I Went to the Union Rally and All I Got Was a T-Shirt

I also got some video. I'm specifically referring to the union rally I went to today @ the state house to protest all the cuts the governor is proposing. There were a lot of people there - 3,000 to 5,000. Has it made the papers yet? No. Has it made channel 10, 12 or 6? No. Is it on Youtube? It will be shortly when I post my video. Said video will also be sent to the mainstream media outlets. None of them were at the rally. Why not one may ask? Perhaps it has something to do with the corporate ownership of these companies and their management's overall hatred of unionized labor. The fact that this rally was not publicized is unacceptable in all regards. It may get an inside page in the Journal, maybe only in the Metro section, maybe in the editorial section. It might not get anything at all. It might get a big write up with a photo, or it might get very little. Who knows?

On the heels of the apparent Obama victory, an event which I regard as a major positive to the majority of people in this country we need to decide what kind of society we are going to tolerate. Our media outlets do not convey the truth all the time. None of them were there today so I'll be shocked if there is much positive press on this. Of course all the talk radio people and local pundits will be out gunning for unions on the airwaves. Ed Achorn will have another bad editorial about how unions are bleeding the state dry while good hardworking upper middle class people you know, the same people who have attained such a degree of security and prosperity that they forget that 1. They are privileged and 2. the economic situation they enjoy may or may not be due to their hard work as much as it could be due to birthright or luck. Of course, the anti-union, anti-labor forces would like you to believe that a vast majority of the population of the state owns businesses or are CEO's. Do this activity: Go to a place where they don't pay their government workers well. Come back and report to me how life is there. Did you feel safe? Would you like to live there? Think about it. Believe it or not, most of the people listening to these folks would directly benefit from some form of unionization in their workplaces yet have resigned themselves to passively agree with a person they identify with because they make extremely complex issues seems black and white - simple to understand. I'm going to sleep now before I get started on taxation. I implore everyone to become familiar with the tax code.

Yes RI is a high tax state, but for whom? Yes, sales and income tax are here. Gas tax too...roads don't build themselves. What about capital gains? Are fees taxes? (yes they are) Have fees gone up? Yes. Property tax - up or down? Up. Regressive? Yes. Most regressive states - surely not Florida, NH and Tennesseee. Yep. FL and TN - sales tax high, massive property tax as the state levies a property tax to support itself whereas property taxes are levied by the municipality in RI, MA and even NY (NY has America's highest taxes all around). NH - New England's tax haven (for now) - no sales tax, but state property tax, local property tax, and high fees. Who is hurt by high property taxes? Quiz time: Retirees on fixed incomes or people that own million dollar homes? Both of them but who hurts more?

I'm done. Good night.