Working Life

A long time ago, I wrote about the bankruptcy of the ratings agencies, pointing out that S&P and Moody’s were a cog in a corrupt machine. The only startling fact in the saga about the ratings agencies is that anyone paid any attention to them anymore — the world of the chattering classes would shake every time one of these clowns issued some pronouncement about the economy, even as evidence mounted about their role. So, now, it appears at least S&P will face some judgement — though it is to be seen how harsh.

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I don’t know whether anything will make the austerity mongers around the world — from Wall Street, to the halls of the political leadership — stop for a moment and think, “what the hell are we doing?” Long unemployment lines don’t make them pause. So, if people freeze to death or shiver through cold weather because they can’t pay heating bills, will that matter? Welcome to the reality in Greece.

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Job growth is allegedly “steady” but unemployment increases — so said the statistics. But, here’s the thing — these stats still miss an important point.

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This one slipped by me a couple of days ago. In case you thought that this problem was going away — but you are too smart to believe that — big corporations are still fleecing the country.

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We tend to hear most of the rhetoric on taxes focus on federal taxes — and there certainly is good reason to do so. But, the underbelly of the system — and the way in which the poorest people are screwed — can also be seen at the state and local level.

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The obsession over balancing budgets and reducing debt is a foolish global exercise at a time when people need governments to spend more money to create jobs and demand. And one of the great wizards behind the curtain of the foolishness is the International Monetary Fund.

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Don’t you feel good about bailing out the bastards who crashed the economy? Well, they certainly feel good about your contributions to saving their sorry asses — and they’ve been pocketing nice sums of money as a way of saying “thank you.”

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The rumblings about changing the Electoral College have one thing in common with the debate over changing the filibuster rules — a lot of people choose a side in the debate based on whether it’s better, right now, for their political party, not what’s good for, uh, democracy.

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It’s a funny thing, though obvious, that when you actually look at all the hand-wringing about budget shortfalls and Social Security funding, it always comes down to the same issue: are the richest among us going to pay their fair share, or are they going to continue to be part of a legalized robbery that drains the wealth of the country into the hands of a few, while the burden increase on most hard-working Americas? So, it is with Social Security.

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It is the strangest contradiction: things have not been so bad for workers probably since the Great Depression, with wages declining, health care costs going up, pensions becoming a thing of the past. People are really angry and frustrated. Yet, at the same time, unions continue to decline in numbers and power.

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