By Timothy Gatto

What’s happening in Wisconsin is only a prelude to what is eventually going to happen all over the country. This nation is backsliding into a time when there were no Unions and people were being taken advantage of by those that employed them. This is a travesty. We are supposedly a progressive nation, but it seems that we are backpedaling as fast as we can. It is no wonder why the Unions mounted demonstrations in the State Capitol. They are losing rights that they have fought to bring about for years.

Why is the Federal Government strapped for cash? It’s pretty easy to figure out. We have spent the bulk of our budget on military expenditures and borrowed from the Social Security fund to pay for them. Now the screaming Republicans are threatening to cut Social Security benefits. What a duplicitous bunch they are. People have paid dutifully into Social Security only to see it used to prop up the budget, this is a crime.

No nation can use its wealth to prop up its military at the expense of the citizens. The United States has been on a war footing since the end of the Second World War. This situation can no longer stand. We have the largest economy in the world yet our government is broke. Why? The answers are above.

There are movements in other States in support of Wisconsin. Union members that aren’t even members of the public sector are supporting the demands of the public employees in Madison. There is a good reason for this. After the public sector’s right for collective bargaining is trashed, the Republican’s will be coming after the trade unions. This is a nation facing regression in our political system. Unions have been aligned with business for so long they have forgotten what their purpose is; to raise the standard of living of those that create wealth for their employers.

We can’t go back to the policies of the 19th Century. This is where they want us. The recent stimulus plan that went to the oligarchs of Wall Street proved this. Where was the economic stimulus for the people? Companies “Too big to fail” should have failed. It was their doing that put them in the position they were in. The teachers and public workers in Wisconsin have done nothing wrong. Why should we bail out financial institutions on the backs of these average Americans that go to work and do the best that they can?

It’s very telling that many of the police and fireman were demonstrating with the public workers in Madison. I have a premonition that this isn’t the end of demonstrations across our nation. Will we become another Egypt? Only time will tell. The Republican majority should rethink what they are doing to their public workers. If the Republicans want to survive as an effective political party, they need to rethink their actions. Even the Tea-Party is backing the public sector that is demonstrating.

This is a watershed moment in American history. If they make good on their promise to call out the National Guard, the situation will only escalate and it may be that like the Egyptian soldiers, they may do nothing against the demonstrators. Collective bargaining is an institution. You can’t destroy institutions without a backlash.

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By Timothy V. Gatto timgatto@hotmail.com Read Tim's Book "Complicity to Contempt" and his Novel "Kimchee Days or Stoned Cold Warriors From Oliver Arts and Open Press and available on Amazon and all other online bookstores.