Working Life

  The drumbeat has begun: we have to cut spending because there is no money left. You hear it at every level of the political debate, from candidates to pundits. But, it’s a lie. We have plenty of money if we have the political will, to paraphrase the legendary bank robber Willie Sutton, to go […]

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   One of the great lies that Wal-Mart perpetrates on our national debate is that it is a paragon of the so-called "free market". In truth, Wal-Mart’s model of low wages and cheap prices could not survive without broad government support, not the least of which is health care.   You see, most Wal-Mart workers […]

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Health care is in the air–and there are somewhat dueling camps here in Denver, which reflect what’s happening day-to-day in labor. Last night, I attended a lively reception hosted by a variety of groups–the California Nurses Association and Progressive Democrats of America–who support HR676, the bill that would enact essentially a single-payer system. The bill’s […]

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   I’m working on Denver time now and, after being out drinking a lot of wine, I’m strapped back into the saddle. Now, this is really good news and a lot of kudos go out to the leadership of the New York State AFL-CIO: at its most recent statewide convention this past week, the State […]

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   I mean, this is just pathetic. We’ve all heard about people getting married so that one spouse can get covered by the other spouse’s health care plan, and that’s what most of this story recounts. But, the new twist: Other couples, like Michelle and Marion Moulton, are forced to consider divorce so that an […]

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   On Friday, I observed that the Democrats were caving in too early on the question of what health care plan is the best plan to move to. It is obviously single-payer–no contest. Economically and morally. The leeches of the private insurance industry will always undercut any plan that keeps a role for for-profit health […]

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   Though I mentioned this yesterday in the posting of the newest, latest version of the Democratic Party platform, this bears repeating: you can’t have the private insurance industry mucking around with health care. It is really painful to watch a kind of cognitive dissonance playing out here. Watch this, on page 22, in the […]

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  Here, for your reading pleasure, is the draft, as of today, of the entire Democratic Party’s Platform.    Besides the trade language, here are my initial thoughts about some of the other economic-related language.    The good:    There is very strong language about the right to organize and other similar worker protection issues. […]

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    I have to give Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott credit: he knows how to run an offensive campaign. I mean that in two ways. Offensive in the sense that he is refuses to lay back and absorb beating after beating, and is taking his campaign right to his critics and to the public. And offensive […]

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    I have to give Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott credit: he knows how to run an offensive campaign. I mean that in two ways. Offensive in the sense that he is refuses to lay back and absorb beating after beating, and is taking his campaign right to his critics and to the public. And offensive […]

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