Working Life

If you needed a quick primer on the downsides of “fast track”–that would be the legislation that allows the executive branch to negotiate trade agreements and, then, submit the deals to the Congress, which can only vote up or down on the whole package…meaning no amendments–this testimony is worth reading.

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Why not call the president’s bluff on his escalation plan and continued funding for the war–using the very principle the Democrats declared would be a rock-solid commitment for all new spending? Pay as you go or, in Beltway lingo, “pay-go.” Personally, I do not support the obsession with the deficit as a short-term emergency. BUT, […]

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Bob Herbert has a good column today in the protest against the escalation and continued occupation of Iraq. The column is behind the Times’ Selection subscription. Here’s a snippet: But the thought that kept returning as I watched the earnestly smiling faces, so many of them no longer young, was the way these protesters had […]

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I think this has been commented on here and there but it’s worth amplifying. The mainstream media is already beginning to play its role: deciding who is a “credible” candidate in the 2008 races and who is not. The coverage for some candidates is far more prominent than others–almost regardless of their positions. I’ll actually […]

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Right after the election, I pointed out that the 2006 elections may have signaled the beginning of the end for so-called “free trade.” Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, had a story a few days ago that described how some of the battles are starting to shape up. It’s subscription only but here are a […]

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Most of you know that Wal-Mart had ripped off thousands of workers, failing to pay overtime pay. So, the Beast of Bentonville has made a deal: $33 million to pay back tens of thousands of workers for wages that should have been over the past five years. Wal-Mart Watch has a compilation of the media […]

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The Fiscal Policy Institute has a report out today that shows how employers are killing the worker’s compensation system in New York. According to the report, “Between 500,000 and a million New York workers who should have workers’ compensation coverage do not, and the system’s revenues are $500 million to $1 billion lower than they […]

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It’s too easy to pound on the president’s State of The Union address. I’ll leave that to the red-meat crowd. What annoyed the crap out of me was watching the Democrats. I’m not referring to the perpetual suck-ups like Reps. Eliot Engel and Loretta Sanchez, two of the many Democrats I spotted jostling for position […]

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This is a big deal. The UAW (my union) and the major car companies are talking about a deal that would shift the responsibility for retiree health care from the auto companies to the union. I think “Egads” and “hmmm” at the same time. Here’s what the Wall Street Journal reports today: Detroit’s auto makers […]

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This is so shocking and so disappointing–the Beast of Bentonville may be breaking the law. I’m astonished that Wal-Mart–which has broken child labor laws, overtimes laws and labor laws–would be potentially trying to pass off regular food as organic food. From The Independent in the U.K. US farming watchdog accuses Wal-Mart of mis-selling Wal-Mart, the […]

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