COPS CAN'T DO JOBS IF EVERBODY'S WATCHING

Gun violence is up dramatically in Minneapolis — and the police union chief blames public scrutiny of law enforcement officers.

The city recorded 74 shooting victims through the first three months of this year, compared with just 40 during the same period last year, reported the Star Tribune.

The predominantly black North Minneapolis neighborhood has seen gun violence shoot up to 55 cases in 2016, from just 21 during the first three months of 2015.

Tensions are high between black residents and Minneapolis police after the officer-involved shooting of 24-year-old Jamar Clark, and community leaders are angry at the police response to subsequent Black Lives Matter protests — where five demonstrators were shot and wounded by white supremacists.

Lt. Bob Kroll, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, has a simple explanation for the increase in gun violence following the 24-year-old Clark’s slaying and widespread protests.

He admits that officers have stopped doing their jobs, noted City Pages — but he blames the public for hurting their feelings with protests and criticism.

“Kroll …. blames the crime surge on a shrinking police force and greater scrutiny of police that has left some officers disengaged,” the Star Tribune reported. “The slowdown in policing has been noticeable.”

Police have made nearly half as many proactive stops this year through April 11 as they had during the same period last year — with 3,706 in 2016 versus 7,732 last year.

There has also been a dramatic dropoff in the number of traffic stops and arrests for serious crimes.

Police officials said they’re trying to get officers out of their patrol cars to do their jobs, but those efforts apparently aren’t working.

City Councilman Blong Yang, who lives on the city’s North Side, agrees that Minneapolis needs more police officers — but he also thinks those already on the payroll should get back to work.

“With all due respect, it baffles me that anyone, including police officers, can disagree with ‘greater scrutiny of the police,'” Yang said. “You should do your job and do it well, whether 800,000 eyes are watching or none. The idea of some officers disengaging is troubling."

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Blogger-In Chief

Roger West

"BY THE BOOK"

THIS IS WHY THE NYPD HAS THEIR PANTIES ALL WADDED UP?

Bill Maher is back from vacation, and he does not disappoint in his New Rules section from last night.

Maher takes a harsh look into why police circa 2015, why they need to "man-up".

Maher went off on the NYPD for “throwing a tantrum” at Mayor Bill de Blasio and asked when they started “suffering from PMS.”

Maher repeatedly clarified that he supports the police, but he’s a little annoyed that “New York’s whiniest” engaged in a slowdown because they felt “unloved” by their mayor.

He tied this into a broader theme of police officers as these ‘infallible” forces that will justify anything as “by the book.” Maher suggested they should “get a new book,” pointing to cases like Eric Garner and Tamir Rice. And the way some police unions have been particularly ardent about defending the cops struck Maher as the same kind of “union bullshit” that explains why people hate unions in the first place.

Video Courtesy of HBO




Now I am positive that the police will take umbrage to this blog, why, because its a factual depiction of policing.

During a previous segment in last nights show, Salman Rushdie and Maher were discussing the Al Qeada Paris attacks - and Maher stated, [speaking on a few bad apples in the Muslim faith] "when there are this many bad apples, there's something wrong with the orchards". I think this is also very fitting to the bad apples in our police forces today.






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Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

WHY UNIONS?

The sad reality this Labor Day is that many American workers aren’t enjoying the basic tenets of the American dream: a livable wage and benefits to match. Income inequality is skyrocketing, while worker wages stagnate and more and more people leave unemployment for low-wage, part time jobs.

There’s no coincidence here. As this video from the Economic Policy Institute outlines, the trend of declining unionization and rising income inequality mimic each other :

Another chart from the Center for American Progress backs up that point, showing how the income of the richest one percent has risen, as middle class incomes drop:

Across the country in the last few weeks, strikes by fast food workers have illustrated that fair workplace treatment is still out of reach for some Americans. The strikes have become a massive rallying cry for a union and a wage raise in a time when labor disputes and walk-outs are at an all-time low. This chart illustrates just how rare it is to see a strike like the fast food workers’:

But, like many workers, fast food employees could greatly benefit from the ability to collectively bargain. After all, their minimum wage jobs have actually become worth even less as time goes on. While those one percent of top earners are seeing a great spike in their incomes, the low-wage worker is feeling deflated. Their wages haven’t kept up with the US inflation rate, as this chart from Bloomberg News illustrates:

This evidence all amounts to a sad status quo for some American workers. And it’s something to remember each and every Labor Day, a day meant to celebrate the back-breaking work that makes this country run.

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STAFF WRITER

RIGHT TO WORK

MAP OF RIGHT TO WORK STATES

The below story is why you should stand for your right to unionize! The below is what happens when you work in a State that is a "right to work" State. You'll soon see that in right to work states...you have no rights!

They weren't wearing sagging pants or revealing clothing. But dressing in an orange shirt is apparently enough to get fired at one Florida law firm, where 14 workers were unceremoniously let go last Friday.

In an interview with the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, several of the fired workers say they wore the matching colors so they would be identified as a group when heading out for a happy hour event after work. They say the executive who fired them initially accused them of wearing the matching color as a form of protest against management.

Orange is widely considered to be one of the most visible colors to the human eye. Orange vests are worn by most hunters as a safety precaution and by school crossing guards. Most prisoners are required to wear orange jump suits.

The color orange is arguably Florida's defining color. The self-described "Sunshine State" is widely known for its orange juice exports.

The law offices of Elizabeth R. Wellborn, P.A. offered "no comment" to Sun-Sentinel reporter Doreen Hemlock, but four ex-employees tell the paper they were simply wearing their orange shirts to celebrate "pay day" and the upcoming Friday group happy hour.

"There is no office policy against wearing orange shirts. We had no warning. We got no severance, no package, no nothing," Lou Erik Ambert told the paper. "I feel so violated."

Ironically, had the employees been wearing orange as a form of protest, it would have been illegal to fire them, ABC News reports.

After the 14 employees were fired, an executive said anyone wearing orange for an "innocent reason" should speak up. At least one employee immediately denied any involvement or knowledge of a protest and explained the happy hour color coordination. Nonetheless, they were still fire.

"I'm a single mom with four kids, and I'm out of a job just because I wore orange today," Meloney McLeod told the paper.

And there's nothing anyone can do about the terminations since Florida is an at-will state, meaning employers can fire an employee who doesn't have a contract "for a good reason, for a bad reason or even for the wrong reason, as long as it's not an unlawful reason," Eric K. Gabrielle, a labor and employment lawyer at Stearns Weaver, told the Sun-Sentinel. Gabrielle said there was no apparent violation of the law in this case.

This is why it's important for Wisconsinites and other States undergoing union busting ideology to get out and VOTE, for if not, you truly get what you deserve!


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Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

Wisconsin Govna Scott “Koch whore” Walker Continues Down Radical Path

While Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) law dismantling collective bargaining rights has harmed teachers, nurses, and other civil servants, it’s helping a different group in Wisconsinites — inmates. Prisoners are now taking up jobs that used to be held by unionized workers in some parts of the state.

Scott "Koch Whore" Walker

As the Madison Capital Times reports, “Besides losing their right to negotiate over the percentage of their paycheck that will go toward health care and retirement, unions also lost the ability to claim work as a ‘union-only’ job, opening the door for private workers and evidently even inmates to step in and take their place.” Inmates are not paid for their work, but may receive time off of their sentences.

The law went into effect last week, and Racine County is already using inmates to do landscaping, painting, and another basic maintenance around the county that was previously done by county workers. The union had successfully sued to stop the country from using prison labor for these jobs last year, but with Walker’s new law, they have no recourse.

The Washington Examiner called Racine’s move “another success story” and “all great news for Wisconsin taxpayers. Hopefully, we’ll see more of it.” So far, it appears no other jurisdiction has followed Racine’s example — for now. It may just be a matter of time to allow existing union contracts to expire. The spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office of Dane County, which includes Madison, said, “Nobody in our jail will be benefiting…at this time” from the new law, but the left the door open for future changes.

While giving prisoners more work and activity options is generally positive, using free inmate labor to replace public sector workers is a disturbing trend.


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FALSE FLAG

Indiana Official Reportedly Advised Scott Walker To Stage A Phony Violent Attack By Union Supporters

During the intense public battle with public employee unions last month, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) received an intriguing email from an admirer claiming to be a deputy prosecutor from Indiana. The email suggested that Walker should fake an attack on himself, in order to create sympathy for his cause and damage the reputation of the unions. The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism has the email:

As an aside, I've been involved in GOP politics here in Indiana for over 18 years, and I think that the situation in WI presents a good opportunity for what's called a "false flag" operation. If you could employ an associate who pretends to be sympathetic to the unions' causes to physically attack you (or even use a firearm against you), you could discredit the public unions. Currently. the media is pointing the union protest as a democratic uprising and failing to mention the role of the DNC and umbrella union organizations in the protest. Employing a false flag operation would assist in undercutting any support that the media may be creating in favor of the unions.

The e-mail was signed by “Carlos F. Lam.” WCIJ did some digging and discovered that indeed, there is a Carlos F. Lam who is a GOP public official in Indiana. He is a deputy prosecutor in Johnson County, Indiana — which is the same area the e-mail was sent from, according to its IP information. Lam also has a history of anti-union comments online: he’s written that Indiana is “an unsustainable public worker gravy train bubble.” In another, he said “unions & companies that feed at the gov’t trough will fight tooth & nail against anything that un-feathers their nests.”

Lam Lies About Knowledge of Email

WCIJ contacted Lam and asked him if the Hotmail address on the email belongs to him. Lam confirmed that it does — but categorically denied sending the email. “I am flabbergasted and would never advocate for something like this, and would like everyone to be sure that that’s just not me,” he said, after being read the email. He said he plans to file a police report about the matter this week.

Oddly, the email was sent on the very same day that another Indiana law enforcement official tweeted out violent plans for the protests. Jeffrey Cox, a deputy attorney general for the state, tweeted that police should “use live ammunition” against the protestors. He was fired the next day – but for now, Lam’s boss is backing him. “He didn’t send it,” he told WCIJ.

UPDATE: According to the Johnson County Prosecutor's office, Lam has admitted that he wrote the email and resigned his post.

You have to love radical republican politics...deny at all cost - till the bitter end!




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STARVE THE BEAST

In a script that would have even made Scott Walker look good, and in what could be described as one of the sleaziest legislative moves we here at NFTOS have ever seen, the republicans in the Ohio senate jammed through their union busting SB5, but only after removing two Republicans on two separate committees who were opposed to it in order to get it to the Senate floor.



Firemen fighting for their rights


While the eyes of the nation have been transfixed on the uprising in Wisconsin, Republicans in Ohio have used an unprecedented parliamentary maneuver to railroad their own version of a union busting bill through the legislature. The unpopular measure known as SB5 makes public sector strikes illegal and mirrors a savage assault on workers planned throughout the country.

The former attorney General of Ohio explains what happens in Ohio with the corporate tax cut:

"A dozen cookies are put down in front of a CEO, a Tea Partier, and a union member. The CEO grabs 11 then says to the Tea Partier, “That union guy wants your cookie”.

SB5 passed  by a razor thin 17-16 vote, with 6 Republicans switching sides and voting with Democrats against the bill.  Before the vote could take place, SB5 had to clear 2 committees where it didn’t have the votes needed.

That is the point where Senate President Tom Niehaus (R) did something never before done: he made the autocratic decision to remove 1 sympathetic Republican from each committee that was against the measure and replaced them with a Republican Senator that supported it.  Niehaus pulled Sen. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) off the Ohio state Senate’s Commerce, Insurance and Labor Committee without warning or Message, which violated Senate Rule 19, replacing him with a an anti-union loyalist Senator Cliff Hite (R-Findlay).  This allowed a 7-5 vote for the measure.

Plutocracy: rule by the wealthy, or power provided by wealth.
Oligarchy: a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with a small number of people.
                Plutocracy + Oligarchy = Plutarchy

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Repeating this autocratic move a second time, Niehaus also ordered the removal of Sen. Scott Oelslager (R-North Canton) from the Senate Rules Committee to avoid a split vote.  Two decrees to strip committee membership and replace with loyalists is unheard of in the history of American politics.

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This Starve The Beast pattern is familiar in many states at the moment, where new republican majorities elected to state legislatures as part of the astroturfed Tea Party movement are trying to railroad pro-corporate, pro-rich legislation through chambers at the expense of workers, often in very large bills with little time given to debate or discussion.

This is characteristic of the national policies as well, that have seen a huge ballooning of the national debt under every republican administration in the last 30 years except Clinton.  Tax cuts for the rich and corporations paid for on the backs of the poor and the middle class: America is getting a classic case of buyer’s remorse.

There is a reason for this "strong armed robbery" and lead tea bag Jim DeMint states it best:

"Unions are the most powerful political group in our country today. Their power in politics is unprecedented. AND WITHOUT UNIONS, THE DEMOCRAT PARTY FADES AWAY".

Well there you have fellow progressives, the radical right wing agenda is displayed for our very own eyes.

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Did you see the NBC/WSJ poll out in the above clip (a must see). Clearly Americans are feed up with the choke and puke politics by these right-wing-nut-jobs.

If we do not allow our voices to be heard, then the freight train called the "tea bag express", which is more powerful than a locomotive, will annihilate the left quicker than a speeding bullet.


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ECONOMY 101

If we listen to "economist" like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Dana Loesch, Sean Hannity.....er what a minute, those folks aren't economist are they? No they are not, but if you where too listen to their daily diatribes on the US economy and its woes, their fingers would point directly at unions, teachers, fireman and police for the states monetary plights.

In reality readers this concept or ideology couldn't be further from the truth. States total budget deficits account for 175 billion dollars through 2013 and these states can't print money like the feds can. This means Governors like Wisconsin's Scott "Koch whore" Walker target unions and teachers with their plan too satisfy their 3.6 billion dollar budget shortfall.

All this while most choose stunningly to turn a blind eye (to include MSM) to the  mounting evidence of recklessness and outright fraud on Wall Street, that fraud which is responsible for the massive spikes in unemployment and the massive decline in US housing - you add these two things together - this is what's called revenue in America, our tax revenue is driven by the value of your housing stock and the level of economic activity employment in your state and in our country.

So shame on those whom indulge a system that would torpedo the foundation of American finance, housing and unemployment - let those who caused this problem go "Scott" free, and then try to take this out on the nations unions and teachers.

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Scott Walker's New Book

For the record lets set some facts straight. Scott Walker wants Wisconsinite's to believe that union pensions are tax payer funded.

The Wisconsin Lie Exposed – Taxpayers Actually Contribute Nothing To Public Employee Pensions. That's right readers unions have worked and earned the dollars that fund their pensions.

How can this be possible?

Simple.

"The pension plan is the direct result of deferred compensation- money that employees would have been paid as cash salary but choose, instead, to have placed in the state operated pension fund where the money can be professionally invested (at a lower cost of management) for the future.

Many of us are familiar with the concept of deferred compensation from reading about the latest multi-million dollar deal with some professional athlete. As a means of allowing their ball club to have enough money to operate, lowering their own tax obligations and for other benefits, ball players often defer payment of money they are to be paid to a later date. In the meantime, that money is invested for the ball player’s benefit and then paid over at the time and in the manner agreed to in the contract between the parties.

Does anyone believe that, in the case of the ball player, the deferred money belongs to the club owner rather than the ball player? Is the owner simply providing this money to the athlete as some sort of gift? Of course not. The money is salary to be paid to the ball player, deferred for receipt at a later date."

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Walker seems to follow the path of a pathological liar. Time and again Scott Walker has aggressively neglected the facts about Wisconsin's budget woes. In  Walker's attempt to maintain good standing with the puppet masters he failed to account for one major variable....fact checking.

As soon as time permits Wisconsinite's need to recall Scott Walker. Many residents of Wisconsin are suffering from "buyer's remorse".

A "do-over" is indeed in order for Wisconsinite's. Please exit the door Mr. Governor, and don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split you.

Just because Green Bay is the all-time very best Super Bowel-winning cheese-making state doesn't mean you know how to govern Scott.

Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated.


NFTOS

DON'T "WALKER" ON ME

UPDATE 2-17-2011 18:31
Progressive Solidarity Movement Emerges In Wisconsin

Unless you have been hiding under a bed of late you have to be cognizant of Wisconsin's Governor (R) Scott Walker and his attempt to "trim' the states deficit.

State workers in Wisconsin are protesting a statement by Republican Governor Scott Walker that, union reps say, amounts to a threat to use the National Guard to help break the public union.

Citing a $137 million budget deficit, Walker announced a plan last week which would essentially take away the public union's collective bargaining rights and slash benefits for state employees. Meanwhile, the share of corporate tax revenue funding the state government has fallen by half since 1981 and, according to Wisconsin Department of Revenue, two-thirds of corporations pay no taxes.

The only thing readers is that if you view the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau numbers cited Jan 31, 2010, two months prior to walker taking over - says "that our analysis indicates a general fund gross of $121.4 million and a net balance of 56.4 million exists" in the Wisconsin 'till". Not a 137.0 million short fall as regurgitated by Scotty.

What has happened is that "Scotty" invoked the number one republican rule, which is to slash taxes on the rich, which in Scotty's short term (two months) as Governor will reduce Wisconsin's general fund tax collections by 55.2 million in 2011-2012 and 62.0 million 2012-2013.

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Also the Govna wants to do away with "combined reporting of corporate income taxes" which in essence:  

"concludes that the adoption of combined reporting would increase corporate income tax receipts on the order of 10 to 25 percent." This "write off" to the corporations would cost Wisconsin 187 million dollars over two years.

Holy Guadal Canal Batman!

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Walkers "Cuts" to the unions would cost the state 9,000 jobs and 111.0 million dollars in lost revenue.

Is this really how we want "red states" and republican governors running our states?

These "enemies of the state" are on one mission, and that mission is too bust every union that is under republican governorship rule. This choreographed attack is also taking roost in New Jersey, Alabama, Arizona and the list goes on. Some thirty states are now governed by radical tea bags, to include my own of Virginia.

This scene may become a familiar one to other states that are considering similar measures:

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) is supporting a bill that will potentially eliminate collective bargaining for all state workers. Governor Kasich has said he may propose additional measures such as eliminating automatic pay increases and banning public-employee strikes, both to help cut down the state’s $8 billion budget gap. On Tuesday, hundreds of people jammed into the state capitol to protest the measures.

A bill moving through the Tennessee state legislature will, if passed, eliminate collective bargaining rights for unionized state teachers and make achieving tenure more difficult.  
A bill moving through the Tennessee state legislature will, if passed, eliminate collective bargaining rights for unionized state teachers and make achieving tenure more difficult.


In Michigan, a state commerce committee introduced legislation in January that would dismantle the power unions have in negotiating state-worker contracts.

On Wednesday, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (D) signed a bill that limits certain state workers’ rights to join a collective bargaining unit.

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This republican mentality of "letting the tail wag the dog" has established itself well within the rank and file of teas.

Last November our President lost his testicular fortitude in the "shellacking" during the mid-term voting.

While progressives anxiously await for Barack's testis to descend, Democrats are left to defend the rights of unions by themselves. Until the President can stand up with his pair firmly entrenched where they need to be, middle class America will continue to suffer at the hands of republican leaders.


The biggest irritant for the Obama administration so far this calendar year has not come from Senate Republicans eager to filibuster, nor from recalcitrant House Republican leaders threatening a government shutdown.

Rather, the most effective stymieing of the White House has come from a relatively new batch of governors buoyed by the national political climate and eager to showcase their conservative bona fides in opposition to the administration.

Regardless of what's compelled Republican governors to rebel, the political ramifications remain both unknown and potentially drastic.

In modern history our governors have been, of necessity, both pragmatic and moderate. Today, there are a more than few of these Republicans, like in Florida and Wisconsin, who just seem to be so radical, extreme and ideological.

Clearly the numbers above show that the "unions" are not the down fall for the "cheeseheads" woes.

This "subliminal" message, or the hidden agenda of the radical right is to push the envelope when it comes to governing states. Unions are not the fault of huge deficits that reside within states.

If Faux News and radical republicans thought the "Egyptian Revolution" was bad, should righties continue down this ugly road, then republican governors can only expect that the "Madison Revolt" will cascade and escalate to a national voice of displeasure for right wing ideology.


Karl Rove explained it best on Faux news, stating that busting up the unions is just and right for they are the formidable opponent to the next tea bag to run for office. A great strategy from camp tea bag, but I am not sure the "majority' of Americans are on the same page as the delusional tea partier.

Unions are very beneficial to workers here in the United States. For if not there would not be:

Vacations, minimum wage wouldn't exist (meaning your current salary would be less than this current rate), collective bargaining would not be available. All unequivocally are the staples to the working folk in the USA.
 
So Mr. and Ms. republican, keep encouraging "union busters", for soon all Americans can say that have been treated like the 8 year old Nike worker in Singapore.


NFTOS

REPUBLICANS AND UNIONS

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How many hypocritical republicans complain and bitch about unions but are associated with unions? Having several pals whom wear badges (fire and cops) and who just happen to be staunch radical, Civil War Era, extreme republicans are a plethora! But yet in the same breath, they and their party will scream bloody murder that the unions are demoralizing and demolishing our work infrastructure.

Should we be shocked? NO! This is the pattern for tea bag central. This, like those whom are against "Obama Care"  but yet use the program, (AKA congressmen and women) seem to want to have their cake and be able to eat it too.

At the end of the day, on a daily basis, republicans seemingly become the "masters" of the "idiots society club".

The hypocrisy out of camp "lunatic fringe"  currently has the meter pegged. The smell of republican hypocrisy is rancid at best.

While the republicans are known for their blatant hypocrisy, these latest escapades take it to a new level.

Whether the meter is pegged or the smell or rancid, we need to be done with the wishy washy republican ideology.

Oh yeah, by the way, where are the Jobs John Boehner?




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