On labor art, local tax options and the UA Board of trustees

FOR NO EXTRA charge, people, we are pleased to show you another excellent example of how the Tea Partiers are making a mockery of democracy in America. Here, we give you Maine Gov. Paul LePage, a TPer himself, who has ordered the removal of an historic 11-panel mural from the state's Department of Labor because he believes - are you ready for such nonsense in the land of the free? - it is too pro-labor and doesn't reflect a balance with business and industry. The Republican governor has also called for name changes for conference rooms for the same preposterous reasons. So the depiction of Rosie the Riveter will be gone, as well as others who contributed sweat and muscle to industry. Next, across the land with these LePage types in charge, will come removal of WPA art in theaters and other public places. The awesome Diego Rivera mural in the Detroit Instititute of Arts that commands a visitor's attention will probably remain. Tea Partiers have better things to take up their time than anything as trivial as a dying American city like Detroit.

More from Gov. Kasich on the new royalist regimes that have moved into state governments: He has now placed himself in charge of tax policies of local governments, telling the Columbus Dispatch increases in taxes at the municipal level is "not an option" to make up for abundant losses in state revenue in his proposed budget. He says the beleaguered locals can get by on savings from having to deal with public worker unions. He can't prove that, but when you are royalty, you don't have to. His ally, Mayor Don Robart of Cuyahoga Falls, has already placed his seal of approval on Kasich's plan. He told the Beacon Journal with vague certainty that "I'd like to think it's going to balance out." You can tack that one up on your refrigerator.

Finally, Alex Arshinkoff wasn't dumped by the University of Akron Board of Trustees as the newly-hired UA lobbyist. I'm told Trustee Jane Bond raised the issue in executive session but "nothing happened." Why am I not surprised?

Wisconsin: Union invaders meet the Koch invasion

WATCHING WISCONSIN GOV. Scott Walker complain about out-of-state union officials who are invading Madison to foment the protests was a teachable moment for me. It was then that I learned the distance that this zealous crusader would travel to destroy the back-channel facts in the case. I mean, these unionists were not illegal aliens or anything like that. And if labor sent a thousand out-of-staters, they would still be no match for two out-of-state brothers who influence Walker's every movement: Charles and David Koch, the billionaires (35 times over!) who own Koch Industries.

The Kochs own a lot of stuff, in addition to the pols who are expected to protect it. A shopping list of their possessions are oil refineries, 4,000 miles of pipeline and countless other things from Dixie cups to paper towels. They have an anti-union gorilla-like presence in Wisconsin in the energy field. One study by a research institute at the University of Massachusetts listed Koch Industries as one of the nation's top 10 polluters. These fellows have supported Walker with campaign cash passed through a number of fund-raising channels, including an outfit patriotically called Americans for Prosperity. Among their goals is the elimination of environmental regulations and unions, and only concede no more than minimal services for the needy, reports the New Yorker Magazine.

Any wonder that with a pot-of-gold behind him, the governor is fully confident that he can stare down the protests? Whatever else they might be telling you about Wisconsin's budget deficit, nearly half of which arrived with the governor's pet tax cuts soon after he was seated in January, you can shove it. This is all about union-busting and that will make the brothers Koch quite happy.

Speaking of brothers, what's Sarah Palin talking about when she asks her "fellow union brothers and sisters" to oppose union bosses and fight instead for the "right causes in our great country." Somehow, I can't connect the dots between this multi-millionaire wannabe Big Sister and commoners like union brothers and sisters.