VIDEO: Bloomberg's attack on NYC

The Bloombergville folks put out this video to illustrate the damage that budget cuts do to the city. P.S. It isn't the public workers who are attacking New York.

VIDEO: WI, MN, MI get their protest on

Skirmishes in the War on Workers continue on land and on sea. In Wisconsin, floating protests of Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker have become an art form. The one you see on youtube (above) took place on July 2, when Tonette Walker threw a garden party at the governor's residence on Maple Bluff.

The Daily Isthmus reports:

Saturday's protest was organized very quickly, says Arthur Kohl-Riggs, who organized the event through the "Shit Scott Walker Is Doing To My State" Facebook page he operates. He learned about the party Friday night and created a Facebook event Saturday morning.

Kohl-Riggs was pleasantly surprised that the turnout included people who had not met prior to the protest. The flotilla consisted of two kayaks, two canoes and a paddleboat.

"Saturday was kind of a test drive," Kohl-Riggs says. He has since created a Facebook event called "A Summer Full of #wiflotilla" to organize future lake shore protests. Flotilla protesters are also organizing with the Twitter hashtag #wiflotilla.

Guess that is what democracy floats like. (Look for the "Stop the War on Workers" sign in the video.)

In shuttered Minnesota, protesters set up a Downeyville outside of the state Capitol  today. They're following the example of Walkerville, Bloombergville and Christieville. You'll recall Minnesota has shut down because extremist Republican lawmakers refuse to tax millionaires. Downeyville is named after Edina Rep. Keith Downey, who wants to cut 5,000 state jobs and destroy government unions.

The Minnesota Independent quotes Jenifer Munt, AFSCME spokeswoman:

“We’re trying to make sure people understand what’s at stake with an all-cuts budget,” Munt told the Minnesota Independent. “The shutdown gives people a taste of what that would be like, but the Republican budget proposals as they stand today are far worse than the shutdown for the average person in Minnesota.”

Aside from the playful aspects of the event, it represents a push by the public employee unions MAPE and AFSCME to put pressure on Republican moderates who might help shift their caucuses towards compromise with Gov. Mark Dayton to end the state government shutdown. Republicans have so far shown little willingness to change their positions.

Judging by the photos, it looks as if a thousand people -- government workers, we're told -- joined the protest, many with "We Want To Work" signs. It wasn't the first protest in St. Paul over the shutdown, and it won't be the last. Minnesota's unions say they have actions planned throughout the month of July. Meanwhile, the shutdown is costing a lot of money.

Yesterday in Michigan, state employees protested a plan to privatize a veterans home (what a great way to say "thank you" to our veterans). And give Michiganders credit for trying to recall Rick Snyder and the heinous emergency financial manager (governor-appointed local dictator) law. Eclectablog is a great place to follow those efforts.

And let's not forget our brothers and sisters in Egypt, who are planning a massive protest in Tahrir Square tomorrow.

Protest Scott Walker in NYC on Tues

We were thinking maybe it's time for Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker to start paying attention to job creation in Wisconsin. Ever since he got elected he's been acting like a baby with a nail gun, raising taxes on the poor, giving millionares tax breaks, destroying government unions, shrinking essential services for Wisconsin's middle class and increasing joblessness in nearly all of Wisconsin's cities.

Even a mouth-breather like Walker has got to realize that he's bound to be recalled in 191 days if he doesn't turn things around. Especially after making the enormous blunder of planning a budget-signing ceremony at a company owned by a felonious tax evader.

But no, he's jetting to New York City on Tuesday to head a swanky fundraiser for the chairman of the Republican National Committee. That'll create a lot of jobs in Wisconsin, won't it? Actually, it will inspire a protest. Here are the deets:

Tuesday, June 28. Grand Army Plaza Park, 5th Avenue between 58th and 60th Streets 
(Across the street from the Sherry Netherland Hotel). The fundraiser runs from 5 pm to 7 pm.

Perhaps the good people from Bloombergville would like to join.

Stay tuned. We'll have more on this.

VIDEO: Bloombergville loves Walkerville

A message from Manhattan to Madison.

Meanwhile, across the river from NJ....(VIDEO link)

...Bloombergville is still up and running. It's another tent city protesting budget cuts (which of course are necessitated by the FALLING TAX RECEIPTS which result from WALL STREET RECKLESSNESS) in New York.


Bloombergville Now! says a lunchtime rally was scheduled today; we'll check in later to see how that went. And tonight a rally is planned in which attendees are invited to dress as a millionaire or a street urchin.

Here's how Bloombergville Now! explains its ask:

After already severe cuts in the past two years that  left hospitals underfunded, closed schools, eliminated bus lines and subway service, and reduced other public services including sanitation and rat control, average New Yorkers can’t take any more.  Our message is No More: No Cuts, No Layoffs, No Compromises, Make Bankers and Millionaires Pay!!

If allowed to pass the proposed Bloomberg budget will close up to 17 senior centers, cut or reduce services at nearly 60 child care centers, shut 20 more schools and 20 firehouses, and cause thousands of workers to lose their jobs, including up to 6000 teachers. 

For some reason we can't embed the latest youtube video, but here's a link to it.