands placed upon them -- especially when they were deliberately excluded from having any say whatsoever in the negations. Union bosses and politicians game the system to foster resentment towards the private sector when they can't meet the demands made of them by the same bosses and politicians.
The Mayor has been very tolerant of the criminal Occupy movement in St. Louis, even after they vandalized numerous historic structures and even vandalized the homes of city employees as retribution for the city ending their hipster camping demonstration downtown.
Being in a union is patriotic, and being a teabagging liar is not.
Yesterday, at a teabagger rally in Racine, Wisconsin featuring Walker/Kleefisch apologists, including Wisconsin Congressman and potential Romney VP choice Paul Ryan (R-WI01), Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch (R), TheDana Show's lead substitute host Tony Katz, and of course CNN, KFTK, and Breitbart's Dana The Devil. The rally featured tons of anti-union right-wing talking points.
Key Loesch falsehoods:
Loesch: "I love your cheese curds, I love your beer, and I love your [pro-Walker/anti-recall] fighting spirit. I love your Governor (Scott Walker), I love your Lieutenant Governor (Rebecca Kleefisch), and I love your four State Lawmakers who are standing up to the machine!" (approx. 0:34)
Loesch: "Andrew Breitbart (now deceased) inspired the fight that we're fighting." (approx: 1:45)
Loesch: "Breitbart is still here." (approx. 1:55)
Loesch: "All of this started when some out-of-state union bosses want to exploit the working man." (approx: 3:14). Wrong! It's out-of-state billionaires like the Koch Bros. that are exploiting the working class, as is the GOP.
Loesch: "Public sector unions aren't our enemies, but the bosses, in my opinion, are." (approx: 3:33)
Loesch falsely claimed that "out-of-state union fatcats who make 6 figures while they bleed paychecks off the working families so they can do what? Donate to candidates who vote against your best interests." Who's acting against the best interests of Wisconsinites? The GOP, that's who! (approx: 3:45)
Loesch misleadingly stated that the "war on working families are perpetuated by union bosses and the Democrat Party." No way, it's being perpetuated by ALEC, Koch Bros, and other anti-union-based groups."
Loesch said "Shame on Mahlon Mitchell because he signed a petition to boycott pro-Walker Businesses." Mitchell was well within his right to do that. (approx. 5:20)
She said "Shame on Tom Barrett." (approx. 5:40)
She misleadingly stated that "there's no difference between Barack Obama and Tom Barrett." (approx. 6:25)
Loesch baselessly stated that "Barrett will run the State of Wisconsin to the ground like what he did to the city of Milwaukee." (approx. 6:38)
Loesch misleadingly blamed the Democratic Party for the loss of jobs and starting the "War on Women." Wrong, it is you and your own party that's responsible for that. (approx. 8:27)
Loesch: "You have 7% of the workforce that holding 93% of the population hostage. We are the 93% Percent." Baloney. (approx: 8:56)
No, Ms. Loesch, it's shame on YOU, shame on Kleefisch, and shame on Walker!
Tuesday will be the day that Wisconsinites recall Walker, Kleefisch, and the 4 GOP State Senators up for recall!
We have the rabidly anti-unionization voice Dana Loesch attackingteachers unions on her radio show yesterday-- this time by suggesting that "American public schools are fellating [out-of-state] union bosses."
From the 05.08.2012 edition of KFTK's The Dana Show:
Transcript:
LOESCH: "What's more problematic in schools than obesity? It is the fact that a lot of our children in schools can't compete with other countries because we spend more time-- I'm just going to say it-- we spend more time fellating out-of-state union bosses when it comes to pay and services and everything than we do actually do on education. We have headlines about sex ed. Where are the headlines about science? Where are the headlines about music, and so on and so forth?" [...] "They ignore that epidemic of what out-of-state interest and public sector control are doing to education. So they'll focus on obesity. I'm not saying a healthy lifestyle isn't helpful, or that kids shouldn't be healthy."
In her Big Government post, anti-union numbnut Dana Loesch defended Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) and Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch (R) from the grassroots Recall Walker movement. As usual, she was delusional enough to falsely declare that the Walker/Kleefisch reforms "are helping Wisconsin."
No other race in the country better embodies the struggle between conservative and progressive ideals than the recall battle over Wisconsin's Lieutenant Governor.
The incumbent is former stay-at-home-mom and journalist Rebecca Kleefisch, whose ascent through the state party was a hard-won battle against the establishment, waged by a fed-up citizen. Kleefisch didn't just fight the GOP establishment and win by double-digits; during the primary she also fought and defeated colon cancer.
In contrast, Big Labor has put up its own candidate. Of the five Democrats who've filed, Mahlon Mitchell seems the most likely candidate to emerge for the June 5th showdown. Mitchell shares the same far-left ideology of the labor protesters who trashed the capitol and sent death threats to Republicans. Mitchell landed in hot water with the labor protesters when he got too friendly with Walker in exchange for some reform exemptions; later, when pressure grew, he joined in the marches and led chants against Walker and Kleefisch. (Apparently, he didn't condemn the appalling and criminal behaviorof the protesters, either.)
Mitchell opposes the the very reforms of collective bargaining privileges that have brought Wisconsin voters the economic stability they desired. Democrats want to keep holding elections at the public's expense until they get the results they want. In the meantime, their far-left, out-of-state interests will pump somewhere around $80 million into the Wisconsin Democrat party--a chunk of that into Mitchell's campaign--in their assault on economic reform.
The reforms Kleefisch has helped to enact during her tenure as Lieutenant Governor have saved the state millions of dollars.
Mahlon Mitchell (D) will likely be the next Lt. Governor of Wisconsin, whether Loesch and her ilk like it or not!
She continues with this stupid statement:
Make no mistake: a loss in Wisconsin will derail the first generation of reform governors. It will affect every other state, and give the President a singular victory from which to campaign as he slides his failed policies off the table.
Not only that, but a loss for Kleefisch could discourage other women from running for office. Conservative women have been met with a barrage of abuse simply for being conservatives, and Kleefisch is no exception. If other potential female conservative candidates see what the left is capable of doing to one currently in office, don't expect to see them take on the heat of a campaign in the future.
In fact, the Walker/Kleefisch "reforms" in Wisconsin are NOT working, much to the chagrin of the Walker/Kleefisch apologists. Their asinine polices have led to job LOSSES, not gains, and they're blaming the DEMOCRATS for it?!
1. Kleefisch lied in the 2010 election about the level of tax increase under Doyle, misrepresenting it by over $2 billion – a lie Politifact couldn’t even miss.
2. In the 2010 election, during an interview with Fox 6 in Milwaukee, compared same-sex relationships with having a relationship with inanimate objects, in spite of her uncle being in an openly gay relationship for over 18 years.
3. Frequent speaker at Tea Party rallies (such as Sheboygan) in summer 2010 – coined the phrase “open for business” and railed on the role of Government in ruining the economy in Wisconsin, even when the real cause of the recession was lack of regulation on speculative and risky investment ventures; not too much government.
4. After leaving WISN-TV in Milwaukee, became a “conservative correspondent” for Charlie Sykes, conservative radio talk show host in Milwaukee.
8. Considers the top quality necessary for a Governor is “…to be a Christian man…”, in her own words, 28 seconds in on the video.
9. Along with Scott Walker, broke a campaign promise to immediately begin paying their increased pension contribution upon taking office. They only complied when mandated to do so by newly enacted law, along with other state employees.
The fact is, Kleefisch was not qualified to be Lieutenant Governor in the first place – a fact simply ignored by the media during the campaign, and Wisconsin voters who either didn’t vote, or were seduced by Scott Walker. She is a fundamentalist, whose ideology does not (contrary to her speeches and ads) reflect or care about the majority of Wisconsin. Now is the time to call her out for what she is, and for her support of Scott Walker.
Yesterday in Madison, Wisconsin, CNN "Contributor" and paid GOP hack who pretends to be an independent Conservative Dana Loesch spoke at the Wisconsin Tax Day Rally, which was of course attacks on Democrats, unions, supporters of Walker's recall, and liberals.
At the Tax Day Rally, Loesch relied on her numerous falsehoods.
Key Points
She declared Wisconsin "ground zero" between unions and union-busters. Guess which side she's on? (approx. 0:57)
Loesch: "We are fighting the Reds." (Reds in this case is code for anti-Walker/Kleefisch and pro-union activists) (approx. 1:28)
She mentions that she was a former registered Democrat, but when September 11th, 2011 hit, Loesch said: "good-bye Dems and I thank God we have a Republican in office." (approx. 2:00)
Loesch: "I left that party (Democrat Party) of motley crews, rudeness, crassness, and absolute Marxist confusion because of the way they exploited women" (approx. 2:18) No, Dana, it's the GOP that's exploiting women, you asshole!
She misleadingly accuses the Democratic Party of launching a "war on women." Wrong, Ms. Loesch! (approx. 2:35)
She was cheerleading for the corrupt Lt. Gov of Wisconsin, Rebecca Kleefisch (R), who happens to be the subject of a recall. (approx. 2:44)
She slammed the Democrats, SEIU, AFL-CIO, and other liberal-leaning groups for calling out people like her. (approx. 2:59)
She misleadingly attacks Democrats as "sexists, misogynists, and creeps." (approx. 4:00)
Loesch was telling lies about the history of the Democratic Party. (approx. 5:00)
She falsely states that Walker's "reforms" are "saving the state thousands of dollars." Wrong, Walker's bankrupted that state. (approx. 5:38)
Loesch: "I'm a hard-working, private sector, homeschooling mom." (approx. 5:45)
Loesch: "The Democrats and unions want to rob our money, our benefits, our children's education." (approx. 6:01)
While she portrays her family as "blue-collar and hard-working," she and her husband (Chris) are anything but that. (approx. 6:29)
She misleadingly claims that "20,000+ jobs will be provided by the building of Keystone XL." (approx. 6:45)
She falsely blames the Democrats and Obama for "shutting down oil." (approx. 7:10)
The crowd blurted out "She [Kleefisch] rocks!" Nope, she sucks! (approx. 8:14)
Loesch: "The Democrats, Leftists, Liberals, Marxists, Socialists, and Fascists can bite me!" (approx. 9:00)
She is still attacking the Democrats for "stalling progress, reform, attacking moms, etc." That's not true, ma'am! (approx. 9:15)
Later that night, she was on CNN Newsroom with Don Lemon, and of course, she was being rude, discourteous, and just flat-out dishonest.
From the 04.14.2012 edition of CNN's CNN Newsroom:
LEMON: That was just on television. Should have heard on the radio and what people were writing about, even some conservative bloggers wrote about it. One of them is here tonight. And we have quite an interesting exchange on twitter. Can't we all just get along? Noel Sheppard is the assistant editor or "News Busters." Boy, do I have some questions for you. And so does Goldie Taylor, and so does Dean Obeidallah. We got some questions for you. Well, Dana Loesch, we know you, because you're a CNN contributor and the editor of the late Andrew Breitbart's Web site, bigjournalism.com. So, more on the n word later guys, I just want to thank you all for joining us because I just want to talk to the conservatives. I want to just talk to the - you know, have this faith balance thing from the Democrat and then from the conservatives. This has pop to the conservatives tonight. And as I said, I don't mean the democratically approved ones or the Democrat approved one, like you guys said. OK. So listen, there's always a spin from both sides. So Noel, I want to ask you this, this is -- this is right up "News Busters" alley. So, how is this so-called liberal media doing telling this story, are they getting it right so far? NOEL SHEPPARD, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, FOX FORUM: What you said and what Suzanne said or --? LEMON: No, I'm talking about hooker gate. Let's talk about the secret service. And so, I was saying the secret service, this is right up your alley. So, in your assessment, watching the media so far report this since it broke today, the so-called liberal media, how are they doing? Are they getting it right so far? SHEPPARD: got to tell you, Don, I'm actually not prepared to discuss that. I really didn't pay a lot of attention to the story today. I was writing about other things. LEMON: All right. Interesting Dana, because are conservatives going to capitalize on this, or is this something that doesn't make a difference as a reflect - at any reflection on the White House at all? DANA LOESCH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think the thing that scares me the most is you have secret service men who are assigned to protect the president of the United States, and then down -- going down to Colombia, he's not -- I mean, he's not being protected. You have them - they were supposed to be one of the part of the advance team. I think I read a little early today. I've been in Wisconsin here for a fantastic rally with Americans for Prosperity, and the Wisconsin tea party up here. So I came in, I was eating my dinner. I was looking at the story. And my first thought, Don, seriously was, wait a minute, now, I get we disagree with the president on policy. We disagree with Democrats. But I have a problem with the people who are assigned to protect the president not being there protecting him. So that was my first thought. And that's what I was looking into first. Now, in terms of, you know what the media has written or what they haven't written about it, or any sort of spin, I haven't seen anything yet. Because I still think that people are trying to get the facts out there. But long story short that was my first concern. And I hope that was everybody else's first concern, too. LEMON: Yes. I think what people were saying is that, OK, this is an election year, and if it was something that happened during a Republican administration, the Democrats would certainly try to spin it. And it's something that happened during a Democratic administration, while the Republicans are going to try to spin it. And so, that was my question. That was the impetus to my question, is this going to be used in an election year in the political process? LOESCH: Well, I don't know. Because I - some of the - I read an interview that an individual gave earlier today. Again, I've been out rallying all day. I read an interview that someone gave today who worked with the secret service. And they were saying that this is kind of a problem with the secret service that's been sort of happening for a while, and then they mentioned, was this a White House party that occurred about what a year and a half ago, two years ago, where you had the Salahis I believe, her last name was that crashed this party -- LEMON: Salahis. Salahis, yes. LOESCH: Yes, Salahis. They crashed this party. And they were able to get there. They were able to do their photo-ops. That's something that should have never happened. So from seeing that and just seeing the reports on it, this seems to be a problem that's been festering for a while. I think we need to get all the facts of the matter before we can try to play politics with it. LEMON: Wow. That was really - I can't believe there is some consensus on that. SHEPPARD: Yes, I mean. Don, I would say that as well. As I think this is kind a new story, so let's see how this plays out the next couple of days or week. Then we can get a sense how to how the media will play this. LEMON: OK. All right. All right. So Noel and Dana, you might have missed this moment this week. I'm joking, but any way, I just want to make sure you see it before we talk about it. Here it is. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: His wife has never worked a day in her life. She's never really dealt with the economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing in terms of how do we feed our kids, how do we send them to school and how do we worry and why do we worry about their future. (END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: OK, conservatives. Dana, is this a real conflict or is this a political or media driven story? I haven't heard, I have to be honest to you. And this is just me. This is unscientific survey here. Most of the women in my life who I have spoken to are not talking about the story and they have no idea who Hilary Rosen even is. And the only people who are talking about it are people in politics and politics in the media. LOESCH: I think everybody is talking about it. Within 24 hours, you had David Axelrod make a statement on it. You have -- LEMON: I'm talking women. I'm talking women. And people outside of the political process. LOESCH: As did the first lady. So Don, where are you at? LEMON: No, no, I said. No, no, no, listen to my question. I said people outside of politics and outside of the media. LOESCH: OK. I think it is a problem. I ran into a lot of women today who aren't in the media, and I had lunch with some women earlier this afternoon who actually didn't go out to the rally, and they were saying, yes, you know, we heard about this. It's a little bit unsettling, because, you know, we're mothers. We've raised children. It's kind of a problem. I think Democrats are realizing that they sort of have an optic problem when it comes to reaching out to some women voters. I mean, it's great to talk about the Lily Ledbetter Act, which actually the labor secretary is the least that did not have any impact at all whatsoever. I think there's a problem with optics right now. You can't reach out to a voting bloc, which is going to drive the election, let's be frank. Women, mothers especially, drive every election. They do. You can't reach out to a voting bloc while at the same time your party going out there and saying there's a war on women, and then actually saying things like this about women. And it's not just, you know, Hilary Rosen. We're talking about there's a democrat down in Florida representative Randolph who went off on a tirade against mothers on his twitter page and on facebook just in the fast several days. The Democratic Senatorial Committee has been using the war on women for a long time. Move On has been using this phrase for a long time. LEMON: Dana? LOESCH: Yes. LEMON: You have to let the men get in on this. (LAUGHTER) LEMON: Noel is just sitting there patiently, waiting to get in. We're being gentlemen here. We are letting the women have their say but, my God, let him say a word. I just - Noel, you can -- SHEPPARD: Don? LEMON: Go ahead. SHEPPARD: Don, this proves there is no Republican war on women. I'm letting her say whatever she wants. So this should completely dispel this notion that Republicans have a war on women. The reality here, this was a big misstep for the Obama administration and for the Obama campaign. They've been talking about this phony war on women since early January, and it's been very, very much assisting the president in the polling numbers where suddenly he's beating Romney by 18, 19 points, and all of a sudden someone that nobody outside of the beltway has ever heard of makes this really stupid remark about Mitt Romney's wife, and this is going to be an issue and the president had to immediately talk about it, Axelrod had to talk about it. And I think that this little rally that Obama has had with regard to women, I think that rally has faded and now the question is, how far is this going to plummet? How much of his 18, 19-point lead -- LEMON: OK, OK. Noel, I don't have a blog like you. I have time issues. I have to say, Dana, you are a big girl. You can handle it. Someone just e-mailed and said, I will be honest, this woman is lying. I have yet to hear one person outside of CNN talk about the Ann Romney story and that's from a woman. That's all I'm saying. (LAUGHTER) LEMON: But hang on, listen. I'm going to talk to you -- SHEPPARD: That settles it. LEMON: I'm going to talk to you in a bit, because Noel, you wrote something about me and we'll talk about the n word and the Trayvon Martin story. You talked about me in "News Busters." You talked about the n word now being used on CNN, saying, if it dramatizes racism, Lemon certainly thinks so. I'm going to ask you about that. Dana, your site wrote something about me and filmmaker Spike Lee as it relates to the Trayvon Martin story. I want to talk about that. All right. We'll talk about that. So, stand by, guys. More of the stories that you are talking about in just a moment. We will be back right after a break.
Loesch will also be speaking at Chicago's Tea Party Tax Day rally tomorrow.
