Giant student uprising in Canada

More than 125,000 students have been on strike for weeks in Quebec over a proposed tuition increase.

As Martin Lukacs writes in the Guardian, the strike is about more than just tuition. It's about austerity and inequality:

The social unrest roiling Quebec is colour-coded red. One cannot miss the hundreds of thousands of people with cloth of the colour pinned to their coats and satchels; the stickers pasted on street poles and storefront mannequins; and the sheets fluttering from balconies and windows. The red squares – punning visually on a French expression to be squarely in the red, or in debt – are a gesture of solidarity with university and college students on a massive general strike against government tuition fee hikes... 

The government's response has been to wage a war on the students' right to collectively negotiate the conditions of their studies. It has mocked and vilified students in the corporate media; sought legal injunctions to dismantle picket lines and force teachers to class; and unleashed vicious police crackdowns and mass arrests against peaceful protesters as young as 15 and 16. Some students now wear red eye-patches after one was shot at close range by a flash-bang grenade and lost his vision. 

In the painful tumult of daily protests, an entire generation of Québécois youth is learning a political lesson no class would ever teach: violence underlies all of society's inequalities, and power doesn't yield an inch without a fight. 

The students' courage and creativity in the face of such brutality has lit a fire under Quebec. Their achievement has been to begin to clarify for a broad swath of society that a tuition hike is not a matter of isolated accounting, but the goal of a neoliberal austerity agenda the world over. Forcing students to pay more for education is part of a transfer of wealth from the poor and middle-class to the rich – as with privatization and the state's withdrawal from service-provision, tax breaks for corporations and deep cuts to social programs.

Today's Teamster Nws 04.30.12

How Apple Sidesteps Billions in Taxes  New York Times   ...with a handful of employees in a small office here in Reno, Apple has done something central to its corporate strategy: it has avoided millions of dollars in taxes in California and 20 other states...
Urban revolution is coming  Salon   ...There’s a parallel here to what happened back in the 1930s. When the stock market crash occurred in 1929, the real big protests didn’t start until 1933, and then you really started to see a mass movement emerging. We may be coming to that stage right now, because the depression, recession, whatever you want to call it, is not over – there’s still mass unemployment, and people are losing their houses left and right, and people are realizing that this is not just a little blip...
FEC Disclosure Loophole Closes On Secret Donors As Court Won't Stay Ruling  Huffington Post   ...A court ruling requiring non-disclosing political groups -- including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity -- to disclose their donors is one step closer to going into effect after a district court refused to stay its ruling in the face of an appeal...
Packers' Star Charles Woodson Defends WI Workers' Freedoms & Rights.mov  youtube.com   ...At a breakfast sponsored by Politico in Washington, DC, Green Bay Packers' star Charles Woodson defends Wisconsin workers' freedoms and rights...
South Bend celebrates Workers' Memorial Day Friday  WNDU   ...Local Labor Chief Tony Flora opened the ceremony with this interesting fact. Just a century ago, 12 people died building the titanic, and they were written off as a cost of business...

Today's Teamster News 04.17.12

Teamsters: Colombia Has Not Complied With Action Plan on Labor Rights  IBT   ...The Teamsters Union expressed its opposition to the announcement that Colombia has met key requirements of the Action Plan on Labor Rights that allow the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement to be implemented beginning May 15...
Taxpayers would Pay $426 to Make Up for Tax Haven Abuse, Small Businesses $2,116  USPIRG   ...the average tax filer in 2011 would have to pay $426 to make up for revenue lost from corporations and wealthy individuals shifting income to offshore tax havens...
Teamsters Local 507 Continues to Fight, Red Cross Showing Its True Colors  Examiner   ...The workers that once had pride in working for the Red Cross are now wondering how such a humanitarian organization can care so little about its employees and donors. In Cleveland, there have been no negotiations scheduled since the strike began...
Protesters Arrested in Sleep-Out and Demonstration Near Stock Exchange  New York Stock Exchange   ...The police arrested four people near the New York Stock Exchange on Monday morning after telling Occupy Wall Street protesters, who have been gathering there for a week, that they were not permitted to sit or lie down on sidewalks...
Two Federal Judges Suggest All Labor, Business and Wall Street Regulation Is Unconstitutional  ThinkProgress   ...“tentherism,”  (is) a radical misreading of the Constitution which claims that pretty much everything the federal government does is unconstitutional. Tenther lawmakers — who include members of Congress, senators, governors and at least one sitting Supreme Court justice — have claimed that child labor laws, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, clean air laws and the federal highway system all violate the Constitution...
LA area Port Traffic increases in March, Exports hit new record  Calculated Risk  ...For the month of March, loaded outbound traffic was up 2.6% compared to March 2011, and loaded inbound traffic was up 12.8% compared to March 2011...

Like pre-Civil War slaves, workers' value increasing

Today's One Percent views workers much the same way as Confederate planters viewed their slaves -- as assets from which to extract as much profit as possible. So argues writer Mark Ames. He calls it "The 1% Doctrine for the 99%."

Here's Ames on the value of slaves, from Consortiumnews.com:

This graph tells the real story behind the South’s secession: the value of the South’s “slave stock”—the property of the ruling class — soared as secession approached, reaching an almost 90-degree angle in those final years before Harper’s Ferry. The South’s ruling class seceded to protect their riches, period:...

Like the worst wars and the worst of history’s villains, the Confederacy’s one percenters seceded and fought in order to continue profiting from their most valuable investment properties — their human slave stock...

As they showed, slavery produced huge profits for southerners who invested in slave capital — to the detriment of all other portfolio investments, as the value of slaves soared in the mid-19th century. By that time, by far the largest cotton-growing states’ wealth was in slave stock, not in real estate or other investments.

Ames concludes the Confederacy's one percenters aren't all that different from today's version. The graph, he writes,

...suggests darker things to come as we try to free ourselves from their vision of civilization, and our place in it...

He illustrates that dark vision by quoting a report by the management consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

...the report argues that the best performing firms in our increasingly financialized era are those companies that have learned to squeeze ever-larger profits out of each employee...

The McKinsey report looked at the world’s 30 largest companies between 1995 and 2005, and found that their return on human capital more than doubled, from an average of $35,000 profit per employee to $83,000, leading to this rather frank and nauseating conclusion:

“If a company’s capital intensity doesn’t increase, profit per employee is a pretty good proxy for the return on intangibles. The hallmark of financial performance in today’s digital age is an expanded ability to earn ‘rents’ from intangibles. Profit per employee is one measure of those rents. If a company boosts its profit per employee without increasing its capital intensity, management will increase its rents.”

(Wikipedia offers an explanation of what "economic rents" are: "excess returns" above "normal levels" that take place in competitive markets.)

Ames concludes:

Extracting rent from “employees” as a business strategy: This is supposed to be the language of feudalism, not modern advanced capitalism — and yet this is the cutting edge in 21st century capitalist thinking, unashamed and unvarnished.

And he doesn't even get into dead peasant insurance.

Foreclosure auction disrupted in Cleveland

If you've been following the vast swindle perpetrated by America's too-big-too-fail banks, you understand how they've cheated investors, insurers, homeowners, shareholders, depositors, and the government. You agree with the peerless Matt Taibbi about one perp, Bank of America:

It is a giant, raging hurricane of theft and fraud, spinning its way through America and leaving a massive trail of wiped-out retirees and foreclosed-upon families in its wake...

...all of us, as taxpayers, are keeping that hurricane raging. Bank of America is not just a private company that systematically steals from American citizens: it’s a de facto ward of the state that depends heavily upon public support to stay in business.

An overstatement? Consider this: The government today released a report (no, not an indictment) about bank criminality. The report found that banks hired people off the street, calling them "vice presidents" and telling them to rush foreclosure documents through the system -- even if they had the loan amount wrong. (That's illegal.) One Wells Fargo "vice president of loan documentation" had just previously worked at a pizzaria.

An earlier audit in San Francisco found that banks were taking homes from people who allegedly defaulted on loans they'd never agreed to. Nearly half of all foreclosure sales between January 2009 to November 2011 were sold to financial companies that didn't actually own the loans they claimed to own, the audit also found.

On Monday, the federal government filed a court settlement with the banks that requires them to give $2,000 to each of 750,000 homeowners who were foreclosued upon improperly. Yup, three-quarters of a million people that we know of were victims of banks' sloppiness -- at best -- and criminality at worst.

Which brings us to the video. As the Plain Dealer explains,

Several dozen Occupy Cleveland protesters marched from Public Square to the Justice Center. Their purpose was to demonstrate and disrupt the sheriff's auction of foreclosed homes.

The PD further reports:

"We are calling on the judicial system to institute an immediate moratorium on all foreclosures until a fair system of home loans is put into place," said Peter Schanz of Cleveland, an organizer of the group's foreclosure committee.

Before protesters could finish a prepared statement, sheriff's deputies carted them away and charged them with disorderly conduct, a minor misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $100 fine.

Unfortunately for the protesters, they don't get the same system of justice that the banks get.

Turning the tables on Bank of America

Bank of America is taking Americans' homes (often illegally) even after American taxpayers bailed them out. Watch this entertaining protest.

Today's Teamster News 03.12.12

National union fight over 'right to work' comes to Minnesota Capitol  Associated Press   ...The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing this morning on a proposal to ask voters in November whether Minnesota's Constitution should be amended to make private and public union membership voluntary...
Labor unions rethinking their role in politics  Los Angeles Times   ...Concluding they need to be more independent of the Democratic Party, many unions are increasingly financing their own efforts instead of writing large checks to candidates and the(Democratic) party...
NAACP to challenge state voting laws before U.N. panel in Geneva  McClatchy   ...the NAACP will go before a United Nations panel in Switzerland next week to argue that new voting laws approved by some U.S. states violate civil and human rights by suppressing the votes of minorities and others...
The 1 percent recovery  Reuters   ...In the 2010 recovery, 93 percent of the gains were captured by the top 1 percent. That’s because top incomes grew 11.6 percent in 2010, while the incomes of the 99 percent increased only 0.2 percent. That gain is particularly painful because it comes after an 11.6 percent drop in income for the 99 percent, Saez reports, the largest such fall over a two-year period since the Great Depression...
What Greece Means (opinion)  New York Times   ...when Mitch Daniels, the governor of Indiana, delivered the Republican reply to the State of the Union address, he insisted that “we’re only a short distance behind Greece, Spain and other European countries now facing economic catastrophe.” ... nobody told him that Spain had low government debt and a budget surplus on the eve of the crisis ...what Greek experience actually shows is that ... trying to eliminate deficits once you’re already in trouble is a recipe for depression...
10,200 trucking jobs added in February  Overdrive   ...February represents the largest one-month gain in trucking employment since February 2011, when the industry added 12,400 jobs...

AT&T confronted by children of workers to be laid off

We're behind this children's crusade

Cross-posting from Atlanta Jobs With Justice:
Yesterday we had family and friends gather at the 675 W Peachtree AT$T building. Over 90 AT$T employees, community members, CWA members, occupiers, Jobs with Justice folks, Teamsters and others united in fellowship. There were activities for the kids including face painting, arts and crafts, button making, live music, bicycle repair trainings and more.

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) provided the home cooking which included some delicious potato salad, burgers, hot dogs and more. We pulled up a truck and put the grill in the truck bed so that the food could be prepared on site.
 
It was beautiful to see families standing together against these devastating proposed layoffs. Each layoff would impact not only the individual employee, but the family that she or he supports and the community in which they inhabit. Unemployment is one of the leading causes of foreclosure. This is precisely why the simple act of gathering in fellowship with a broad swath of not only AT$T employees whose jobs are on the chopping block but the whole community that will be impacted by these proposed job cuts is so important. This community and family strength was highlighted when all of the children gathered together and wrote letters to AT$T explaining why their parents should not be laid off. The children organized together and then ran to the large revolving door at the 675 W Peachtree St. building. (Remember, these doors have been locked for the past 25 days due to the sustained pressure on AT$T from the encampment). The children then left the letters at the revolving door and pleaded for AT$T not to cut the jobs.
 
The occupation of AT$T continues to grow. As does the unity of our community. Our request is simple and humble. Negotiate with the CWA about rescinding all of the 740 proposed job cuts. To date, AT$T has rescinded over 200 of these job cuts. This is a small victory, but considering the amount of money that AT$T makes off of our community we demand the respect of decent jobs and labor relations for our community members. Now.

Today's Teamster News 02.29.12

Why banks are reluctant to foreclose on expensive homes  Reuters   ...if a rich person owes a bank somewhere north of a million dollars, the bank is likely to be quite aggressive in attempting to get all of the money it’s owed, rather than simply letting the borrower walk away from their house...
70 Cities Nationwide Stand up to Corporate Greed and ALEC National Day of Action to Resist the Selling Out of the 99%  The Paramus Post   ...On February 29th, concerned citizens, students, and occupiers in over seventy cities across the nation, including Occupy Wall Street (NYC), are standing up to the corporations and legislators involved in American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)...
Michigan Workers Fight Emergency Managers, Plan Constitutional Amendment to Protect Union Rights  Alternet   ...Michigan’s top union leaders are meeting behind closed doors to decide whether to take on the huge fight it would require to amend the state constitution to block right to work, with a ballot initiative this November...
Union seeks restraining order on right-to-work law  Associated Press   ...A federal judge will hear arguments next week on a union's request for a temporary restraining order to stop Indiana from enforcing its new right-to-work law...
Senate reports says Beijing is cheating its way to the top in green technology exports  Manufacture This   ...Senate reports says Beijing is cheating its way to the top in green technology exports...
ATA Trucking index declined in January  Calculated Risk   ...“Last month I said I was surprised by the size of the gain in December. Today, I’m not surprised that tonnage fell on a seasonally adjusted basis in January simply due to the fact that December was so strong,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said...
Crashing the Biennial: Locked-Out Sotheby's Workers Take Their Fight to the Whitney  ArtInfo   ...a group of artists and others involved with Occupy Wall Street will take Teamsters as their dates to the Whitney Biennial's official kickoff party. And not just any Teamsters: specifically, Sotheby's union art handlers, who have been locked out of their jobs since August...

Today's Teamster News 02.27.12

April 9-15, 2012 -- 100,000 Americans Will Train for Non-Violent Direct Action  Common Dreams   ...From April 9-15 we will gather across America, 100,000 strong, in homes, places of worship, campuses and the streets to join together in the work of reclaiming our country...
Massive Leak Reveals Criminality, Paranoia Among Corporate Titans  The Yes Men   ...Just as Wall Street has at times let slip their fear of the Occupy Wall Street movement, these leaks seem to show that corporate power is most afraid of whatever reveals "the larger whole" and "broader issues," i.e. whatever brings systemic criminal behavior to light...
Greece sinks to its knees  The Telegraph   ...“They give many reasons, but a common one is financial problems: the crisis, unemployment, losing their job or being fearful of losing their job, a cut in salary so they cannot afford everyday responsibilities,”...
The lesson for the Europeans is that the US fiscal stimulus worked  billy blog   ...the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has been successful in increasing real GDP growth in the US and reducing the rise in the unemployment rate. Some simple calculations reveal that in the absence of the ARRA US economy would still be in recession. That is, taking a European trajectory...
Thousands form human chain in anti-Putin protest  Associated Press   ...Sunday's protest appeared to have drawn close to the 34,000 people that opposition activists estimated were needed to complete the chain along the Garden Ring, a wide road that makes a loop around the city center...
LSU identifies community conditions related to malnutrition deaths among older adults  Physorg.com   ...2,000 to 3,000 people a year die due to malnutrition-related causes in the U.S...

Today's Teamster News 02.26.12

Locked-out workers on 6-state trip Journal Gazette ...Eight locked-out union members have embarked on a six-day, six-state trip designed to increase public awareness of their situation. The travelers represent workers at American Crystal Sugar Co. in North Dakota and Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. in Findlay, Ohio, in what they’re calling a “1,000-mile journey for justice.”...
Get a real job! The note with 1 per cent tip left by wealthy banker after $133 lunch as an insult to the 99 per cent Daily Mail ...After dining on a meal at a boutique Newport Beach, California restaurant, the banker left only $1.33 on a $133.54 tab. Adding insult to injury, he gave the server, Breanna, another tip: ‘Get a real job.’...
Workers attack factory Phnom Penh Post ...A fourth day of protests by garment workers in Kampong Cham turned unruly yesterday, as nearly 2,000 workers shattered the windows of their factory with stones...
Have Labour Will Travel Macrobusiness ...governments in developed economies are caught in a vice. To keep the work force in employment, the workers have to be able to compete with much cheaper labour forces in the emerging world. If they try to compete on price, it leads to a Catch 22 — to keep the nation’s standard of living up you have to cut workers’ standard of living...
Length of Unemployment is Worst Since World War II Middle Class Political Economist ...The current average of over 40 weeks is completely unprecedented historically...
Why are Gas Prices Skyrocketing? Economic Populist ...soaring oil prices literally can cripple the entire economy. When will the people override Wall Street and stop this insanity?...

Layoff skunk at 745 Peachtree St.

Looks like AT&T executives are nervous about the Occupation outside their Southeastern headquarters. Maybe they should have thought about that before they decided to lay off 740 people while they're raking in the revenues and the bonuses.

Day 11: Teamsters, CWA, Friends, Occupy AT&T in GA

Another tent is up, No. 24, at 745 Peachtree St. in Atlanta. It's the Occupation of the Southeast headquarters of AT&T, which wants to lay off 740 union workers even as it rakes in the dough. The Occupiers, who want to stop the layoffs, brought a surprise to the corporate lobby on Feb. 13. Reports the Huffington Post,

Occupy Atlanta launched a surprise protest against AT&T Monday, staging a sit-in at the communication giant's Southeast headquarters in downtown Atlanta to protest its planned layoffs of hundreds.

...the participants (include) ... retired Communications Workers of America (CWA) members, a Teamster organizer and members of Atlanta Jobs With Justice. They sat as a group in the lobby, each wearing hot-pink hearts made of poster board that read "No Layoffs" and "AT&T Have A Heart."

Yesterday, an interfaith service was held in front of AT&T's building. The American Friends Service Committee reports,

AT&T about 25 leaders of various faith traditions came together to pray, contemplate, and express deep concerns for AT&T’s corporate greed.

Why are they concerned? AT&T made record profits last year, had the resources to compensate their CEO to the tune of 27 million dollars, yet they plan to layoff 740 unionized workers in the south east despite the fact that AT&T customers constantly complain that service is slow.

The interfaith service was held on AT&T property and it appeared that AT&T executive staff didn’t have the nerve to ask folks to leave the grounds; they were of course invited to join, as several AT&T workers did.

AT&T has its own friends in the Georgia Legislature. Alternet reports those friends filed a bill that would make it a felony to picket outside of a workplace, with a punishment of $10,000 or a year in jail or both.

Our brother Eric Robertson (erictheteamster on Twitter), Local 728's political director, told Alternet:

This bill is obviously an attack on working people and anyone who believes in organizing for justice. It undermines civil liberties, and clearly is designed to cripple working peoples' ability to organize and build organizationations to improve their working conditions. Labor, civil rights and community organizations, and our allies are going to have to play hardball to beat this bill.

Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

Tell AT&T to stop the layoffs

Awaiting arrest outside of AT&T in Atlanta.

Our brothers and sisters at Local 728 in Atlanta are fighting against AT&T's layoff of 740 workers, along with CWA, Jobs With Justice and Occupy Atlanta. They've been rallying and staging sit-ins in the lobby. Some even got arrested.

Today, AT&T workers are getting their layoff dates. Last year,  AT&T had record revenues of $127 billion. Their CEO, Randall Stephenson, took home $27 million.

We agree with Occupy Atlanta:

The 1% wants to lower the standard of living for the average American worker, all so that they can pocket some extra cash. We can no longer allow them to squeeze every penny they can out of the 99%. The 99% creates the wealth; it is made on our backs.

Help our brothers and sisters who are getting laid off by AT&T. Email CEO Randall Stephenson at rs2982@att.com or call Michael Matthews, VP of Labor Relations at (205) 977-0722. Tell them to stop the layoffs.

Atlanta Teamsters demand AT&T rescind 740 layoffs

AT&T wants to lay off 740 employees, but they won't do it without a fight from Atlanta Teamsters, CWA members, Occupy Atlanta members and Jobs With Justice.

The video above is a raw excerpt from Valentine's Day rally at 675 W. Peachtree Building in Atlanta

Workers Independent News also did a feature about the rally. Teamsters Local 728 President Randy Brown was quoted:

It’s about you and I. Us standing together against the 1 percent that are doing everything they can to look after theirself and doing everything they can to take care of the very top and the corporations. More money, more money, more money.

The full WIN story is here.

According to the AT&T and Corporate Greed Facebook page,

Tomorrow (2/21/12) AT&T workers affected by the layoffs have been summoned to a meeting at 675 West Peachtree street to get their official layoff notice. These meetings are at 9:30 AM and 1:30 PM.

This is devastating news for any worker to receive. Occupy Atlanta, Jobs... with Justice and other allies will be there to support them. There will be a press conference at noon to address AT&Ts greed and to hear the stories of some of the workers who just learned they were laid off.

We need occupiers at the AT&T building to help serve pastries and donuts and to show the AT&T workers that we stand with them.

The event will start at 8:45 AM and go until 2:00 PM. See you there.

We will maintain a presence on the sidewalk at 675 West Peachtree until AT&T rescinds all 740 job layoffs or guarantees that each worker will have wage/benefit protection when they are moved to a new position.

Our Teamster brothers and sisters will be there. Solidarity!

Today's Teamster News 02.20.12

David Koch on Wisconsin: I'm helping Scott Walker  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Koch told the Post ... "If the unions win the recall, there will be no stopping union power..."
Activists end sit-in at Piccolo school  Chicago Tribune   ...Community activists and parents at Brian Piccolo Elementary Specialty School ... ended an overnight campus sit-in Saturday staged to protest a proposed shake-up of faculty and administrators. The group, aided by representatives of Occupy Chicago, began its sit-in Friday evening, with nearly 100 people participating when the demonstration began...
Spain Unions Protest Against Labor-Market Reform  Dow Jones   ...Spanish unions led protests in 57 cities across the country Sunday against the new government's labor-market reform, kicking off what is likely to be a lengthy campaign against the policies of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy...
Federal Reserve Ignores California Concerns, Approves Capital One-ING Direct Merger  California Reinvestment Coalition   ...With the merger approved, Capital One becomes the fifth largest bank in the country with no immediate obligations to reinvest into the communities from which it profits...
The working man's paradise  macrobusiness.com    ...the Germans cut hours while the Americans cut people ... for the last decade the Australian labour market has been so strong that a private approximation of the German kurzabeit system has developed...
Manufacturing Illusions  Information Clearing House   ...The fundamental problem isn’t the decline of American manufacturing, and reviving manufacturing won’t solve it. The problem is the declining power of American workers to share in the gains of the American economy...

'You say CPAC, We say Fight Back'

Here's a short video from the massive #OccupyCPAC rally in Washington, DC, this afternoon. Just to give you an idea of the energy level.

CPAC provocateurs fail to provoke much of anything

You can't really see it, but the security officer -- we're not sure if he's federal, local or what -- just behind the flagpole is talking to a young CPACer. The latter had been trying to provoke protesters. Many of the CPACers were doing the same. TeamsterNation saw the security officer pull the CPACer aside and -- we hope -- tell him to chill out. The two CPAC guys in the front were also recording protesters.

Here's another CPAC provocateur. Andrew something. He demanded, belligerently, that protesters tell him exactly HOW they KNEW they're the 99%. Pretty soon people figured out it was best to ignore him.

If you haven't been following, CPAC is the annual summit of the 1% wannabes in Washington, D.C. They got a very warm labor welcome this afternoon!

CPAC gets Occupied by thousands of Teamsters, unions, jobless, community groups

The annual corporate greedfest known as CPAC was turned upside down today by thousands upon thousands of union members, community activists, unemployed workers and our good friend the giant Fat Cat. Dozens of reporters trained cameras on the sprited Washington, D.C. scene. Union banners waved as throngs of marchers surged into the street and up the hill to the hotel entrance. Protesters chanted, sang, drummed and danced while grandmothers sat down in the street to protest attacks on Medicare.

Police gave up trying to keep the huge crowd on the sidewalks. They blocked off the street as the peaceful protesters vented their thoughts about greed, tax dodging, unemployment and the war waged on working families.

Teamsters with "Stop the War on Worker" signs joined autoworkers, sheetmetal workers, firefighters, elevator constructors, UFCW, SEIU, AFSCME, UNITE. Community groups from as far away as Baltimore showed up by the busload.

Some of the entitled jerks attending CPAC had gleefully predicted violence, the way they always do, then did their best to provoke it. With expensive suits and camera equipment, they waded into the crowd hurling belligerent questions at the protesters. A security official -- was it a Secret Service agent -- took one entitled jerk away from the group he was badgering and gave him a talking-to.

The rally got off to a slow start around noon, as steelworkers, UAW members and Teamsters formed a picket line around the Fat Cat chanting, "Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Union busting's got to go." But at 12:30 someone shouted "Oh my God, thousands of marchers!" Led by drummers they filled the street, waving signs and banners as cars honked and police officers tried to herd them onto the sidewalks. "Our DC" and "We Are The 99%" signs joined "Recall Walker" and "Greed is Good--Romney-Gekko."

Soon the huge crowd surged up the hill, past the police and security, bellowing, "The People United Will Never Be Defeated!" Then they peacefully marched down again and regrouped in the street. Two women sat down on the pavement, soon to be joined by many more. Some gave speeches, some chanted and some sang along with pro-movement songs made up on the spot.

The CPAC one percenters had some charming things to say: @BossyMother called them "mutant scum." The delightful @stephenww tweeted, "I think we all can agree that the #OccupyCPAC crowd should get free contraception." @JimForbes_Pasco refers to the peaceful protesters as "OccupyCPAC goons."

Here's @sigsixputnik:

THE LOSERS----ON WELFARE----TAKE YOUR STINKASS ELSEWHERE!!! #OccupyCPAC #CPAC12 #tcot #p2

(What is it that psychologists say about projection?) It's comforting to know we vastly outnumber those people.

Some of our favorite tweets:

@AureliaFierros: Website that's carrying the fabricated story of "unions are paying for #OccupyCPAC" is FILLED w/ gun ads that say Obama's coming for ur guns

@Harry Waisbren: "Incredible, ton of marchers here!" - @Occupied_Air livestreamer as #OccupyDC arrives at #OccupyCPAC http://t.co/dfATSFxJ

@OperationLeakS Epic photo coming out of the #OccupyCPAC Protest at #CPAC We give you the Tax Dodgers

There will be more #OccupyCPAC action tonight. Stay tuned.

Why are those entitled CPAC jerks so obsessed with their violent fantasies?

Quite a parade of horribles will speak at CPAC's annual greedfest in Washington, D.C., starting tomorrow. Premium wine enthusiast Paul Ryan will be there, no doubt explaining why Social Security is fine for him but not for anyone else. Newt Gingrich may once again call for union janitors to be fired so their kids can clean schoolrooms. Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker will deliver a speech,  69 percent of which will be lies, unless the feds wrap him up before he takes the podium.

CPAC stands for Conservative Political Action Conference, and attendees are about as intellectually honest as Josef Stalin's propagandists. You can be sure they'll be spouting their fairy-tale economics, in which the Free Enterprise Fairy gives lots and lots of presents to deserving "conservatives." In the CPAC children's book version of reality, Tax Breaks for the Rich magically "trickle down" on all of America and Big Bad Labor Unions deprive workers of their Freedom. They're even offering workshops called ‘Return of Big Labor: What Can We Learn from Wisconsin & Ohio,‘ and ’Taking back Wall Street: The Tea Party vs. Occupy Wall Street.’

To counter these misguided voices, union members and Occupy DC are planning two direct actions in front of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel at noon on Friday and at 5 pm the same day (Woodley Park Metro stop on the Red Line). The Teamsters will be there with our inflatable fat cat. Be there!!

These will be peaceful actions, much to the chagrin of the CPACees. Judging by the Tweet-o-sphere, the narcissistic 12-year-olds who attend CPAC are obsessed with violence and grooming. They can't really argue the merits of the corporate greed, inequality or Wall Street criminality they so ardently support. So they use the time-honored tactic of being shocked that their critics plan physical assaults -- assaults that exist only in their own imaginations.

Here's a typical tweet:

@HarleyLeBon: Let's be prepared: Exclusive: Occupy DC Plans Mayhem for Major Conservative Conference

Never mind that the only people promoting mayhem are the entitled jerks attending CPAC.