Workers blamed for government failure

There is a growing disconnect between the value of workers and the profits they create for their employers. Corporate profits are enhanced by firing workers and increasing work loads of remaining employees, by not offering medical or insurance benefits, raiding pension funds of workers and attacking the unions which over the last century helped acquire these “perks” for workers.

Businesses take their corporate headquarters out of the country to avoid paying U.S. taxes and add profit by using cheap labor. Our leaders do little to stop this. Why should they? Some of the people who represent us for their annual salary, get much more from the lobbies of the businesses that make more and give back less.

The Daily Herald feature about the need for volunteers and the lack of interest in government reflects this. Many of our leaders don’t inspire us to serve others. They inspire us to serve self-interests, just as they do. They cannot find ways to assist individuals to fulfill their own needs.

How long did it take Congress to fund the needs of “too big to fail,” financial entities with trillions of taxpayer dollars? Illinois politicians have done a poor job of running our state for decades. They now act as if this current crisis is an anomaly, caused by unionization, public workers pensions and “bad” teachers. Our state has long been at the bottom of many lists ranking states, except the one for number of indicted politicians.

Anyone who had a “good” teacher and did the reading, knows a little about the history of American labor. We read about the “robber barons,” the 12-hour work day, the Triangle Shirt Fire, the U.S. Senate being called the “millionaires club” and Haymarket Square.

We had come a long way. Where are we headed?

Jerome Mikrut

Wauconda