Working Life

Sometimes it’s one of those unguarded moments that gives one a particular insight. My favorite today is this quote in The New York Times this morning: “This is a big, big hunk of ballast over the side,” said James P. Womack, chairman of the Lean Enterprise Institute in Cambridge, Mass.” The “ballast” Womack was referring […]

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Apparently, Democrats are angry that the Pentagon presented a plan to the Administration that calls for troop withdrawals from Iraq–while, at the same time, Republicans were attacking Democrats for suggesting–pretty feebly–that troop withdrawals should begin. Well, boo-hoo, it’s your own fault, my friends. Of course, the Republicans were planning a pre-2006 election phony withdrawal of […]

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Over the past number of months, Ben Stein, a die-hard Republican, has written a few columns that I’ve mentioned here mainly because they were attacking the greedy rich and the outrageous pay packages that CEOs have taken for themselves. When a I-love-capitalism Republican has to stand up and say “enough is enough,” it’s a sign […]

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There was a very important article in The Wall Street Journal yesterday and I posted this at Daily Kos yesterday. It’s almost become an article of faith in the public lore that “generous” pensions for hard-working Americans are the cause of many of the financial binds that private companies (and municipalities) face. I’d bet that […]

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For non-New Yorkers, a little refresher: we have a reprehensible law in New York called the Taylor Law. It prevents public workers from striking and imposes horrendous penalties on strikers and their unions if they try to exercise a basic democratic right. Since the transit workers strike this past December, there has been talk within […]

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To look on the bright side, a majority of the Senate, including 8 Republicans, voted for the increase in the minimum wage–but the amendment failed because it needed a super-majority of 60 votes to pass. Of the 8 Republicans, two who voted for it–Mike DeWine of Ohio and Lincoln Chafee–are facing very difficult re-election bids […]

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The debate is on–Ted Kennedy has moved to raise the minimum wage from it’s pathetic $5.15 to $7.25 in three steps over the next two years. The Economic Policy Institute and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities put out a report in light of the debate. What jumped out at me right off the […]

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I smell a bad deal coming down. And it is emblematic of the lack of spine by the Democratic Party and its inability to stand up for principle. You may be tracking that there is a tug and pull in Congress over an attempt to raise the federal minimum wage. I’m all in favor of […]

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A few days ago, our friends at the Economic Policy Institute put out an interesting paper looking at the claims about the trade-offs inherent in the Wal-Mart business model. That is, in order to have low prices, workers had to be paid low wages. Well, the EPI paper probes some interesting points. Here’s the upshot, […]

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There was an unremarkable piece in The New York Times that looked back at the just-completed UAW convention.

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