Working Life

A bit of a lateish post here today (I know, everyone is just crushed). I wandered down to Wall Street to see the new president of the AFL-CIO give one of his first–perhaps his first–public speech since taking over the federation last week. Here is Trumka on the left–to his left is Liz Schuler, the […]

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   The financial newspapers are buzzing with the news of a coalition of business leaders stepping forward to propose executive compensation limits. I think this is only a secondary issue. Don’t get me wrong–I think the greed that has swamped the country at the executive suite level is astonishing. And it should be dealt with. […]

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   The official news for New York City is grim: Continuing layoffs on Wall Street drove New York City’s unemployment rate to 10.3 percent in August, a 16-year high that underscores the need to retrain former financial services workers for other jobs, state officials said Thursday.    Note that I said the "official" news. Because, […]

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   This morning, in Pittsburgh (where yours truly is), everyone is awaiting the speech by John Wilhelm, president of Unite-Here who will announce that the union is re-affiliation with the AFL-CIO. This is probably the first step in the end of Change To Win–I’d guess the Laborers and the UFCW will be soon to follow […]

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   There is no other way to say it–Sen. Baucus’ bill is a travesty and an outrage. You want evidence? Here it is in this morning’s Wall Street Journal: Business groups that have opposed House versions of a health bill say they are warmer toward the version emerging from Sen. Max Baucus’s Finance Committee, which […]

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   It seems like much of the political leadership in the country wants to ignore the deep outrage still being felt across the country in the wake of the nonsense, greed and incompetence on Wall Street. Except one judge: Giving voice to the anger and frustration of many ordinary Americans, Judge Jed S. Rakoff issued […]

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   In our newest installment of false choices, from The Wall Street Journal: President Barack Obama’s decision to side with the United Steelworkers and impose temporary tariffs on Chinese car tires implies a potentially costly trade-off for the administration, trade and political experts said. In the near term, the move should consolidate the support of […]

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We don’t talk about poverty in our country. Our political discourse, guided by pollsters and consultants, directs leaders to refer to "the middle-class", not to the millions of people who live in conditions that do not get much better, whether we are in something called a "recession" or we are in "recovery". And it is […]

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   It is a failure of the rule of law and accountability that many of the bankers and financiers still have their jobs and, in fact, are not sitting in jail or defending their behavior in court. But, it is even more revealing when you read the following, via The Financial Times today: Lloyd Blankfein, […]

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   The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that the president will push for the public option in his speech tonight before Congress–though there seems to be massive wiggle room in this comment: "White House officials say the president will detail what he wants in the health-care overhaul, as well as say he is open […]

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