Caught In A Machine That Grinds Us Up
This is Part II of Companies As Buy-And-Sell Commodities. See Part I, Companies As Buy-And-Sell Commodities - Workers, Customers and Country As Costs.
Companies As Buy-And-Sell Commodities – Workers Customers and Country As Costs
This is Part I of Companies As Buy-And-Sell Commodities. See Part II, Caught In A Machine That Grinds Us Up.
The Jobs Numbers – A True Story
The news is just out, the economy added a healthy number of new jobs last month, even with government jobs still declining thanks to austeridiocy. The better news is that there is an accelerating trend.
China Cheating Costs 400K Auto Parts Jobs
This week three new reports described even more continuing damage to our economy caused by China's trade cheating -- and our own lack of response. Even as the auto industry recovers and auto-assembly jobs are returning, the auto-parts industry and jobs are not.
Democracy v Plutocracy Unions vs Servitude
Servitude: "a condition in which one lacks liberty especially to determine one's course of action or way of life"
Anti-Union Right-To-Work Laws Really A Tax On Unions
Indiana is about to pass what is called a "right-to-work" law.
President Puts American Manufacturing Front And Center In State Of The Union
President Obama put American manufacturing literally at the front and center of his State of the Union speech.
Hold Cheaters Fraudsters and Exploiters Accountable To Get Our Economy Back
The spiral-to-the-bottom and inequality we are suffering is not an inevitable result of globalization, it is what happens when we don't hold cheaters and exploiters accountable and stop them.
A Win For Labor – FAA Bill Drops Anti-Union Language
There is breaking news from Capitol Hill, negotiators have dropped the anti-union language for votes to start a union. Republicans were insisting that no-shows be counted as "No" votes. Delta's check must have been mailed late.
Labor Consumer Agency Fights Arent Over Now Republicans Try To Defund Them
Republicans were blocking National Labor Relations Board and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau nominees to keep these agencies from doing their jobs under the law, in exchange for a cut of the take.
Did The Presidents Jobs Council Go All Corporate
President Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness ("Jobs Council") issued a report calling for fewer regulations and lower corporate tax rates. This doesn't have to be a bad idea. The Report
Why Keep The Capital Gains Tax Break
Mitt Romney's ultra-low tax rate on his ultra-high income is reviving questions about the breaks and perks that the wealthiest of the 1% receive from the rest of us.
National Science Board Report US Losing R&D Jobs To Asia
The United States is losing ever more jobs and becoming ever less competitive as our universities are cut back and companies move R&D jobs to Asia.
Congress Is Back Republicans Again Threaten Shutdowns For 1 Agenda
Congress is back in session and Republicans are right back to shutdown threats. Once again Republicans are trying to use shutdown threats to bust unions (the 99%), once again doing it for pay, for a specific company (the 1%).
Get Active For MLK Day Celebrate and Help The Movement For Justice
What would Martin Luther King do if he were alive today?
Use State Buy American Rules To Promote Insourcing
President Obama is hosting a forum on "insourcing" today.
Can We Insource Jobs
President Obama will host a forum on insourcing jobs Wednesday. The forum will feature leaders of several companies who have already shifted jobs back home and are encouraging others to do the same. According to the White House,
India And Philippines Declare War On Call Center Bill
Last month I wrote about a bill before Congress that would both help fight the offshoring of call-center jobs and protect consumers. Now the countries where we have been sending those jobs are organizing a lobbying campaign to fight the bill. The Bill
Obama’s Recess Appointments It’s Called Governing
After years of conciliation and one-way "bipartisanship," with Republicans refusing to meet even partway, the President got fed up.
Santorums Make It In America Plan Shows Republicans Can Read Polls
One after another, the Republican presidential candidates have come out with strong statements that appear to show support for making things in America and revitalizing American manufacturing.
President Sidesteps GOP Obstruction With Consumer And Workers Rights Appointments
President Obama moved an obstructing GOP out of the way earlier today, announcing that he was making a recess appointment to get the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) up and running.
Questions For 2012
There are so many unanswered questions and contradictions all around us.
Republicans Have Shut Down The NLRB The President Must Act
As of now an agency of our government, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), is effectively shut down, unable to do its job.
Verizons Fee And Attacks On Workers Are Cut From Same Cloth Of Corporate Greed
You may have heard that Verizon is going to charge customers a $2 “convenience fee” to pay their bills online. You may not have heard that Verizon is asking its […]
Washington Post Joins Wall Street Sneak Attack On Social Security
At the end of the year the Washington Post published as “news” a story, “Support grows for tackling nation’s debt” that pushed the idea of “a special commission to make […]
Another Washington Post Social Security Mistake
See if you can spot the big mistake (giving them the benefit of the doubt) in this Washington Post story: Payroll tax cut raises worries about Social Security’s future funding: […]
China Currency Manipulation – From Enough Is Enough to Not Enough To Certify
In November President Obama said, “enough is enough” to China’s currency manipulations. Today the Treasury Department said it hasn’t seen enough to call China a currency manipulator. This is happening […]
What Next In The Fight Over Who Our Economy Is For
Who is our economy for, anyway? In the United States We, the People are supposedly in charge and our country and economy are supposed to be managed for the public […]
For 2012 Lets Restore Our Industrial Commons
David Brancaccio’s Marketplace story Tuesday, Decline of Kodak offers lessons for U.S. business traced the decline of Kodak and the loss of Rochester, NY’s good, middle-class jobs to Kodak’s failure […]
Gotta Fix Trade
Today’s GDP report shows slow growth. It isn’t declining growth so technically is not a recession, but not enough growth to lead to job gains. U.S. Economy Grew at a […]
Consensus Grows Confront China On Trade
In the day-to-day news about trade problems with China the bigger picture can get lost. America is giving up its competitive position in industries of the present and future and […]
Politifact Kills Its Credibility
If you take a government program, change everything about it, destroy its core purpose, but keep the same name, is it the same program? Politifact.com says yes, and even goes […]
NLRB Fight Shows How Far Weve Fallen
Here is how far we have fallen: Republicans and big corporations are going to extremes, even threatening to shut down entire agencies of the government, just to keep people from […]
Devastating Job-Killing Socialist Regulations
Conservatives, their movement funded by big oil and king coal, constantly complain about “job-killing regulations.” They say that the Environmental Protection Agency is pushing “socialism” because it wants to lower […]
Who Protects Info You Give To Offshored Call Centers
Companies are always looking for ways to reduce the number of people they employ, and for ways to reduce the pay and benefits for the ones they keep. One way […]
Did American Workers Get What They Deserved
What did people expect would happen when they voted for Reagan, Bush and other conservatives, or supported their policies? In the Holland (Michigan) Sentinel community columnist Ray Buursma writes, American […]
In Honor Of Mitt Romneys Jobs Plan
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has unveiled a “Jobs Plan.” CAF’s Bill Scher celebrates with his post, Romney “Jobs” Plan Latest Attempt To Copy Bush, The Worst Jobs President Since […]
Republican Hostage-Taking Threat Again Guess Who Benefits
Once again, Republicans are holding government hostage, trying to force through unpopular cuts to the things We, the People — “the 99%” — do for each other and our economy, […]
WHO Specifically Blocked Millionaire Surtax
The public overwhelmingly wants taxes on the 1% increased to help pay for things that help the 99% and our economy. But the Senate was prevented from even voting on […]
Obama Appoints Two For Cabinet-Level Manufacturing Policy
President Obama has appointed Commerce Secretary John Bryson and National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling to co-chair a new White House Office of Manufacturing Policy. The new Office of Manufacturing […]
