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Manhattan Diary by Cahir O'Doherty

Far right billionaires: the real threat to the middle class

Posted on Tuesday, March 01, 2011 at 08:41 AM

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A long time ago in America a relatively small group of obscenely rich aristocrats, who had made most of their vast fortunes off the backs of slaves, actually managed to convince thousands of poor southern dirt farmers to fight to preserve their wealth and way of life.

Of course those aristocrats had no intention of improving the lives of the poor men who fought for them, but still they somehow they managed to inspire them to pick up guns.

Over 258, 000 Confederate men died in battle.

In recent times we've seen another small group of obscenely rich aristocrats convince America's nonunion workers that their real enemy is the union workers who enjoy just a little more economic security than they do. (Not much more, mind, but enough to stimulate class envy).

It's a shell game to divide and conquer. It is a decades long war to devastate the middle class and turn the American worker into the American servant.

In 2008 the Koch brothers, the obscenely rich men who created and funded the Tea Party, and inspired millions of hard working Americans to campaign against their own best interests, were listed by Forbes magazine as owners of the second largest privately held company in the United States, with an annual income of $98 billion. Their vast financial empire was built on oil and gas futures by their father, Fred G. Koch.

Fred G. Koch was a founding member of the John Birch Society, the ultra-right wing organization which opposes every piece of legislation that protects workers from the whims of plutocrats. The John Birch Society headquarters is located in Wisconsin and the Koch brothers have just opened a lobby office across the street from Governor Scott Walker's office. If you think it's just a coincidence you haven't been paying attention.

What's happening in Wisconsin is the most significant labor battle in over half a century, in other words. As it goes, so does the nation.

There's more than a hint of the 1930's in Governor Walker's move to all but eliminate the bargaining rights of state employees. He's even asked the National Guard to be armed and ready should Wisconsin workers be so bold as to strike, protest or otherwise disrupt services. (The last time the Guard was called out during a major labor dispute in Wisconsin was in 1934).

President Obama is quite correct. This is a nationwide "assault on unions." It's also an attempt to strip the American middle class worker of every job protection they've ever won.

After all it wasn't union negotiated wages or retirement packages for middle class workers that nearly bankrupted America, it was a cabal of rich criminals on Wall Street and the banking and bonds industry. Not one of them has ever been charged.

Wisconsin is another shell game - one of many - to distract you whilst your pocket is being picked.

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jerrydonovan | Mar 02, 2011, 01:14 PM EST

Iwould suggest that some of the scribes on here should take a few minutes and read an article that was published 120years ago.It's name,RERUM NOVARUM,anencyclical that was issued by POPE LEOXIII,IN 1891.This encyclical supported the formation of unions and the workers right to collective bargaining.Many of the positions in RERUM NOVARUM,were supplemented by later encyclical,e.g.JOHNXXIII's mater et magistra.I'm sure you get the picture.The formation of a strong middle class{provided for by unions}would be the bulwark against communism and socialism.Remember,be careful what you ask for,you might just get it.

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McNabb1966 | Mar 02, 2011, 12:39 PM EST

To continue...Cahir's attempt to link the Koch brothers to the John Birch Society through their father is another non-starter. I didn't see where he was able to actually claim that they are members, merely that their father was. Guilt by association? Not credible in this case. Especially when a quick perusal of the internet will show you that far from being "Birchers" the Koch brothers are long-standing Libertarians who help fund the ACLU, object to the Patriot Act but support drug legalization and cuts in defense spending. That's reality. But when did "reality" matter to the Left when it disrupts their narrative? And the only threat being posed in Madison lately is the one that the protresters and at least two Democrat assemblymen have posed to reporters and GOP assemblymen and assemblywomen. There is plenty of video evidence of their bad behavior, as well as their comrades in other locations like Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Ohio. But since when has the union movement NOT relied on thugs and goons to enforce their agenda? Somebody answer that for me, please.

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McNabb1966 | Mar 02, 2011, 10:45 AM EST

Among the items that the Che Guevara crowd WON'T mention is the fact that while the Koch brothers did contribute $43,000 to the Walker campaign, the Left-leaning Greater Wisconsin Committee contributed $4.8 MILLION on behalf of his Democratic opponent, Tom Barrett. Where did the GWC get its money? Well, $1 million came from out-going Democrat Governor Jim Doyle. Of course, all of this is chump change compared to the $20 million that the Koch brothers have given to the ACLU...because they hate "the people." lol

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McNabb1966 | Mar 02, 2011, 10:22 AM EST

It defies logic to think that the Koch brothers wield more influence in Wisconsin politics than Big Labor. Big Labor's influence is powerful enough to send 14 of their pet legislators into exile in order to keep the people's business from being done.

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hollabackgurl | Mar 02, 2011, 10:07 AM EST

It looks like the State of Wisconsin could sell off its public utilities to its corporate donors for pennies on the dollar without any oversight by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. If Governor Scott Walker has his way and Senate Bill 11 is passed in its entirety, two of Walker’s largest donors, oil billionaires David and Charles Koch could be handed free reign on all of Wisconsin public utilities. There's no end to their greed and desire for total dominance of the state and the nation.

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McNabb1966 | Mar 02, 2011, 09:37 AM EST

@olovely...I'm guessing that it was far less than the unions and affiliated Left-wing organizations bussed in to attack a duly-elected governor and legislators. It was probably fewer than the number of union-controlled Democrat lawmakers who are currently hiding out in another state. And do you have evidence that Koch employees work in sub-standard conditions? If so, please share it.

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olovely | Mar 02, 2011, 09:25 AM EST

How many of the Koch's employees did they bus in to "protest" the attack on unions? What kind of conditions do Koch employees work in? Only in right-wing bizarro world would you trust plutocrats with their employees futures.

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McNabb1966 | Mar 02, 2011, 09:05 AM EST

Regarding the Koch brothers...The Kochs currently provide jobs for 50,000 Americans, including 3,000 in Wisconsin. Only in the Left-wing bizarro world are successful, job-providing businessmen vilified.

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McNabb1966 | Mar 02, 2011, 08:57 AM EST

@odonnell521...Is it the Koch strategy or the Soros strategy? ...@hollabackgurl...As usual, you distort the issue. Only someone in deep denial would believe that this issue is all about teacher bashing. And if by "total decline" you mean a state's severe budget shortfall then yeah, layoffs will happen...especially since 14 cowardly Democrats fled the state rather than deal with the people's business. If Wisconsin was a private business they would be out of a job because the business would be bankrupt and the doors shut for good. And while teachers are important they are not "essential" in the way you are using that word. The evidence for that is to be found in the remarkably large number of them who skipped out on their kids, faked being "sick" and camped out at the state capitol for days. Apparently whatever it is they do wasn't so important that they couldn't abandon their "essental" jobs in order to protest the governor and legislature that the people of Wisconsin elected to solve the state's debt crisis.

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hollabackgurl | Mar 02, 2011, 07:52 AM EST

The Koch's made $98 billion in clear profit last year, yet they still want to strip the working class of every dime they can. Imagine the good they could do for the nation if they used even 5 percent of their profit to do good rather than line their own pockets.

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hollabackgurl | Mar 02, 2011, 07:51 AM EST

If you're reading this thank a teacher. Only a nation in total decline would consider firing them although they provide an essential service.

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odonnell521 | Mar 02, 2011, 06:19 AM EST

From the comments so far, it looks like the Koch Brothers and their allies strategy of divide and conquer is working perfectly. As someone who has worked in both the private and public sectors in Wisconsin, I've seen that no one's hands are completely clean. But the sense of entitlement to tax cuts and deferential treatment of the super rich and large corporations because they are the "job creators" is getting tiring (especially when most of the jobs are in low-wage countries like China and India). Unions are only a problem for those who have no intention of respecting working class people or treating them as equal partners in the process. Saying you're protecting the "tax payer" is a little hypocritical when you look at how little a percentage of their income big corporations and higher income people pay, compared to average people. Gov. Walker is well-meaning, but unfortunately totally outmatched by his corporate handlers.

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McNabb1966 | Mar 02, 2011, 01:01 AM EST

@slainte39...No, it's not class warfare. You admit that unions "can ask for too much" and then claim that "negotiations" can settle the overreach satisfactorily. What you fail to realize or mention is that - unlike the private sector where a union is negotiating with a private company - public sector unions are negotiating with elected officials or bureaucrats who are appointed by elected officials. When these elected officials need campaign funds, where do they turn? If they're Democrats in Wisconsin (who normally have control of the governor's chair and the legislature) they turn to who? Yes, the unions. So unions get paid with taxpayer dollars and then use a lot of those dollars to elect the very officials they will later "negotiate" with for compensation. See how that works? This is not about the "rights" of workers but rather the political influence of powerful and extremely partisan labor unions. Nobody in Wisconsin is being denied the right to organize. There is no "loss of freedom." That's a ridiculous red herring.

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slainte39 | Mar 02, 2011, 12:32 AM EST

Because no one person has enough clout to go up against either private or public employing entities. Only with collective action can the little guy stand up to the powerful employers and address grievences...pretty simple. Can unions ask for too much?...sure, but that's why you have negotations. Unions are not all evil as some on this board would have you believe. Freedom to organize denied, is a terrible loss of freedom...for the less powerful. Call it class warfare if you will...but isn't that what it is?

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JimMcGarity | Mar 01, 2011, 10:56 PM EST

Why does a goverment employee need a union?

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