Working Life

   Once again–sigh–what this financial mess shows is how the progressive movement is disorganized, incoherent and fragmented. The bankers are pretty clear what they want. The public has been heard loudly that it rejects the Paulson bailout for bankers. But, progressives? I think I’ve seen at least half a dozen different "THIS IS THE SOLUTION" […]

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There is a great economic emergency looming in our country. But, it seems to me that we—or at least our elected leaders—have only looked at one side of the crisis, that of the housing bubble-inspired financial credit crunch. By doing so, we’ve missed the bigger picture and the solutions needed. So, here is one person’s […]

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You Never Forget Your First Debate, but in case you do forget it, or like, never watched it in the first place, here are the undebatably top 10 best moments from Friday Night’s debate. 1) Host Jim Lehrer tries to provoke a presidential man love/hate catfight: "talk to each other about it. We’ve got five […]

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   When you are wrong, you are wrong. I thought this ugly bailout for bankers was a done deal. Kudos to the people who stood up against this awful deal.    Everyone probably feels strongly about how their own individual Congresscritters voted. So, being from New York City, it’s an outrage that, with the exception […]

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   I was tempted to write about the sad collapse of the Mets yesterday (two years in a row) but I figured there were more tragic things to focus on (serious Mets fans may disagree) like the newest version of the bailout deal that is going to pass–though it should not. I would be shocked […]

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   Rightly so, there is a lot of focus on the $700 billion bailout for bankers (which as we know is now in disarray, causing stock futures to go lower in overnight markets overseas). But, what I’ve been saying here for some time, and I say when I talk to colleagues and friends, is that […]

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   It was an overcast afternoon but people still turned out for a very spirited rally organized in a very short time by the New York City Central Labor Council. People came from a whole range of unions–Teamsters, Teachers, UAW, RWDSU, Laborers, AFSCME…John Sweeney was there. Gary Labarbera, the head of the CLC, lead off […]

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   The turmoil continues today, with investors continuing to flee to short-term Treasury bills (which promise virtually no profit so you can see how the panic continues) and continuing division on the Paulson bailout for bankers (Nancy Pelosi says bravely, "We are not taking ownership of this," meaning Republicans will have to vote for the […]

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   The New York City Central Labor Council is calling for a mobilization tomorrow in Wall Street to protest the bailout for bankers. Here is a piece of the statement which outlines the demands: In response to the growing concerns for worker’s needs, the Central Labor Council Executive Board today announced the following “Seven Conditions […]

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   I’ve just been given a letter that John Sweeney is sending today to every Senator. Here it it is.    It makes all the right points, with this being the key nut graf:    It proposes a grant of unlimited authority to the Bush Administration to spend $700 billion of the public’s money to […]

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