Social Security: Not a Ponzi Scheme

Presidential candidate and Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, recently told a group of voters in Iowa that Social Security is "a Ponzi scheme." This is an argument often made by those who wish to destroy Social Security, which is not an "entitlement" either. It's a form of retirement insurance that we've paid into, throughout our working lives.

Nic Baumann, at Mother Jones created a handy Venn diagram that shows the difference between Social Security and a Ponzi scheme:









cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

Two Senators on Social Security

US Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio:


Senator Rubio is presenting a fanciful revision of history.

As ThinkProgress points out:

Indeed, prior to Medicare’s enactment in 1965, “about one-half of America’s seniors did not have hospital insurance,” “more than one in four elderly were estimated to go without medical care due to cost concerns,” and one in three seniors were living in poverty. Today, nearly all seniors have access to affordable health care and only about 14 percent of seniors are below the poverty line.

Contrast that with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, speaking at the United Steel Workers 2011 Conference, last week, in Las Vegas:



Senator Sanders announces he's filing new legislation to protect Social Security. From ThinkProgress:

Sanders’ legislation would eliminate the income cap that currently exists in the payroll tax that does not tax income above $106,800:

and

The Social Security system is currently fully funded until 2037. Lifting the payroll tax cap would virtually eliminate funding shortfalls the program would experience over the next 75 years.

These two Senators provide an interesting contrast. Rubio would have us believe that elderly people living in dire poverty was somehow the key to national prosperity. Senator Sanders is Social Security's best friend. He wants to ensure that the promise is kept, and that Social Security is there for future generations.

We all have Social Security stories. My grandmother worked 2 jobs throughout her adult life, supporting her son and her mother. Social Security and a modest pension allowed her to live out her retirement years without fear. Social Security disability benefits were there to help my husband, when cancer forced him to retire, nine months before he died.

As Bernie Sanders points out - it's been working for everyone for 75 years, and with the changes he proposes, will work just fine for the next 75 years.


Cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

They've Got Theirs

Once again, Crow Dickinson has put Conway on the map. The first time he accomplished this by trying to carry a loaded gun in his luggage, shortly after 9/11. Luckily for Crow, he was a state representative at the time so he wasn’t arrested and jailed the way most people would have been. People in other parts of the country are still snickering over that bit of idiocy. Crow’s next foray into stardom came in 2009 when his comments about domestic violence propelled him into the global spotlight once again. Dickinson’s witless remarks about how women fake complaints of abuse in divorce cases to get more money out of their spouses was carried in newspapers all over the country. His commentary endeared him to abusers and men’s rights groups, but the more civilized humans found his remarks abhorrent, and wondered why it is that NH seems to spawn so many ideologues and reactionaries.


They’re still wondering. Crow’s latest bid for stardom came last week, in the Sun’s story about the town of Conway’s welfare budget. NH law (RSA 165) requires each city or town to have a local welfare program to assist those who are in need. Conway’s welfare officer, BJ Parker described those folks she’s seeing who are in need, “It used to be “young, inexperienced households,” she said, but now “I see middle class people who are really struggling.” They aren’t familiar with the welfare system, and their pride often makes them wait until all their resources are maxed out before they come in.” Later in the article, the Sun quoted Conway Selectman Crow Dickinson, “There used to be a great shame in being on the public dole,” he said at Tuesday’s meeting, “and there isn’t anymore.”

Let’s be clear. The people in need are described as middle-class folks who wait to come in until they’ve run out of choices. Elected town official Crow Dickinson is saying they should be ashamed for “being on the public dole.” This is coming from a man who has been masquerading as a good old boy hick all of his life, in an effort to conceal his Harvard education and inherited wealth. It’s easy for those who have never had to work a day in their lives to sneer at the misfortunes of others.

In the August 24, 2011 edition of the Sun, Ray Shakir expressed his great admiration for Dickinson’s “coconuts,” and went on to describe his disdain for those able bodied individuals who should never receive public assistance before blowing the GOP dog whistle. “You’re now considered a fool for working hard, being self-sufficient, responsible, and honest,” wrote Shakir. I can’t think of any place in NH where this is so. I have never heard anyone outside of the Fox Propaganda Network say anything of the sort.

This line of “thought” exists only in fevered Teabaglican brains. These are the same great brains that put in place the policies that caused the collapse of our economy. There are still over 25 million people out of work in this country – a direct result of failed GOP policies. Rather than take any responsibility for the disaster they helped create, they blame the jobless for being jobless. Stuck with a house that’s worth less than your mortgage, and out of work too? Ray Shakir and Crow Dickinson don’t care. They’ve got theirs. And this, dear readers, is the way of the conservative elites. They’ve got theirs. If you were stupid enough not to pick wealthy parents in utero, or to lose your job and the value of your house, well, tough coconuts for you. Remember George Bush’s claims to “compassionate conservativeism?” Neither do these guys. You could wring all of the compassion out of the pair of them and still not be able to fill a thimble.

The people being demonized here are middle class folks. That means that they are people who have worked hard their whole lives and now find themselves caught up in the Great Recession. These are people who may well identify as Republicans – and are now being demonized as Reaganesque welfare queens.

Meanwhile, these same great minds have ensured the loss of well over a thousand jobs in our state, and given that they have another year and a half in the legislature, they’ll have the opportunity to kill plenty more. Nationally, the job creation isn’t going any better. Bold action is needed, but Obama was not endowed with either boldness or leadership capability. And even if he were, our elected officials have chosen to put ideology over country. Science is bad. Taxing the corporations and the wealthy is bad. Making poor people pay is good and responsible. Cutting the safety net is necessary. While they bellow at one another and put on a show to delight the complicit, corporate media, the empire is slowly circling the drain.

They’ve got theirs, you see. They’ve got pensions and medical care for life. If you don’t, well, that’s your tough luck. It’s also your fault.

“The more I see of the moneyed classes, the more I understand the guillotine.” George Bernard Shaw


© 2011 sbruce

Published as an op-ed in the August 26, 2011 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper.

NH State Rep Wants to Eliminate All Minimum Wage

The current NH legislature has made a concerted effort to try to overturn nearly every law enacted during the 4 years that the Democrats controlled the NH House. One example of this is the minimum wage law, which was increased in 2007 from $5.15 to $7.25, over the screams of the NH restaurant lobby. The law gives the state the option of increasing the minimum wage, as opposed to waiting for the increase to be made by the federal government. Even having the option was too much for the current NH House, who voted to repeal the bill. Governor Lynch vetoed the bill - and the veto was overridden in June. From seacoastonline:

"With this veto, the governor is sending exactly the wrong message to employers that New Hampshire is going to make it harder to create jobs," O'Brien said in response. "There is no reason for New Hampshire to set ourselves higher than the national average and make ourselves less competitive for these workers who need to gain experience."

The legislation, House Bill 133, would not change the current federal rate of $7.25 an hour, which has been in place since July 2009. It would repeal a 2007 measure that gave New Hampshire the option of raising the minimum wage, which it did by raising the state rate of $7.25 in 2008 ahead of the federal rate. The bill passed the House and Senate by veto proof majorities but Lynch vetoed the bill anyway. "New Hampshire's current minimum wage is set at the federal level, and it is appropriate," Lynch said. "But four years ago, we agreed that — after a decade of federal inaction — we needed to act to help families meet rising costs."

Speaker O'Brien has yet to explain why it would be beneficial to NH to create more minimum wage jobs.

The political and economic debate over the minimum wage has been constant since it was first set in 1938 at 25 cents an hour. Even though New Hampshire is even with the federal standard, O'Brien said Lynch's veto was an "anti-business" measure that would take "an ax to the bottom rung of the career ladder" for minimum wage workers.

Oh, that's it! The bottom rung of the career ladder is poverty. Speaker O'Brien got a law degree in 1974. It seems that his career ladder relied on education, not minimum wage jobs.

Freshman State Rep. Carol McGuire thinks that ANY minimum wage is a bad idea. From Think Progress:

State Rep. Carol McGuire (R-NH), the sponsor of the law, still believes the federal minimum wage is too high. In a statement to reporters, she said she would like to repeal all minimum wage laws and have corporations pay workers whatever rate they desire. She also said the $7.25 minimum is overly generous to young people who are “not worth the minimum“:
“It’s very discriminatory, particularly for young people. They’re not worth the minimum,” she said. She believes there are young people who would get a job if they could be paid $5 an hour instead of the minimum.

The only explanation for this kind of thinking is that these folks are living in a Norman Rockwell dream world, where young men (because girls stay home) get jobs at the soda fountain of the local drugstore, while wearing a pink striped seersucker shirt. They are certainly not inhabiting the world the rest of us inhabit, and try to make a living in.

The NH House is the third largest legislature in the English speaking world, behind only the British Parliament and the US Congress. The NH House consists of 400 members, who receive an annual stipend of $100. One could make the observation that NH is certainly getting what it pays for with the current legislature.


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

Child Poverty on the Rise

Over the last decade, the income and economic security of low income children and families has decreased significantly. Child poverty in the US has increased by 18%. The recession and foreclosures have been the primary causes. In many low income families at least one parent is unable to find work.

From the Christian Science Monitor:

“The news about the number of children who were affected by foreclosure in the United States is also very troubling because these economic challenges greatly hinder the well-being of families and the nation,” said Ms. Speer.

In the United States as a whole, nearly 15 million children (20 percent) live in poverty. A broader definition of economic straits – $43,512 a year, or twice the federal poverty line for a family of four, “a minimum needed for most families to make ends meet,” as Speer puts it – includes 31 million children, or 42 percent of the total.

Child poverty rates vary across the nation. NH has an 11% poverty rate. Nevada, hard hit by the recession has seen a 38% increase in child poverty.

“People who grew up in a financially secure situation find it easier to succeed in life, they are more likely to graduate from high school, more likely to graduate from college, and these are things that will lead to greater success in life,” Stephen Brown, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told the AP. “What we are looking at is a cohort of kids who as they become adults may be less able to contribute to the growth of the economy. It could go on for multiple generations.”

This is a chilling prediction, especially coming from within a country that claims to place great value on children being our future. This is a huge number of children who may well become part of a permanent underclass in a nation often referred to as the wealthiest country in the world, yet there seems to be no national interest in changing the course.

Possible Cuts Leave New England Workers in the Cold

As the federal budget cuts continue, the possibility of cuts to LIHEAP, (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) are being suggested as a possibility. LIHEAP is the reason a lot of low income folks who live in cold places don't freeze to death.

From WHDH:

LePage warned that Maine's LIHEAP funding from the federal government could be cut in half, from $54 million for this year to about $26 million. He noted that the reduction could come as the cost of heating fuel rises above last year's level.

and for other New England States:

Celeste Lovett, New Hampshire's fuel assistance program manager, agreed. Federal figures show New Hampshire's LIHEAP funding could be cut from $36 million to $15 million. "It's really too soon to tell," Lovett said. "What we've done in New Hampshire is go forward with taking applications."

In Connecticut, the allocation would drop from $98 million to $41 million, Massachusetts from $175 million to $81 million, and Rhode Island from $34 million to $15.4 million.

and

The Obama administration, questioned about the proposed funding cut, acknowledged that the new LIHEAP figure was based on the expectation that fuel prices would be lower this winter. But in northern New England, they're expected to be in the $4-per-gallon range.

The prices aren't lower in northern New England, as I learned in looking into my own potential fuel costs, here in Northern NH. I have to heat with kerosene, and kerosene costs about $4.25 per gallon already.

Every year, cuts to LIHEAP are threatened, and so far, they haven't come to pass. The fact that these threats are made nearly every year is unspeakably cruel to those folks who are in desperate need of assistance. If these cuts do come to pass, they will hurt the unemployed, the low wage workers, and the low income, especially the elderly.


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

Magical Thinking

The NH Dept. of Transportation (DOT) announced this week that due to cuts budget cuts, they are going to cut back on plowing some roads between the hours of 9pm and 4am, and allow the snow to accumulate to between 5-7 inches before sending some crews out to plow. DOT spokesman Bill Boynton pointed out that the legislature cut the DOT budget by 11.5 percent. They lost 42 employees. The budget for sand and salt was cut 25 percent.

This story sparked a huge outcry, and one of the loudest voices of outrage came from Rep. Gene Chandler, who called the DOT plan “unacceptable.” If it weren’t so tragic, this kind of magical thinking would be hilarious. When you cut revenue and spending, there will be consequences. Apparently he thought that those consequences would happen in some other guy’s district.

This reaction will become increasingly common as the budget cuts eliminate more programs and services. Rep. Fred Leonard of Rochester was very sad to learn that the draconian county budget cuts he supported caused the elimination of the Strafford County Cooperative Extension Program. Another case of magical thinking.

The GOP mantra for decades has been “NH doesn’t have a revenue problem, NH has a spending problem.” Like many lies that are repeated often and loudly, this has become “fact” in the NH lexicon, and oft repeated by the NH media, in their role as NHGOP stenographers. It’s a simple reality that running a state costs some money. NH has been doing it on the cheap forever, as one can see by looking at the legislature. We pay them nothing, and this year in particular, we’re getting exactly what we pay for. The current legislature is comprised of far right Republicans, Tea Partiers, Free Staters, and John Birchers. The Free Staters are the libertarians that GOP Governor Craig Benson invited to move here. Their earliest manifesto called for the FSP to move to NH, take over the state, and dismantle our state government. Perhaps the members of the Free State Project will show us how a libertarian paradise would work, by pitching in to plow this winter.

Rep. Chandler ran for Speaker again this past year, figuring the corn dust from 2004 had settled. He lost to Tea Party Republican Bill O’Brien. (Reminder: Rep. Laurie Pettengill supported O’Brien. Umberger and McCarthy supported Chandler in the speaker race.) Representative Chandler was given the position of “Speaker pro Tempore” in the O’Brien administration, which makes him part of the O’Brien Teabaglican team. Chandler worked on this budget. He fought for it, defended it, and ultimately he voted for it. For him to boo hoo about the budget cuts now that they’ve come home to roost in his district is the very definition of hypocrisy.

The NH Republicans who ran for office in 2010 all spoke often, and loudly about job creation. So far, they’ve created one job – the guy who was hired to be O’Brien’s policy advisor. Instead, they’ve actually created job losses. There are the 42 DOT jobs that were lost, and at least 450 jobs lost in hospitals in the southern part of the state, with 750 more coming at Dartmouth Hitchcock, all because of the state budget. So far, that’s over a thousand jobs lost, with more on the way. When the unemployment rate goes up, will these proud Teabaglicans claim responsibility for the fine work they’ve done?

In 2012, the O’Brien House will be focused – not on jobs, but on social engineering. The far right nanny staters have so far filed 57 pages of LSRs (legal service requests, or proposed legislation) for 2012. Rep. David Bates (R. Homophobia) wants to turn NH into a referendum state, so that we can enjoy the same kind of idiocy we see with referenda in California and Maine. He also wants desperately to overturn our marriage equality law, which is widely supported by NH residents. Rep. Jerry Bergevin is a one-man nanny state machine. He wants to legislate the teaching of the Bible in our public schools and change abortion laws. Rep. Dan Itse is bringing back his bill to form a state army, despite the fact that it will cost the state over $100,000 a year. Susan DeLemus wants to eliminate the DMV’s motorcycle safety program, and ensure that presidential candidates are required to provide proper documentation to satisfy her need to prove they aren’t from Kenya. Rep. DeLemus and several others also want to ensure that NH doesn’t receive any federal aid grants or dollars. Rep. Norm Tregenza wants NH to urge Congress to: withdraw from the UN, to call for an audit of the Federal Reserve, and to withdraw from NAFTA. Each LSR costs approximately $1500, which means Norm Tregenza has just spent $4500 tax dollars on nonsensical bills that will never go anywhere. Tregenza also wants to reduce the rooms and meals tax over a 5-year period. Someone should warn him that if he continues to reduce revenue sources, he might have to cut back on filing nuisance legislation.

Perhaps if the current legislature were forced to reel in their increasingly bizarre proposed legislation, we’d have enough money in our state budget to plow our roads.




This was published as an op-ed in the August 12, 2011 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper.

The credit for the picture goes to the Eagle Tribune newspaper

© 2011 sbruce

Barely Scraping By in the USA

Barbara Ehrenreich's award winning book "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" was published ten years ago. It was a ground breaking look at the lives of folks who were barely scraping by on low wages. Ehrenreich went under cover, working at jobs like waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, and discount chain worker and quickly learned the realities of how hard people working for $7 an hour actually had to work to manage to live indoors.

Ehrenreich has written an afterward to the book, ten years later. Seen here in MoJo:

At the time I wrote Nickel and Dimed, I wasn't sure how many people it directly applied to—only that the official definition of poverty was way off the mark, since it defined an individual earning $7 an hour, as I did on average, as well out of poverty. But three months after the book was published, the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, DC, issued a report entitled "Hardships in America: The Real Story of Working Families," which found an astounding 29 percent of American families living in what could be more reasonably defined as poverty, meaning that they earned less than a bare-bones budget covering housing, child care, health care, food, transportation, and taxes—though not, it should be noted, any entertainment, meals out, cable TV, Internet service, vacations, or holiday gifts. Twenty-nine percent is a minority, but not a reassuringly small one, and other studies in the early 2000s came up with similar figures.

Sorry to keep saying it - but remember, this was 10 years ago.

When you read about the hardships I found people enduring while I was researching my book—the skipped meals, the lack of medical care, the occasional need to sleep in cars or vans—you should bear in mind that those occurred in the best of times. The economy was growing, and jobs, if poorly paid, were at least plentiful.

And now for the chilling part:

In 2000, I had been able to walk into a number of jobs pretty much off the street. Less than a decade later, many of these jobs had disappeared and there was stiff competition for those that remained. It would have been impossible to repeat my Nickel and Dimed "experiment," had I had been so inclined, because I would probably never have found a job.

She's right. At a time when it's harder to get into McDonald's than Harvard, she wouldn't be able to get the same kind of low wage jobs that sustained her while she researched "Nickel and Dimed."

And speaking of depressing - the results of a survey in The Consumerist:

According to the NFCC survey, 64% of Americans don't have enough cash available to them to cover a $1,000 emergency.

As wages remain stagnant, increasing numbers of working folks are living paycheck to paycheck, one emergency away from financial disaster.


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

NH Budget Cuts Come Home to Roost

Last week, I wrote about how the latest NH state budget has resulted in at least 450 jobs lost, so far.

This week, there's some magical thinking afoot in the Granite State. From The Conway Daily Sun:

New Hampshire Department of Transportation (DOT) is proposing no longer plowing some roads between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. as well as allowing snow to build up to between 5 and 7 inches before turning some crews out onto the road.

The DOT plan is not acceptable, according to Rep. Gene Chandler, R-Bartlett, who also serves as the chair of the transportation department in the New House of Representatives. He hopes DOT officials will come up with a new plan because the current one could have "huge ramifications" on tourism and revenue for the Granite State.

and

Boynton said DOT lost 42 employees to budget cuts (there remain about 800 employees). Its budget was cut 11.5 percent; the budget is expected to be cut an additional 11 percent in 2012 and 13 percent in 2013; there was a 25 percent reduction in the state's sand and salt budget.

In the northern part of the state, winter can last a solid 6 months. An 11.5 percent budget cut to DOT is huge in a state in northern New England. How could anyone realistically think that cutting the DOT budget would NOT adversely affect winter plowing?

Chandler is serving his 13th term. He is Speaker pro Tempore, which means he's part of Speaker O'Brien's leadership team.
This is a budget that Chandler supported. He shilled for it. He voted for it. Gene Chandler never challenged his party, never stood up and said that a budget that cuts both revenue and spending will lead to problems for our state. He said nothing until one of those cuts came home to roost in his own district, and suddenly it's "not acceptable."

Stories like this will continue to happen, as the impact of those budget cuts hit home in all manner of unpleasant ways.


Cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

NH Budget Cuts Causing Job Losses

When last we heard about the right to work law in NH, the governor had vetoed it, and the Speaker of the NH House was unable to get enough of a majority to override the veto.

Speaker O'Brien is trying a new tactic. He recently sent out a "Dear Colleagues" letter to House members. In this letter he uses the standard talking points about how RTW states are more attractive to employers, so these states are seeing greater job growth. The Speaker seems to be taking some liberties with actual fact. From the NH Business Review:

In his "Dear Colleagues" letter, he holds out the equally false hope that the German automaker Audi, which is said to be looking to build a plant in the U.S., would actually consider building in New Hampshire, (except, of course, for the unfortunate fact that the state doesn't have a RTW law).

Sounds great -- just pass the law, and a thousand Audi jobs will come.

The problem with that claim can be explained a little more succinctly: Carmakers don't build factories in little states in the upper right hand corner of countries with essentially zero rail service and most suppliers hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away. RTW or not.

It's true. NH has almost no rail service, and limited highway options. We're also lagging far behind in telecommunications infrastructure. Apparently none of that has any bearing. Jobs will magically appear the moment NH becomes an RTW state.

While we're on the subject of the NH legislature, the budget that was just passed is already beginning to have an impact on employment in our state. It's just not the kind of impact that the majority party promised when they were running for office, promising a laser like focus on job creation. From the Eagle Tribune:

The fallout from the state's budget cuts has hit New Hampshire hospitals, prompting two to start laying off employees and others to consider their options.

and

Elliot Health System announced Tuesday it would lay off 182 employees, slash workers' benefits and end one of its programs. It operates Elliot Hospital in Manchester and several other health care facilities in Southern New Hampshire, including Elliot Medical Center at Londonderry.

Meanwhile, Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in Nashua is laying off about 100 employees, 6 percent of its staff, spokeswoman Judith Bennett said yesterday.

There are more. From the Nashua Telegraph:

Less than a week after Southern New Hampshire Medical Center announced 100 layoffs, administrators at St. Joseph Hospital revealed today plans to close two subsidiary companies, Rockingham Regional Ambulance, Inc. and Granite State Mediquip, Inc., which could affect more than 10 percent of the hospital’s workforce.

and

St. Joseph, which employs about 1,500 full-time workers, joined Southern New Hampshire Medical Center and eight other hospitals last week in filing a lawsuit against state officials over their plan to use Medicare reimbursements to balance the state budget.

and

Together, the two companies employ 174 workers, most of whom will not be re-assigned within the hospital, according to Melissa Sears, St. Joseph’s vice president of strategy and business development.

In less than a month after the budget was passed, 450 jobs have been lost. In this economy, in a small state, that is devastating.

Speaker O'Brien tried to suggest that these layoffs were in the works before the budget cuts.From WMUR:

House Speaker Bill O'Brien said he is sympathetic to the hospital's funding crunch, but he stands by the budget.
"Clearly, we don't want to see any employees laid off in any private business," he said. "Whether or not this was planned before or after the budget came into effect, time will tell. But certainly, we think this budget is going to return jobs to New Hampshire."

Indeed. Just wait till Audi builds that plant in NH.


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

Solutions

A few weeks ago the Sun published a letter from a reader claiming he reads the “letters” I write, but finds they’re “getting boring.” The reader says that I complain about Republicans, what they are doing, and what is wrong. He suggested that I change the format of my “weekly rants” to identify problems and how to fix them. Well, thanks for asking. Let’s do some problem solving – but first, let’s clear up a few issues of semantics.

There’s a difference between an op-ed piece and a letter. An op-ed is an opinion piece that appears on the op-ed pages of a newspaper. I write opinion pieces that appear every other week, and I receive some financial remuneration for writing them. A letter is what the reader sent in to the paper, for which he received no financial compensation. Language is important. It’s important that we all understand the definitions of the terms we use. I’ll skip the lesson on the difference between identifying problems and “complaining about Republicans”, since those of the far right spectrum find those two things to be one in the same.

Speaking of ideology, as long time readers of this paper are aware, I was a Democrat. I ran for the NH House in 2002 as a Democrat, and I was active in party politics. I am currently registered as undeclared. The Democrats have joined the Republicans in moving further to the right, thereby leaving me behind. I’m an unabashed and unrepentant lefty. The rhetoric from the right on Democrats is comical. Obama is as much of a socialist as George W. Bush. A socialist would not put Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block, as Obama has done, during the manufactured deficit crisis. Obama’s another corporate stooge - one that, has done a rather remarkable job of doing the work of the GOP for them. Looking at the array of circus performers running for president on the GOP ticket, one can only surmise that the corporate interests that control the Republican Party are aware of that. Obama’s the best thing that could have happened to them.

Moving into solutions: there is no deficit crisis. The same people that are crying the loudest are the ones who created the problem. The biggest drivers of the deficit are the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush tax cuts, health care costs, and Medicare Part D. Our health insurance system is a huge driver of debt and deficit. We spend twice as much on health care as other industrialized nations. A big part of that is because instead of regulating the pharmaceutical industry the way civilized countries do, we actually provide these very profitable corporations with taxpayer funding. (A form of socialism, by the way.) Regulating the drug companies and creating a single payer health care system would move us into surplus. A single payer system would eliminate the need for Medicare and Medicaid. And while we’re on the topic of socialism, we should immediately end taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil, the most profitable corporations on the planet. No more offshore tax dodges either. Corporate America should be paying their tax bills.

The next very simple solution is to cut the defense budget in half. The US spends more than the rest of the world combined on defense. End the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and our participation in Libya immediately. The US has somewhere in the neighborhood of 1000 military bases around the world. Shut ‘em down. Force the Pentagon to pass an audit, and account for the trillions that they’ve lost. The US is an empire in decline. Half of every tax dollar we take in goes to defense. If we don’t begin to invest in our own country, there will nothing here left defending.

Bust up the media monopolies. When giant corporations own the media, the press is not free. The free trade agreements need to go away, in favor of developing fair trade. We need to rebuild the US manufacturing sector. A vital economy depends on the production of goods. We need to regulate the financial sector. The deregulation that began during the Reagan years came to fruition with the collapse of our economy. Despite the heavy breathing from the far right and their media propaganda, librarians belonging to state employee unions did not destroy the US economy.

The most important thing we can do is put people back to work. At least 20% of the workforce is unemployed or underemployed. The far right ideologues can cut all the spending they want, but until there is revenue coming in, there can be no serious debt or deficit reduction. It’s simple: if people aren’t working, they aren’t spending. That spending is what keeps small businesses going. That spending is what creates jobs.

Congresswoman Mary Kaptur of Ohio is the sponsor of HR 494; aka The 21st Century Civilian Conservation Corps Act. The original CCC was part of FDR’s New Deal, and was in place for nearly a decade. Those employed by the CCC built bridges and dams, planted trees, put out fires, and built 1000,000 miles of trails and roads. A revival of the CCC would be a huge investment in the future of our country, as well as an investment in US workers. There are countless bridges, roads, and dams in need of repair all over the country. A revived CCC could work on environmental projects: soil erosion, beach erosion, fighting insects killing our trees, and cleaning up our state and national parks. The new CCC could also refurbish schools, weatherize homes and buildings, and take on the project of wiring rural America for current and future technology needs. If we rely on the private sector to do that wiring, it will never happen. If the US hopes to remain at all competitive in an increasingly wired world, that wiring needs to happen. We’re already lagging far behind.

This bill is the best idea that will never go anywhere, because of far right ideology. The far right believes that only the private sector creates jobs, a mission they’ve been failing in since the Reagan administration. The far right is under the impression that only the private sector creates REAL jobs. Those folks who are unemployed (and the numbers are growing) tend to look at a paycheck as a paycheck. A CCC revival would also be a huge benefit to returning veterans.

It is not banks or military might that made this a great country. This country is great because of the land itself and the people who live on it. Investing in what has makes our country great will lead to creating those dreamy private sector jobs, and build a stronger future for all of us.


Aren’t you glad you asked, Carl?




published as an op-ed in the 7-29-11 Conway Daily Sun newspaper
© 2011 sbruce

Voter ID in Wisconsin: an Onerous Process

Check out this video from the blog defendwisconsin. A Wisconsin blogger made this video when she took her son to the DMV to get a voter ID:



This story in Businessweek is the perfect companion piece:

Gov. Scott Walker's administration is working on finalizing a plan to close as many as 10 offices where people can obtain driver's licenses in order to expand hours elsewhere and come into compliance with new requirements that voters show photo IDs at the polls.

Some legislators think there's some politics at play:

One Democratic lawmaker said Friday it appeared the decisions were based on politics, with the department targeting offices for closure in Democratic areas and expanding hours for those in Republican districts.

and

The recently enacted state budget requires that DMV driver license and ID card services be offered in all 72 counties at least 20 hours a week. Currently, only 30 counties have offices that meet that 20-hour requirement.

The DMV claims that closing these offices will ensure more office hours in the districts where the offices are kept open.

Starting next year, voters must present a valid driver's license or other acceptable photo identification in order to vote. Critics of that new requirement have said it would be unconstitutional if courts determined voters couldn't easily access DMV centers where they can obtain the ID cards required in order to vote.

From the Chippewa Herald:

Wisconsin’s bill, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, would cost more than $5.7 million to implement. The measure would require voters to use a driver’s license, state ID, military ID, passport, naturalization papers or tribal ID at the polls. Student IDs would be allowed, but would have to include a current address, birthdate, signature and expiration date. Currently no college or university ID used in the state, including UW-Madison, meets those standards.

Wisconsin is spending millions to implement a voter ID, to address non-existant voter fraud, during a time where budgets are cut, and teachers are being fired. It's interesting that the bill specifies that Student ID's would be allowed, but none of the colleges have student ID's that meet the standards. That, coupled with DMV office closings could make a cynical person think that Governor Walker wants to disenfranchise certain voter groups - like students, seniors, the disabled, homeless, and those who live in traditionally Democratic districts.


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

NH Rep Jokes About Shooting Union Members

Once again, a state legislator makes me proud to be from NH. Rep. Lynne Blankenbeker is a nurse in the Navy Reserves, and currently at Fort Dix.

HuffPo:

A Republican New Hampshire state representative who touted her handiness with a gun and said labor unions "better not F#%k" with her is insisting that she never meant to advocate violence toward anyone.

From the email:

I am a truck commander on a hum vee for convoys. I had to learn how to drive both day and at night with night vision goggles. My vehicle has a rhino (no, not a RINO) on it to trip IEDs before my vehicle reaches it. Today I got to be the gunner which was fun. The .50cal is quite a gun! I was never ascared of the unions but they better not F#%k with me again!!! Just saying.

Naturally, she's using the "I was just joking" defense. Nurses always joke about guns...oh, wait. No, they don't. Most nurses aren't all that keen on guns, because they see too many gunshot wounds.

Rep. Blankenbeker made the news earlier in the year, when she appeared on a NH television program and stated that she didn't believe that Osama bin Laden was actually dead, because her superior officers
hadn't let her know.

From the NH Legislator's Handbook:

Elected members shall maintain professional conduct while serving as state legislators and, at all times, shouldconductthemselves inaway that exhibits the utmost respect for their elected office, their constituents and the people of the State of New Hampshire. Members should be aware that they are constantly under public scrutiny.

It seems unlikely that Rep. Blankenbeker will be asked to resign. House Speaker O'Brien needs her vote if he's ever going to overturn Governor Lynch's veto of the right to work law passed this session. Besides, she was only joking. It's okay to threaten union members with gun violence as long as it's "joking."


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

Justice for Some

Legal Services Corporation (LSC) may see their budget slashed to 1999 levels. LSC supports 126 legal aid organizations around the country. Legal Aid programs help low income folks access legal representation. At a time when more people than ever before qualify for legal assistance, under proposed budget cuts, the programs will lose 26% of their funding. These programs are already underfunded, and unable to help about half of the people who call them, because they lack resources.

From MoJo:

Already, the legal-aid nonprofits supported by the LSC are slated to lose a total of 445 staff members, including 200 lawyers, by the end of 2011, according to a survey of the groups. Last year, 63 million people—an all-time high—qualified for their help, an increase of 11 percent from the year before. "This is not the time to undercut the fundamental American commitment to equal justice for all," says Legal Services president James Sandman.

"There is never a convenient time to make tough decisions," counters Frank Wolf, chair of the House subcommittee responsible for the LSC’s budget. "But the longer we put off fixing the problem, the worse the medicine will be…The bill represents our best take on matching needs with scarce resources."

Heald says she understands the need to cut spending, but explains that legal services has a "preventive effect" that actually saves money for the states. Housing a family in a homeless shelter in Maine for just two or three weeks is five to ten times more expensive than supporting a lawyer who can help keep the family in stable housing, she says. "And that's just the cost of the shelter nights, and not the cost on all the other supportive systems a family might need."

There's a great deal of short sighted slashing going on in these budget cuts. If these program cuts are enacted, states will end up (as Ms. Heald points out) paying the pound of cure, when it would have been far cheaper to pay for the ounce of prevention.

Perhaps even worse is the damage this does to our national ideal of "justice for all." This just serves to further the cynical view (already in place) that justice is only available to the wealthy.


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

Stampeding for Section 8 Vouchers in Dallas

Thousands of people were waiting in front of the Jesse Owens stadium in Dallas to fill out an application for Section 8 housing vouchers, an assistance program that would help them pay their rent. Some people waited all night. Others arrived at 4 am. At 6 am, officials decided it was time for everyone to line up. There was a stampede. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt.

From the Dallas Morning News:

Applicants on Thursday ranged from young single mothers pushing strollers to older adults with nothing but a small Social Security income. Many in line have jobs but barely earn minimum wage.

and

While a few people brought water and umbrellas to cope with the summer heat, the increasingly hot sun became a problem for some.
Using a cane, Jackie Barrett slowly walked to the front of the line to get help around 8 a.m. The Lancaster woman said she could not stand in line any longer. She had arrived about 4 a.m. County officials provided immediate help to disabled people.

Single mothers with babies in strollers and elderly people were standing in line for hours just to fill out an application. Could this county have created a more degrading and inhumane method of "helping" people?

One resident did not get the chance to apply at all. Claudia Marshall said she is disabled and could not leave her home to apply.
Thompson, the county’s director of health and human services, said anyone could send a representative. Marshall, who called The Dallas Morning News, said she had no one to send.

Why isn't this being done online? And why isn't there outreach available for those folks who are disabled?

and

Thompson said he would reassess the county’s process after news reports of the stampede. He said the county did not allow people on the facility property because officials did not want overnight camping. Still, he admitted that the county could not prevent people from arriving the night before.
“This is what you have to go through,” Thompson said. “It’s like when someone wants to get tickets to a sports event or the latest iPad.”

Well no. It's not like that at all. Tickets to sports events are a luxury purchase. Housing is a basic human need.

That this man sees them as the same thing is troubling, especially given his position as the county director of health and human services. Would he want his grandmother treated this way?

Poverty is not a crime, and the increasing numbers of people who need help in this terrible economy should not be treated like criminals.



cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

The End of the Empire

Under President George W. Bush, the debt ceiling was raised 7 times. There was no fanfare. No Congressional standoff. It was not a big, international news media story for months. In fact, many of the same Congressmen who have become preening deficit peacocks are the same people who voted for that debt ceiling increase all seven times. Charlie Bass is one of those newly minted peacocks. He never voted against a bloated defense budget, or military appropriations bill. He never voted against increasing the debt ceiling, and never voted against any Bush budget. During the 4 years that he was out of Congress, he developed a very particular sense of amnesia, one that has managed to erase any memory of all those votes; thereby eliminating the need to take any responsibility for his role in the mess we’re in today.

Despite the massive hype, the deficit and the debt aren’t actually the most important problems we face. Unemployment is by far the most important problem that needs fixing. Over 25 million people are out of work. That hurts the economy far more than the deficit, because, obviously, people who aren’t working aren’t spending. There are millions of houses sitting empty, growing mold, because there are millions of people who can’t afford to buy them – because they’re out of work. This should be the national priority, not all of this endless nattering about the deficit by a bunch of childish individuals, most of whom need to be fired. Mitch McConnell says he doesn’t see anything getting done as long as THIS president is in the White House. That means that a bunch of overgrown and overpaid boys are refusing to do what’s right for their districts and the country, because they’re intent on playing king of the hill with the guy in the White House. If they bothered to look at how the folks back home feel about this, they might be concerned with saving their jobs instead of behaving like blockheads. Both Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass have approval ratings that have gone below mere single digits, and into the land of the minus.

Polls show that the folks back home are opposed to cutting Social Security and Medicare. John Boehner often talks about what “the American people want.” He knows what he wants and what his funders want. He knows what rich white folks want. Other than that, he has no idea. He’s so insulated from reality that he might as well be on another planet, one populated by a weepy, orange race. He and McConnell have repeatedly shown that they have no intention of compromising or working with their fellow legislators. They want what they want, and that’s all there is to it. The best interests of the top 1% are being well represented. The rest of us can just go stand in a bread line.

What’s wrong with the economy and the country isn’t going to be fixed by cutting programs that keep the elderly from eating cat food. If the deficit peacocks were serious, they’d be insisting that we get out of the countries we’re occupying, cut the defense budget in half, and start investing in America. Our politicians love to talk about “American Exceptionalism.” It sounds pretty until you realize that the only things the US is number on in any more are weapons sales and military spending. While we cling to the last gasps of our dying empire, the rest of the world is eclipsing us in education, health, and infrastructure. If these folks really were the patriots they claim to be, they’d be insisting we invested in our own country, instead of pouring money into failed nation building in the Middle East. Sadly for us, they aren’t at all what they claim to be. Their sole interest is representing the wealthiest segment of the population. When the Supreme Court ruled that money equals speech it wasn’t difficult to see what would be coming next. As Bill Maher said recently, “government of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich.”

It’s the teaconomists who are the most destructive force. While real economists are clear that defaulting on US loans would result in some dire consequences, teaconomist Michelle Bachman says that’s just not true. Given a choice between the Nobel Prize winner and Bachman, whose personal economy came largely from gummint farm subsidies and gummint subsidies to her husbands “pray the gay away” counseling practice, I’ll take the Nobel Prize winner. Teachelle says, “We won’t raise the debt ceiling.” Her party says, “We won’t raise the debt ceiling unless you give us everything we want.” Suddenly, if they get what they want, raising the limit is okay. That tells you all you need to know about the seriousness of these negotiations. This is clown school. They’re playing chicken, and haven’t yet begun to understand that if the US does default and there are dire consequences, they’re going to be taking the blame for being recalcitrant children. Obama’s a fool to try to negotiate with hostage takers and terrorists – and that is what today’s GOP has become. If he makes a deal with them, they learn that they can have tantrums and get their way. It’s just like dealing with a 3 year old in a supermarket. If you cave into a tantrum, you’ve created a monster.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, some 20 percent of the population is either unemployed or underemployed. With many states facing budget shortfalls, cuts are being made that eliminate jobs. Teachers, librarians, firefighters, cops, and other public sector employees are getting pink slipped left and right. The teaconomists of the GOP howled that the lousy employment numbers were Obama’s fault. The complicit media blamed the deficit. The teaconomists are under the impression that gummint jobs aren’t REAL jobs. Millionaires create REAL jobs, which is why we can’t raise their taxes. Of course, the unemployment numbers aren’t aware of these fine distinctions, so that when unreal teachers and cops lose their jobs, the silly unemployment system counts them. Surely those Bush tax cuts will kick in and save us all any day now. Just because they haven’t worked in over a decade is no reason to lose faith now. These same folks are still under the impression that Reagan-style supply side policies will work one day, too. The only way it works is if you’re one of the top 1% wage earners. Everyone else just gets trickled on, with the stream growing ever weaker, the lower down the income scale it goes.

The whole system has broken down to the point where it probably can’t be fixed. The teadious anti-education, anti-science, anti-everything except tax cuts for the wealthy, ideology of the right isn’t going to bring us into a productive future. We need strong people with a vision for what that future might be, ready to work on implementing it. Instead we have clownish cartoon characters, playing to the silly gossip media. Are those tumbrels I hear in the distance?

“If monarchy is corrupting - and it is - wait till you see what overt empire does to us.” Daniel Ellsberg


Published as an op-ed in the July 17, 2011 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper.
© sbruce 2011

Respect Your Elders? Not So Much

State budget cuts almost always mean that those budgets are balanced on the backs of the poor and the elderly; those most in need of services themselves. Many states and municipalities are drastically cutting their home health care budgets for seniors, because they aren't required programs. These same states are cutting their Medicaid budgets as well, which means more seniors and people with disabilities will wind up in nursing homes - even though living on their own is cheaper. The logic is stupefying.

From the
SEMissourian:

"Just because you cut the budget doesn't mean their needs go away," said Anita Bradberry, executive director of the Texas Association for Home Care & Hospice Inc.

Medicaid, the state-federal program that pays for medical and long-term care for the poor and disabled, is required to help fund nursing homes but not home care and community services.

Because the programs are not required, most states first look at cutting home health care funded through Medicaid, even though such programs are much cheaper than nursing homes.

Then there's this story from Strafford County, NH. In Foster's Daily Democrat:

"It'll be the first time since 1972 that we will have to institute a waiting list," said Strafford Nutrition Meals on Wheels Director Emily Sylvain, the day before her new fiscal year kicked in on July 1.

The nonprofit agency, which, according to Sylvain, has had annual level funding from state and federal sources of $516,000 for the past 12 years, is now having to deal with the loss of $75,000 in county funding.

A waiting list. For elderly people to get meals. I'm so ashamed for my state.


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

Right to Work Candidate Loses NH Special Election

Last week, NH had yet another primary, for another special election caused by the resignation of yet another errant representative. From WMUR:

Hampton police said Rep. Gary Wheaton, R-Seabrook, was charged Tuesday morning after an officer tried to pull him over for speeding on Route 1 near the Route 101 interchange.
Police said Wheaton made a U-turn and went around a construction barricade when the officer tried to pull him over. When Wheaton stopped and the officer approached his car, Wheaton identified himself as a state representative and made some other comments to the officer, but police wouldn't say what those comments were.

Then there's this:

Wheaton said that he does not want to accuse anyone, but he's concerned that the traffic stops happened because he is a Republican who voted against collective bargaining.
"Any of those stops could conceivably be police officers knowing that I'm a Republican and I'm voting against what they want," he said. "So there's always that chance or that possibility. I can't accuse without evidence.

Wheaton didn't get pulled over for being a scofflaw. He got pulled over because the union thugs were out to get him. He has no legal complaint, so he chooses the passive aggressive accusation method.

That's not the best part though. Wheaton decided to run in the very special election he caused. This did not please the folks who are cognizant of how much work (and expense) goes into a special election. From theNewburyport Daily News:

State Rep. Koko Perkins, R-Seabrook, said Wheaton's decision to run after resigning because of legal problems is "absolutely absurd." Legislators must be held to a higher standard than most because they're entrusted with making the laws, he said.

So you'd think. This special election has been fraught with foolishness. Another of the GOP contenders was Max Abramson, who was also recently indicted on 8 counts of felony reckless conduct. From the Newburyport Daily News:

In late December, Abramson, a member of Seabrook's Budget Committee, was arrested following a report of gunfire on Charles Henry Way and charged with unauthorized use of firearms, reckless conduct and prohibited sales of alcohol.

and

Further investigation into the happenings of the night were undertaken by Seabrook police, who charge that Abramson, who has a permit to carry a handgun, fired it into his home's ceiling during a party that night.

The special election took place last week, and the results have really shaken up the GOP establishment in NH. From the Nashua Telegraph:

Seabrook firefighter Kevin Janvrin won the five-way GOP primary over favored Hampton Falls businessman Lou Gargiulo by 118 votes.

Firefighter? As in....union? Say it ain't so! The NH GOP big guns were behind Hampton Falls businessman Lou Gargiuolo. So were the out of state special interests:

The New England Right to Work Campaign also weighed in for Gargiulo, hoping to add to the total needed for House Speaker William O’Brien, R-Mont Vernon, to override Gov. John Lynch’s veto

Members of the current legislative majority are already getting ugly about this:

From

House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt’s Facebook Wall:
Rochester Republican Rep. Fred Leonard: “He deserves no support from the NHGOP … this guy is poison and we should turn our backs on him.”
Londonderry GOP Rep. Al Baldasaro: “Does anyone know if Kevin was a registered Democrat before he ran as a Republican? I too have concerns on why he ran because he is not happy on what we have been doing at the state house. Hmmm, am I missing something here?”

Yes, Al, you are missing something. The voters aren't happy with what you and your anti-union fellow legislators have been up to this session. They made it clear in May by electing Jennifer Daler in a special election held in Speaker O'Brien's district. They've made it clear by voting for Kevin Janvrin in Seabrook. It's no surprise that voters would reject two shady candidates with legal problems. Gargiulo had the full weight of the NH GOP establishment, AND the special interests behind him, and he still lost. There are a few more special elections coming up. Perhaps after a few more routs, these legislators will start hearing what the people are saying.


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

The Hopelessness of Austerity

From the NY Times:

WILMINGTON, N.C. — When Engine 5 pulled up to a burning house on Woodlawn Avenue early on March 19, the firefighters were told that a man might be trapped in the back left bedroom. As two firemen trained a hose toward that corner, Capt. Don Ragavage crawled through smoke and flames to search for the missing resident.

It was an inopportune moment for the water pressure to plummet. But that is what happened when Engine 5’s motor, strained to the limit by 16 years and more than 100,000 miles of hard service, abruptly sputtered and died.

Fortunately, another truck was available to replace the old one, and it turned out that the missing resident wasn't home. This time there were no injuries or deaths. The chief had been lobbying for a new truck for years.

As cities and towns make the decisions NOT to replace old, and failing equipment, it's only a matter of time before injuries and deaths occur. As the budget cuts get deeper, terrible decisions are being made in municipalities around the nation.

From MoJo:

To help close a budget gap, Philly announced it will shutter 26 elementary- and middle-school cafeteria kitchens, many of them "in the city's poorest neighborhoods," reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. The affected schools "will switch from food prepared in the school by cafeteria workers to meals cooked, plated, and frozen several days before consumption and trucked in from a warehouse in Brooklyn, N.Y."

Not having to maintain functioning kitchens and pay workers to staff them will shave $2.3 million from the city's budget—but won't go very far toward decreasing its $629 million deficit. And the collateral damage will likely be large. To wit:

• An untold number of kitchen workers are tossed off the city's payrolls and into the city's already-swollen ranks of the unemployed. They'll adjust their spending accordingly, putting yet more pressure on the local tax base.

This move also hurts local food suppliers and distributors. In a bad economy that might just be the tipping point for those companies going under. And of course the prepackaged food will be the kind of food that contributes to childhood obesity.

The most important point is this:

And as the University of Texas economist James K. Galbraith has demonstrated numerous times over the past year (most recently here), the most-dire problems facing the nation are the related ones of underemployment and underinvestment in vital infrastructure, not budget deficits or the national debt.

The spending cuts serve to put more people out of work. What we need is investment in the future - not a return to the breadlines of the Great Depression.



cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

More Work for Less Pay

A look at the unspoken reality behind the so-called "jobless recovery." From MoJo:

Webster's defines speedup as "an employer's demand for accelerated output without increased pay," and it used to be a household word. Bosses would speed up the line to fill a big order, to goose profits, or to punish a restive workforce. Workers recognized it, unions (remember those?) watched for and negotiated over it—and, if necessary, walked out over it.

But now we no longer even acknowledge it—not in blue-collar work, not in white-collar or pink-collar work, not in economics texts, and certainly not in the media (except when journalists gripe about the staff-compacted-job-expanded newsroom). Now the word we use is "productivity," a term insidious in both its usage and creep. The not-so-subtle implication is always: Don't you want to be a productive member of society? Pundits across the political spectrum revel in the fact that US productivity (a.k.a. economic output per hour worked) consistently leads the world. Yes, year after year, Americans wring even more value out of each minute on the job than we did the year before. U-S-A! U-S-A!

Productivity creep is right. US workers are under pressure to do more in less time, and to thrive on it. Worker productivity is constantly touted in economic reports. Many of those who have jobs, are working longer hours with an expanded workload - without getting a raise. Merely being allowed to keep their jobs is enough of a reward. The question that is never asked is simple: who benefits?

In all the chatter about our "jobless recovery," how often does someone explain the simple feat by which this is actually accomplished? US productivity increased twice as fast in 2009 as it had in 2008, and twice as fast again in 2010: workforce down, output up, and voilá! No wonder corporate profits are up 22 percent since 2007, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute. To repeat: Up. Twenty-two. Percent.

and

Meanwhile, what's passed off as the growing pains of a modern economy is—not to go all Marxist on you—simply about redistribution. For 90 percent of American workers, incomes have stagnated or fallen for the past three decades, while they've ballooned at the top, and exploded at the very tippy-top: By 2008, the wealthiest 0.1 percent were making 6.4 times as much as they did in 1980 (adjusted for inflation). And just to further fuel your outrage, that 22 percent increase in profits? Most of it accrued to a single industry: finance.

All of that hard work isn't benefitting the worker, who isn't even getting a raise. It's going straight to the top. But, the lucky worker is allowed to keep their job. For now.

A year ago I wrote a piece here at Main St that included this statement:

This could be a frightening new US reality – companies holding workers hostage, in exchange for jobs.

The frightening new reality seems to have arrived.



cross- posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org