Working Life

While I do not agree with the way in which the president took on health care and the mess we ended up with, he was absolutely right to understand that health care reform was essential to ensure a strong (and, need I say, moral) economy AND job growth. I think it is unfortunate that too […]

Read the full story

We are being distracted by numbers that are a sideshow. The new Gross Domestic Product numbers and the obsession about the fiscal deficits are obscuring the real problem in America–wages.   Yes, we have a massive jobs crisis. I have been pretty clearly supporting the idea that we need far bigger stimulus and that the […]

Read the full story

Before the State Of The Union kthalps: guys, the only way obama can repeal dont ask dont tell is if we dont ask dont tell. so shut up abt it. duh! State Of The Union Starts kthalps: I guess we’ll have accept third-place “I do not accept second-place for the United States of America.” -Barack […]

Read the full story

   Maybe it slipped by me but the president never used the word "union" in last night’s State of The Union address. Kudos to him for talking about the jobs crisis in America, and he correctly criticized the immoral and irresponsible behavior of too many Wall Street bankers and the Supreme Court’s decision to let […]

Read the full story

   Rather than talk about deficit-reduction by cutting services, Oregonians are brave: Two ballot measures that would raise taxes on businesses and higher-income residents in Oregon appeared headed for approval late Tuesday. The tax increases, which would raise about $727 million largely for public education and social services, were approved last year by the Legislature, […]

Read the full story

The Supreme Court recently determined that corporations are entitled to freedom of speech because they are legally persons. The ramifications of this decision, Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, cannot be overstated:  it introduces an entirely new and untapped population into the dating pool. Chances are you’ve never dated a corporation before. But don’t be […]

Read the full story

   I wonder if you feel this way. We face the greatest emergency in our adult lifetimes. It’s not the deficit. It’s the reality that one in five Americans does not have decent paying work and that one in four children are on food stamps–in the richest nation in human history. That is a five-alarm […]

Read the full story

Solidarity is one of the bedrock principles of the labor movement. It has a pretty sound strategic and tactical basis: you can’t win if your ranks are divided. I don’t mean that you can’t have debate. I mean that we have to support certain general principles. Here is an example: public employees are not to […]

Read the full story

Scott Brown’s victory was a truly historic moment. For the first time in recent history, a senator-elect announced the dating status of his daughters: "For anyone watching around the country, they’re both available." Well, that’s not entirely true. "Arianna’s definitely not available," he said. "But Ayla is!" (Check out the video here) In all fairness, […]

Read the full story

   Yesterday, the president announced that it was time for a new deal with banks: The tougher approach to financial regulation that President Obama outlined on Thursday reflected a changed political climate, the rebound in big banks’ fortunes after their taxpayer bailout and a shift in power within the administration away from those who had […]

Read the full story