Unemployment Animated

I stole this video from James Fallows’ blog over at The Atlantic. You can read what he has to say about it here. You can watch how unemployment has grown during The Great Recession.




I hope everyone is noting how things are working out in this recession. Especially the young people going through their first recession. Lawyers, thieves and bankers come first. Then the businesses. And then -- maybe -- we’ll worry about jobs. As long as those jobs don’t have to include health insurance benefits. Take note of who is taking care of working people. Or not (as the case may be.) Then you’ll come to understand why we have unions. And you’ll understand why businesses fight against them tooth and nail.

Speaking of which, I was doing some research last night and had to watch a Glen Beck video. (You don’t have to watch it unless you just need to prove the following point to yourself.) Mr. Beck was ranting against unions and brought in his guest, Tim Phillips, from Americans for Prosperity.

As always, I encourage you to check these things out for yourself.

Information on Tim Phillips from SourceWatch:

”Timothy R. (Tim) Phillips is the president of Americans for Prosperity and the Americans for Prosperity Foundation. He became president in 2006. He was formerly Vice President of Century Strategies, a political and corporate consulting firm “

”According to Phillips' Century Strategies biography, "Tim joined Ralph Reed in founding Century Strategies, parent company of Millennium Marketing, in 1997.“

(If you’re not familiar with Ralph Reed and The Christian Coalition, you should be.

”"During the 2000 GOP primaries, Tim helped spearhead Century's national efforts on behalf of George Walker Bush's campaign for president.... “

I know...you’re shocked to find out “W” was supported by anti-union groups. Speaking of which, check out the entry on Americans for Prosperity from SourceWatch.

”AFP (Americans for Prosperity) was one of the lead organizations behind the Tax Day Tea Party protests April 15, 2009. “

”In mid-2009, Americans for Prosperity launched an advertising and advocacy campaign opposing U.S. health care reform named Patients United Now. “

”In 2009 Americans for Prosperity, along with The 912 Project, was one of the conservative groups involved in organizing "town hall protests" and "recess rallies" where participants oppose health care reform by rambunctiously shouting down members of Congress while they are holding public meetings to inform the public about the proposals “

This is from the Wikipedia entry on Americans for Prosperity:

”It was founded in 2004 by David H. Koch of Koch Industries, who in 1984 had also established its predecessor, Citizens for a Sound Economy, from which Americans for Prosperity split in 2003. (Citizens for a Sound Economy rebranded as FreedomWorks.)“

And Koch Industries brings us full circle.

”Koch Industries also founded Americans for Prosperity, formed as a successor to Citizens for a Sound Economy. Koch Industries and its subsidiaries spent more than $20 million on lobbying in 2008, and $5.6 million in 2009, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group. “

These people will use the media (Fox News/Glenn Beck) against workers, religion (Pat Robertson’s boy, Ralph Reed) against workers and even the worker’s own anger (Tea Party) against them. They’ll even use the worker’s patriotism against them. (I assume you know the “912 Project” was Glenn Beck’s baby.) Why ?



Union workers make more money. That’s why. And union workers make more money because they have an organization on their side fighting for them full time. That’s what a union does. Considering all the people businesses pay to fight against you -- lawyers, bankers, commentators, preachers and politicians -- don’t you think you ought to have someone fighting for you ?

And by the way, Mr. Beck, Robert Reich was right. He usually is.

Don Brown
December 9, 2009

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