Working Life

   When NAFTA was passed in 1993, I, and others, argued that the labor movement should mount primary challenges to every Democrat who voted for the legislation. After all, labor correctly saw NAFTA as the underpinning for a trade policy that would hasten the evolution of a global economy based on one thing: the search […]

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   This should not surprise anyone who is actually out there trying to organize workers: Over the last quarter century, the unionized workforce has changed dramatically, according to this new CEPR report. In 2008, union workers reflected trends in the workforce as a whole toward a greater share of women, Latinos, Asian Pacific Americans, older, […]

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   Today, The Wall Street Journal had a story entitled "Unions Push Issues in State Capitals". The story told a tale of unions trying to move legislation that advances "card check" protections and similar measures that would make union organizing more fair.    What struck me were the last two paragraphs of the story: The […]

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   Yes, we have to rethink how the financial system is set up. Most of the thinking is along these lines: Democrats are advancing proposals in Congress designed to limit the size and complexity of financial companies so that any collapse wouldn’t damage the broader economy, a sign that lawmakers are responding to anti-Wall Street […]

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  Bat-shit crazy, right-wing wingbats stop denying the holocaust so that they can liken it to federally funded health care.    

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   The Wall Street Journal has this today, reporting on a spat between British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner: On Saturday, the U.K.’s Mr. Brown surprised many attendees by throwing his weight behind the idea of levying a tax on financial transactions and using those funds to pay for future bank […]

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   The unemployment numbers are out–and we have the worst picture for jobs in quite a long time: For Americans who wake up each morning thinking about their job hunt, Friday’s unemployment report offered little reassurance that their search would soon pay off, even as the broader economy showed signs of strengthening. The United States […]

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   This was from a few days ago in Congress Daily (it’s a subscription only publication): The fallout from a decision by Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., to take his name off of a union-backed trade bill continues to roil his 2010 Senate bid. Meek on Oct. 15 signed on as a co-sponsor to legislation sponsored […]

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   This seems so logical it is hard to argue against it. It’s too bad that the fear of an epidemic is spurring a sensible policy: In an effort to rein in the spread of the H1N1 flu, Representative George Miller,  the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, introduced legislation on Tuesday that […]

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I have written recently that the debate over CEO pay obscured the true source of executive over-the-top compensation: the astronomical levels of money hidden in the pensions of CEOs and top executives. Today, we have more confirmation about the draining of corporate money into the hands of CEOS via their retirement parting gifts.   The […]

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