Why is the Department of Justice not paying its assistant attorneys?
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The program “provides a valuable support to the Justice Department as we continue to address the staffing challenges imposed by sequestration and still fulfill our commitment to protect the American people,” said a Justice Department spokesperson, in an emailed statement. The Department of Justice began posting uncompensated special assistant U.S. attorney positions in January 2011, after Attorney General Eric Holder announced a department-wide hiring freeze (individual U.S. attorney offices had hired unpaid lawyers before then, the spokesperson said).
There are currently 96 unpaid special assistant U.S. attorneys working for the department, according to a spokesperson, who said paid assistant U.S attorneys have starting salaries ranging from $44,581 to $117,994.
Many of the special assistant U.S. attorneys are doing much of the same work as their paid counterparts. According to one job posting from the U.S. attorney’s office in Puerto Rico, they “have the opportunity to represent the interests of the United States of America…and to exercise responsibility that is unparalleled in any other job that a litigator might undertake. [They] immediately undertake numerous cases, many high profile, in any of several units within each division.” The position requires three years of legal experience.
One former special assistant U.S. attorney, who asked not to be named, said she was given her own caseload, the way other paid assistant attorneys were. She said the program gave her hands-on trial experience she wouldn’t have had otherwise.
Some say the program is a practical solution to growing budget pressures. “I see [it] as a stopgap measure,” said lawyer David Lat, managing editor of the legal news site Above the Law and a former assistant U.S. attorney.“This is an attempt to manage their caseloads and their budgets.”
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Saturday, June 29, 2013
No, manufacturing jobs won’t revive the economy
No, manufacturing jobs won’t revive the economy
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And yet, for all the talk of good jobs in an increasingly high-tech industry, as manufacturing employment has begun to grow, pay in the industry hasn’t gone up. In real terms, the median hourly wage for production workers in manufacturing—which includes front-line supervisors and programmers of computer-controlled machinery as well as hand assemblers and meatpackers—fell from $15.87 in 2010 to $15.51 in 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those numbers are probably a bit high, since they don’t include temps.
On average, factory workers with little education still make a bit more than they might in retail or fast food, but that’s by no means always true. And, unlike service-sector employers, manufacturing plants are almost worshipped by American politicians. It’s hard to find a plant that expands or opens a new location without getting some sort of tax subsidy. Resonetics got a government-supported financing package when it opened its plant in Nashua, and when Atrium moves to its new location, it will be eligible for a New Hampshire state tax incentive.
Howard Wial, one of the authors of the Brookings Institute paper that advocates high-road manufacturing, said some state and local incentives do require that companies pay a certain wage, but they’re not common, and even when they exist there’s often no enforcement mechanism. In general, he said, the incentives are not particularly connected to creating good jobs.
“They’re just about poaching jobs from one place to another without creating any new value,” he said.
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And yet, for all the talk of good jobs in an increasingly high-tech industry, as manufacturing employment has begun to grow, pay in the industry hasn’t gone up. In real terms, the median hourly wage for production workers in manufacturing—which includes front-line supervisors and programmers of computer-controlled machinery as well as hand assemblers and meatpackers—fell from $15.87 in 2010 to $15.51 in 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those numbers are probably a bit high, since they don’t include temps.
On average, factory workers with little education still make a bit more than they might in retail or fast food, but that’s by no means always true. And, unlike service-sector employers, manufacturing plants are almost worshipped by American politicians. It’s hard to find a plant that expands or opens a new location without getting some sort of tax subsidy. Resonetics got a government-supported financing package when it opened its plant in Nashua, and when Atrium moves to its new location, it will be eligible for a New Hampshire state tax incentive.
Howard Wial, one of the authors of the Brookings Institute paper that advocates high-road manufacturing, said some state and local incentives do require that companies pay a certain wage, but they’re not common, and even when they exist there’s often no enforcement mechanism. In general, he said, the incentives are not particularly connected to creating good jobs.
“They’re just about poaching jobs from one place to another without creating any new value,” he said.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Did Obama just kill Keystone XL?
Did Obama just kill Keystone XL?
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So is this the end of Keystone? Stein says the “policy somewhat splits the difference — not killing the project outright, but ensuring that it meets a basic environmental standard.”
Environmentalists are thrilled, but reserving a healthy skepticism because there’s still a big “if” here.
While it may seem obvious that the pipeline would increase emissions (and most climate scientists have said it would), the State Department’s initial environmental impact statement (EIS) concluded the pipeline would have negligible impact on global greenhouse gas emissions, because oil sands from Alberta would still be transported via rail or other pipelines if Keystone XL was never built. The assessment, written by a contractor that was seen as overly friendly to the industry, was immediately controversial and even drew criticism from the EPA. It’s currently under review.
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So is this the end of Keystone? Stein says the “policy somewhat splits the difference — not killing the project outright, but ensuring that it meets a basic environmental standard.”
Environmentalists are thrilled, but reserving a healthy skepticism because there’s still a big “if” here.
While it may seem obvious that the pipeline would increase emissions (and most climate scientists have said it would), the State Department’s initial environmental impact statement (EIS) concluded the pipeline would have negligible impact on global greenhouse gas emissions, because oil sands from Alberta would still be transported via rail or other pipelines if Keystone XL was never built. The assessment, written by a contractor that was seen as overly friendly to the industry, was immediately controversial and even drew criticism from the EPA. It’s currently under review.
Supreme Court rules against random testing – Journal of Commerce--canada
Supreme Court rules against random testing – Journal of Commerce
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“The Supreme Court’s decision makes it clear that employers can’t simply impose random alcohol testing on their workforce. They need to negotiate this question.”
The Supreme Court of Canada released a 6-3 decision on June 14, which ruled that Irving Pulp and Paper Ltd. in Saint John, New Brunswick was unreasonable when the company unilaterally adopted random drug testing in 2006 for employees in safety-sensitive positions.
CEP Local 30 filed a grievance challenging the policy after a worker was chosen randomly by a computer program to take a breathalyzer test.
The test showed a blood alcohol level of zero, but the worker said the test was humiliating and unfair.
The Supreme Court ruled that a dangerous workplace does not give an employer an automatic justification for random testing.
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what do you think the us court would do?
Monday, June 24, 2013
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Saturday, June 22, 2013
"Free Trade" Was Never Really About Trade | Common Dreams
"Free Trade" Was Never Really About Trade | Common Dreams
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Twenty years after NAFTA we can add that it doesn't work. It's bad for millions of workers, families and communities around the world.
"Free trade" is not free. Our free trade policy encourages production to leave the country. We've lost millions of manufacturing jobs. More than 60,000 manufacturing plants were closed between 2000 and 2010 as production moved overseas. These costs are real.
"Free trade" is not trade. Basically, trade is when each country makes things of value for export and gets things of comparable value in imports. In modern globalization, other countries manipulate their currencies, use tax strategies that distort exports and imports, and apply effective well-designed industrial policies to build manufacturing capacity. They export more products to us, and import fewer products from us.
Our trade deficits since NAFTA are over $8 trillion. With trade deficits this large, we are not trading. We are letting other countries produce for us. We borrow, de-industrialize, and ultimately fail to capitalize on future production opportunities. That's not trade. That's getting picked clean.
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Twenty years after NAFTA we can add that it doesn't work. It's bad for millions of workers, families and communities around the world.
"Free trade" is not free. Our free trade policy encourages production to leave the country. We've lost millions of manufacturing jobs. More than 60,000 manufacturing plants were closed between 2000 and 2010 as production moved overseas. These costs are real.
"Free trade" is not trade. Basically, trade is when each country makes things of value for export and gets things of comparable value in imports. In modern globalization, other countries manipulate their currencies, use tax strategies that distort exports and imports, and apply effective well-designed industrial policies to build manufacturing capacity. They export more products to us, and import fewer products from us.
Our trade deficits since NAFTA are over $8 trillion. With trade deficits this large, we are not trading. We are letting other countries produce for us. We borrow, de-industrialize, and ultimately fail to capitalize on future production opportunities. That's not trade. That's getting picked clean.
Friday, June 21, 2013
Thursday, June 20, 2013
The secret history of the Bill of Rights
The secret history of the Bill of Rights
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Hamilton, the founder of the New York Post, did not agree that a bill of rights was necessary to protect freedom of the press:
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Hamilton, the founder of the New York Post, did not agree that a bill of rights was necessary to protect freedom of the press:
What signifies a declaration that “the liberty of the press shall be inviolably preserved?” What is the liberty of the press? Who can give it any definition which would not leave the utmost latitude for evasion? I hold it to be impracticable; and from this, I infer, that its security, whatever fine declarations may be inserted in any constitution respecting it, must altogether depend on public opinion, and on the general spirit of the people and of the government.Hamilton concluded that the regulation of power by the federal Constitution itself, not a laundry list of specific rights, was the best protection of liberty in the new country:
The truth is, after all the declamation we have heard, that the constitution is itself in every rational sense, and to every useful purpose, a bill of rights.James Madison, the “father of the Constitution,” shared the skepticism of the majority of the Founders about bills of rights. However, the Anti-Federalists, the opponents of a stronger federal government, were particularly influential in slave states like Madison’s Virginia, where they were inspired by some of his fellow slave owners like Thomas Jefferson, George Mason and Patrick Henry. These men were hardly precursors of the ACLU. Mason and Henry in particular objected to the federal Constitution because it did not sufficiently prevent the federal government from intervening in Southern slavery. Unlike George Washington, the only slave-holding president who freed his own slaves at his death, and a supporter of a strong federal government, Mason and Henry were hypocrites who denounced slavery in the abstract while opposing any government power that might infringe upon their despotic personal power over their own slave “property.”
Brazil “wakes up”
Brazil “wakes up”
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The turnout is estimated to have grown to more than 200,000 nationwide in that evening’s protests — the country’s biggest in 20 years — against a slew of new economic woes in a changing Brazil.
On Tuesday night, protests raged on in Sao Paulo, drawing some 50,000 marchers, a handful of whom clashed with police as they tried to enter City Hall.
The protesters have already made some gains: officials in important state capitals such as Porto Alegre and Recife announcedplans Tuesday to lower bus fares, one of the original demands.
But with more rallies expected this week, this movement shows no sign of abating.
“This is the moment to show that the whole of Brazil is fighting, and that we have a voice,” said Jacqueline Ferreira, a 20-year-old student. “Even my mother told me to go the streets, because she said ‘this cause is true, the time is rigfht.’”
The time is indeed crucial. An international soccer tournament called the Confederations Cup kicked off here Saturday. Many are watching this closely as a test run for soccer’s massive World Cup, which has required major infrastructure and stadium revamps, to be hosted here about a year from now.
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The turnout is estimated to have grown to more than 200,000 nationwide in that evening’s protests — the country’s biggest in 20 years — against a slew of new economic woes in a changing Brazil.
On Tuesday night, protests raged on in Sao Paulo, drawing some 50,000 marchers, a handful of whom clashed with police as they tried to enter City Hall.
The protesters have already made some gains: officials in important state capitals such as Porto Alegre and Recife announcedplans Tuesday to lower bus fares, one of the original demands.
But with more rallies expected this week, this movement shows no sign of abating.
“This is the moment to show that the whole of Brazil is fighting, and that we have a voice,” said Jacqueline Ferreira, a 20-year-old student. “Even my mother told me to go the streets, because she said ‘this cause is true, the time is rigfht.’”
The time is indeed crucial. An international soccer tournament called the Confederations Cup kicked off here Saturday. Many are watching this closely as a test run for soccer’s massive World Cup, which has required major infrastructure and stadium revamps, to be hosted here about a year from now.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
How Obamacare shortchanges low-wage workers
How Obamacare shortchanges low-wage workers
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But for those who work for bigger employers – and some two-thirds of minimum wage jobs are at employers of 100 or more – it is not clear whether the ACA will deliver on its promise of affordable coverage. Ironically, part-time workers may come out ahead, with a much better chance of affordable coverage, while full-time low-wage workers may find coverage out of their financial reach.
Millions of people who don’t work more than 29 hours a week for any one employer will be eligible for affordable subsidized coverage through the new marketplaces. And even if employers trim back some workers’ hours to get below the 30-hour mark, those workers may end up better financially and gain affordable coverage for the first time.
There will also be some employers who increase the hours of part-time workers to above 30 a week, as the Cumberland Farms stores, which employ 4,500 full-time workers and 2,700 part-timers, plan to do. Noting that full-time workers stay with the business three to four times longer than part-timers, the Cumberland Farms CEO explains, ““Longer-tenured workers deliver a better experience for the customer.”According to the payroll-processing firm ADP, other businesses are also likely to encourage more workers to become eligible for employer coverage.
But it is not at all clear that full-time low wage workers for bigger employers will be able to get affordable coverage. That is because the big business lobby exercised its muscle in shaping the ACA in the Senate Finance Committee. All the law requires is that employers offer individual employee health coverage that does not cost more than 9.5 percent of an employee’s income in order for the business to escape paying a $2,000-to-$3,000 penalty. In addition, the ACA allows employers to offer plans with very high out-of-pocket costs.
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But for those who work for bigger employers – and some two-thirds of minimum wage jobs are at employers of 100 or more – it is not clear whether the ACA will deliver on its promise of affordable coverage. Ironically, part-time workers may come out ahead, with a much better chance of affordable coverage, while full-time low-wage workers may find coverage out of their financial reach.
Millions of people who don’t work more than 29 hours a week for any one employer will be eligible for affordable subsidized coverage through the new marketplaces. And even if employers trim back some workers’ hours to get below the 30-hour mark, those workers may end up better financially and gain affordable coverage for the first time.
There will also be some employers who increase the hours of part-time workers to above 30 a week, as the Cumberland Farms stores, which employ 4,500 full-time workers and 2,700 part-timers, plan to do. Noting that full-time workers stay with the business three to four times longer than part-timers, the Cumberland Farms CEO explains, ““Longer-tenured workers deliver a better experience for the customer.”According to the payroll-processing firm ADP, other businesses are also likely to encourage more workers to become eligible for employer coverage.
But it is not at all clear that full-time low wage workers for bigger employers will be able to get affordable coverage. That is because the big business lobby exercised its muscle in shaping the ACA in the Senate Finance Committee. All the law requires is that employers offer individual employee health coverage that does not cost more than 9.5 percent of an employee’s income in order for the business to escape paying a $2,000-to-$3,000 penalty. In addition, the ACA allows employers to offer plans with very high out-of-pocket costs.
Dem Congressman to sue IRS over “social welfare” rules
Dem Congressman to sue IRS over “social welfare” rules
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Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., says that he and two campaign finance watchdog groups will file a lawsuit against the IRS over the agency’s policy of granting tax-exempt status to “social welfare” groups, because, he says, the IRS rules conflict with the law.
From the Huffington Post:
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Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., says that he and two campaign finance watchdog groups will file a lawsuit against the IRS over the agency’s policy of granting tax-exempt status to “social welfare” groups, because, he says, the IRS rules conflict with the law.
From the Huffington Post:
Van Hollen said he and watchdog groups Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 would sue to clarify an IRS regulation that he said was at odds with the law, which requires certain groups to “exclusively” engage in social welfare to earn nonprofit status. The IRS regulation permitting groups “primarily” engaged in social welfare allows the organizations to participate in an undefined amount of political activity, said the congressman, a leading advocate of campaign finance reform and ranking member of the House Budget Committee.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Twinkies showdown another blow to unions - NBC News.com
Twinkies showdown another blow to unions - NBC News.com:
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The Teamsters said it had no comment, and calls to the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union were not immediately returned Friday.
Christopher Rhomberg, a Fordham University sociology professor, said the strike went beyond wages and benefits.
"The workers had good reason to doubt management's intentions and reorganization plan," Rhomberg said. "The company had gone through bankruptcy twice in the last eight years and a revolving-door of management teams that increased the firm's debt but failed to reinvest in production or new products."
For the union workers who were left without a job, the Hostess shutdown showed the weakness of unions, said Daniel Opler, a history professor at College of Mount Saint Vincent and a labor relations specialist.
GOP’s hot plan: Cut food for poor people!
GOP’s hot plan: Cut food for poor people!
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Marco Rubio, the man who still can’t seem to decide whether he actually wants to be responsible for an immigration bill, has a fun proposal to continue punishing immigrants well after they become legal residents or possibly even citizens:
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Marco Rubio, the man who still can’t seem to decide whether he actually wants to be responsible for an immigration bill, has a fun proposal to continue punishing immigrants well after they become legal residents or possibly even citizens:
In the Senate, Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has endorsed an amendment to a comprehensive immigration bill he helped negotiate that would deny health benefits to immigrants for five years after they become legal residents — two years after they would be eligible to become citizens under the legislation.The GOP may be surprised to hear this, as they busy themselves gutting it, but immigrants do not come here for our generous welfare state. Spending for the undocumented made up a whopping 1.4 percent of all healthcare spending in the U.S. over the last decade.One fun side effect of making immigrants ineligible for subsidized healthcare is that that will obviously give employers an incentive to hire immigrants over native-born workers, precisely the stated reason many Republicans have for opposing immigration to begin with. But punishment is the most important policy goal of all for the modern GOP.
Guilty Verdicts in New Jersey Worker-Safety Trial - New York Times
Guilty Verdicts in New Jersey Worker-Safety Trial - New York Times:
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from usw on subject
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from usw on subject
On April 26, 2006, five managers at Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co. subsidiary of the infamous McWane steel pipe corporation were convicted of multiple felonies by a federal judge after one of the longest trials in the Justice Department’s history. The crimes included various environmental crimes as well as lying to OSHA Compliance Officer Carol Tiedemann from OSHA’s Avenel NJ Area Office.
The ringleader was Plant Manager John Prisque. The company lawyer attacked the prosecutors from the US DOJ’s Environmental Crimes Section, led by David Uhlmann, Andrew Goldsmith and Deborah Harris, and predicted that the defendants would be “ultimately vindicated.”
Three years later, the company and the managers were sentenced – Prisque got the stiffest sentence: five years in prison. After that the company and its managers appealed those convictions and sentences to the US Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court, and lost
This week, Prisque surrendered to the US Bureau of Prisons, at the minimum security prison in Minersville, PA. All or most of the other managers have done so too.
The wheels of justice grind slowly ….
Our thanks go to all the investigators and prosecutors who worked so hard to make this day happen.
Eric Frumin
OSHA to Investigate Second Louisiana Chemical Plant Explosion
OSHA to Investigate Second Louisiana Chemical Plant Explosion
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or the second time in the past few days, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has launched an investigation into a chemical plant explosion in Louisiana. On Thursday, a plant in Geismar, La., exploded, killing one person and injuring 73. On Friday, a blast in Donaldsonville, La., killed one person and injured seven. The plant that exploded on Thursday hadn't been inspected by OSHA in 20 years. It is not yet known when the last inspection was done at the Donaldsonville plant.
OSHA officials were expected to visit the plant, owned by CF Industries, as soon as the state's hazardous materials unit could guarantee that the location was safe to visit. Police identified Ronald “Rocky” Morris Jr., 55, of Belle Rose, La., a 34-year employee at the plant, as the victim.
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or the second time in the past few days, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has launched an investigation into a chemical plant explosion in Louisiana. On Thursday, a plant in Geismar, La., exploded, killing one person and injuring 73. On Friday, a blast in Donaldsonville, La., killed one person and injured seven. The plant that exploded on Thursday hadn't been inspected by OSHA in 20 years. It is not yet known when the last inspection was done at the Donaldsonville plant.
OSHA officials were expected to visit the plant, owned by CF Industries, as soon as the state's hazardous materials unit could guarantee that the location was safe to visit. Police identified Ronald “Rocky” Morris Jr., 55, of Belle Rose, La., a 34-year employee at the plant, as the victim.
Leo W. Gerard: America Feeds the Rich
Leo W. Gerard: America Feeds the Rich:
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Republican Congressman Stephen Fincher of Frog Jump, Tenn., is the ugly face of the feed-the-rich public policy. He is a seventh generation millionaire agri-businessman. He raked in$3.5 million in federal farm subsidies from 1999 to 2012. That averages out to $269,000 a year in farm welfare. It makes him one of the largest farm welfare recipients in Tennessee history as well as among members of Congress.
This politician, who thrived on the government dole, raking in $738 a day in farm welfare over the past 13 years, is among the loudest advocates for increasing subsidies to agribusiness by about $10 billion and slashing food stamps by $20 billion.
That would take food from 2 million poor people. They get an average of $133 a month in food stamps. That's less than $5 a day for the poor -- not the $738 a day that Fincher got.
Fincher justified taking food out of the mouths of poor people by quoting the Bible, 2 Thessalonians 3:10, to be specific: "For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat."
Citing that verse shows a frightening level of cluelessness. First, Fincher took it out of context. It was intended as an admonishment of those who'd stopped working in anticipation of the Second Coming, not as a castigation of generic non-workers.
Second, 49 percent of those receiving food stamps are children. Would Fincher have five-year-olds work for their supper? How about infants?
Monday, June 17, 2013
The Dues and Don'ts of Union Dues
The Dues and Don'ts of Union Dues
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Collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) are contracts between unions and employers for the benefit of the employees the union represents. Unlike non-union workplaces, employees who are represented by a union typically have the right to vote on the terms of their employment set forth in collective bargaining agreements. Collective bargaining agreements are not ordinary contracts. They provide equal protection and due process rights to workers. In fact, CBAs are more like legislation than ordinary contra
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Every organization needs funds to operate, and unions are no exception. Before talking about the law relating to union dues, it is important to know what union dues buy. Union-negotiated benefits are not limited to the union’s members. The benefits are available to everyone in the workplace unit a union represents. In addition, by law, a union must fairly represent everyone in the bargaining unit, even those who choose not to become full members of the union. The most common actions that involve union representation are negotiating, enforcing and administering collective bargaining agreements.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
The nonprofits that profit politicians - Alexander Burns - POLITICO.com
The nonprofits that profit politicians - Alexander Burns - POLITICO.com:
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meanwhile, wealthy former energy executive Mark Jacobs has set up an education-focused nonprofit dubbed Reaching Higher Iowa. The group launched early this year and registered as a nonprofit entity with the Iowa secretary of state’s office, according to Jacobs. Last month, it mailed out a lengthy brochure about RHI’s education agenda that also featured three photos of Jacobs and a bio describing him as a “complex problem-solver” with a “long track record of leadership in civic and social issues.”
Jacobs is also actively exploring a campaign for the Republican nomination for Iowa’s open Senate seat and has spent weeks introducing himself to GOP leaders and showing up at local party events.
The potential candidates and their advisers play down the extent to which these nonprofits are explicitly intended to lay the groundwork for Senate races: Jacobs points out that he founded RHI before Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin announced his retirement and created an open-seat race. Tillis advisers say the legislative nonprofit is more than a vehicle for the speaker, and that other Republicans will take over its leadership now that he’s running for Senate.
At the same time, Republicans involved in both efforts don’t deny there’s some political advantage to the outside-group activities.
“Is there some benefit because, you know, I’ve been engaged directly in this and more people know me in the state than would have known me six months ago? Sure, I’m sure that’s the case,” Jacobs said. “But I’ve been doing what I’ve been doing on education, in terms of trying to raise public awareness on it, because I think that’s an important component of tackling the problem.”
Workers worldwide are losing ground on wages - TwinCities.com
Workers worldwide are losing ground on wages - TwinCities.com:
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Wage competition was a familiar if slower-moving dynamic of the pre-global age, but it took place almost exclusively within national confines, as when a new auto works in the 1980s bypassed unionized Detroit in favor of nonunion states in the American South, which in turn kept Detroit wages under pressure.
More recently, Mexico has added to the downward pull on U.S. earnings when, for instance, a company like Brown Deer, Wis.-based Badger Meter Inc. opened production facilities in the border city of Nogales.
To be sure, pressure on U.S. wages comes from multiple economic forces, not just from cheaper foreign labor.
"We have gone through the worst recession that we have seen since the 1930s," said William Strauss, a senior economist who studies the Midwest at the Chicago branch of the Federal Reserve Bank.
Unemployment has r
Monday, June 10, 2013
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Saturday, June 8, 2013
How powerful elites divide the rest of us
How powerful elites divide the rest of us
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On the political junkie side of this chasm are those of us who follow politics and social issues closely. We typically get our information through niche media, email newsletters, membership organizations and the attendant social media feeds. The media that serves this audience seems perfectly happy to commodify dissent by providing niche content that speaks only to a narrow audience — and nobody else. To many looking in from the outside, that creates the image of a holier-than-thou insularity that is, to say the least, off putting. Ultimately, from within this bubble, “activism” becomes narrowly defined as a grinding project of political work trying to somehow convince A) politicians to do things their donors don’t want them to do or B) the larger politically disengaged world to do stuff that can seem too difficult (door knocking, phone banking, etc.) or wholly futile (signing petitions, sending a letter to a lawmaker, etc.).
On the other side of this divide is Everyone Else. This is the much larger throng of people who are either completely politically disengaged or who have informed views on social issues but see the entire political system as too corrupt/dysfunctional to bother with. There may indeed be huge political potential in this latter subset — but because it isn’t really served by the red-versus-blue hyper-political media, and because politics appears so inaccessible and so dominated by junkies, this potential goes largely untapped.
This stasis, of course, suits the professional political class just fine. After all, those who have accrued money, power and status in the existing system are more than happy for activism to be defined as tiny disempowered cadres of already-convinced zealots screaming at each other, rather than what it should be: a mass-appeal activity that focuses on direct action and that is pretty easy to incorporate into the ordinary citizen’s daily life.
Friday, June 7, 2013
CHARLEY RICHARDSON Obituary: View CHARLEY RICHARDSON's Obituary by The Boston Globe
CHARLEY RICHARDSON Obituary: View CHARLEY RICHARDSON's Obituary by The Boston Globe:
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Richardson, Charley
Of Jamaica Plain, age 60, passed away on May 4 after a 6-year battle with cancer. Long-time activist for economic and social justice and peace, Charley worked for decades in the labor movement - at UMass-Lowell Labor Extension Program, the United Steelworkers International Union and other unions nationally and internationally - and was co-founder of Military Families Speak Out. Enthusiastic outdoor adventurer who loved hiking, biking, sledding, climbing, kayaking and introducing children to the outdoors. Charley was known for using duct tape to fix anything, his signature handlebar mustache, his quick wit, loving spirit and delight in entertaining children of all ages. Beloved and eternal soul-mate of Nancy Lessin; loving parent of Nick and Joe Richardson, Nikki Rivera and Nina Lessin-Joseph; awesome grandfather to Anabel, Kai and Teo. Also survived by parents Pete and Corinne Richardson, sister Marcie Richardson, brothers Chris, Peter and John Richardson, and extended family, in-laws and out-laws of all sorts. Charley will also be deeply missed by thousands of trade unionists and peace activists across the country and around the world. Memorial service in Boston being planned. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Steelworkers Humanity Fund, Labor Notes, Iraq Veterans Against the War and U.S. Labor Against the War.
Of Jamaica Plain, age 60, passed away on May 4 after a 6-year battle with cancer. Long-time activist for economic and social justice and peace, Charley worked for decades in the labor movement - at UMass-Lowell Labor Extension Program, the United Steelworkers International Union and other unions nationally and internationally - and was co-founder of Military Families Speak Out. Enthusiastic outdoor adventurer who loved hiking, biking, sledding, climbing, kayaking and introducing children to the outdoors. Charley was known for using duct tape to fix anything, his signature handlebar mustache, his quick wit, loving spirit and delight in entertaining children of all ages. Beloved and eternal soul-mate of Nancy Lessin; loving parent of Nick and Joe Richardson, Nikki Rivera and Nina Lessin-Joseph; awesome grandfather to Anabel, Kai and Teo. Also survived by parents Pete and Corinne Richardson, sister Marcie Richardson, brothers Chris, Peter and John Richardson, and extended family, in-laws and out-laws of all sorts. Charley will also be deeply missed by thousands of trade unionists and peace activists across the country and around the world. Memorial service in Boston being planned. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Steelworkers Humanity Fund, Labor Notes, Iraq Veterans Against the War and U.S. Labor Against the War.
Striking Workers Bring Bangladesh Safety Demand to Walmart Headquarters | The Nation
Striking Workers Bring Bangladesh Safety Demand to Walmart Headquarters | The Nation
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As I’ve reported, striking workers from the union-backed group Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) have been in Bentonville since Saturday, following a series of Freedom Ride–inspired caravans that made stops in some twenty cities. The workers have framed their work stoppage as a protest of retaliation by Walmart against workers who organized for better wages and working conditions. Organizers say at least a hundred workers are participating in the current strike, which is substantially smaller than last fall’s Black Friday walkout, but significantly longer: workers began walking off the job eight days ago, and have pledged to stay out on strike at least through the company’s shareholder meeting on Friday.
This afternoon’s protesters charged that Walmart bears significant responsibility for two disasters in factories it’s used in Bangladesh: the November fire that killed 112 apparel workers at the Tazreen Factory, and the April building collapse in Rana Plaza, whose death toll was the highest in global garment industry history. In an April interview, Tazreen survivor Sumi Abedin told The Nation that she jumped out of the building “not to save my life” but “to save my body. Because if I would be in the factory, my parents would not be able to get my body. I would be burned to death. So I jumped so at least they could find my body outside.”
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As I’ve reported, striking workers from the union-backed group Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) have been in Bentonville since Saturday, following a series of Freedom Ride–inspired caravans that made stops in some twenty cities. The workers have framed their work stoppage as a protest of retaliation by Walmart against workers who organized for better wages and working conditions. Organizers say at least a hundred workers are participating in the current strike, which is substantially smaller than last fall’s Black Friday walkout, but significantly longer: workers began walking off the job eight days ago, and have pledged to stay out on strike at least through the company’s shareholder meeting on Friday.
This afternoon’s protesters charged that Walmart bears significant responsibility for two disasters in factories it’s used in Bangladesh: the November fire that killed 112 apparel workers at the Tazreen Factory, and the April building collapse in Rana Plaza, whose death toll was the highest in global garment industry history. In an April interview, Tazreen survivor Sumi Abedin told The Nation that she jumped out of the building “not to save my life” but “to save my body. Because if I would be in the factory, my parents would not be able to get my body. I would be burned to death. So I jumped so at least they could find my body outside.”
Bachmann: I might run for president in 2016
Bachmann: I might run for president in 2016
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I hope she does, personally speaking. I look forward to circus in 16
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HANNITY: Last question, think about 2016 maybe be running for president again?Unless things change drastically for the congresswoman in the next two years, performing even as well as she did in 2012 seems out of reach, given swirling ethics questions and the fact that some conservative leaders seem to have lost patience for the outspoken Bachmann.
BACHMANN: I’m not taking anything off the table, but certainly that is not my number one item that I’m looking at right now either. I’m in the game for the long haul.
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I hope she does, personally speaking. I look forward to circus in 16
Study: Medicaid expansion a good deal for states - The Hill's Healthwatch
Study: Medicaid expansion a good deal for states - The Hill's Healthwatch
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States would save money by accepting the Medicaid expansion in President Obama's healthcare law, according to a new study.
The research, published in the journal Health Affairs, said states that reject the Medicaid expansion will end up paying more for healthcare coverage than states that participate — and covering far fewer people.
Together, 14 states that have rejected the expansion will spend $1 billion more on uncompensated care than they would under the expansion, and they'll lose out on $8.4 billion in federal payments, researchers from the Rand Corporation said.
“Our analysis shows it’s in the best economic interests of states to expand Medicaid under the terms of the federal Affordable Care Act,” said Carter Price, the study’s lead author.
The 14 states included in the Rand analysis are also passing up a chance to cover 3.6 million uninsured people, the study said.
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States would save money by accepting the Medicaid expansion in President Obama's healthcare law, according to a new study.
The research, published in the journal Health Affairs, said states that reject the Medicaid expansion will end up paying more for healthcare coverage than states that participate — and covering far fewer people.
Together, 14 states that have rejected the expansion will spend $1 billion more on uncompensated care than they would under the expansion, and they'll lose out on $8.4 billion in federal payments, researchers from the Rand Corporation said.
“Our analysis shows it’s in the best economic interests of states to expand Medicaid under the terms of the federal Affordable Care Act,” said Carter Price, the study’s lead author.
The 14 states included in the Rand analysis are also passing up a chance to cover 3.6 million uninsured people, the study said.
Revealed: Letters From Republicans Seeking Obamacare Money | The Nation
Revealed: Letters From Republicans Seeking Obamacare Money | The Nation:
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The Affordable Care Act authorizes an array of grants to local hospitals, community health clinics and doctor training programs, as well as public health initiatives to improve health and access to care. The billions of dollars in grants are awarded on a competitive basis, and lawmakers on the state and federal levels have sent letters endorsing applicants.
Texas Senator John Cornyn, the Republican whip, wrote to the Centers for Disease Control to recommend a grant for Houston and Harris County. Congressman Michael McCaul, a Republican and the chair of the Homeland Security Committee, wrote a letter praising the same grant request, calling the effort a “crucial initiative to achieve a healthier Houston/Harris County.” Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Mark Kirk of Illinois and Thad Cochran of Mississippi also recommended grant request approval for public health or health clinic funding.
House Republicans and the Senate Republican Policy Committee have trashed the ACA’s Community Transformation grants as an Obamacare “slush fund.” In the letters seeking these grants, however, GOP lawmakers have heaped praise on their potential. Cornyn writes in his letter that the grant would help “improve the health and quality of life of area residents.” Congressman Aaron Schock, a Republican from Illinois, congratulated a local nonprofit for winning a Community Transformation grant, noting that the program will give “people the tools to live healthier and longer lives.”
Walmart files restraining order against protesting labor groups — MSNBC
Walmart files restraining order against protesting labor groups — MSNBC:
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Striking Walmart employees will still be allowed to picket under the terms of the restraining order [PDF] approved by Judge John Scott on Monday. But OUR Walmart, UFCW, and “all other persons or entities who act in concert with them” are prohibited from joining the workers. While the order doesn’t get more specific than that, such a broad classification could include national coalition partners such as American Rights At Work (ARAW), local grassroots organizations, laid-off Walmart employees, and employees of Walmart contractors.
“It’s very disconcerting that they’re tacking this tack,” said ARAW research director Erin Johansson. “We’ve covered a lot of companies who have tried to silence their employees when standing up, and I’ve never seen them go after community leaders this way.”
Johansson is the author of an ARAW report, issued last month, which claims that Walmart has attempted to “curb freedom of speech and assembly” through the systematic use of trespass lawsuits against protesters. Groups like UFCW, OUR Walmart and state-level affiliates of the Jobs with Justice coalition have been the target of such lawsuits, while former employees have received written trespassing warnings and been handcuffed.
Walmart spokesperson Kory Lundberg said that the company filed a restraining order because employees were concerned about possible disruptions to their work.
Senate nixes both parties’ student loan plans
Senate nixes both parties’ student loan plans
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The top Republican on the Senate education panel seemed to share that frustration. “If we can’t agree on this, we can’t agree on anything,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander. “This is a manufactured crisis.”The failure comes just three weeks before interest rates increase on federally subsidized Stafford loans return to 2008 levels. For students who max out their student loans every year, the rate shift would mean this year’s loans will cost more than $1,000 than last.“Congress must act immediately to stop the imminent doubling of interest rates on student loans,” the White House said in a statement as President Barack Obama was on his way to North Carolina to visit a school.
Democrats in the Senate unsuccessful sought a two-year extension of the current rates while lawmakers write a comprehensive overhaul of the student loan process.
Republicans, meanwhile, wanted to link interest rates to financial markets. Under Senate Republicans’ plan, interest rates would be based on the 10-year Treasury note and, once the rates were set each year, remain there until the loans were paid off.
The GOP parameters were not that different from President Barack Obama’s budget proposal, which also included interest rates linked to markets, or a version House Republicans have passed through their chamber.
President Barack Obama threatened to veto House Republicans’ legislation.
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The top Republican on the Senate education panel seemed to share that frustration. “If we can’t agree on this, we can’t agree on anything,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander. “This is a manufactured crisis.”The failure comes just three weeks before interest rates increase on federally subsidized Stafford loans return to 2008 levels. For students who max out their student loans every year, the rate shift would mean this year’s loans will cost more than $1,000 than last.“Congress must act immediately to stop the imminent doubling of interest rates on student loans,” the White House said in a statement as President Barack Obama was on his way to North Carolina to visit a school.
Democrats in the Senate unsuccessful sought a two-year extension of the current rates while lawmakers write a comprehensive overhaul of the student loan process.
Republicans, meanwhile, wanted to link interest rates to financial markets. Under Senate Republicans’ plan, interest rates would be based on the 10-year Treasury note and, once the rates were set each year, remain there until the loans were paid off.
The GOP parameters were not that different from President Barack Obama’s budget proposal, which also included interest rates linked to markets, or a version House Republicans have passed through their chamber.
President Barack Obama threatened to veto House Republicans’ legislation.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
The question libertarians just can’t answer
The question libertarians just can’t answer
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Why are there no libertarian countries? If libertarians are correct in claiming that they understand how best to organize a modern society, how is it that not a single country in the world in the early twenty-first century is organized along libertarian lines?
It’s not as though there were a shortage of countries to experiment with libertarianism. There are 193 sovereign state members of the United Nations—195, if you count the Vatican and Palestine, which have been granted observer status by the world organization. If libertarianism was a good idea, wouldn’t at least one country have tried it? Wouldn’t there be at least one country, out of nearly two hundred, with minimal government, free trade, open borders, decriminalized drugs, no welfare state and no public education system?
When you ask libertarians if they can point to a libertarian country, you are likely to get a baffled look, followed, in a few moments, by something like this reply: While there is no purely libertarian country, there are countries which have pursued policies of which libertarians would approve: Chile, with its experiment in privatized Social Security, for example, and Sweden, a big-government nation which, however, gives a role to vouchers in schooling.
But this isn’t an adequate response. Libertarian theorists have the luxury of mixing and matching policies to create an imaginary utopia. A real country must function simultaneously in different realms—defense and the economy, law enforcement and some kind of system of support for the poor. Being able to point to one truly libertarian country would provide at least some evidence that libertarianism can work in the real world.
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Why are there no libertarian countries? If libertarians are correct in claiming that they understand how best to organize a modern society, how is it that not a single country in the world in the early twenty-first century is organized along libertarian lines?
It’s not as though there were a shortage of countries to experiment with libertarianism. There are 193 sovereign state members of the United Nations—195, if you count the Vatican and Palestine, which have been granted observer status by the world organization. If libertarianism was a good idea, wouldn’t at least one country have tried it? Wouldn’t there be at least one country, out of nearly two hundred, with minimal government, free trade, open borders, decriminalized drugs, no welfare state and no public education system?
When you ask libertarians if they can point to a libertarian country, you are likely to get a baffled look, followed, in a few moments, by something like this reply: While there is no purely libertarian country, there are countries which have pursued policies of which libertarians would approve: Chile, with its experiment in privatized Social Security, for example, and Sweden, a big-government nation which, however, gives a role to vouchers in schooling.
But this isn’t an adequate response. Libertarian theorists have the luxury of mixing and matching policies to create an imaginary utopia. A real country must function simultaneously in different realms—defense and the economy, law enforcement and some kind of system of support for the poor. Being able to point to one truly libertarian country would provide at least some evidence that libertarianism can work in the real world.
The Tea Party hates Jan Brewer now
The Tea Party hates Jan Brewer now
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But this conservative edifice has come crashing down since she announced in her State of the State address this year, to the shock of everyone, that Arizona would accept Obamacare and expand its Medicaid coverage whether her Republican allies in the state liked it or not. Needless to say, they did not like it. But Brewer’s newfound love of Obamacare was so strong that she vowed to veto every single bill the Legislature sent to her office until they caved on Obamacare.
Soon, this one-time darling of the right was getting eviscerated in National Review editorials, yelled at — to her face — by conservative talk radio hosts, and being called “Judas” from the chambers of the state House of Representatives.
But Brewer stood firm. After weeks of standoff and a string of promised vetoes, House Republican leaders threw in the towel Wednesday: Jan Brewer, Tea Party hero, had successfully crammed Obamacare down Arizona Republicans’ throats.
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But this conservative edifice has come crashing down since she announced in her State of the State address this year, to the shock of everyone, that Arizona would accept Obamacare and expand its Medicaid coverage whether her Republican allies in the state liked it or not. Needless to say, they did not like it. But Brewer’s newfound love of Obamacare was so strong that she vowed to veto every single bill the Legislature sent to her office until they caved on Obamacare.
Soon, this one-time darling of the right was getting eviscerated in National Review editorials, yelled at — to her face — by conservative talk radio hosts, and being called “Judas” from the chambers of the state House of Representatives.
But Brewer stood firm. After weeks of standoff and a string of promised vetoes, House Republican leaders threw in the towel Wednesday: Jan Brewer, Tea Party hero, had successfully crammed Obamacare down Arizona Republicans’ throats.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Hundreds fall sick in Bangladesh garment factory : Voice of Russia American Edition
Hundreds fall sick in Bangladesh garment factory : Voice of Russia American Edition
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DHAKA (AFP) - Hundreds of workers in a Bangladesh garment factory near the capital fell sick on Wednesday after drinking suspected contaminated water in their workplace, police and factory sources told AFP.
"Primarily we suspect the water supply of the Starlight Sweaters factory was poisoned or contaminated," local industrial police officer Mahfuzur Rahman told AFP.
Many of the workers at the factory in Gazipur were taken to hospital after they started vomiting in the morning, Rahman said.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
The farce that is Darrell Issa
The farce that is Darrell Issa
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The only thing that makes Rep. Darrell Issa remotely qualified to chair the House Oversight Committee is his personal familiarity with the investigative process – on the receiving end. The man Republican House Speaker John Boehner put in charge of investigating government wrongdoing was himself indicted for stealing a car, accused of stealing at least one other car, arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, and twice suspected of insurance fraud – and once extensively investigated by authorities for arson, because his former business associates accused him, on the record, of burning down a building to collect the insurance payout.
Democrats love to hate the silly, camera-chasing Issa, who came to power in 2011 promising to put the White House under generalized investigation. But now even some Republicans are happy to criticize Issa too. It’s easy for them to denounce his calling Jay Carney a “paid liar,” as well as his evidence-free claim that the IRS mess was directed from Washington D.C., while they continue to participate in smearing the White House with non-scandals themselves, nonetheless.
Issa’s extremist idiocy lets “reasonable” Republicans denounce him and/or his rhetoric, while they continue their own ethically, intellectually and politically blinkered crusades against President Obama. Sure, Sen. John McCain says it was wrong to call Carney a “paid liar” – but also on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” he compared the IRS mess to Ronald Reagan’s deadly Iran-Contra scandal. Um, no.
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The only thing that makes Rep. Darrell Issa remotely qualified to chair the House Oversight Committee is his personal familiarity with the investigative process – on the receiving end. The man Republican House Speaker John Boehner put in charge of investigating government wrongdoing was himself indicted for stealing a car, accused of stealing at least one other car, arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, and twice suspected of insurance fraud – and once extensively investigated by authorities for arson, because his former business associates accused him, on the record, of burning down a building to collect the insurance payout.
Democrats love to hate the silly, camera-chasing Issa, who came to power in 2011 promising to put the White House under generalized investigation. But now even some Republicans are happy to criticize Issa too. It’s easy for them to denounce his calling Jay Carney a “paid liar,” as well as his evidence-free claim that the IRS mess was directed from Washington D.C., while they continue to participate in smearing the White House with non-scandals themselves, nonetheless.
Issa’s extremist idiocy lets “reasonable” Republicans denounce him and/or his rhetoric, while they continue their own ethically, intellectually and politically blinkered crusades against President Obama. Sure, Sen. John McCain says it was wrong to call Carney a “paid liar” – but also on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” he compared the IRS mess to Ronald Reagan’s deadly Iran-Contra scandal. Um, no.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Hedge fund’s wild side: The man who lost $8 billion
Hedge fund’s wild side: The man who lost $8 billion
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In the summer of 2005, hotshot Amaranth Advisors LLC trader Brian Hunter spied a bargain.
Natural gas supplies nationally were plentiful, gas production was unusually high, and by midsummer storage facilities were brimming with the stuff. Prices were low, hovering between $6 and $8 per MMBtu. Since investors didn’t expect any reason for prices to shoot up, nobody was very interested in options that gave them the right to buy natural gas well above that. The options were going for bargain-basement prices. So Hunter swooped in, scooping up millions of dollars of options on the cheap.
Energy was a growing colossus in Amaranth, and by August 2005 energy investments were tying up 36 percent of Amaranth’s money. Hunter was taking a huge gamble when he bought up his millions of dollars of options. He would profit only if natural gas prices rose dramatically. And that didn’t seem likely to happen.
Then Mother Nature came roaring in to Hunter’s rescue.
On the evening of August 25, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck. It hit the Florida coast between Miami and Fort Lauderdale first. Torrential rain, twelve inches or more, pelted the coast, and winds roared to 80 miles an hour. About a dozen people died, more than a million people lost power, and flooding was extensive.
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In the summer of 2005, hotshot Amaranth Advisors LLC trader Brian Hunter spied a bargain.
Natural gas supplies nationally were plentiful, gas production was unusually high, and by midsummer storage facilities were brimming with the stuff. Prices were low, hovering between $6 and $8 per MMBtu. Since investors didn’t expect any reason for prices to shoot up, nobody was very interested in options that gave them the right to buy natural gas well above that. The options were going for bargain-basement prices. So Hunter swooped in, scooping up millions of dollars of options on the cheap.
Energy was a growing colossus in Amaranth, and by August 2005 energy investments were tying up 36 percent of Amaranth’s money. Hunter was taking a huge gamble when he bought up his millions of dollars of options. He would profit only if natural gas prices rose dramatically. And that didn’t seem likely to happen.
Then Mother Nature came roaring in to Hunter’s rescue.
On the evening of August 25, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck. It hit the Florida coast between Miami and Fort Lauderdale first. Torrential rain, twelve inches or more, pelted the coast, and winds roared to 80 miles an hour. About a dozen people died, more than a million people lost power, and flooding was extensive.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
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