Working Life

   You may remember–this is old history…a year ago so this might seem like eons ago–that during the Democratic 2008 primary campaign, there was a huge surprise: we learned that NAFTA was a bad thing. Who knew? I couldn’t keep track of all those candidates running for office who suddenly had discovered something that a […]

Read the full story

  Let’s deal with some facts. The richest one percent of Americans are paying taxes that are too low–and Republicans are pushing budget proposals that would shovel even more money into the hands of the wealthiest Americans. Here are the facts.   Citizens for Tax Justice has released a series of studies in the past […]

Read the full story

   I recall how striking it was that the issue of immigration barely registered during the 2008 presidential campaign. No one really wanted to talk about it. So, this is interesting news: The nation’s two major labor federations have agreed for the first time to join forces to support an overhaul of the immigration system, […]

Read the full story

   People behave badly. Well, duh. I tend to be a forgiving sort in most individual cases. But, it’s the people who behave badly who hurt lots of people who can’t be allowed to just quietly slip into the night. I’m reminded of that because of two things I read, one yesterday and the other […]

Read the full story

   When do things get better? That is all in the eye of the beholder.  The issue is: what and who defines "better"? For example, there is no doubt there are more hotel rooms open in the city. But, does that mean because all of a sudden the industry isn’t making money hand-over-fist that the […]

Read the full story

   Maybe I’m eating too much Matzoh which is clogging the part of my brain that triggers the "trust" center but I’m not feeling great about this aspect of the government’s effort to conduct "stress tests" on the banks: But the tests, which are expected to be completed by the end of this month, are […]

Read the full story

   Here are some poll questions that I’d like you to consider: 1. If you knew that taking a deep breathe would kill you, would you inhale? 2. If picking your nose caused cancer, would you allow you child to ever go digging for that gold? 3. If George Steinbrenner was a left-wing Democrat, would […]

Read the full story

   Enough. Now that she has thrown another obstacle in the path of the Employee Free Choice Act, Blanche Lincoln must face a well-funded primary opponent in 2010. And it’s got to be the labor movement that recruits and funds that candidate–or the rhetoric about how important the Employee Free Choice Act is will be […]

Read the full story

   The Los Angeles Times had a website report posted last night: After weeks of back-channel talks, Hollywood’s biggest actor union and the major studios appear to have broken their logjam and could be close to reaching an agreement on a new three-year contract, according to people close to the situation. The agreement would come […]

Read the full story

Now, c’mon, this is entirely absurd. We already have the widest gap between rich and poor in many generations. Republicans (and some Democrats) are trying to cut the Administration’s proper and wise investments in infrastructure and wise energy efficiency programs. And, in the midst of all that, the Senate does what? Votes to cut the […]

Read the full story