All that harms Labor is Treason to America

That's what Abraham Lincoln once said about the vital relationship of labor to America, and he added that "if any man tells you he loves America, but hates labor, he is a liar; if he tells you that he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a fool." Based on that truth, Congress is packed with liars and fools. Because of their anti-labor laws, only about 10% of workers now belong to unions overall, and union membership in the private sector has fallen below 7% - levels not seen since 1932 in the midst of the Great Depression. At the same time class inequality is now at an all-time high and getting worse. A mere one-tenth of the top 1% have as much wealth as the bottom 90%. The average annual CEO compensation in America's largest corporations exceeds $13 million; and the average CEO to worker pay ratio is now at an astounding 347:1. Despite marked increases in productivity, workers have not received the just rewards of the fruits of their hard labor, and the minimum wage remains a poverty one. Most working class families live from paycheck to paycheck and sink deeper into debt just trying to make ends meet. Because of a broken economic system, the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, the middle class is getting thinner, and the fuse is getting shorter. Because things are as they are, things cannot remain as they are. It is high time for the 99% to rise up and demand economic justice.