Billionaires Don't Need Public School Teachers: A Lesson In Class Warfare

[marmar]

from the Working Life blog:



Billionaires Don't Need Public School Teachers: A Lesson In Class Warfare

by Jonathan Tasini
Friday 06 of May, 2011


I think we make a mistake describing the unrelenting class warfare underway as a campaign undertaken by evil, crazed or demented very rich people. Sure, there are a few of them and it is certainly a part of an ideological belief ("we rich people are just better and more skilled and tough luck"). But, let's not forget that a very powerful motivating factor is: they just don't see a need for things we believe in because they can simply buy anything they want. Consider the billionaire mayor of New York.

Today, we learn:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg intends to eliminate 4,278 teaching jobs through layoffs, and about 1,500 through attrition, marking the first significant layoffs of teachers since the fiscal crisis of the 1970s.

The slashing of jobs is part of the Mr. Bloomberg’s effort to slice an additional $400 million from various city agencies to help plug a multibillion-dollar deficit in his $65.6 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1. That budget is about the same size as the current one.

And:

In his budget presentation on Friday, the mayor is expected to attribute some of the city’s budget difficulties to Albany and Washington. In particular, he is expected to discuss how the money the city contributes to the budget has steadily increased over the past several years as federal and state sources have dried up.

This is part of the phony debate about our "deficit" and "debt" crisis. There is no shortage of money in the country--but people like Bloomberg, even though he is presumably elected to serve all the people of the city, will never engage in a campaign to, for example, extend the income tax surcharge on the wealthiest New Yorkers. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.workinglife.org/blogs/view_post.php?content_id=15171

[Quantess]

1. Not good.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. "There is no shortage of money in the country"

I want that on a bumper sticker!!

[madrchsod]

3. and obama/duncan agrees with these people.....

[Starry Messenger]

4. k&r

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

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