A LOT OF THINGS ARE GOING ON AROUND
THE COUNTRY HAVING TO DO WITH TEACHERS, WE WILL TALK ABOUT
OKLAHOMA, KENTUCKY, AND ARIZONA, LET'S TALK ABOUT OKLAHOMA,
TEACHERS THERE HAVE ENDED A NINE-DAY WALKOUT WHERE THEY GOT
A LOT OF WHAT THEY ASKED FOR.
THE ASKED FOR $10,000 IN RAISES
THE RESULT WAS --
>>IN TOTAL THEY GOT ABOUT $479 MILLION IN EXTRA MONEY, 400 WILL
PAY FOR STAFF AND THE REST WILL GO TO TEXTBOOKS, HEALTH
COVERAGE, STATE AID, ETC., IN TERMS OF HOW TO PAY FOR IT THAT
WAS DICIER, ORIGINALLY THEY WANTED A REPEAL OF THE CAPITAL
GAINS TAX WHICH WOULD FALL ON WELFARE CITIZENS, INSTEAD --
>>
>>THIS MOVEMENT STARTED ON FACEBOOK AND THEN KIND OF WENT
TOWARD THE UNIONS, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE IN THE TEACHERS
UNION, IT'S VOLUNTARY, SO IT STARTED WITH MORE GRASSROOTS AND
THEN THE UNION MADE A PUSH FOR THAT, SO THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED
THERE.
KENTUCKY, THEY HAD A DAY OF ACTION, AND THEY HAVEN'T
REALLY GOTTEN ANYTHING YET ACCORDING TO REPORTS WE HAVE
READ.
WHAT WERE THEY ASKING FOR?
ORIGINALLY THEY SAID --
>>
>>THE DIFFERENCE IS THE TRADITIONAL PENSION, YOU
ESSENTIALLY GET A FIXED AMOUNT EVERY YEAR AND IT'S BASED ON
YOUR HIGHEST EARNING YEARS, A CASH BALANCE PLAN IS BASED ON
YOUR OVERALL TIME THERE, IT'S MORE LIKE A 401(K) --
>>
>>THIS HAS BEEN SIGNED RECENTLY BY THE GOVERNOR.
IN ADDITION TO
THAT, THEY ARE ALSO ASKING FOR --
>>
>>KEEP AN EYE ON THAT, THAT WAS THEIR DAY OF ACTION.
AND FINALLY
IN ARIZONA THE TEACHERS WANTED A 20% RAISE, THE COUNTER OFFER
FROM THE GOVERNMENT WAS HOW ABOUT A 1% RAISE?
THEY WENT BACK
AND FORTH, AND THE CONCLUSION WAS, THE COUNTER OFFER TO THE
COUNTER OFFER, IT'S A 20% RAISE THEY ARE GETTING FOR TEACHERS IN
ARIZONA --
>>
>>SO THERE YOU GO.
>>I LOVE THESE TEACHERS' STRIKES, AND IT'S ABOUT TIME
PEOPLE FOUGHT BACK.
I LOVE THAT IT STARTED IN RED STATES, I LOVE
THAT IT'S PARENTS WHO ARE HELPING THE STRIKERS, I REMEMBER
READING IN OKLAHOMA, ONE MOM WAS JUST LIKE, I'VE HAD ENOUGH.
RAISE MY TAXES, WHATEVER, I DON'T CARE, RAISE TAXES BECAUSE
OUR KIDS ARE NOT LEARNING AND WHAT IS THE POINT IF WE HAVE
DESTROYED OUR KIDS' FUTURES?
AND IT'S WORKING.
YOU KNOW WHY THEY
AREN'T PAYING THE TEACHERS AS MUCH UNTIL THESE STRIKES BEGAN?
BECAUSE THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH IT.
THERE ARE NONSTOP LOBBYISTS
PUSHING FOR TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH IN OKLAHOMA, THEY DID ABOUT
$1 BILLION TAX CUT, SO THE TEACHERS SAID WHY DON'T WE
REVERSE THAT AND SPEND IT TOWARD EDUCATION ON EVERYONE'S KIDS?
AND THE ANSWER FROM REPUBLICANS IN A HOMO WAS, NO WAY.
SO IF YOU
WONDER WHY THE OIL AND GAS TAX, IT'S BECAUSE THOSE TAXES ARE
REGRESSIVE, THEY GET APPLIED ACROSS THE BOARD, IF YOU PAY A
SALES TAX IT'S A BIGGER PERCENTAGE OF YOUR INCOME IF YOU
ARE POOR THAN IF YOU ARE RICH.
BUT THE TAXES THEY CUT HELP THE
RICH MORE.
SO IT'S ALL ABOUT I DON'T WANT TO REVERSE THOSE
TAXES BECAUSE THEY MAINLY HELP THE RICH, I COULD REVERSE TAXES
THAT FALL ON THE MIDDLE CLASS AND THE POOR -- BY THE WAY NOW
THE OIL INDUSTRY IS NOW TRYING TO PUT A REFERENDUM IN OKLAHOMA
TO REVERSE THAT TAX ANYWAY, SO THEY WILL FIGHT NO MATTER WHAT.
>>OIL AND GAS COMPANIES STARKLY HAVE HAD A HARD TIME WITH
PROFITS, SO THESE TAXES ARE GOING TO HURT THEM.
>>POOR GUYS.
>>YOU MENTIONED YOU LOVE THAT IT'S HAPPENING IN RED STATES,
THIS ALL STARTED WITH WEST VIRGINIA, TEACHERS IN WEST
VIRGINIA WERE FRUSTRATED WITH THE FACT THAT THEY HADN'T GOTTEN
RAISES IN A LONG TIME, THAT THEIR SCHOOLS WERE UNDERFUNDED,
SO THEY DID PROTEST AND THEY DID GET WHAT THEY WANTED, AND THAT
INSPIRED TEACHERS AND OTHER RED STATES TO ACT.
AND I THINK THE
REASON WE ARE SEEING IT IN RED STATES IS BECAUSE THESE ARE THE
VERY STATES THAT ARE MORE LIKELY TO CUT TAXES ON THE WEALTHY.
THEY ARE THE ONES WHO THINK THAT HIGH TAXES ARE A BAD IDEA, OR
PAYING YOUR FAIR SHARE OF TAXES IS A BAD IDEA, SO THEY
CONTINUOUSLY DEFUND EDUCATION, AND IT LOWERS THE QUALITY OF THE
EDUCATION IN THESE STATES.
IF YOU LOOK AT A LIST OF TEACHER
SALARIES AND YOU RANK THOSE TEACHER SALARIES FROM THE LOWEST
TO THE HIGHEST, AT THE VERY TOP YOU ARE GOING TO SEE THOSE VERY
RED STATES WE ARE TALKING ABOUT RIGHT NOW, THOSE OF THE STATES
THAT PAY THEM THE LEAST AND GIVE THEM THE LEAST BENEFITS.
SO IT'S
SOMETHING TO KEEP IN MIND IF YOU ARE LIVING IN A RED STATE, HAVE
CHILDREN GOING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS, AND HAPPEN TO VOTE FOR
CONSERVATIVES.
THEY DON'T HAVE YOUR BEST INTERESTS IN MIND.
THEY DON'T HAVE YOUR KIDS' BEST INTERESTS IN MIND, THEY HAVE THE
WEALTHY'S BEST INTERESTS IN MIND.
>>I THINK THESE TEACHERS, IT'S AN INTERESTING INDICATION OF
WHAT COULD COME THIS FALL, BECAUSE THEY ARE BEING SO
STRATEGIC.
THEY ARE SAYING THEY'RE GOING TO END THIS
WALKOUT, TAKE THE GAINS WE HAVE MADE, AND WE ARE GOING TO COME
BACK AND RUN AGAINST ALL THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE PUT OBSTACLES IN
OUR WAY, LIKE CINDY RALSTON WHO WAS A TEACHER FOR 30 YEARS IN
OKLAHOMA AND WAS VERY OFFENDED BY HER STATE REPRESENTATIVE,
KEVIN MCDUGLE, NOT SHOWING ANY INTEREST IN ADDING MORE
RESOURCES TO THE SCHOOLS THERE, SHE DECIDED I'M GOING TO RUN
AGAINST HIM.
SO IT'S SUPER STRATEGIC, AND FOR THE GOALS
THEY ARE TRYING TO MEET I THINK IT'S A PRETTY SMART STRATEGY.
>>TEACHERS UNIONS, YOU LOOK AT A STATE LIKE OKLAHOMA, YOU WOULD
THINK UNIONS WOULD HAVE MORE POWER, AND THEY DO
TRADITIONALLY, IN COLLECTIVE BARGAINING STATES AS OPPOSED TO
NON-COLLECTIVE BARGAINING STATES.
BUT THERE'S A WEIRD
THING WITH TEACHERS UNIONS, WHICH IS THAT IN STATES THAT
DON'T HAVE A LOT OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND HAVE BEEN
GUTTED, THE TEACHERS UNIONS ARE REALLY, AND CAN BE, REALLY
STRONG BECAUSE THERE ARE TEACHERS EVERYWHERE.
AND THEY
CAN FUND RAISE AROUND THE STATE, AND IF YOU NEED TO GO TO THE
STATEHOUSE AS A REPRESENTATIVE IF YOU GET ELECTED THERE IS
SOMEONE WHO CAN SUBSTITUTE FOR YOU BECAUSE THEY HAVE A PLAN FOR
SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS.
I'VE STUDIED THIS EXTENSIVELY IN
ALABAMA, A NON-COLLECTIVE BARGAINING STATE THAT HAS NO
BUSINESS HAVING STRONG TEACHERS UNIONS.
BUT PAUL HUBBARD, FOR
THOSE OF YOU WHO FOLLOW ALABAMA POLITICS, WAS CALLED THE
800 POUND GORILLA OF ALABAMA POLITICS BECAUSE HE HAD THE
TEACHERS UNION BEHIND HIM AND HE COULD DICTATE POLICY FOR A
LOT OF THINGS IN ALABAMA.
THESE TEACHERS UNIONS CAN BE REALLY STRONG IF THEY ORGANIZE.
>>THEY SHOULD BE A ROLE MODEL FOR EVERYONE ELSE BECAUSE IT
TURNS OUT IF YOU USE YOUR POWER YOU ACTUALLY CAN GET A LITTLE
BIT OF JUSTICE.
BUT IF YOU DON'T USE YOUR POWER THEN YOU GET
NOTHING.
IN WEST VIRGINIA AND KENTUCKY THEY WENT ABOUT A
DECADE WITHOUT A RAISE, I THINK IN WEST VIRGINIA NEARLY TWO
DECADES, WHERE THEIR REAL INCOME ACTUALLY DECLINED WHEN YOU
TOOK INTO AFFECT HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS, BECAUSE
THOSE KEPT RISING BUT THEIR INCOME DIDN'T.
>>AND INFLATION ALSO.
>>YES, LET ALONE INFLATION.
SO IF YOU DON'T FIGHT BACK THE
PEOPLE WHO HAVE LOBBYISTS AND THE DONORS ARE GOING TO WIN, BUT
IF YOU DO FIGHT BACK YOU ACTUALLY HAVE A SHOT BECAUSE WE
DO STILL HAVE ELECTIONS, I KNOW THEY OVERWHELM THE ELECTIONS
WITH THEIR MONEY AND THEIR ADS AND THE PROPAGANDA, BUT, LOOK,
IF I'M BEING OVERLY OPTIMISTIC, AND SOMETIMES I AM, AND I FRAME
IT THAT WAY BECAUSE I'M NOT POSITIVE, BUT THERE IS A CHANCE
THAT THE GREAT AWAKENING HAS BEGUN IN THE RED STATES WHERE
PEOPLE LOOK AROUND AND GO, YEAH, YOU KNOW, WE TRIED GIVING
EVERYTHING TO THE RICH AND TO CORPORATIONS FOR LIKE 40 OR 50
YEARS AND WHERE HASN'T GOTTEN US?
THE RED STATES ARE THE
POOREST STATES.
SO I'M NOT UNDER AN ILLUSION THAT THEY ARE GOING
TO WAKE UP ONE DAY AND LET GO OF THE SOCIAL CAUSES, THAT THEY ARE
GOING TO WAKE UP AND BE LARGELY PRO-CHOICE.
NO.
BUT I THINK THEY
ARE LOOKING AROUND AT THE DEVASTATION OF THEIR LIVES AND
THE WAGES THAT HAVE BEEN FLAT FOR SO LONG THAT THEY GO, I
DON'T THINK THIS WORKED.
IN A WAY, THE HILLARY CLINTON/DONALD
TRUMP ELECTION WAS THAT.
BECAUSE THEY WERE SO MAD AT THE
ESTABLISHMENT, RIGHTFULLY SO, BUT YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT YOUR OWN
STATE'S ESTABLISHMENT AND WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN DOING.
AND WHAT
DO THE DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLICAN ESTABLISHMENT DO AT THE NATIONAL
LEVEL?
GIVE TO THE RICH AND THE DONORS AND THE CORPORATIONS WHO
PAY THEM.
WAKE UP AND SMELL THE CORRUPTION, AND REALIZE IN YOUR
STATES IT'S LARGELY THE REPUBLICANS.
SO I THINK THE
FIGHT BACK IS AMAZING.
USE YOUR POWER.
>>WE ARE LIVING IN A COUNTRY WHERE IF ALL THE TEACHERS
COMBINED THEIR SALARIES THEY STILL WOULDN'T MAKE AS MUCH AS
TRISTAN THOMPSON, WE HAVE TO ASK ARE WE OKAY WITH THIS IN OUR
SOCIETY?