Working Life

   If policy was constructed by the people, not the wishes of the lobbyists and corporate interests, we would never see a so-called "free trade" deal pass Congress again. That’s pretty much the upshot of the 2008 elections–though, believe me, this fight ain’t over yet.     I would argue that the issue of trade […]

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   Last night’s debate, not surprisingly, didn’t finger the real culprit in the economic crisis hitting people everywhere–by the way, an economic crisis that is a far more ancient phenomena than the last few weeks. The real culprit is Market Fundamentalism.    And, so, I offer you this: "The Audacity of Timidity: Where Is The […]

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   Throughout this election season, I’ve pointed out numerous times that the tide has shifted on trade, moving against so-called "free trade" and towards a trade policy that starts with the notion that trade is supposed to advance communities first, and corporations second. Believe me, I’m not saying the battle is over–far from it. But, […]

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   No, I have not just been sleeping in bed. Yes, it was a long night–again…the hot party of the night was at The Samba Room, courtesy of Planned Parenthood, where a darn good DJ kept the place hopping (I, of course, participated in the close-contact sport of dancing). It’s just hard to blog here […]

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   I’m always in favor of a little street theater and humor in this oh, so, serious business. So, there’s been a bus tour underwritten by the Consumer Electronics Association called "America Wins With Trade", drummed up to try to generate a pulse for the quickly dying so-called "free trade" agenda. Some clever folks in […]

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Well, it never gets old–watching the reality unfold that contradicts what the blind advocates of so-called "free trade" and "liberalization" want people to believe. One of the great lies of the globalization scam is that, hey, don’t worry, if we just educate people more and have them do higher-skilled jobs, not to worry, everyone will […]

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   With the backdrop of the collapse of the global trade talks (a good thing), here’s something to consider: the great, wonderful benefits of so-called "free trade" or "liberalization" have cost 2.3 million U.S. workers their jobs between 2001 and 2007, according to a very, detailed fact-based (as opposed to rhetorical promises from pro so-called […]

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   At least, for the foreseeable future. So says an article in yesterday’s New York Times: In recent months, nearly 100 newspapers in the United States have endorsed the Colombia trade agreement. So have many top Democrats, including Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago. And Mr. Uribe, who was already popular in Congress, was widely […]

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  There seems to be an emerging consensus that so-called "free trade" is dead. Even the business press is beginning to accept the inevitable. So, maybe we can now begin a rationale debate about trade, without meaningless marketing phrases like "free trade".   Yesterday, Bloomberg ran this piece: The liberalization of global trade has come […]

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   I have this on my mind for two reasons today. First, a little factoid I read courtesy of the Sierra Club. As you all may know, compact flourescent lightbulbs are more efficient. But: Despite the fact that the compact fluorescent bulb generates the same amount of light withone quarter of the electricity,the WTO considers […]

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