The greatest generation .. I think they must be crying.

Tom Brokaw wrote in his 1998 book The Greatest Generation, "it is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced." He argued that these men and women fought not for fame and recognition, but because it was the right thing to do. My father and uncles were there.. two part of the D-Day invasion, one missed it .. his bomber having been shot down earlier he was sitting in a German POW camp.

I thought of this the other day when listening to a netcast where some were debating the use of an accounting maneuver that, while legal is questionable in the moral sense. It allows a US company to transfer large sums of it's earnings to offshore banks and therefore not pay US tax on it. Corporations making billions of dollars paying insignificant amounts.

What got me about this was not so much that they would do it .. but when one of the panelists suggested that a "good" company .. in this case they were talking about Google .. should just not engage in the practice. One of the others said that if the CFO would take such a step he would be replaced immediately for breach of fiduciary duty. I wondered what the members greatest generation would think of had they know they were hunkered down in foxholes across Europe so that some rich people .. exceedingly rich people could plot to defraud the government of income. How would they respond when asked their opinion about a person being fired not for doing wrong, but doing what most would consider morally proper.

I think they would just shake their heads

What's really scary to me

So there are a ton of blogs out there talking about the goings on in Wisconsin's capitol. I have read many and agree with some and not with others. One of the things I've noticed and scares me the most is the reaction from people I would consider to be "the middle class".

Now many talk about the tens of thousands of people who have been showing up at the capitol every weekend. Thats great. But what scares me is when you talk to average working folk who are not in support of the protests .. have no problem with what Scott Walker is doing. In talking to many it's like they're saying these teachers are the enemy .. These working folk seem to be disturbed by the fact that these teachers (and others but teachers seem to be the vocal point) have something they do not .. they have pensions ... and adequate time off ... and benefits and .. gasp ... HEALTH CARE! ...why .. I don't have those things .. I know .. the only way to make it fair is to take it away from them .. to make them under compensated, under privileged, generally under appreciated like me .. ya ... that will make it better ... that will make my taxes go down.

Where do these ideas come from? Well .. here in Milwaukee .. Mark Belling .... Charlie Sykes .. and at the national level Rush, Hannity, Beck and that total loon Mark Levine ... Now the thing that baffles me is that these are people making like $50K .. $60K a year ... maybe a little more but not anyone I would think would be tossing down single malt scotch with Rush. Somehow these media types have convinced many, many working people that the problem is not that the multi-millionaire ... nay, BILLIONAIRE has a staff of accountants finding ways he can pay less tax ...that he's got more money tucked in an offshore account than this poor chump will ever make in his life time ... no .. they are not the problem .. it's this $40K a year teacher. It's not the fact that for years the corporate tax in Wisconsin has declined while the income tax from private individuals has gone up ... no .. thats not the problem .. it's these union leaches. Teachers get paid too much? You try spending 5 or 6 hours a day, 5 days a week in a room with 25 5 or 6 year olds .... I'm betting many will be ready to off themselves by day 3.

The conservatives are playing (and I think winning) a game called divide and conquer. Get the working people fighting amongst themselves, Divide them ... get rid of unions .. because unions might stop the fighting and show them the true enemy. It's all about the profit. The less that goes to the workers .. the more left for people at the top. Convince people that taxes are bad .. that public is bad .. only private is good .. private healthcare, private schools, private cars, private roads ... nothing public is good. In Europe they pay big taxes... do you want that? .. Never mind that productivity wise they kick our butt ... never mind they do that while enjoying life, taking time off, not wondering how they'll get the medicine they need to survive...

So .. how do we re-establish the middle class as an independent group .. a group that people are proud to be part of.. a group that does not feel "grateful" to work a 9 to 5 job but rather understands what a really important part of the process they are? A group that understands that the previous generation .. some call the "greatest" ... was middle class ...

The middle class made this country great .. and without them there would be no mega millionaires ... They should be proud.