Working Life

Going back to NAFTA more than two decades ago (wow, time flies when Administration after Administration screws workers year after year, eh?), deals have been made by presidents to buy votes. With Bill Clinton and Robert Reich promising a whole host of goodies, NAFTA passed narrowly–my favorite deal struck in memory was Clinton’s promise to establish a North American Development Bank with $3 billion…which bought the votes of a few Democrats like Rep. Esteban Torres (D-CA) and Rep. Ed Pastor (D-AZ). The bank? Ooooopppppssss…didn’t happen beyond a trickle.

You see, the sale of one’s soul–and the livelihoods of millions of people–for a piddling appropriation turns out to be a bad deal just on the narrow merits of what’s promised:

Most deals are broken.

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It’s always been the case that the vote for fast track would be close, close of course being in the eye of the beholder. But, with a vote possible on Friday, there are A DOZEN DEMOCRATS worth calling today. I suggest this list of a dozen based on two things: a little bit of intel […]

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Where or where is Nancy Pelosi in fast track? Inquiring minds want to know.

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Back in March, Wikileaks got a hold of an advanced draft of the TPP and leaked it. Today, the organization has done it again.

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I’d say this grading on the curve and it’s still only a B- for the performance of the global economy.

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In which Bernie Sanders also answers the question about egads “socialism.” This is five minutes worth watching–as millions did.

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The gloves are off, the sides have been clearly drawn. It’s the president, the Republican Party and business versus the people, workers, labor and most of the Democratic Party. And a top House Democrat, who is at the forefront whipping the votes against fast track and the Trans Pacific Partnership, is making it clear: the president stands with multi-national corporations against workers.

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I have written often that the only way we stop the killing of workers and the widespread thievery of billions of dollars is to put executives in jail. Fines are complete nonsense and a cost of doing business. Take away their liberty and you start to get their attention. Uh, hello. Attention. Just on The […]

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I guess it’s a no-brainer to point out that The New York Times is basically in the tank for so-called “free trade” (I need to underscore I’ve always written “so-called” going back to NAFTA because these deals have nothing to with “free trade” theory, at least if you bother to read David Ricardo). The paper […]

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I meant to write this up a couple of weeks ago when Elizabeth Warren released a report called, “Broken Promises: Decades of Failure to Enforce Labor Standards in Free Trade Agreements” but, well, stuff got in the way. But, here’s a hint: there will always be a spineless Democrat who gives you a chance to come back to an important topic. And that topic is: trade enforcement never works, it’s a scam and should not be allowed to be used as a reason to vote for fast track or any of these so-called “free trade” deals.

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