The continuing protests in Madison are great, and the support of thousands of other is wonderful, but there is a deeper problem that needs to be addressed by regular Americans. 

In some ways, Madison highlights the fact that American workers and their unions keep taking two steps forward, and then, more often than not, two steps back.

Every time I hear the term "shared sacrifice" or "everybody should give up something" I want to vomit. 

The only ones sacrificing are on Main Street not Wall Street; and those Main Streeters are being battered, bruised, and irreparably injured economically with tens of millions of them jobless while those who caused the "crisis", the wealthy few and corporations are living it up in their 21st century Gilded Age.

Main Street must tell the GOP and the Obamacrats, no more concessions and sacrificing.  We refuse to listen to your lies, we refuse to tolerate your protection of the wealthy few and corporate controllers, we refuse to be a part of the repeat of the Coolidge and Hoover administration disasters inflicted on regular Americans.

Jonathan Tasini at Working Life asks the question, "what are we fighting for?"

"No doubt, the people in Wisconsin--and hundreds of thousands of supporters nationwide--have given the anti-union forces something to think about. But, a sobering observation: we have already conceded and lost more than ever should have been on the table, if we step back to look at the class warfare underway.

"The public workers in Wisconsin have already given up hard-earned benefits--in a place and at a time when they had no reason to give up a dime. We cannot afford to let people be put on the chopping block, time after time. There will be very little left of a decent standard of living.

"So, we must make sure that we set the right framework for what the fight is about.

"We have to set the starting point for the conversation--and it should not be that we, the workers, who have been the victims of a 30-year robbery of the wealth of the country, should pay the tab, particularly when there is plenty of wealth in the country if we had leaders who had the fucking balls to go after the rich and the powerful, rather than manufacture a phony fiscal "crisis" and demand that workers pay for a phantom crisis.

"Check out some of the other crap coming down on workers.

"Real pensions? Hah. A thing of the past:

Lawmakers and governors in many states, faced with huge shortfalls in employee pension funds, are turning to a strategy that a lot of private companies adopted years ago: moving workers away from guaranteed pension plans and toward 401(k)-type retirement savings plans.

"You remember how good the 401(k) scheme was, don't you? Ah, right you've probably forgotten the 401(k) because what you now have is actually a 201(k)--and give thanks to the people on Wall Street for that.

"In case you weren't sure, ask Teresa Ghilarducci, one of the nation's foremost experts on pensions, about the wonders of the 401(k) scheme:

A main drawback is that more 401(k) plans would make the nation’s retirement crisis even worse. Traditional pension plans are better deals than 401(k) plans for taxpayers because they cost less, attract and retain suitable workers, and help stabilize the economy.

401(k) plans are bad deal for taxpayers. Dollar for dollar, a traditional pension plan yields more pension benefits than do 401(k) plans because 401(k) management and investment fees are three times higher. And professionals who manage money in pooled pension funds usually get higher returns than workers who manage their own 401(k) accounts. The only clear winners when pensions switch over to the 401(k) plans are brokers and bankers.[emphasis added]

"Aren't we done with the idea of an economy where the clear winners are brokers and bankers? Apparently not.

"Here is the upshot of the message delivered by the "centrist" voice of the billionaire mayor [NYC's Bloomberg]who made his fortune by creating and running a non-union company.

"Wages have been so hammered down in the private sector--thanks to a 30-year long assault by CEOs who have pocketed for themselves the vast productivity gains realized over all those years and pushed trade deals that have resulted in a decline in wages here and abroad--that we should be judging, according to the new "economic realities", the future standard of living (not the mayor's, of course!) on the lowest common denominator.

"The "economic realities" and "workplace conditions" are not that we have the greatest divide between rich and poor in 100 years. Or that we have witnessed the whole sale robbery of the wealth of the country over the past 30 years and longer. Or, that despite a financial calamity of epic proportions, our legal system has held virtually no one in power responsible for the destruction of trillions of dollars in wealth--wealth, by the way, that millions of hard-working Americans had socked away in those fabulous 401(k)s.

"Nope. The new American slogan via Mayor Bloomberg, and a whole lot of our leaders: "That person is screwed so you should be too!"

"It is a velvet presentation of Jay Gould's declaration that he could get one half of the working class to kill the other half.'

"But, the fact that we even arrived at this crazy idea that the victims of the vast robbery of our wealth--whether Wisconsin workers, Ohio workers or any average wage earner--should now pay for that robbery has broad support. Our president argues the phony, moronic idea of a fiscal "crisis" every day:

" 'I recently froze the salaries of federal employees for two years. It wasn't something I wanted to do, but I did it because of the very tough fiscal situation we are in. I believe that everybody should be prepared to give up something in order to solve our budget challenges. I think most public servants agree with that. Democrats and Republicans agree with that."[emphasis sadly added]' "

"What exactly should the working person now give up, Mr. President? His or her ability to pay the rent? Make the car payment? Or, if he or she wants to join your goal of "winning the future", how exactly will that worker pay for a kid's college after giving 'up something'?"

And, pray tell, what have your corporate controllers aka criminals that created the economic catastrophe and joblessness given up?

As Rose Ann DeMoro writes at Common Dreams: "We need a clear message that public workers and union members in general did not cause the economic crisis or unbalanced budgets. Public pensions did not spark a meltdown on Wall Street. It wasn't workers exploiting tax loopholes or off shoring their bank accounts that depleted public treasuries.

"It's well and right for the President to criticize "an assault on unions," as he did in an initial statement two weeks ago.

"But he undercuts that message by conceding the Republican and tea party rhetoric about the "tough fiscal situation we are in" while calling for even lower corporate taxes, and making deals to extend tax cuts for the wealthy, and expressing sympathy for governors, like Walker, who want to put their entire burden on workers and the poor.

"Every time you hear the President or any other politician call for "shared sacrifice," think about this:

• Corporate taxes as a percent of the gross domestic product are at historical lows.
• Corporate profits per employee are the highest on record. At $1.6 trillion, third quarter corporate profits were the highest figure ever recorded since record keeping began 60 years ago.
• The top 1% of the population had 17.1% of total after tax income in 2009, the highest figure for at least 30 years.
• A one-time 14% surcharge on the super-rich would more than pay for the $1.6 trillion budget deficit projected for 2011 (according to the National Nurses United's research arm, the Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy).
• And, finally, workers' wages have been stagnant or falling for at least 30 years.

Regular Americans, like those protesting in Madison, better realize that they are fighting for their very existence as we, the people against corporate control of government enabled by both the GOP and Obamacrats.