Friday, July 13, 2012

AFL-CIO Goes All-In with Occupy

The AFL-CIO has not been bashful about its support for the Occupy Wall Street protesters. And the union giant recently posted an article by Tula Connell hyping a booklet entitled “Economics 101 for the 99%.” The booklet was produced for the Occupiers by a socialist group called the Center for Popular Economics.
Connell wrote that the booklet will clarify “such concepts as the role of the Federal Reserve and the so-called austerity war.” The booklet is intended to “to help the ‘99%’ make a coherent argument for why we need to change our economic course.”
A glance through the booklet reveals standard leftist pap about the evils of capitalism and how the glories of socialism will make the world a better place. Strangely missing are examples of socialism’s actual track record. Greece, Spain and Italy appear nowhere in the booklet.
 (It does ask “why, if we are only to have a life expectancy equal to Portugal’s, we should spend over $4,000 more per person.” The simple answer: Portugal’s universal health care system is part of an unsustainable welfare state that necessitated a $100+ billion bailout by the EU two years ago. As a result, Portugal’s healthcare fees have doubled recently – not an easy pill to swallow in a nation where the average annual salary is $16,400 and income is expected to fall 3.25% in 2012. Other fun Portuguese facts: unemployment is 14%, a third of public hospitals are insolvent and, according to the Portuguese Society of Cardiology “1 in 4 Portuguese runs a high risk of dying of a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years, but only 30% of those at risk take adequate medication.)

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