Though I mentioned this yesterday in the posting of the newest, latest version of the Democratic Party platform, this bears repeating: you can't have the private insurance industry mucking around with health care. It is really painful to watch a kind of cognitive dissonance playing out here. Watch this, on page 22, in the context of the discussion about Fiscal Responsibility:

The real long-run fiscal challenge is rooted in the rising spending on health care, but we cannot address this in a way that puts our most vulnerable families in jeopardy.

   It is the height of IRRESPONSIBILITY to pretend like you can really protect vulnerable families by keeping health care a for-profit business. It's phony and misleading.

Instead, we must strengthen our public programs by bringing down the cost of health care and reducing waste while making strategic investments that emphasize quality, efficiency, and prevention.

   This is utter nonsense. It is mumbo-jumbo, market-driven language that obscures the statement being made: we don't have the backbone to take on a fight with a powerful industry so we are going to embrace the idea of Market Fundamentalism and con the American people into believing that you can solve the health care crisis by letting the people, who actually created the inefficient model in the first place, try to fix it.

   But, obviously, I don't feel strongly about this. Sorry for being so wishy-washy.

Last week I published my diagnosis of Ted Stevens, whose clinical depression makes him unfit to stand trial. Well, luckily, it looks like some people listened to my words of wisdom and heeded my call to help, not punish, Ted. Earlier this week, When President Bush visited the Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska to speak to soldiers, W made sure to invite Stevens. Aware of the Senator's fragile state, the President showered Stevens with praise: "the United States military has had no better supporter and stronger friend than Sen. Ted Stevens." Some have criticized Bush for inviting Stevens in spite of his indictment. In all fairness, the Bush administration is used to having criminals in their midst, and if they had to change plans every time someone was accused of a crime, they would never get anything done.

But Bush isn't the only person joining me in offering Ted the support he needs. Stevens held a rally for himself at his own campaign headquarters. Stevens' mental instability has in no way affected his ability to rock out; the senator, who wore a flight jacket, brown corduroy pants and Masai Balance platform sneakers, arrived at the rally behind a convoy of leather-clad motorcyclists. Once again, Ted showed clear delusional behavior as he expressed both his innocence, and his confidence in being re-elected: "The primary is the goal right now. Help me win that primary and help me be the candidate for the Republican Party. September will take care of itself." His depression has subsided and his manic phase has begun: the spirited senator told his fans "Let me tell you my spirits are high..."

But bikers and presidents can't keep Ted's spirits high on their own! So here are 5 ways you can help Ted Stevens!

1. Have your own rally, with or without bikers: Make sure you follow the rally organizers' lead and keep the event on the DL. Don't publicize the rally or you'll have to deal with anti-Stevens protesters. A confrontation may be just the thing to drive Ted off the edge and/ or provoke an outbreak of his multiple personality disorder, in which Ted assumes the form and personality of his hero The Hulk.

2. Send Hulk gifts: Since Stevens continues to identify with the Hulk, (classic identification disorder/ multiple personality disorder) send Ted some Hulk ties, because you can never have too many. We know Ted likes to wear the ties for good luck, and he'll need clean ties and lot's of good luck for his trial. Feel free to send Hulk toys as well, to give Ted the strength that he'll need. They also provide for great street cred, in case Ted ends up in jail.

3. Send donations towards the Ted-mobile: I'm working on a hummer covered in polar bear fur which Ted will drive around Alaska as he claims his innocence and gathers support.

4. Send gas donations: Because this Ted-mobile is a real gas-guzzler.

5. Send a get well soon card:

You can email them through a

series of tubes

or send them through snail mail. Send Ted cards of sympathy, for the death of his bill, which he still mourns, as well as cards of encouragement, support, and appreciation.

  Here, for your reading pleasure, is the draft, as of today, of the entire Democratic Party's Platform.

   Besides the trade language, here are my initial thoughts about some of the other economic-related language.

   The good:

   There is very strong language about the right to organize and other similar worker protection issues. And it is quite good that the language is inserted under the heading "Good Jobs With Good Pay:

That is why we support the right to organize. We know that when unions are allowed to do their job of making sure that workers get their fair share, they pull people out of poverty and create a stronger middle class. We will strengthen the ability of workers to organize unions and fight to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. We will restore pro-worker voices to the National Labor Relations Board and the National Mediation Board and we support overturning the NLRB’s and NMB’s many harmful decisions that undermine the collective bargaining rights of millions of workers. We will ensure that federal employees, including public safety officers who put their lives on the line every day have the right to bargain collectively, and we will fix the broken bargaining process at the Federal Aviation Administration. We will fight to ban the permanent replacement of striking workers, so that workers can stand up for themselves without worrying about losing their livelihoods. We will continue to vigorously oppose “Right-to-Work” Laws and “paycheck protection” efforts whenever they are proposed.

   The platform also attacks the Bush Administration for suspending Davis-Bacon provision, and other unfriendly worker acts:

   I keep my promises. I've just been given the language on trade that will likely be in the Democratic Party's platform. Here it is, followed by some commentary (the numbers to the left of the language are from the draft pages...too lazy to take them out):

Smart, Strong, and Fair Trade Policies
20 We believe that trade should strengthen the American economy and create more
21 American jobs, while also laying a foundation for democratic, equitable, and sustainable
22 growth around the world. Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global
23 development but we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few rather than
24 the many. We must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its
25 benefits more equitably.
26
27 Trade policy must be an integral part of an overall national economic strategy that
28 delivers on the promise of good jobs at home and shared prosperity abroad. We will
29 enforce trade laws and safeguard our workers, businesses and farmers from unfair trade
30 practices–including currency manipulation, lax consumer standards, illegal subsidies, and
31 violations of workers’ rights and environmental standards. We must also show leadership
32 at the World Trade Organization to improve transparency and accountability, and to
33 ensure it acts effectively to stop countries from continuing unfair government subsidies to
34 foreign exporters and non-tariff barriers on U.S. exports.
35
36 We need tougher negotiators on our side of the table–to strike bargains that are good not
37 just for Wall Street, but also for Main Street. We will negotiate free trade agreements that
38 open markets to U.S. exports and include enforceable international labor and
39 environmental standards; we pledge to enforce those standards consistently and fairly.
40 We will not negotiate free trade agreements that stop the government from protecting the
41 environment, food safety or the health of its citizens, give greater rights to foreign
42 investors than to U.S. investors, require the privatization of our vital public services, or
43 prevent developing country governments from adopting humanitarian licensing policies
44 to improve access to life-saving medications. We will stand firm against agreements that
45 fail to live up to these important benchmarks. We will work with Canada and Mexico to
46 amend the North American Free Trade Agreement so that it works better for all three

1 North American countries. We will work together with other countries to achieve a
2 successful completion of the Doha Round Agreement that would increase U.S. exports,
3 support good jobs in America, protect worker rights and the environment, benefit our
4 businesses and our farms, strengthen the rules-based multilateral system, and advance
5 development of the world’s poorest countries.
6
7 Just as important, we will invest in a world-class infrastructure, skilled workforce, and
8 cutting-edge technology so that we can compete successfully on high- value-added
9 products, not sweatshop wages and conditions. We will end tax breaks for companies that
10 ship American jobs overseas, and provide incentives for companies that keep and
11 maintain good jobs here in the U.S. And, we will also provide access to affordable health
12 insurance and enhance retirement security, and we will update and expand Trade
13 Adjustment Assistance to help workers in industries vulnerable to international
14 competition, as well as service sector and public sector workers impacted by trade, and
15 we will improve TAA’s health care benefits. The United States should renew its own
16 commitment to respect for workers' fundamental human rights, and at the same time
17 strengthen the ILO's ability to promote workers' rights abroad through technical
18 assistance and capacity building.

   So, is this good or bad? Here are some initial, quick thoughts and please feel free to give your own:

    Here's what caught my eye this morning:

• CWA and the IBEW might be headed for a strike against Verizon. If you want to read a detailed update, it's here; this morning there is a short update issued a few minutes ago that says: "Bargaining continued until 10:30 p.m. last evening. We continue making progress on complex issues. Teams are reconvening the morning." Oh, yeah, Verizon's CEO Ivan G. Seidenberg "raked in $26,553,576 in total compensation according to the SEC," according the AFL-CIO's executive pay database.

• If you thought the mortgage crisis was over its worst moments, think again. The Wall Street Journal has an article (subscribers only) that leads with this sobering bit of info:

Mortgages issued in the first part of 2007 are going bad at a pace that far outstrips the 2006 vintage, suggesting that the blow to the financial system from U.S. housing woes will be deeper than many people earlier estimated.

• 1199/SEIU is looking to get employers for home health aides to let go of some of the state money employers are pocketing. If no deal, there might be a strike.
• First Joba, now A-Rod. Even avowed Yankee-haters have to have sympathy...maybe not...

   And, now, time to cause some havoc.

   This has been an on-going story. An update today via The NYTimes (quick post today, folks, because of work craziness):

State labor investigators have identified 57 under-age workers who were employed at a kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa and have asked the attorney general to bring criminal charges against the company for child labor violations, Dave Neil, the Iowa Labor Commissioner, said on Tuesday.

“The investigation brings to light egregious violations of virtually every aspect of Iowa’s child labor laws,” Mr. Neil said in a statement announcing the results of a seven-month investigation at Agriprocessors, the nation’s largest kosher meat plant.

   You can read the rest of the story here.

Business Week has an article about a scheme concocted by US oil companies working in the Gulf of Mexico to replace American workers making $18/hr with foreign workers making as little as $3.33/hr for 12 hour shifts. Former oil rig workers have now filed a lawsuit in a Texas federal court to reclaim wages they claim were lost due to the practice.

Johnson's suit, Cunningham, et al v. Offshore Specialty Fabricators, Inc. et al, was filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, Texarkana Div. in December 2004. On July 21 the judge issued a scheduling order that calls for both sides to begin discovery and depositions on Aug. 10. The case is about working conditions for both U.S. and non-U.S. workers, says plaintiff's attorney Tony Buzbee of Buzbee Law Firm in Galveston, Tex. The foreign workers "were paid pennies on the dollar, worked grueling hours for days on end, and were essentially captives on the rigs because they were paid when repatriated," says Buzbee. "This suit seeks remedy for the American workers who were paid less due to wage market suppression or who lost their jobs due to being replaced."

   Now that the platform committee has met a  number of times, we should learn what the Democratic Party's platform will say about trade. I'm told the language may be finalized today. In the meantime, consider a couple of nuggets of information:

   The Citizens Trade Campaign came up with proposed language, which you can see here. At a public platform committee meeting in Cleveland, Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers, testified about future trade policy and asked a series of questions:

“How can we continue to run trade deficits of hundreds of billions of dollars a year, accumulating more than $6 trillion in current account deficits since 1994 – borrowing about $2 billion each and every day and not expect that there will be a price to pay?”
 
“How can we lose more than 3.5 million manufacturing jobs and see more than 40,000 facilities shuttered and ask our citizens to support trade policies that have shipped their jobs overseas?”
 
“How can we refuse to pursue aggressively enough the fight for labor rights in America or overseas and expect that workers in other nations will have the rights necessary to be adequately compensated for their labor and help build a bridge to the middle class?”
 
“How can we watch as other nations – like China -- subsidize their producers, dump their products on our markets and refuse to accept our goods in their markets and simply continue to spout ideology while refusing to enforce our own laws?”
 
“How can we let policymakers tell our children that they should work hard and go to college to get one of the ‘jobs of the future’ when those jobs, increasingly, are being done offshore as our nation’s advanced technology trade deficit with China alone amounts to more than $67 billion?’

   When I get the final language, I'll have it for you with some analysis/thoughts.

Just when you thought the greed and outrageous behavior of corporate America could get no worse, the leaders of companies have sunk to a new low: they are using workers' pension money to fund CEO pensions. No this is not a joke.

One of the things that's always irritated me about the blogosphere is how the idea that people who work in a factory should be able to have the same living standard as white-collar occupations gets pissed on. I've always found that the worst hate is reserved for the UAW, which in general is lumped in with the management in Detroit whenever a discussion about the auto industry pops up. Like today on Daily Kos, from Kos himself.

For years, Democrats outside of Michigan tried to coax Detroit into making more fuel efficient vehicles. The automakers, the autoworker unions, Republicans, and Michigan Democrats all fought those efforts tooth and nail. Successfully.

At the same time as Markos is demonizing the hardworking men and women of the UAW as complicit in their own hardship, those same men and women get no praise for the time they put on the strike line to force force GM to make commitments to build more fuel efficient vehicles in the USA.