CANNON
BALL, N.D. - September 28 – Police confronted anti-Dakota Access
Pipeline protestors with an armored vehicle, automatic weapons, and
riot gear on Tuesday. Protestors created a receiving line and greeted
each police officer with a handshake.
Approximately
300 protestors including children, the elderly, and about a dozen
horse riders, gathered on a county road and adjoining ditch near a
construction site for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in the rural
hills of North Dakota.
Protestors
sang songs, listened to elders’ stories, and took pictures of the
pipeline.
CANNON
BALL, North Dakota – September 28 - A protestor’s vehicle from
anti-Dakota Access Pipeline Sacred Stone Camp was struck in a hit and
run by a passing hay truck in sight of police Tuesday. Police did not
take action to apprehend the truck driver.
The
protestor vehicle, an RV, was on the corner waiting to make a turn
during a caravan to a protest site in a rural area near Cannon Ball,
North Dakota. The police in two police SUVs barricaded off the left
turn, leaving only a right turn for the RV at the T shaped
intersection.
The
hay truck was carrying large round hay bales, stacked up and sticking
out on both the left and right sides. The truck was traveling
perpendicular to the protest vehicle before making the left hand turn
in front of the RV, swinging wildly and seeming to be on the verge of
losing control.
This picture reads, "With so little transit, a car is often a necessity for a suburban job. So, therefore, is a license. In Wisconsin, any unpaid driving fine or fee can result in a two-year suspension - more than twice as long as the suspension for a drunk-driving conviction.
Tens of thousands of black Milwaukee residents are being denied the opportunity to make a legal living because they're short $100 or less. An astonishing one in two black men in Milwaukee County, which includes the city and its inner suburbs, has a suspended license today."
Just thought you might like to understand the context of the racial strife in Milwaukee.
Legends of comedy Cloris Leachman, Ed Asner, M. Emmet Walsh, Michael Lerner, and Bill Cobbs explain why you should not let old people dictate climate change policies.
If Walmart Paid Its Employees a Living Wage, How Much Would Prices Go Up?
The American taxpayers subsidize the share holders of Walmart $6.2 billion dollars per
year so we do not have to force Walmart to pay their employees
living wages.
According to a report by Americans for Tax Fairness, Walmart's employees take billions of dollars in assistance and tax credits for just eight government programs. The eight programs studied were SNAP (food stamps), child care, Section 8, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits, National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, and Energy Assistance Program.
From the report:
"Among the findings is that Walmart receives an estimated $6.2 billion annually in mostly federal taxpayer subsidies. The reason: Walmart pays its employees so little that many of them rely on food stamps, Medicaid and six other taxpayer-funded programs."
Planned increases in Walmart employee pay to $9 and $10 does little to alleviate the taxpayer burden.
"Many Walmart workers being paid $9/hour would qualify for public assistance. At $9/hour and 34 hours a week (Walmart’s definition of “full-time” work), an employee would take home just $15,912/year. This single worker would qualify for three out of five public programs for which they would be eligible. A worker with one or more children would qualify for all eight of the programs studied."
"Many Walmart workers being paid $10/hour would also qualify for public programs. A worker paid $10/hour and working 'full-time' at 34 hours a week would take home just $17,680. With two or more members in their household, this worker would qualify for all eight programs."
Raising the wages of Walmart employees would have no to little impact on prices. The Economic Policy Institute in 2006 issued a report on the connection between Walmart prices and wages. The report found: "While
still maintaining a profit margin almost 50% greater than Costco, a key
competitor, Wal-Mart could have raised the wages and benefits of each
of its non-supervisory employees in 2005 by more than $2,000 without
raising prices a penny."
Oh, and where do these employees spend their SNAP dollars? You guessed it - Walmart. Walmart raises its profits by not paying its employees a living wage and by taking money from the government in the form of assistance for the food of those employees.
As our country recovers from the worst recession in our history and budgets for vital services are being slashed left and right, we are sacrificing the entire country's welfare so we can subsidize the wealth of the wealthiest families in the country and the shareholders in one of the biggest companies in the world.
