Working Life

Let’s be clear: The Senate is not where the action ultimately is going to be when it comes to defeating “Fast Track” and the TPP. It will be in the House. Eventually, in my estimation, “fast track” and TPP will pass the Senate–the Senate has always been much more pro- so-called “free trade. But, today, […]

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It’s easy enough to have very carefully choreographed appearances, say in front of a controlled crowd at Nike, where you can attack opponents without having to actually engage in a debate. But, the president is a coward: if you want to tear down people and claim they are wrong on such a critical issue, come out and debate people directly.

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I remain in the camp of people who are entirely unimpressed by the economic figures raved about by most pundits, economists and The White House. We all know that pay is not growing. But, there’s another thing to be concerned about: the missing 3.1 million workers.

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At the end of the day, it doesn’t hurt for voters to ask politicians the family question: would you ask your children, your spouses, or your parents to face the consequences of a policy decision and put themselves in the very world you advocate for? If you are going to vote for war, would you ask your kids to drop what they are doing (even if they had, in the immortal words of a war criminal Dick Cheney “other priorities” when their number came up) and sign up for the battlefield?

And when it comes to the TPP, and recruiting Nike to pimp for you to pass this pile of crap, one can ask the President: would you ask your daughters to work in a Nike factory in Vietnam?

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It must be an interesting conversation to behold between the president and his people who are desperately trying to figure out how to prop up this piece of crap called the Trans Pacific Partnership. I really have some sympathy for these guys: how do you make something palatable without telling lies? There’s the list of ten lies/half-truths that just don’t hold water.

Then, there’s the bullshit about the deal not being negotiated in secret, leading one member of Congress to say “We know when we’re being suckered” and another to say, “My chief of staff who has a top secret security clearance can learn more about ISIS or Yemen than about this trade agreement”.

And, now, actual numbers–these are called FACTS–show that a cookie-cutter version of the TPP has cost the U.S. dearly in jobs.

Got it, solution, pesky facts notwithstanding: there’s always a last ditch claim…TPP will, in fact, end cancer and make everyone slim.

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When it comes down to it, the president has a problem. No one doubts that he is wicked smart. And there’s the rub when it comes to the Trans Pacific Partnership: if he was, say, Sarah Palin-level intelligence, you’d say the whoppers coming out of the White House emanate from a dope. But, if whoppers keep coming from a wicked smart man running the show, you have to say he’s lying.

Secrecy is secrecy. No matter how they want to spin it. And it is having a corrosive effect on the ability of the White House to ram through the TPP because, basically, on the subject of TPP secrecy, the Democrats are calling the president a liar…in nice terms. Silver lining: this could end up killing the putrid deal.

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The robbery of our money by the wealthy and corporations and the placing of a heavier tax burden on regular people is one of the key drivers of class warfare in this country. When corporations and the wealthy hide money and/or use gimmicks to avoid paying a fair share of taxes, we all end up paying more–or the basic services of a decent society collapse.

Bernie Sanders “has been the lone voice in the Senate fighting for legislation that would ensure that corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share,” according to Citizens Tax Justice, the leading voice for tax justice in the nation.

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You’all know what “Fast track” is. I like to think of it as the “Corporations Get More Say Than Congress” Act. And it’s sucking wind, on life support, headed for the trash bin. Hey, just call me an optimist two days in a row, starting with believing Bernie Sanders can win this thing. But, first things first: Fast track ain’t got the votes.

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A couple of years ago, I spent many hours with Bernie Sanders interviewing him for Playboy magazine (the interview was published in October 2013). I’ve just received permission to post unpublished answers from him–just the nature of the editing process, nothing nefarious, but probably only one-third actually saw the light of day–along with the published part.

Before getting into his actual views, a few things. So, there is no doubt where I stand: Literally, my last comment to him was “If you run for President, I will be there for you, okay?” So, I’m there: I’ll do whatever it takes, whatever I can do, to elect him president.

Second, what struck me–and I think what strikes just about any crowd that listens to him, and the reason I think he will get massive support, is that people believe that he is saying what he honestly believes in. He doesn’t need to put together a team of 200 people to tell him what he should believe in–he doesn’t need ideas to be poll-tested. He actually has a set of consistent beliefs.

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I come here not to particularly urge that a baseball owner/executive be idolized but it’s worth noting what the Chief Operating Office of the Baltimore Orioles John Angelos said following protests on Sunday by thousands outraged by the killing of Freddie Gray

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