Working Life

WASHINGTON, January 15—Today, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-V.t.) spoke in opposition to the United States, Mexico, Canada Free Trade Agreement (USMCA) in the U.S. Senate. The following are the Senator’s prepared floor remarks: “Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the NAFTA 2.0 trade agreement negotiated by Trump. “This agreement is opposed by labor unions like […]

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Murder, violence and robbery—it sounds like a list for a plot of The Wire. But, no, it’s just another standard operating procedure for the free market system—in which people are murdered in Colombia thanks to so-called “free trade”, workers are beat up and sometimes killed at McDonald’s because the company doesn’t care about its workers […]

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So, you want another job? That’s a pretty normal kind of desire for millions of people. Maybe there’s a better job out there that pays more money. Maybe the place you work just stinks, it’s abusive or you’re the target of sexual harassment. So, ok, off you go to polish up the old resume and […]

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Join me in choking on the following three words: Trump was right. When he criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as a bad deal during the 2016 campaign, he was telling a truth that resonated for many working people—even though, of course, Trump, who defrauded thousands of people who worked for him and […]

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The economic and political system kills people, in big numbers and, sometimes, one at a time. This week, I look at the killing, big and small, with my guests. In Colombia, a union leader is murdered, and we discuss with Gimena Sanchez how his death is a microcosm of bad trade deals. We also look […]

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First, to print as a lead-in, Bernie’s statement from last night, which perhaps people have seen but in case: “I congratulate Secretary Clinton on her victories tonight, and I look forward to issue-oriented campaigns in the 14 contests to come. “I am proud that we were able to win a resounding victory tonight in Rhode […]

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In the roll-call of truly horrendous Village transcribers of press releases (formerly known as “journalists”) a standout has been Jackie Calmes. And, today, she keeps her reputation intact with a truly awful piece about the Trans Pacific Partnership. To begin, Calmes has a long and storied career at just gobbling up government nonsense and spitting […]

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Back in the day when I, reluctantly, took statistics (barely passing, is my recollection), the favorite cliche making the rounds was, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” (as an aside, there is some dispute about whether Mark Twain correctly attributed the saying to British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli but whatever). […]

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So, you really have to work hard at lying or fibbing or misstating the facts to get the traditional media elites to come down hard on you when it comes to so-called “Free trade”. Those elites have been cheerleaders for the rancid NAFTA-style trade deals going back three decades. But, the president has earned it when it comes to his claims about job benefits in the Trans Pacific Partnership: Four Pinocchios, considered “whoppers”, from The Washington Post

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I start from the basic presumption that the president, and most of the people who work for him, are very, very smart people. So, when the president’s point person on the Trans Pacific Partnership, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, marches up to Capitol to testify on the TPP and gives false information, you can only conclude that he’s lying and intentionally misleading Congress. That’s the upshot of what happened on Tuesday.

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