Millions of Ordinary People Rising Up in Public Assemblies

Floor Speech

MILLIONS OF ORDINARY PEOPLE RISING UP IN PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, across the world we witness millions of ordinary people rising up in public assemblies, many at risk to their own lives speaking out for a better life for all. From Madison to Misurata, from Cairo to Columbus, courageous people are taking a stand for justice for the many, not just the few.

Another giant rally is planned today in Columbus, Ohio, where Republican Governor John Kasich, the son of public workers, is systematically attacking the hard-earned collective bargaining rights of our State public workers, policemen, firefighters, teachers and other public sector workers. He even called an Ohio policeman an idiot and was forced to apologize. That is his priority, not job creation, not education, not economic development, but attacking workers. That is why thousands of people will converge on the State's capital again today to call him out on his extreme right-wing agenda.

The public outcry started in Wisconsin, given its long history of progressivism. Americans have begun to rise up to prevent more harm being done to our way of life, more attacks on our jobs, more threats to the standard of living of our middle class, more cuts in wages and benefits of hardworking families. The movement is spreading, just as the democracy movement is spreading across Northern Africa and the Middle East.

Just as we watch freedom rising in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and beyond, we watched the spectacle of America's Governors trying to dictate to citizens who earn, on average, $24,000 and aren't even eligible for Social Security, but receive about $900 a month in average public employee retirement benefits, that they should sacrifice even more to balance State budgets.

No, they don't deserve to be made scapegoats for their States' budget problems, and they don't deserve to be put on the front lines of the battle to save workers' rights; but they are there, nonetheless, and they deserve our support. We are all Wisconsinites. We are all Buckeyes. We are all Hoosiers. We have to stand together united for America, for the good of many, not just the few.

If John Kasich wants to look for scapegoats, perhaps he should draw upon his experience with Lehman Brothers. Maybe he should look into his Rolodex for some of his cronies from Wall Street who helped bankroll his campaign. Because the real culprits who have caused the real deep, economic harm to our Nation are watching gleefully on the sidelines as our friends and neighbors try to protect their livelihoods.

Wall Street's greed caused the financial crisis. That greed triggered lower State and local revenues with the devaluation of housing and rampant foreclosures. Yet the Wall Street titans who stole our home equity, our annuities, our pension accounts remain scot free of any real attention or prosecution.

I have a message to our Governors: blame Wall Street, not Main Street. When six megabanks control two-thirds of the banking system of our country, when corporate profits are at record highs, yet ordinary workers are being asked to empty their pockets to balance State budgets, something is really out of kilter in America. When GE and Exxon don't pay taxes and Wall Street executives walk away with huge bonuses while home foreclosures increase, what's seriously out of balance in America is the distribution of political power in this country.

In Ohio, the brothers and sisters of the heroes of 9/11, our firefighters and police, are being asked to give away their rights as free American citizens at the bargaining table for wages and benefits. Our Governor wants to abolish middle class prevailing wages, same in Wisconsin. Any nation that loses labor rights loses democracy.

What's at stake in our Nation is more than wages. What's at stake is liberty for all and opportunity for all. Governor Walker, it wasn't the firefighters in Madison that robbed Main Street and stole our home equity. You might ask your friends, the Koch brothers, about that.

Governor Kasich, it wasn't the teachers in Ohio who financed the shipping of our jobs offshore through NAFTA. You voted for it, and your buddies on Wall Street rammed it through Congress.

And, Governor Daniels, it wasn't your public sector workers that created the biggest financial bubble in U.S. history and then jumped ship when it burst, letting everyone else go down. That was created by the policies of George W. Bush, where you served as director of the OMB while the Federal budget deficit exploded.

I salute America's workers who are fighting for the middle class and our way of life. The whole world is watching.

After the American people win their battles in Madison, in Columbus, in Indianapolis, I hope they take the fight to Wall Street and get our money back. That's who has it.

Source