Trickle-down economics is the first cousin of austerity economics. Austerity is nuts when so many millions are out of work. And as we’ve learned before, trickle-down is a fraud. Nothing ever trickles down. - Robert Reich, "A Story for May Day"
Monday, September 3, 2012
Labor Day 2012: "I Owe My Soul... To The
Company Stoʼ Candidate"
Neela Bannerjee at the LA Times (H/T Enfant, in comments) tells us a story that sounds like something out of the nineteenth century:
Feel free to stay home if you would prefer never to be promoted or to receive a raise, or if you would like to be given the dirtiest, most dangerous possible job in the dirtiest, most dangerous workplace anywhere. But hey, you're not being forced; it's merely mandatory.
Happy Labor Day. I hope yours is a better one than that of those coal miners. People who work for a living deserve better.
WASHINGTON -- Employees of a major coal industry donor to Republican causes have raised complaints about their participation in an event earlier this month organized for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the crucial swing state of Ohio.Yep, those are the basic tenets of our American capitalist society: "Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. Attendance is mandatory but no one is forced to attend the event.”
Several miners at Murray Energy’s Century coal mine in Beallsville, Ohio, contacted a nearby morning talk radio host, David Blomquist, over the last two weeks to say that they were forced to attend an Aug. 14 rally for Romney at the mine. Murray closed the mine the day of the rally, saying it was necessary for security and safety, then docked miners the day's pay. Asked by WWVA radio’s Blomquist about the allegations on Monday’s show, Murray chief operating officer Robert Moore said: “Attendance was mandatory but no one was forced to attend the event.”
Feel free to stay home if you would prefer never to be promoted or to receive a raise, or if you would like to be given the dirtiest, most dangerous possible job in the dirtiest, most dangerous workplace anywhere. But hey, you're not being forced; it's merely mandatory.
Happy Labor Day. I hope yours is a better one than that of those coal miners. People who work for a living deserve better.
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Yes, This Chart Showing That Most Debt Growth Came Under Republican Presidents Is Accurate, But... :
ReplyDeletehttp://www.businessinsider.com/who-increased-the-debt-2012-9
Mitt Romney's Acceptance Speech Received The Worst Reaction Since Bob Dole:
http://www.businessinsider.com/mitt-romney-rnc-speech-republican-convention-bob-dole-2012-9
Romney's Tax Plan Only Works If Income Inequality Explodes:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.businessinsider.com/romneys-tax-plan-only-works-if-income-inequality-explodes-2012-9
Enfant, if you click through from the first article to the blame-laying article linked at the bottom, you'll find that Mr. Blodget never even considers the issue of whether increasing the deficit in a time of economic depression is the right thing to do. The question of blame reverses if it IS the right thing... which most Keynesians, including me and Paul Krugman, will tell you it is. Blame should NOT be laid for a deficit in the short run: blame should be laid for a terrible economy that can be avoided by government deficit spending. That is what Mr. Bush is largely to blame for, though Mr. Obama could have done considerably better if he were just a little bit meaner and not so (bleep) bipartisan. :-)
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