Two major stories today seem to bring together both the past and the future of the country to chart a way forward. The first involves a historic workers’ strike. A week ago, on Friday, September 15, after workers’ four-year contracts expired, the United Auto Workers union declared a limited and targeted work stoppage in which about 13,000 workers walked off the job at three Midwestern auto plants. For the first time in history, those walkouts included all three major automakers: workers left a General Motors plant in Missouri, a Stellantis (which includes Chrysler) plant in Ohio, and a Ford plant in Michigan.
Thank you for getting us the quotes and information on Shawn Fain. I’m so glad that he’s seeing through Donald Trump’s claim to be pro-union after Trump worked so hard to gut the power of unions.
Another person who has tried to hide his true feelings is Clarence Thomas. I can hardly wait until there is a law stating that the Supreme Court justices have to obey the same recusal rules that every other judge follows. Obviously, leaving it up to their policing themselves to practice judicial neutrality hasn’t worked. The damage that Alito and Thomas have done to the reputation of the court will take years, if not decades, to heal.
How many more reports and investigative blogs does ProPublica have to publish before someone either holds the Supreme justices to the same ethics and morals as simple mortals, or starts to 'impeach' Alito and Thomas? Aren't there enough reasons and justifications already?
This chief justice is in a bind. The court has his name on it, and I think he knows it is already notorious and will go down in history as corrupt which is why every now and then, he votes the right way, but not often enough and now with all the other extremes on it, he has lost control and yes, then there is his wife and his own political views.
I believe he’s trying to figure out a way out of this mess the Court’s in. These 5 justices appointed by Frumpy have flipped the Supreme Court making it the laughing stock of the world. And with the antics that Clarence Thomas and Alito have brought to light, it has put every one of them under a heavy microscope where every move of all of them are now being scrutinized to the hilt.
‘Laughing stock’ is an inappropriate expression. Most of us Europeans are shocked and revolted at the turn the Court has taken. We know that this is no laughing matter.
And the sad part is that he had the fence around the court erected because he’s afraid that the Court will be stormed by a mad mob wanting to string them all up. How sad of an individual that he is. What he doesn’t seem to realize is that he, and his fellow Justices have done an excellent job of stringing themselves up either all of their law violating they have done, and do about every weekend. Not to mention the rulings that are being handed down in return for their actions.
He needs to be impeached too. Wouldn’t you love to make millions as the wife of the sitting head of the supremely slimy court?
And let’s hear it for striking workers!!! Even at 77 years of age I am ready to stand behind both impeachment for unlawful behavior and in the UNION lines supporting American citizens.
The power of being heard is great than any drug taken!
Sadly, New Jersey drags down the cause with an equally sliMey powerful corrupt Senator. Yet again. As A native New Jerseyan, I'm ashamed and saddened to see this happening, but not surprised. Remember the headlines in the NY Daily News from the late 1970s? Abscam. "WILLIAMS IS GUILTY!" Here we go again Thanks a lot, Menendez.
Heard you loudly there, Jean. And you are absolutely correct. Impeach them all! But, with a House that can’t even elect a Speaker either a spine, or set of gonads big enough to see, we are all in limbo!
I just sent an email to Senator Durbin who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee. I thanked him for asking Justice Thomas to recuse, but added that isn't enough. We must push to impose regulations on the Supreme Court.
Cheryl Cardran, thank you for contacting Durbin and I will do so too. He is my Senator but lately I'm having second (and third and fourth) thoughts about his decisions on important issues.
It is impossible to love everything an elected offical chooses to do. There hasn't been one in my lifetime (72) to say they were perfect in my book. But then they covered the basics that I cared about and I continued to keep a list of my top 5 priorities to see if they kept up those, and had to ignore the rest, unless it was flagarently against the law.
Joyce Kell-Sanders I didn't mention, ask for or expect perfection from anyone. I'm concerned about the big issues. IMHO Supreme Court Justice ethics are big. It's also not the only issue I've written to Durbin about. As a constituent it's only fair to communicate where I disagree with his decisions. How else will he understand what the people he represents are thinking?
Good idea. I’ll follow suit. If we all put pressure on these clowns, maybe they will move on it, despite the antics being played in the House of Representatives!
Its difficult to imagine Trump working hard, but he is part and parcel of the plutocratically occupied Republican Party, and their ruthless obsession to crushing every barrier to rendering the entire planet into maximized profits for their uber-wealthy patrons. Here is just the latest example of that cruelty, which I hope that can be pointedly turned against them in the ongoing wars for election: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/22/republicans-animal-welfare-law-food-safety
JL, appreciated the article. Persons who raise animals or poultry are a vast variety of humans....some caring .....some not. Decent care and cleanliness is important for the safety of the animals as well as of the humans who will consume the products that eventually appear in our markets.
I have seen very clean situations .... raising animals to sell... and I have seen very awful ones.
Good character is so valuable....in every walk of life and in every workplace.
I realize this is just a revolting topic for those who have chosen not to eat meat of any type.....so please excuse my comments.
My concern is especially for the young immigrants who are being used to clean slaughter houses.
We do eat meat. However, we buy it locally from small farms which are not factory farms and raise their animals in a pasture, not a feed lot. They also raise heritage animals in some cases. We do the same with eggs. And we support small farms that grow produce, preferably organically although the government has made that expensive among other things. One good thing happened this week in Marion County, a property that wasslated to become Foster Farms monstrosity is now for sale. The locals have fought Foster Farms on this, so hopefully the property will go to other than a factory farm. I thought there was a second property as well, but the article yesterday mentioned only the one. The other good thing is that we are finally getting rain in the form of an atmospheric river.
That is good to hear. We do the same thing with our meat. I eat far less pork than I used to, since I will not buy pork that is not locally raised, and it is roughly double the cost (my pork use is confined mostly to ribs and shoulders that get the Traeger treatment) although I do by a holiday ham from a local farm every other year.
We get our pork at Heritage Farms. They do have a booth at the Corvallis Market. Dick loves pork, so we eat a lot less beef. We used to get a ham at Gene's Meat Market up the canyon. It burnt completely down in the 2020 fires. We cooked it all night in the paper bag it came in and the house smelled wonderful all night long. The original owner, Gene, was on our school board and was anti-union which at that point was a lost cause. My bro-in-law does great ribs. We have some for lunch today that we bought at a BBQ place at the Saturday Market. I would think there would be some locally raised pork around Eugene. I know meat done right is more expensive, but we also eat a lot of veg meals, so it works out for us.
The farm where we get our beef does hogs every other year. I like Carlton Farms (out of Yamhill county) or truffles and trotters from up towards Albany. A couple of or produce stands also do local pork.
Thank you for the good news. As the furor over the price of eggs escalated, I thought about the cost of decent chicken feed as the wheat crops fail because of climate change. The article in The NY Times this morning will answer a lot of questions about our future on the planet. The UN warned US in 1977 that 2.2 children was the limit. Now the number is reduced. Will those who read the article take it seriously and think about adopting if they want to raise a child?
Well, if the Supreme Court succeeds in totally banning abortion, there are going to be plenty of children available. The clamor for zero tolerance is just nuts both for women and the planet.
I'm not seeing the article in the NY Times (after spending 10 minutes looking on their site). Could you please provide a link?
In any case, the world population is projected to rise from the current 8 billion to 10.5 billion, adding the equivalent of the total population in 1953 (my birth year). Not good.
And the Census Bureau projects the US population will grow by 75 million over the next 40 years--equivalent to three and three quarter New York States. 68 million of that growth--nearly three and a half New York States--will be from mass immigration; the remainder, equivalent to one Massachusetts--from native increase.
Moving people from third world countries to the US is not like switching deck chairs on the Titanic. The US, the major industrialized nation with the greatest per capita greenhouse emissions (and resource use generally), is the worst place on the planet to put more people. The average immigrant's greenhouse emissions rise threefold after arrival in the US.
Unfortunately, our leaders are oblivious. I've brought these issues up with all three of my national legislators (Markey, Elizabeth Warren, and Katherine Clark--all of whom I voted for). They were all dismissive.
We have done our part and have no children. Most of my ex-students have one or two if they have children. My sister's family makes up for this and I think I have about a dozen great greats. A new one is on the way to my great niece who shouldn't have any and this will make five.
I had one, my daughter had one, and it seems unlikely that he will have any. The cost is prohibitive and housing, until small houses become popular (my father built his first one with the help of neighbors), will make large families impossible to house. Then there’s food
Thank you Emily Pfaff, you have said the most important thing in all of the issues addressing this letter by HCR “Good character is so valuable....in every walk of life and in every workplace.” It needs to be on bumper stickers, lawn signs an billboards everywhere and stated so often by everyone that it finally sinks in as all the R’s lies have been imbedded into so many American’ brains.
So long a maximizing profit trumps every other human value, industries while leave a sociopathic wake. Reagan wrapped up the main dictum of the "The Chicago School" of "The only corporate social responsibility a company has is to maximize its profits." in smarmy razzle dazzle; and somehow the public thought it was great. But in retrospect, who gained and who now suffers?
Thank you JL Graham for sharing this link! I will email my state and federal representatives about this and watch how they vote. I value my fellow HCR readers. This is an example of how you and other HCR readers help me be an informed voter! I have already passed on the link to my family. Thank you again.
It seems the Repub party has no more feeling for young children (of course migrant children) than they do for other species. I dont eat beef anymore after seeing pictures of a slaughterhouse using a forklift to take downed cows into the plant. The cruelty & abuse present in these places - whether its cows, horses, pigs or chickens, should make anyone aware of what it takes to "make our meat"! I'm not a vegetarian, but eat very little of any meat these days.
I read this article earlier - certainly makes clear exactly what tfg's administration AND the Bush Administration did.
The fact remains - as ever - if the environment is healthy, there are enough jobs for people, and THERE IS LESS CRIME - people will have no reason to migrate. How the hell is that so dam hard to understand?
That works in whatever country is losing their people.
Could it be that "developed" nations might possibly have an interest in helping to stop the crime & the economic mess in these countries?
I realize this kind of problem/issue is not something to be corrected with a snap of the fingers - but maybe making a try at it?
Maybe put a billion or so from our defense budget towards it.
Some have suggested creating a "Department of Peace" that is actually devoted to uncovering and promoting conditions that reinforce peace in the world. Not that there are no precedents or current examples for such efforts, but perhaps there are ways to bring them into better focus. One thing for sure is that war is mass murder. Violence may be a legitimate last resort defense, but violence (which can manifest in subtler ways) is the bane of humanity.
It seems as though most of our most serious problems are either rooted in politics or made worse by political power plays. So many seemingly soluble problems don't progress for political reasons. Follow the money.
J L , G . NOW ! Your Thought, SHOULD BE, a WAKING Moment, for ALL, of MANKIND ! The MAMMONITES, Will Not UNDERSTAND That They CAN NOT " TAKE IT !", With THEM ! LOVE !, ,,,,,,, HAS Already WON !, in The END !
Isn’t it odd that the very people who trumpet their support for states’ rights are so eager to eliminate those rights when the states threaten to use regulation to improve food safety and animal comfort.
The "state's rights" they object to are any that empower or protect the general public. Like for "all" of the people, such as the right to vote. Trump was hot to deprive California of the right to set stricter auto emission standards than other states. Inconvenient for auto manufactures don'cha know. Profit uber alles.
Not just those two. Roberts, Gorsuch, Kavenaugh, Coney-Barrett rammed through and supported by Federalist Society influence must go, too. No one can ever see the Court as an unbiased purveyor of justice as long as they are a part of SCOTUS.
True, but it's much more feasible to replace 2 Justices, even seriatim, than 6. The Court will need to continue operating while the surgery takes place.
Interestingly, there is a judge in Florida (where else?) who is refusing to recuse himself from hearing about an abortion bill that his WIFE has sponsored!! It was said that he had been in the legislature before becoming a judge and it would be impossible to recuse himself from every thing since he knows the Senators and Congressman. The article went on to say that at least he could recuse himself from really important crucial issues-especially those sponsored by his wife!
We must realize that most of the strategies of the Republican Party are virtual seditious attempts to reshape the American experiment.
White Supremacy Christian Nationalism are manifest in the arrogant corruption of Clarence Thomas, the blithe dismissal of precedence by Anthony Alioto and just the seating of religious fanatic Amy Coney Barrett who exemplifies the crude applications of religious ideology over the precepts of Jesus Christ.
The continuation of these threats to the nation’s freedoms must be interrupted and ended and the only path to relief is the election of decent valid representatives that obviously must be Democrats for at least 3 national elections.
We must forever purge our nation of the taint of adoring wealthy might and passive witnessing of these destructive forces.
Does anybody have the balls and power to confront Thomas now before he fouls the Supreme Court nest any further? Or is the American system so coated so hidebound and impotent that it cannot produce a legal solution to get a total freeloader out of the Court?
The Supreme Court has the potential to be the most majestic branch of government. Most citizens have revered it symbolically without understanding its workings in detail for decades. This is true faith - a commodity that is magical when the group receiving is aware of the enormous challenge that faith confers - to do what will maintain and increase the belief of the country (and other countries) that here is an institution searching impartially for the truth.
ProPublica has effectively told us that there is no Santa Claus. And it’s not like we are too young to hear this. The Court has become tawdry, a mere shadow of what it should be. And it appears that Clarence Thomas has been in the vanguard.
How much worse can it get? Is it going to be a marketplace where the worst ideas prevail because American shysters are willing to pay to get them?
Somebody please blast this court into permanent oblivion and start over again. They are a sickeningly bad joke on the concept of fairness in America. We cannot tolerate this egregious defiance of the common good any longer. The longer this goes on the more the Court appears to be “above reproach” - in the most meaningful sense of the phrase.
Fool me once - shame on me. Fool me as nauseam - ah well nobody’s perfect seems to be the bored response.
And when you know that the Koch family fortune was made in Russia and Germany in the 1930’s and that Koch Enterprises continues to operate, regardless of sanctions, in Russia.... The Fifth Column is still alive and very healthy.
‘Doc Killian, who has worked in a Ford assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan, for 26 years, says he can no longer afford the cars he helps build, crystallizing how the nation’s middle class has been squeezed.’ (AP)
‘Jaron Garza, 49, a third-generation General Motors autoworker, said for him, the strike is about much more than getting a raise, but preserving the middle class job security that uplifted his family after emigrating from Mexico. Garza has been on strike three times before.’ (WAPO)
‘In the 88 years since it was founded, the union has called strikes aimed at a single automaker, and a handful have halted production for several weeks. G.M. plants were idle for 40 days in 2019 before the company and the union agreed on a new contract.’
‘The plants designated for walkouts on Friday represent only a small portion of all the unionized factories of G.M., Ford and Stellantis and of those companies’ 150,000 U.A.W. members.... And Mr. Fain has made it clear that the walkout could grow wider as contract accords remain elusive.’
‘The union’s demands for significantly higher pay and new benefits are a sharp departure from the past 20 years, when the automakers were ailing and the U.A.W. was forced to accept major concessions to help the companies survive.’
‘In speeches to union members, he has frequently highlighted the pay of the automakers’ chief executives. Last year, Ms. Barra took home $29 million. Jim Farley of Ford made $21 million, while Stellantis’s chief, Carlos Tavares, was given a package worth about $25 million.’
‘An extended strike would crimp the availability of new cars and drive up prices. A long stoppage would also ripple through the automakers’ supply chain and could hurt other businesses as workers live off $500 per week in strike pay from the union.’
‘Fain has sought to broaden his argument beyond just autoworkers, telling a recent livestream that his union’s demands are about “raising the standard for workers everywhere.”
“The auto industry accounts for about 3% of the nation’s gross domestic product and though union leaders say they are mulling strikes at a small number of factories run by those automakers, as many as 146,000 workers could eventually walk off their jobs. The effects would be most immediate in Michigan and other auto job-heavy states such as Ohio and Indiana. But a prolonged strike could trigger car shortages and layoffs in auto-supply industries and other sectors.”
“Anything that goes beyond a week, you’re going to start feeling the pain,” said Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. “And anything beyond two weeks, that’s when the effects start to compound.” (AP)
‘What role is the switch to electric cars playing in the negotiations?’
‘The auto industry is in the middle of a sweeping transition to battery-powered vehicles, and G.M., Ford and Stellantis are spending billions of dollars to develop new models and build factories. The companies have said those investments make it harder for them to pay workers substantially higher wages. Automakers say they are already at a big competitive disadvantage compared with nonunion automakers like Tesla, which dominates the sale of electric vehicles.’
‘The U.A.W. is worried that the companies will use the switch to electric cars to cut jobs or hire more nonunion workers. The union wants the automakers to cover workers at the battery factories in their national contracts with the U.A.W. Right now those workers are either not represented by unions or are negotiating separate contracts. But the automakers say they cannot legally agree to that request because those plants are set up as joint ventures.’
‘Will a strike have political ramifications?’
‘The union fears that Mr. Biden’s decision to promote electric vehicles could further erode union membership in the auto industry. Mr. Fain has criticized the administration for awarding large federal incentives and loans for new factories without requiring those plants to employ union workers.’ (NYTimes) Sorry that a gifted link was not possible.
‘Workers at the big three carmakers earn less now in real dollars than they did 15 years ago – as their CEOs make more and more. Their fight is everyone’s fight’
__Bernie Sanders
Excerpts from Bernie’s OPINION in The Guardian
'In the United States today, at a time of unprecedented income and wealth inequality, weekly wages for the average American worker are actually lower than they were 50 years ago after adjusting for inflation. In other words, despite a massive increase in worker productivity, despite CEOs now making nearly 400 times more than what their employees earn, despite record-breaking corporate profits, dividends and stock buybacks, average American workers are worse off than they were 50 years ago.'
'The UAW members will be fighting not only for themselves but against a corporate culture of arrogance, cruelty and selfishness causing massive and unnecessary pain for the majority of working families throughout the country. Their fight against corporate greed is our fight. Their victory will resonate all across the economy, impact millions of workers from coast to coast and help create a more just and equitable economy.'
'What are some of the issues that are pushing UAW members to strike? At the top of the list is the extraordinary level of corporate greed shown by industry leaders.'
'In the first half of 2023 the big three automakers made a combined $21bn in profits – up 80% from the same time period last year. Over the past decade, these same companies made some $250bn in profits in North America alone.'
'Yet last year, the big three spent $9bn – not to improve the lives of their workers, not to make their factories safer, but on stock buybacks and dividends to make their wealthy executives and stockholders even richer.'
'Further, while many of their workers are struggling to survive financially, last year the CEO of General Motors raked in about $29m in total compensation, the CEO of Ford approximately $21m and the CEO of Stellantis over $25m.'
'Incredibly, over the last four years, CEO pay at the big three has increased by more than 40%.
While auto industry CEOs and stockholders make out like bandits, the workers who build the vehicles earn totally inadequate wages.'
‘Tiers’‘Ending tiers, or in-progression pay, where members are paid differently based on seniority, has been a top priority of the union for years.’
‘Fain said each of the automakers has proposed cutting an eight-year grow-in period to top wages that are currently at more than $32 an hour to four years.’
‘COLA’ ‘Fain has demanded a return to cost of living adjustments, or COLA, which increase wages to keep pace with inflation.’
‘Fain said all companies have made “deficient COLA” proposals that either include lump sum payments, limit the amounts, or only kick in at certain levels that the union finds inadequate.’
‘Ford has proposed a return to a COLA formula used in the past, which Fain said would provide estimated wage protection of less than $1 over the term of the contract; proposals from GM and Stellantis would provide no protection, he said.’
“Profit-sharing”‘The UAW wanted to enhance profit-sharing payments to provide workers $2 for every $1 million a company spends on share buybacks, special dividends and increases to normal dividends.’
‘Fain said the Detroit automakers have each offered “concessionary profit-sharing” formulas that lower the current standards, which are based on a company’s North American profits.’
‘The union said Ford’s formula would have resulted in 21% smaller checks over the last two years; GM’s would have resulted in 28% smaller checks over the last year; and Stellantis would like to base payments on “an unknown internal company attendance calculation.”
“Profit-sharing was implemented in recent years as a way for the companies to “reward” members in good times but not have to pay as hefty of bonuses when the companies were not doing well.”
‘Temps’ ‘Ending the use of temporary workers, who can be paid lower wages and have no job security, is another longstanding UAW priority. Fain said that Ford has agreed to convert all current temporary workers with 90 days of continuous service to full-time workers, with full benefits, in the tiered progression.’
‘Fain said that GM has offered “inadequate” benefits and “meager” wage increases for temps and that Stellantis’ proposal provides no path at all to full-time status’
‘Job security’ ‘The UAW has proposed what it calls a “Working Families Protection Program,” under which employees at a shuttered factory would be paid by the automakers to do local community-service work. All three automakers rejected the proposal, Fain said. Stellantis went further, proposing a unilateral right to close and sell 18 facilities, including factories and parts depots, he said.’
‘Work-life balance’ ‘The UAW has demanded more time off for workers, with more paid vacation and holidays and extended parental leave. All three of the automakers agreed to make Juneteenth an official holiday, Fain said, but only Ford went further, proposing 2 weeks of parental leave.’
‘Retirees’ ‘The UAW has demanded a “significant” increase to pay for retired workers. All three automakers rejected any increases, Fain said.’ (CNBC) See link below.
Thank you, as always. Question: the small towns of the Midwest were once linked by trains. As we try to pollute less, shouldn’t we focus more on public transportation (which brings people together and might get vaccinations and masking to be more popular as Covid continues) than on private cars?
We've just been traveling by U.S, Highway 80 from New York to Chicago. The number of trucks on the road is staggering, and while we build more electric autos and pick-ups, while crucial, is only part of the problem. We need to move more freight and people by rail, it seems to me.
Yes. Absolutely. The catenaries left from the PRR still stand on the East coast (or did 10 years ago). Electric trains are still possible. Also electric trolleys.
Virginia, my grandmother talked about rail lines connecting small towns in Illinois. They were gone by the 1950's (how did that happen?) and agree that is a tremendous negative for the environment but also for those who live in rural areas today and have no option but cars and truck for transportation. Living in a large city I love the freedom of public transit.
Transportation by rail, air and the roads need to be planned, regulated and used with life on earth, including health, housing, community, efficiency, equality, and cost... considered to be crucial factors.
'Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Birth of the Interstate Highway System'
'On June 29, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation funding the construction of the U.S. Interstate Highway System (IHS)--something Americans had dreamed of since Detroit starting building cars.'
'The Missouri Highway Commission awarded the first contract to begin building the interstate along the famous Route 66 in rural Laclede County, 160 miles southwest of St. Louis. However, construction on the first section of interstate actually began in St. Charles County, Missouri, on Aug. 13. Kansas and Pennsylvania have also made competing claims that their states were first to possess sections of interstate.'
'No matter who was first, the enthusiasm for a uniform system of roads, bridges, and tunnels was very high in 1956, nearly fifty years after the introduction of Henry Ford's Model T automobile. The building of the IHS, formally known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, proceeded rapidly throughout the country, and by the early 1990s, nearly 45,000 miles of interstate highway were complete.' (ArmySustainmentMag.) See link below.
Yes, and it has proved disastrous for climate. BTW: Amtrak runs on some of those small town connective rail lines. My husband had old maps which we followed taking Amtrak from Charlottesville to Chicago.
The corruption in the courts will continue just like the corruption in Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and the House of Representatives. The basis of the current Republican Party is corruption. They still hold enough power to protect themselves from any consequences, just like they are doing for Trump.
KARMA ! , Will come, Eventually ! ( THEY !, Just Do NOT ! , ,,,,BELIEVE IT ! ) . ( NOTHING !, is Hidden ! From the EYES ! ,, of OUR LORD/GOD ! . ALMIGHTY ! )
The only reason Trump will go there is publicity. He doesn’t give a damn about those auto workers. Doesn’t care about the unions. He only cares about himself and making more money.
Thanks, and for the record, I am a loyal union man. When non-union workers complain about paying dues or other expectations, I ask them to list all the benefits they enjoy which were given to them out of the company's goodness of their heart.
Without a doubt, without unions wages would be much lower and workers would have no method of demanding more. But, where the auto workers are concerned, they're working on a dinosaur, so to speak. Electric vehicles are much less complicated. Down the road all of those auto service centers like Jiffy Lube, etc., will be gone. No need for them. They're the blacksmiths of the current era, soon to be gone.
Your comment is on the money sir, and provides even more incentive for the UAW to get what they can while it's still there to get. EVs plus automation plus temp workers plus a fickle consumer market adds up to a lot of uncertainty.
Union concessions made in 2007 have evidently not been rewarded, 16 years later. Without a union underpinning, the middle class, by which I define as those who can afford the products they make, will suffer and whither away.
Labour saving technologies have always been both boon and bane. However things develop, the long term financial gain has to accrue broadly, not simply to improved profits. Part of this could be greater corporate tax rates, which have been gradually clawed back in recent years, esp via the GOP.
I’m going to say some things here, and I dearly hope I don’t puss anyone off. But, it’s what happened to me, and I wish to share it.
In the early 70s, as a beginning law enforcement officer, and firefighter, for a small town in South Carolina, my starting salary was under $300 a week, gross pay mind you. That’s for each position. Not every officer had that opportunity. I strived to gain the training so I could do both jobs to get employed in both positions, and therefore draw two checks from the city. That’s the only way I could have ends meet, and all I had in me at the time was my rent, utilities, and vehicle payment. I didn’t buy much food because I usually ate at the firehouse or just took lunch to work at the P. D.
Anyway, we talked about unionizing for better wages, better benefits, and the like. We were quickly informed by the upper powers that if that discussion continued, we would be immediately replaced. They had a drawer full of applicants begging to work. Plus, it was against the law to unionize a Civil Service position. So, we couldn’t unionize anyway.
Fast forward to early 1980s. I’m working as a deputy sheriff in DeSoto County, Florida. I’m employed at a salary of $900 a month, gross pay, taking home just over $400 a month on a single check the first of every month. My rent was $350 a month. I had a wife, 4 step-children. Two were in school, early grades, two were at home, still in diapers. My wife got a job at a local store, but after a couple months I had her give that up because it was costing us money for her to work. She wasn’t bringing home $150 a week after taxes, and it was both g more than that for the babysitting, her lunch, wear and tear on the vehicle, plus fuel. So it wasn’t worth it for her to work. I gained two extra jobs, after begging the Sheriff to allow me to work. That’s how we almost made ends meet.
We talked of unionizing at the local police and our department. We were informed quick that it was a violation of state law. We couldn’t unionize.
I was injured at a fire I assisted the local city fire department at one morning. I was actually a volunteer for them, since I had such extensive training, I joined them when I moved there in ‘79. After I was injured, when a roof caved in on me at a house fire, I was tossed like a piece of trash. I eventually was forced to give up my law enforcement career in 1995 because of my back and leg injuries. The illustrious Florida state Retirement System decided that I didn’t qualify for a full medical retirement, although I had over 26 years with the system! They cut my retirement by 76%, and I turned me that I was able to gain employment in a different field.
I tried. I went to school to become an insurance agent. And, for a few years was extremely good at it. I actually had a reputation of telling people the truth about their coverage, and if my policies I offered would help them, or not. Many times I sent I to homes to do reviews and walked out without writing insurance, because they didn’t need any written. A lot of families had much more than they needed. And I told them exactly that.
My long story is this. We tried as law enforcement and firefighter officers to get unionized. We needed better benefits. We needed better wages. We were not able to support our families on our salaries, and the upper echelon knew this. We were their slaves, and they owned us.
Now, in disabled, homebound, and living in a hospital bed under daily nursing care in my apartment, alone, and if you think fit one second that any part of this government gives a damn, you are sadly mistaken.
Yet, the northern departments were able to unionize years and years ago. Those folks had benefits. Those folks had good salaries. I had a buddy that lived in Arcadia. He was an officer for a department in Ohio when he retired. His check monthly was almost $2,000. My check at the time was $236. I served more time as a law enforcement officer than he did! He had full paid health benefits from his department. I had nothing!
Several years ago a co-worker made some disparaging remarks about unions and didn't understand what value they had.
I whipped around and asked her:
Do you like your 40 hour work week, safety in the work place, child labor laws, overtime pay, sick leave, vacation time, medical and retirement benefits? If so thank the people who had their heads bashed in order to obtain those benefits from the 'Gilded Age' company owners. Today's unions that strike are trying to level the field with today's corporations and their CEOs!
Time for some respect for the people that do the work, that generate those profits! "A rising tide raises all boats." An old expression we need to make new again!
Yes, I remember wondering why cars and trucks manufactured in right-to-work states were not priced much differently than union-made vehicles, when the supposed justification was to save all that benefits package cost.
Didn't he swoop down on that train derailment with bottled trump water? Fortunately it was not the same brand which was discontinued 10 years ago. BUT how convenient he just happens to have some free time and a hotel with trump labels on the water bottles. It seems he never had time to console in person the other victims of the 3 derailments he had on his watch.
It makes me mad that people like MTG are yelling Biden and Pete for not going. Duh, the man is in Ukraine attending some serious business. trump's Transportation head didn't go to any of them either. It only is a crime when democrats do it.
The same with the Chinese balloon. We are being spied on-all our secrets are being revealed-national security risks. Yet trump did nothing with the 3 that passed over in his term.
He cares deeply about getting re-elected. So he can put an end to his prosecutions (or persecutions, as he views it) and continue destruction of the entire government in service to the plutocrats that pull his strings.
T L, the 🍓💩🤡has made it well known what his intentions are WHEN he regains control of the White House.
A. ALL government departments will answer only to him.
B. The FBI, DOJ, CIA, will all be totally disbanded, then, IF he decides to reopen them, it will be done totally at his discretion and with his picks to work and run the departments.
C. All state governments will answer to him. Including local governments in all states.
D. All heads of all government offices will be fired immediately and replaced with his picks.
E. All powers of Congress will be stripped, with the President being the one and only
I don’t actually know rest sll this is called, but, to me, this is called a DICTATORSHIP, and I for one want absolutely no part if this type of government.
This is exactly why thus crippled up old man is begging everyone to get all they know registered to vote. Hey all they know to the polls. Not only in the upcoming election, but future as well. We MUST replace every single Republican in office right now, and it’s going to take at least three, or four voting cycles to do this. We MUST stay vigilant on this the next 8 to 10 years. Hopefully, I’ll live long enough to see us regain our Democracy back where it needs to be.
Daniel , ALL SAID, is Truthful, SO !, to Turn the TIDE , By Getting OFFA' Our Pathetic Slumbering BEHINDS!, & BEAT on Our NEIGHBORHOOD DOORS ! ( LIKE J W s DO ! ) and WAKE uP !. * the DEAD !* . IF NOT !! , Our USA, will BE, The NEW ! ---- NORH KOREA ! . ' NUFF' SAID !! ( AMEN ! )
And, 🙏 AMEN! We’ve given up the House of Representatives by sitting in our asses. Look what we are getting fine now under Republicans control. Nothing! The government will be shut down in less than 4 days unless the Senate can get something figured out to bypass the House fiasco,
You better have some very strong moderators if trump debates with the group or even when he debates Biden. He probably won't refuse to debate Biden since he thinks that Biden is a senile fool. I suggest a high powered water pistol to shoot at those who go over their time limit or interrupt. trump will need to bring a towel.
KAREN, AS Before !, Simply Have an ON/OFF SWITCH ! ,,,, on the MICROPHONES! ( AND !, a 12 inch LEG IRON, .... at his PODIUM, to KEEP him, ,,,,, in PLACE ! ) ( We ALL Know, he is Just " BANGIN' his GUMS ! ",,, to keep his * FLYIN' MONKEYS !," ' JACKED UP !! ' )
Dave, Chris Christie would chew him up and spit him out in a debate. I have a news flash for him. He better think more than twice about debating Biden too.
Victoria ! he HAS !, A Lotta' MORE DUMB! ( REMEMBER ! , he Carries a PERFECT VACUUM ! in his Cocoanut HEAD ! ) BRAINCELLS !, don't Survive in " OUTER SPACE ! " ( DANGER ! ,,,,,, DANGER !, Will Robinson !! )
Are all the electric cars being manufactured by new factories or are some of the older factories being refitted? This could be one way of not hurting the older car manufacturing factories. I think we still have a long way to go on the electric cars, maybe the impact isn't going to be as great as one thinks.
I not so sure, once it really takes off it will grow fast. Norway is a prime example. In 2022 88% new car sold were EV.or PEV (hybrid). When we were there in 2015 it was about 10 %. Now Norway is a country of only 5 million, and well educated but it is still a road map of the future.
Lots and lots of news for today! I watched Biden and Harris speak about the new gun commission and I am extremely happy about its creation. We have to have an impetus in place in which to fight the NRA and the MAGAs. Harris is very experienced in this department as she was a prosecutor, our Attorney General and our CA Senator. Thank you, Heather, for highlighting her accomplishments because there are so many people I know who tell me they don’t see her as being “presidential”. Totally angers me because they haven’t taken the time to educate themselves about her. it’s Maxwell Frost who I am impressed with. He is the youngest Congress member but he shines a bright light for us all. I look forward to seeing what he brings to the table.
I completely agree. Harris is well spoken, well educated, has had a tough job in the past as prosecutor and her eyes are bright (I have always thought bright eyes were a good sign).
When she looks at a camera or at someone, that person sees bright eyes. When she ran for President she was my number 1 pick. I personally think Biden has made a terrible mistake not elevating her and stepping aside and letting her run against Trump. She would trounce Trump at a debate. No contest. She would run mental circles around him.
Trump's eyes are as dim as a night without moon light.
She would trounce 45 in a debate, but remember how many Americans have jettisoned rationality in their political choices. Looking at you Texas, Florida and my neighbor that has a trump sign in her yard with a vuvek sign in the garage in case he rises to the top. These people vote folks.
Yes Rickey and that is all the more reason to find something, ANYTHING, with which we can relate to them on an emotional level because it is clear they don't like or aren't able to reason against what feels good, what feels familiar, what feels like what I feel, what feels like "my tribe."
I like your thoughts Mike S but fear you miss what makes tRump so problematic; one CAN'T debate someone who makes things up as he goes along. It sinply becomes word salad and adds to the impression that everything is broken. Debates operate on the principle that there are facts which can be debated and it has been abundantly clear that tfg is fact-free.
I see the dem strategy as keeping the Biden-Harris ticket to keep the coalition together. In my mind if Biden wins, we most likely get the first female president without the adnauseum gender debates. The chances of Biden dying in the next four years are the greatest of any president since Roosevelt. She becomes President, and only then do we get the hoopla of fitting her with a V-P. And the bench is extensive. She get s the remaining years of the B-H presidency to stay the course and prove her mettle. Then goes into 2028 in a stronger position than an gop candidate, because she will have Biden AND her records to run on.
I agree, Art. He has an unusually busy worklife for someone in his 80's but his physical vitality is better than most. I believe his mind is still good and it is mostly his dealing with the aftereffects of stuttering that causes his hesitancy in speech. Every US president looks worn out after their term - why should Joe be different?
“The average life expectancy in the United States is 9.1 years for 80-year-old white women and 7.0 years for 80-year-old white men. Conclusions: For people 80 years old or older, life expectancy is greater in the United States than it is in Sweden, France, England, and Japan.”
Biden has been undergoing GOP manufactured propaganda attacks all his life and continued to weather them. Better that he is their target thru the 2024 election. It is historically these GOP attacks that have kept us from caring for our Mother Earth and her inhabitants for too many decades
You are so right, Art. We must all fully support them, and get everyone we know to the polls. We must get rid of every Republican running for reelection, and not allow any into any political arena in the local, state, or federal offices.
When her time comes to take the reins of the top spot, I’m extremely confident she can handle the he job. President Biden has groomed her just right and her background has always been one “for the people”, not “for the greedy” as the majority seems to be these days
It's encouraging to see a VP allowed to meaningfully and publicly participate in an administration. The VP, after all, is always a heartbeat away from taking the wheel, and needs to be every inch presidential material and up to speed with presidential circumstances.
I agree with J.L. - "It's encouraging to see a VP allowed to meaningfully and publicly participate in an administration." Not sure if Kamala was not allowed to, or was not prepared to more actively engage in the government in the last few years. How many foreign leaders would know her (or vice versa), and would she be on top of all the major issues currently on the table and radar, if she had to take the wheel on the spur of the moment? Let's hope her more frequent presence on stage and in the MSM might instill trust in the voters that she could take on the country's highest office on any day in the next 5.5 years.
There had to be an "apprenticeship", learning on the job. She's learnt. As for debates and Trump -waste of time, he's incapable of debating. There was Hillary (bright-eyed), holding the floor, talking factually with total confidence, and all he could do was prowl around her, sneering. And Biden was reduced to an incredulous laugh and a "C'mon, man!" I wish Hillary had let him get a bit closer and then walked heavily (in high heels) on his foot.
Even at that moment when I saw an intelligent Lady actually trying for the semblance of discussion and the ignorant Hulk hovering over her my mind said “turn around and knee him in the crotch.”
But she's intelligent, and a lady, and the occasion was meant to be of serious significance to the voting public. (Sigh). Re-running the whole fiasco of those weeks in my mind and knowing what happened makes me feel sick.
I have a gut feeling that Biden has been grooming her to do just that, and now with her being more visible to us, he’s showing us that she’s fully prepared to take the helm in that moments notice, if necessary.
Remember all the cleanup Biden had to do when they first got into office; work that Biden’s experience gave him the best tools for. Now that they have much of the cleaning done we are seeing their work towards the future and that will feature Harris.
VP job has also been not a very career building job. What did Pence do? Who can even name VP's unless the president died and they had to take over. Having Kamala out there is a great thing.
As writer and futurist, Buckminster Fuller said, “You never change something by fighting the existing reality, to change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” This is Bidenomics. New, innovative initiatives such as The New Deal and the newly created Gun Commission, projects designed to make the world a better place, to not only put food on the tables of ordinary people, but to provide them with purposeful, meaningful lives and hope for a better future. Let the MAGAts huff and puff and threaten to blow the house down. Biden and Harris have got this. I believe people know the truth when they hear it. And let's not forget, the good guys always win.
Love the Bucky quote. As to the gop, I first read your comment as “MAGA hate and puff” - which I at first laughed at, but then decided was even more accurate.
Maxwell ‘s shine appeared awhile ago , he has made a future promise focused in the top echelon .
What amazes me STILL is Heathers magical mind , memory, and connecting the dots so well.
The ‘Weird, huh’? Is poignant humor.
That the elephant(s) in the room command the spotlight , I appreciate the vigil from all who do...I’m beyond needing ‘further evidence’ but it all put on their list of criminal intent needs done for future indictments.
Me and my mute muscles- ears & finger - are ever-ready. So tired of it😵💫 Relatively nothing surprises me.
Thank you... for the steady monitoring favorite writers , and the interesting ,often eloquent commentary of Marlene and our merry band of subscribers. So grateful. 😌
Have a wonderful weekend , fall is here , the colorful changing is usual splendor . Enjoy.
“Me and my mute muscles- ears & finger - are ever-ready. So tired of it😵💫” That gave me a big chuckle! I always have my mute button nearby. It came in handy when Jim Jordan and his gang of squawking collaborators held their patently obvious political performance, otherwise called a “hearing,” attacking Merrick Garland this week. What a pathetic display of noise signifying nothing!
I still remember when she was your attorney general and did not charge Steve Muuchin for his illegal foreclosure and he went to become Trumps Secretary of Treasury.
2007 is the critical point in the UAW strike. Not only did the UAW give up a lot to help save the backward thinking industry that refused to see the relavance of the foreign competition, the Federal funding that bailed out the industry was the TAX DOLLARS THAT THE WORKERS PAID.
Thank you Heather for laying it all out so clearly, as always.
What I would like to see is some profit sharing by UAW based on quarterly profits and management salary restricted to a base amount until workers are paid the contract amount.
Why just “until workers are paid the contract amount”? Why not have that become industry/business standard. When you have to profit share, you are acknowledging that more than just the C-suite makes the business/corporation run. That’s reality and basic respect. And rather democratic, versus monarchical.
True, but also remember the bulk of the net non-payback was paid by the top 50% of American taxpayers, who pay almost all Federal Income tax. Corporate tax rates were also larger then.
Your message suggested UAW/ Labour were a lion's share of taxes paid to cover the net payback loss to taxpayers. That simply isn't remotely true, check out the % paid by top 1, 10% for starters. Im Not arguing that union tax payers didnt contribute to the bail out. This has nothing to do with a "dissertion" All i had to do was goggle who pays taxes in the USA and weed out some overly self-interested sites.
OK OK. I. did not have time to write a footnoted essay. The issue is that the big three screwed up big time and were bailed out by OUR tax $$$ of which the UAW workers paid into also, as well as making significant give backs so they would survive, the scale of which can be researched too. The Big Three are not acknowledging the contributions made by the workers that kept them afloat.
ill likely agree on that last point. Kindly stop redirecting my main point with your not having written now... a "footnoted essay", enjoy a good evening!
Executive pay that is orders of magnitude greater than the average worker pay is immoral, unfair, and ultimately bad for business. Strikers wanting to hold on to production of more labor intensive combustion engine vehicles need to let that go… it’s not sustainable. The best way to sort this out IS a strike it seems. I support the unions, and union workers please realize that anti-union Republicans are on the fat cat executives side in practice and principle.
Coming through the pandemic, with 25% of the healthcare workforce having left already, and CEOs of health insurance companies making 100’s of millions of 💰, and hospital system executives rewarding themselves for their contributions from safe and tidy offices far removed from patient care - you’re next I hope.
We should bring back the Eisenhower tax years with the 90% marginal rate, and slap it on pay over $1 million a year - and stock options should be taxed as what they are: income.
Eat the rich - it'll take a lot of barbecue sauce to cover up the bad flavor.
But the best first step is one Biden already made and the gop are trying to use the newest Gov’t shut down to eliminate: a correctly funded and mandated IRS to retrieve the illegally squirreled away corporate/wealthy-cheat taxes.
They didnt think marginal top tax rates of 90% were such a bad deal back then, it was deliberate redistribution policy, upheld by a popular Republican president. I dont think it's necessary to go back to that, but i'm sure the current rates are too low. The latest cutback also came out of the last president's administration, directly translating into the current deficit.
It is a starting point, especially since the current threshold is 160,200. 5 million would be an excellent alternative. I suspect that any higher, and laws would be passed to redefine "income" even more restrictively. I mean, my Oregon tax refund is considered income by the feds...
I mean, not all of the congressional pay received by congress critters today is not subject to federal tax!
Yes, it’s more complicated than a slogan like “scrap the cap” can express. Whether the cap is in the low six figures or $1M or $10M, the FICA tax is regressive, and regressive taxes are unfair at best. I would classify them as immoral. As Piketty has carefully documented, what we need, both for fairness and for stable capitalism, is a steeply progressive income tax together with a progressive wealth tax that kicks in around $5M or $10M in net worth. Social Security should be a pension program paid for out of tax revenues. No special taxes like FICA, and no tax-break categories like capital gains.
Stock options should be taxed as non-labor income and at a higher rate than any income that comes from an individual’s labor. We need to give more respect to the worker bees if we want to thrive in a changing world
We need to name and shame these fat cats. Australia's recently 'forced to resign' Qantas CEO Alan Joyce took home $21.4 million last financial year, blaming 1700 worker layoffs, airfare price hikes and the shonky outsourcing of ground staff (causing untold delays and jeopardizing passenger safety), on an increase in fuel costs rather than profit margins. Other profiteering scandals abound. Yet the company recorded a profit of $1.7billion in the last financial year. The payrates and working conditions of blue collar workers in the US seems almost 3rd world - as we all know, due to Republican-responsible funding cuts to services allowing greater tax cuts for their fat cat puppet masters. Putting workers' safety and the safety of the general public at risk for profit is medieval - exampled by the recent US railroad workers strike, who only wanted paid sick leave and relief from grueling 14 day on-call scheduling systems leaving them mentally and physically compromised. Strike. Strike. Strike. I'd rather see America shut down by fed up workers than by extremist right-wing Republicans holding the government ransom for greed induced personal gain.
Insurance is one of the odd industries where the more incompetent they are, the more profit they make, and the health insurance sector is the worst of them all -- since they get their money up front, the fewer claims they pay for any or no reason, the more money they can give to executives and shareholders.
Worse still, they encourage fraudulent billing on the part of medical providers by forcing low reimbursement rates and maintaining a byzantine procedure coding system that leads to "coding wars," where providers denominate procedures at the highest rate possible, regardless of whether the code actually fits the service provided.
After a past year of absolutely bizarre experiences with both medical incompetence and opaque claims, I wish there were a law that required medical providers to "cc" patients with the claims submitted on their behalf to the insurance company. I've caught two instances where my insurance was billed for services or drugs that weren't even provided to me and if I caught two, given how difficult it is to match provider bills with insurance "EOB's", then there must be dozens more.
GODS " spiritual KARMA !,, AWAITS ALL the MOTHER-RAPERS !! ETERNITY , is a LONG TIMELESS, JOURNEY! ( Will They BE, in the 'Smoking Section ?,, OR , ? ,, GET PARDONED !, and Be ABLE, to ENTER, ,,,,,
the ' NON - SMOKING ' SECTION !? ( LORD ! , have MERCY !! )
Hey, fella, thanks for the agreeance, but please take a few deep breaths and calm down a bit. (Unless you're being facetious, in which case I'm sorry I missed the humor.)
Shine a light on the ancillary lowely paid claims processors. They fudge along with no oversight, unless a client like you has the patience to track the billing.
Not to mention the independent coding firms. But how do you track the billing between the medical provider and the insurance company? With a small provider with a local office I can at least walk in and talk to someone, but how do you get the same information out of a behemoth such as Emory Healthcare in Atlanta? It's almost impossible to even find someone to talk to, and trying is virtually a full-time job, very tough for the patient who's already sick from whatever condition made him subject to the mess in the first place.
The who? And as for rape, I've never had the chance to get that close to my insurance agent, but may I should keep a sharper eye on him. He is kinda hot, though...
Dirk , I Play a Cynical Game, With The TRUTH ! ( I do not know, Your Generation Position, ,,, But , in Mine ' Arlo Guthree ' Talked about " The DRAFT ! " After, ALL Of The " INfection, Inspection NEGLECtion, ,,,, iF !, You Did not PASS, Certain Parts, .... You Would be Placed, ,,,,, on the GROUP W (!) BENCH ! , With ALL, of the MOTHER- RAPERS ! ( The FATHER RAPERS, were Collected there, TOO ! ) COMEDY, ASIDE !,, Corperations, and Insurance Companies, Make UP, the Greater part Of MAMMONITE SECTOR,, ,,,,of BREAKING OUR BANK ACCOUNTS ! ( IF ! , You HAVE ONE !)
Also pushing overloading of caseloads (from what I can see) to a point that risks public health in the service of profit for a few. I believe in (real) free enterprise and the role of the public sector, but in any case reasonably "fair trade" and government of, by, and for the people.
For another take on the depravity of the US health insurance industry, I recommend checking out this Dr's satire/not-satire series '30 days of US healthcare'. His commentary is spot-on.
Besides this series, his take on the medical profession in general is helpful when sitting on hold with UHC. Beats the alternative of sticking a fork in my eye for every repeat of the bad muzak and facetious proclamations of valuing my time...
UHC Medicare advantage is a prime example! My amazon account is better managed than mine @ UHC! Huge Co, Huge CEO salary but the Co has a genesis of the corpus callosium & faux customer service
We’ve had friends who discovered that, although they used a hospital in network, their emergency room doctors and anesthesiologists are not in network—very large non-covered cost for heart attacks and an appendectomy. Then, due to preexisting conditions, when they tried to switch back, the Medicare supplement (Medigap) policy premium was four times the cost before they tried Medicare Advantage.
Thank goodness I live in MA. I tried a PPO for one year. Scam in my view. I reside in 1 of 4 states that allowed me to switch back from nasty PPO to my original Blue Cross plan. I would have gone broke had I continued with the 'free' PPO!
Marj, I've wondered a lot about the experiences of us living in MA re., the medical care. It all might've been different if adopted country wide; problems to fix.. certainly, but a better cost model for all I should hope.
My plan thru UHC allows non ppo people to bill. Although I have had conflicting information from UHC. My understanding is that when u sign up, the plan get $1200. I dont know what nefarious method they use, UHC seems like it is a for profit minimum care plan. I have heard better things re other advantage plans
Every time I read things like all these posts, it turns out that "year in hell" back in Vietnam wasn't that terrible. I get the VA - which has its problems, most of them inflicted on the system by GOP congresscritters - but I don't have any of these problems. I got my "eyes" back for zero - zip, nada. I keep thanking my lucky stars when my doctor tells me twice a year that "you're in great shape for a 55 year old."
My brother is a PA for Allina and had a union vote this week. Nurses' unions have been somewhat effective. I was in independent practice until this spring-a model increasingly difficult in this era. The move to stronger unions is a good thing, but I do worry that prolonged strikes and shutdowns will reflect badly on the Biden administration.
Well, the reason our strike (WGA) is heading to break the previous record of the 1988 strike (150 days) next Wednesday is because the AMPTP refused to negotiate till day 140. It's not the workers doing it - it's the companies, who then blame the workers for their "unreasonable" demands. Hah! I went over to the picket lines at Warner's a few weeks ago and talked to young writers. I make more money from my books than they make! When I told them of how things used to be - before the studios became minor wings of the intergalactic widget-makers - when writers got PAID a middle class wage (the myth of everyone in Hollywood being rich is just that; most of us aspire to being able to pay our bills on time) and got to write scripts for movies they actually might like to see, they were actually surprised.
It most certainly won't be a 'hit' for the 'Chamber of Con, er Commerce' crowd, but a very, very important and necessary thing that must happen. The consolidated hospital and medical systems have grown utterly out of touch.
Thank you, Heather! The UAW’s clear message is very uplifting. I am happy Biden will walk the picket line in Michigan. This is a critical moment in US labor history. May the workers win all their demands....especially being paid fairly, with no “tier” system. How the CEOS can sleep at night, they who are paid obscene amounts by the sweat of the workers’ brows, is beyond me. I really hope the union movement to help ALL workers is reignited and strengthened by this strike, as you have pointed out. I hope Menendez will face the music with his wife, of their corruption. The judicial system IS working. However, as the Thomas and Alito deep corruption continues to be exposed, the urgency to change the SCOTUS was never greater! Great that Kamala Harris is leading the fight against gun violence and for women’s rights. So much to think about! Happy Fall and happy weekend to you and Buddy.
Agree with your optimism here, and as someone who works in Jersey, Menendez needs to go. A shame b/c I think he stands for and supports a lot of the right ideas, and is environmentally progressive. But the back channel self enrichment is disqualifying and probably to be found illegal in court.
Why must the ring of power be so precious to some?! 💍
I’m so sick of fake people, criminals, con artists, etc running in any kind of election. There’s got to be a solution for preventing this from continuing to happen. Note: I’m sure there are people who’ve gotten convicted of a crime and can do a good job for voters in whatever they’re trying be elected for, but voters should at least be aware. Really, people should know a lot about history, values, and goals of the people running in any election.
The indictment pleads 2 Conspiracy counts & the Prosecutor need only prove-up the Overt acts. Stuffing your monogrammed pull over with large bills does not help. Memo to Crooks -- IF you are being paid in gol , it does NOT help to do internet searches checking the dollar value of gold ingots. Sorry, I have to cut away, I think the Toast is burning.
Always has been. Always will. That why we need to renew our will to hold all accountable to the law. It gets pretty tiresome to be the only party doing that. The worst is that it makes reasonable supporters question the practice. Fight fire with fire, may burn everything down in the end, but until that actually happens, many wonder why we don’t use it. That’s disheartening to see.
The corruption of the Republicans can spread through the Democratic Party by the thought that I’ve heard voiced: “If we force the incumbent to resign, we stand a good chance of losing that seat. The Republicans don’t make their incumbents resign, so why should we?”
Thank you Elizabeth for referencing "no 'tier' system ..." & the union movement "to help ALL" [emphasis by Elizabeth] workers.. In past decades Corp Exec's & new contracts have sold out newly hired workers in the 2 Tier system . These workers are sometimes called "CASUALS" meaning these workers have a short shelf life (90 days sometimes) with LESS pay & sharply reduced rights.
Now is the time to consciously address the many issues involving the manufacture of ALL Electric E-Vehicles & Hybrids for the benefit of auto workers & their families, manufacturers, the climate & our country.
I will be paying close attention next week to the messaging of ALL the players all the moving parts.
Bryan, so well said. The abuse of the working man or woman is always shocking. Shawn Fain is a good leader. I agree wholeheartedly with you about the issues of producing E-vehicles/hybrids “for the benefit of auto workers & their families, manufacturers, the climate & our country.” Thank you!
Great contribution Elisabeth ! It's important to know that the near auto industry collapse was kicked down the road by President Obama's predecessor. The hardest 'lift' was passed on to Obama. He and his administration leaned very hard on the UAW leadership at the time of that crisis to 'share the pain' in order to gain the loans granted to GM and Daimler/Dodge, Chrysler, Plymouth, and Jeep. Ford did not ask for nor got U.S. loans because Ford saw the 'train coming at them in the tunnel' ahead of them, and privately and publicly borrowed against every asset they had, including their 'blue oval' to modernize their operations. The UAW relented, and for a short time the companies did likewise - but ever patient, they reneged on their pledges eventually. Right too about the 'tier system'. The UAW (and the companies, tee hee) knew and saw this rightly as a poison pill that would divide the membership, and it did, nearly catastrophically. They balked, yet gave in to pressure from the Obama administration. And Ford UAW employees had to go along with the deal handed to GM and the other borrowers to give Ford the same labor cost parity. Some of what you have seen regarding membership splitting off from the International Union's endorsement of democrats is fallout from that and other deceits by democrats prior. I'm ashamed to admit that some level of racism began to simmer among the rank and file during that time as well, along with a despise of the democratic party.
D4N, Thank you for spelling it out. Always so terrible for the workers, when all is said and done. Obama also did not bail out the homeowners screwed over by the banks. He sided with them over supporting their victims. The banks laughed all the way to the bank😭.
Clarence Thomas has committed so many unsavory acts that it's almost impossible to stay current. Tax avoidance. Not declaring his wife's sizeable income on their taxes. Abusing Anita Hill by coercing or forcing her to watch, "Long Dong Silver." Not declaring gifts on his taxes. Catering to the billionaires for assorted rulings benefitting them. Et al. Clarence doesn't care. He knows he will be protected by the billionaires. It's all so blatant.
Right. Plus, Anita Hill was so credible, right from the start. Back then, Koch Bros probably told Bush Sr., "Clarence is our Boy. He understands our needs. Put him up for the court. He won't let us down."
Further, people should know that Clarence was a Monsanto lawyer before going to the SC. Perhaps a Monsanto or Koch staffer was perusing law school classes to find someone to meet their needs. And voila! Then, Clarence Thomas went from promoting Genetically-Modified agriculture to the public to promoting GMO Corps. on the SC. (I seem to recall some GMO case before the SC in which Thomas should have recused himself.)
Thank you Heather! In every election there is a fork in the American road. One toward a vibrant middle class, valuing labor, embracing and expanding rights. The other path is more incompetence, corruption, and concentration of wealth.
It is always interesting to read your summary of some of the events of the day and how you so often connect them to other current events and/or history. I think that you would like to know that one of the statements you made in your September 22, 2023 column is some combination of being inaccurate and misleading - though I am sure that was not your intent. I am referring to your assertion that last year's compensation for Ms. Mary Barra (Chairman of the General Motors Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer) was almost $29 million .
The following information is per her 2022 proxy statement. Ms. Barra was awarded:
$2,100,000 salary, $6,258,000 bonus, $4,875,010 in stock options, $14,625,000 in stock and $1,121,560 in other compensation. When extra earnings derived from cash bonus payouts, gains from stock awards, benefits and perquisites are cashed out or otherwise accounted for at some future date, there is a distinct possibility that the total amount of her 2022 compensation could be much, much more than "just" $29 million dollars. No one will know what her exact compensation is until some indeterminate future date. The awarding of "stock options" as a form of executive compensation is an insidious practice. (A simple example: John Smith is doing a great job as CEO at XYZ Corporation. But the Board of Directors either can't or won't pay him the "fair" cash money equivalent of his actual value to the company. Instead, they will award him an option on 100,000 shares of XYZ Corporation stock, exercisable at some specific date in the future, for $5.00 per share. If Mr. Smith does a great job and on that redemption date in the future the stock is worth $100 per share, he could exercise that option, sell the stock, and pocket a cool $9,500,000 (less capital gains taxes.) Of course, he doesn't have to exercise the option. If he thinks the price will increase, he can do nothing, and sell the stock at a later time when it is valued even higher. Meanwhile, Mr. Smith can obtain loans secured by the value of his options to invest, go on vacation, or whatever. As, the money is a loan, no taxes are paid on it. It should be noted that if options are exercised, the per share value of the company is diluted by the number of optioned shares . It should also be noted that the wealth of many if not most of today's billionaires wealth is tied up in options. As an example, in one sense, Elon Musk's status as a billionaire is illusory in that it is not backed up by "real money". He will turn some or all of his options into cash when it is most advantageous or necessary for him to do so. In a way, stock options, are like owning a printing press that spits out legitimate dollar bills. Of course, with the aid of "Wealth Managers" numerous methods have been devised to ensure that when the options are sold the tax consequences will have been minimized if eliminated. Who do we think actually "runs" the country/economy and sets up its parameters? That's a rhetorical question!
It would be interesting if the tax laws were changed to allow direct stock transfer to the IRS to discharge tax debts, valued at the highest rate attained during the tax year in question. The government would then be required to liquidate the stock, either paid voluntarily or seized in tax forfeiture, within five years of receiving it.
They should be more famous. Where are all the documentaries? Perhaps they should be included in school curricula. Such interesting business strategies.
How about dedicating a special day when there's a festival and effigies of them are burnt on bonfires - like we do, all over England, every year on the 5th of November with Guy Fawkes .
Which treason and plot is most in need of remembrance? It would take the month of November at the very least, but yes, we need a way to observe and preserve an understanding of the treachery unleashed on our society at present. And Jan 6th and the threat to the republic should never be forgot.
Personally I feel that January 6 should be declared a national holiday. Not as a day of celebration, but remembrance of the brave officers that faced down that mob, with no backup, no leadership. Remember those that perished that day, and because of that day, that not one person has been brought to justice as yet charged with their deaths.
I’m afraid my commander, sheriff, chief, whomever would have a serious “come to Jesus” meeting after that was all over. Chances are, they wouldn’t like me when I gut dive with what I had to say.
The USA will need more than ONE annual holiday to burn in effigy the traitors we've seen. Maybe we should use the 13th of every month to protest - or - maybe a different day every month and a different traitor. Also, hand out pamphlets to teach of the history so people learn more (since it will never show up in history books).
Julia, you have forgotten that we ‘WOKE’ folks can’t teach anything like that. We can’t put anything like that in our history books. We can’t teach our young people anything about that history of our nation.
Just ask DeStupid. He will tell you that this will never make it to the classrooms. If it does, he will put those teachers in prison!
"Fain has withheld an endorsement for President Biden out of concern that the transition to electric vehicles, which are easier to build than gas-powered vehicles, will hurt union jobs, and out of anger that the administration has offered incentives to non-union plants"
I believe that all middle class workers owe a debt to the union movement for helping to establish rights and protections for workers that Republicans now conspire to take away. Unions a check and balance (and there are more) on the anti-democratic power of highly concentrated money. Much of the 20th century was built in battles to curb abuses of that power, such as manipulative and abusive power, such as "trusts" that controlled markets. Thus the establishment of anti-trust legislation, and other reforms that have been withdrawn or sidelined since the "Reagan Revolution". And what has become of the lot of American workers since?
I think unions, that have suffered a steep decline in the last half century, have often missed the larger picture. They too owe their first allegiance to their country as a whole, as well as the advocacy of their members interests. I think they have missed opportunities to forge alliances with the public at large, including non-union workers, to defend economic justice. United we stand, divided we fall, and clearly self-contained solidarity within the union alone has not been enough. Plutocracy threatens union and non-union workers alike, and gets it away with it with divide and conquer.
As for electric cars, if they help protect our children and our children's children, and our quality of life as a whole, the short term adjustments of workers to existential realities of the present seems a strategically wise move for union leadership, and indeed a truly patriotic one. Such a stance contrasts starkly and favorably with the self-obsessed greed of certain billionaires.
What they're worried about is all the electric car manufacturing - particularly batteries - being moved to the anti-union "right to get screwed to work" South.
In Michigan my Trump Stooge Rep John Moolanaar is fighting a proposed battery factory because it will be owned by a Chinese based company. Every form of xenophobia is being used to inflame the population who’s only form of news comes from Rupert Murdoch
I recall reading the Walmart was selling TV's emblazoned by the words "Made in America". The finished TV assembly was apparently shipped from China with a circuit board that when slipped into a slot in the TV made it operational. Having American workers do the slipping apparently was sufficient legal qualification to call it "American made". Who makes those rules for whom?
It seems to me that it all boils down to who has enough money to shape the economy. Companies that were the leading American brands prior to the "Reagan Revolution" has been hoovered into a handful of conglomerate's, and passed around like poker chips on the tables of the hyper-wealthy. Stellantis (which includes Chrysler) one example. The nationality of the company, in and of itself is less the issue. Much of the labor for many major American companies is off shored, and some of the foreign owned employers hire Americans. The question is whether "we the people" get to set the ground rules for commerce in our own society or whether commerce and much of law is controlled by those with the most money, foreign or domestic? The latter is not democracy. Who has gained and who suffers due to the decline of anti-trust?
Exactly JL, and the money is not just rebelling, they've turned outright subversive, sneaky, and seditionistic, believing they can put Humpty Dumpty back together again with their divine and monetary powers - even greater than 'all the kings men.'
I agree, I grew up in a union town and watched as ADM broke the union at one of the largest corn processing plants in the country......lots of people lost their jobs because the union refused to negotiate a settlement, even though the workers were making more than at any other factory in town for doing less work. At the time, I couldn't understand it, but those were days when unions were getting too greedy and falling out of favor for demanding outrageous wages and benefits. Now the only union factories in that town are worker owned.
Also, it's troubling that the UAW president is so anti Biden about electric cars. There is nothing stopping battery manufacturers from organizing in the future, and much like coal, the internal combustion engine is on the way out. On a related note, at least he sees through Trump's obvious grovelling for union voters. People are starting to see that Trump is a total scum bag and they are tired of his whiney rhetoric.
Bob, there are more reasons and reasoning behind the print and broadcast snippets that are commercially noted by media. Please know and accept that broadcast and print have been doing a hatchet job on all unions for decades now. They and he, are not totally anti electric auto's, not by a long shot; there's more to the whole story than you know. I can say all this because I have the very most insider track.
How about cease with the teasing and spill some of this “inside track” information so the rest of us “uneducated” folks can be enlightened. I, for one, definitely want to learn the truth, while truth, and nothing but the truth. Especially from such an “inside track” petsin such as yourself.
Most folks here are highly educated, some with, some without walls of diplomas Daniel. I know that for certainty. More importantly to me, the majority of the folks in this community are very reflective, humble, honest, and open minded. I regret that it would seem to you that I 'poked the bear,' but only that it upset you, quite obviously. As far as any condition that proof is some requirement, you'll have to learn for yourself; This forum is 'not private'. Trolls with ill intent follow this forum. I wish you peace DC.
Actually, D4N, every once in a while I need someone to ‘poke the bear’ as you say. I have a notebook full of diplomas, and even a college criminal justice degree. A lot of gif all that training, and education does me now.
And, for the record, I didn’t get upset. What you told was the truth, just as I spoke. I only write my “Thoughts and Opinions”, and what I truly to perceive or believe is the truth. I will say, since I’m lying in a damn bed 95% of my day, I spend a hell of a lot of time researching. But, we both know in the internet of today, how that works. As you pointed out, the media has a bad habit. Not telling everything “truthfully” as it should’ve been told.
ADM is one of our oligarchic organizations so far as I am aware. I have observed unions taking what I view and short sighted power game positions, but I don't know what the the long view looked like in the case you mention. I'm pretty sure ADM was doing no favors. I have heard Republicans whip up anti-union fervor by pointing out that they enjoy advantages the non-union employees are not receiving, and that seems to have been an winning argument since it is frowned on to ask why other workers should not enjoy the same protections. Who says that it is "natural" for full time workers to have to struggle to survive?
J. L. I fully agree either way everything you have said here.
What I’m having a problem understanding is that a truck identical to the one I purchased in 2019 for $32,000 will now cost me over $50,000.
This is no cut to the unions, but to the billionaire sitting on the top floor of that corporate office behind the big desk that is getting $29 million or more a year in salary plus a substantial bonus at the end of the year. That’s where my problem with all of this lies.
We all know that when the auto companies give the unions what they want, and they will, the into people it will hurt is us, the people. I hate saying this but it’s the same in every business, no matter what. “Shit flows downhill.” And this will flow downhill to the prices if these vehicles will skyrocket again. I wish the unions would think of the consumer in their negotiations. The V people at the top of these companies don’t need to be making more than the President of the United States!
"I wish the unions would think of the consumer in their negotiations. The V people at the top of these companies don’t need to be making more than the President of the United States!"
I agree that unions would be wise to go to far greater effort to encourage the public to take their side. And yes, a living wage will increase the cost of doing business for many businesses. It will also increase the pool of customers with money to spend, with is the actual drive of a market and thus employment in it's service. It is also a major factor in inflation, but by no means the only one, no matter what the Fed seems to think. I was a young adult with little to spend in the "hyper-inflation" of the 1970S, and from what I can tell, I have never seen so many crazy price jumps as now; at least for the stuff I buy. HCR notes that while "Barra, for example, makes 362 times the median GM employee’s paycheck, ... autoworkers’ pay has fallen behind inflation by 19%.", CEO pay by itself not enough to drive inflation but a symptom of something more systemic. Biden speaks of corporate "record profits"; so where are those "record profits" coming from? Was the American economy unworkable when auto industry unions were strong? Did unions force the American auto industry to retract, or was it corporate laziness; the "milk" the "cash cow" until it was almost dry approach? Are American workers pouring trillions into dodgy offshore tax shelters or is it someone else? Follow the money.
As you unglamorously point out, 'stinky' stuff flows downhill.' What you and other armchair economists 'fail' to point out, is that the sh_t flows downhill absent and despite the "thoughtless (?)" selfish union effect. Imports caught on to the 'fact' that American consumers are ignorant fools and will pay whatever the market will bear and have charged and grossly profited, owing to among other factors, lopsided money exchange rates. The UAW has always historically been linked in conscience with their respective companies And their consumer customers - and that's a historic, well documented truth, whether 'you' and any other 'self - centered' consumers believe it or not. You and 'they' are also ignorant to the 'fact' that the broadcast media have for decades done a 'hatchet job' about the autoworkers, citing exceptions that are eye grabbing and sensational, yet far from short on truths and documented history.
Not a pro blame, D4N. I, too, have that same problem. I got mine from my years dealing with dirtbags both on the streets and while working Close Management Units in the state prison system.
My wife and step-children often reminded me of my hard-hearted attitude, and how it needed to change.
also important to note that in states that have "right to work" laws, not everyone is forced to pay union dues even though their jobs may be covered under union contracts. On one hand, I think this is not a bad thing, since struggling families shouldn't have to forgo some of their income to become members of the union. On the other, the union is not obligated to help them if their situation calls for intervention. And of course, this creates some animosity on either side. I still am inclined to support unions, maybe because most "right to work" laws are touted by conservative governors to gaslight constituents into thinking the unions are their worst enemy, when the opposite is usually true.
In this ↑ you are correct Bob. The whole of it and much of what's really going on behind the curtains today, is the business class demanding the yoke or leash of laws and unions go away. Union and regulating law shedding is a fundamental behind most of our American conflicts today and for the past 20 or 30 years; but lately, with allies they've committed to all out warfare - with a take no prisoners, by any means justify the end mentality, and as we've seen, actions. "They" believe to their core that "they" are the 'exceptional Americans' - and that exceptionalism applies 'only' to them - not we serfs.
Clarence Thomas has been groomed by his wife, Leonard Leo and a series of billionaires to see himself as not only one of them but also their protector. He internalized a belief that he was a victim of progressives that fought his nomination to the highest court in the country.
With the exception of his wife, these were not life-long friends. For them, the association was transactional with an individual willing to sell out average Americans. They treated him as a club member with all the trappings, buying his loyalty with gifts so extreme as to shock common sense. He returned the favor with steadfast support and protection of their privilege.
A man who is dogmatic in his unwillingness to change has signaled that he will flip on maintaining the Chevron Decision that preserves regulatory control over commerce. He’s also likely to protect ultra wealth from taxation that would rollback the ever increasing wealth gap that has steadily climbed since Nixon and Reagan.
Thomas and Alito see themselves as unaccountable to anyone, misconstruing lifetime appointments to mean duty and care is whatever they personally decide it is.
Trump stained the Executive Branch with narcissistic authoritarianism and by reaching out to extremists.
Gingrich, the Freedom Caucus and gerrymandering has made a mockery of legislative democracy.
Thomas, Alito and McConnell’s capitulation to billionaires (acting through The Federalist Society) has perverted the Supreme Court.
Don'tcha' know Paul, that Amurican "exceptionalism" belongs to only one caste of folks in 'their' country ? You, I, and any others who's 'disposable income' is below a certain level, are only 'cannon fodder' and 'property tenders' for the eventual or actual owners. All else 'we want' to dream and believe, is totally fabricated myth and blind aspirational hope. The vast majority of Americans are nothing more than wishful dreamers; The right wing faithful have been enlightened by 'our masters' of the truths that it's "those who own all the gold, really actually make all the rules." They've been assured that if they follow them (the 'masters') that they will be rewarded; both in this life and the next. I state facts herein, and not conjecture. I've followed these 'cats' for a very long time.
I basically agree. I think that badly tattered and corrupted infrastructure protecting liberty and justice is present and delivering to some degree, but that is under threat. Modern Republicans are flirting with totalitarianism. Drawing reasonable boundaries around the power of concentrated money is crucial to avoiding that fate, let alone an uninhabitable climate. We made progress on that in the past, but like climate, it has to be a sustained and motivating focus.
L'Affair Menendez, a Democratic senator, and spouse, investigated and then indicted by the DOJ of a Democratic administration, does indeed evaporate the GOP complaint of a weaponized government agency aimed at Republicans.
"We go after law-breakers. Period." to paraphrase Merrick Garland. It's just that there are so many more Republican law-breakers these days. Many of them lawyers!
Senator Menedez and his new wife are crooks and deserve to be indicted, but as with every last one of the indicted Republicans, they are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
What I don't understand is how the "gifts" (disclosed and undisclosed) Clarence Thomas and his wife received over the past 20 years are not crimes. They are clearly bribes.
And why did the DOJ choose not to indict Senator Ron Johnson for conspiracy to obstruct justice when he was caught handing off a list of alternates. And Lindsay, for obstruction and racketeering and also Matt Gaetz for pedophilia.
It is no secret Senator Rick Scott defrauded Medicare and Medicaid and paid a relatively small fine in comparison to the money he stole. But he was tried and cut a deal. And ever since then he has used his dirty money to buy the governorship of FL and the US Senate seat.
I have had a half-century working life from joining the Air Force in 1963 to retiring from my last job in 2015, which was my longest lasting job of 15 years. All the others were disparate and lasted five years at most with some of only a year or two. In my mid 60s Social Security sent me lists of my taxable income for a lifetime and at the end in 2015, the total was a mere $665K. Not even a notable bonus for wealthy executive overlords.
However, I've had a good life, supported myself & sometimes others in my meager lifestyle, traveled a lot in the U.S., Centro America, Europe & Middle East as far as India. I could only retire when my sister & I split a half-million dollar inheritance due to our father dabbling in the stock market in the 1960s. I'm still nursing that and hope it lasts longer than me, as my monthly rent is now my entire Social Security check.
Just a reflection that after a couple thousand years of Western Civilization, with illusions of Democracy and Equality, we still have a Royalty Class that lives above the law and hoards the Wealth, while most are Serfs who toil for a pittance.
And, I still can't understand how my dad, an electrician, blue-collar worker, Union Man all his life idolized Ronald Reagan to the point that it was the only time I yelled at him while traveling together in his pickup truck in the late 1980s.
So many were bamboozled by Reagan. I never could figure it out. And I never could figure out why no one acknowledged he was in early dementia by 1980! Well. . . KKKoch money and planning were in play at that time. Money talks. And Money buys avenues for spreading weaponized propaganda. Reagan was the first one to openly use divisive language and gaslight issues with “here we go again.”
Thank you for getting us the quotes and information on Shawn Fain. I’m so glad that he’s seeing through Donald Trump’s claim to be pro-union after Trump worked so hard to gut the power of unions.
Another person who has tried to hide his true feelings is Clarence Thomas. I can hardly wait until there is a law stating that the Supreme Court justices have to obey the same recusal rules that every other judge follows. Obviously, leaving it up to their policing themselves to practice judicial neutrality hasn’t worked. The damage that Alito and Thomas have done to the reputation of the court will take years, if not decades, to heal.
How many more reports and investigative blogs does ProPublica have to publish before someone either holds the Supreme justices to the same ethics and morals as simple mortals, or starts to 'impeach' Alito and Thomas? Aren't there enough reasons and justifications already?
Those two should have been removed long ago. There’s no excuse in this at all. The Chief Justice needs to grow a pair!!!
The chief justice is part of the problem due to the source of his wife's income.
This chief justice is in a bind. The court has his name on it, and I think he knows it is already notorious and will go down in history as corrupt which is why every now and then, he votes the right way, but not often enough and now with all the other extremes on it, he has lost control and yes, then there is his wife and his own political views.
I believe he’s trying to figure out a way out of this mess the Court’s in. These 5 justices appointed by Frumpy have flipped the Supreme Court making it the laughing stock of the world. And with the antics that Clarence Thomas and Alito have brought to light, it has put every one of them under a heavy microscope where every move of all of them are now being scrutinized to the hilt.
‘Laughing stock’ is an inappropriate expression. Most of us Europeans are shocked and revolted at the turn the Court has taken. We know that this is no laughing matter.
Justice John Roberts will also be remembered for making The Supreme Court into a “gated community”.
So desiring to be removed from “ordinary” US citizens as to erect a fence.
And the sad part is that he had the fence around the court erected because he’s afraid that the Court will be stormed by a mad mob wanting to string them all up. How sad of an individual that he is. What he doesn’t seem to realize is that he, and his fellow Justices have done an excellent job of stringing themselves up either all of their law violating they have done, and do about every weekend. Not to mention the rulings that are being handed down in return for their actions.
‘…votes the right way..’! As in supporting far Right policies? Or as in CYA, covering your a$$!
He needs to be impeached too. Wouldn’t you love to make millions as the wife of the sitting head of the supremely slimy court?
And let’s hear it for striking workers!!! Even at 77 years of age I am ready to stand behind both impeachment for unlawful behavior and in the UNION lines supporting American citizens.
The power of being heard is great than any drug taken!
Sadly, New Jersey drags down the cause with an equally sliMey powerful corrupt Senator. Yet again. As A native New Jerseyan, I'm ashamed and saddened to see this happening, but not surprised. Remember the headlines in the NY Daily News from the late 1970s? Abscam. "WILLIAMS IS GUILTY!" Here we go again Thanks a lot, Menendez.
Oops! You left out sleazy Bob Torricelli whose corruption allowed Roberto to fill that senate seat!
Oops is right. It's Jersey and we all gotta problem wit dat!
Greater.... should have been greater
Heard you loudly there, Jean. And you are absolutely correct. Impeach them all! But, with a House that can’t even elect a Speaker either a spine, or set of gonads big enough to see, we are all in limbo!
WOW! , That IS ! , a BiG , AMEN ! Dan !
I’m 71, Jean. Heard you loud and clear! ✊🏻
I just sent an email to Senator Durbin who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee. I thanked him for asking Justice Thomas to recuse, but added that isn't enough. We must push to impose regulations on the Supreme Court.
We the People need to make more noise!
Cheryl Cardran, thank you for contacting Durbin and I will do so too. He is my Senator but lately I'm having second (and third and fourth) thoughts about his decisions on important issues.
It is impossible to love everything an elected offical chooses to do. There hasn't been one in my lifetime (72) to say they were perfect in my book. But then they covered the basics that I cared about and I continued to keep a list of my top 5 priorities to see if they kept up those, and had to ignore the rest, unless it was flagarently against the law.
Joyce Kell-Sanders I didn't mention, ask for or expect perfection from anyone. I'm concerned about the big issues. IMHO Supreme Court Justice ethics are big. It's also not the only issue I've written to Durbin about. As a constituent it's only fair to communicate where I disagree with his decisions. How else will he understand what the people he represents are thinking?
Good idea. I’ll follow suit. If we all put pressure on these clowns, maybe they will move on it, despite the antics being played in the House of Representatives!
SHOUT IT ! From the HOUSE-TOP Cheryl !! ULTIMATE NOISE !
Oh my God, no kidding.
Don't blame God. Check power and greed!
And timidity
The MAMMONITES ! , of the *Earthly*, Mankind ! . The EARTH ! , is HEATIN' UP ! ,,,,,, AMEN ! Eleanor !
The rest of us don’t have the overbearing rich to finagle and lie to get their way.
Its difficult to imagine Trump working hard, but he is part and parcel of the plutocratically occupied Republican Party, and their ruthless obsession to crushing every barrier to rendering the entire planet into maximized profits for their uber-wealthy patrons. Here is just the latest example of that cruelty, which I hope that can be pointedly turned against them in the ongoing wars for election: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/22/republicans-animal-welfare-law-food-safety
JL, appreciated the article. Persons who raise animals or poultry are a vast variety of humans....some caring .....some not. Decent care and cleanliness is important for the safety of the animals as well as of the humans who will consume the products that eventually appear in our markets.
I have seen very clean situations .... raising animals to sell... and I have seen very awful ones.
Good character is so valuable....in every walk of life and in every workplace.
I realize this is just a revolting topic for those who have chosen not to eat meat of any type.....so please excuse my comments.
My concern is especially for the young immigrants who are being used to clean slaughter houses.
We do eat meat. However, we buy it locally from small farms which are not factory farms and raise their animals in a pasture, not a feed lot. They also raise heritage animals in some cases. We do the same with eggs. And we support small farms that grow produce, preferably organically although the government has made that expensive among other things. One good thing happened this week in Marion County, a property that wasslated to become Foster Farms monstrosity is now for sale. The locals have fought Foster Farms on this, so hopefully the property will go to other than a factory farm. I thought there was a second property as well, but the article yesterday mentioned only the one. The other good thing is that we are finally getting rain in the form of an atmospheric river.
That is good to hear. We do the same thing with our meat. I eat far less pork than I used to, since I will not buy pork that is not locally raised, and it is roughly double the cost (my pork use is confined mostly to ribs and shoulders that get the Traeger treatment) although I do by a holiday ham from a local farm every other year.
We get our pork at Heritage Farms. They do have a booth at the Corvallis Market. Dick loves pork, so we eat a lot less beef. We used to get a ham at Gene's Meat Market up the canyon. It burnt completely down in the 2020 fires. We cooked it all night in the paper bag it came in and the house smelled wonderful all night long. The original owner, Gene, was on our school board and was anti-union which at that point was a lost cause. My bro-in-law does great ribs. We have some for lunch today that we bought at a BBQ place at the Saturday Market. I would think there would be some locally raised pork around Eugene. I know meat done right is more expensive, but we also eat a lot of veg meals, so it works out for us.
The farm where we get our beef does hogs every other year. I like Carlton Farms (out of Yamhill county) or truffles and trotters from up towards Albany. A couple of or produce stands also do local pork.
Thank you for the good news. As the furor over the price of eggs escalated, I thought about the cost of decent chicken feed as the wheat crops fail because of climate change. The article in The NY Times this morning will answer a lot of questions about our future on the planet. The UN warned US in 1977 that 2.2 children was the limit. Now the number is reduced. Will those who read the article take it seriously and think about adopting if they want to raise a child?
Well, if the Supreme Court succeeds in totally banning abortion, there are going to be plenty of children available. The clamor for zero tolerance is just nuts both for women and the planet.
I'm not seeing the article in the NY Times (after spending 10 minutes looking on their site). Could you please provide a link?
In any case, the world population is projected to rise from the current 8 billion to 10.5 billion, adding the equivalent of the total population in 1953 (my birth year). Not good.
And the Census Bureau projects the US population will grow by 75 million over the next 40 years--equivalent to three and three quarter New York States. 68 million of that growth--nearly three and a half New York States--will be from mass immigration; the remainder, equivalent to one Massachusetts--from native increase.
Moving people from third world countries to the US is not like switching deck chairs on the Titanic. The US, the major industrialized nation with the greatest per capita greenhouse emissions (and resource use generally), is the worst place on the planet to put more people. The average immigrant's greenhouse emissions rise threefold after arrival in the US.
Unfortunately, our leaders are oblivious. I've brought these issues up with all three of my national legislators (Markey, Elizabeth Warren, and Katherine Clark--all of whom I voted for). They were all dismissive.
Will see if I am capable of such a stunt. At least I should be able to give author and title.
We have done our part and have no children. Most of my ex-students have one or two if they have children. My sister's family makes up for this and I think I have about a dozen great greats. A new one is on the way to my great niece who shouldn't have any and this will make five.
I had one, my daughter had one, and it seems unlikely that he will have any. The cost is prohibitive and housing, until small houses become popular (my father built his first one with the help of neighbors), will make large families impossible to house. Then there’s food
unless you grow your own.
Thank you Emily Pfaff, you have said the most important thing in all of the issues addressing this letter by HCR “Good character is so valuable....in every walk of life and in every workplace.” It needs to be on bumper stickers, lawn signs an billboards everywhere and stated so often by everyone that it finally sinks in as all the R’s lies have been imbedded into so many American’ brains.
So long a maximizing profit trumps every other human value, industries while leave a sociopathic wake. Reagan wrapped up the main dictum of the "The Chicago School" of "The only corporate social responsibility a company has is to maximize its profits." in smarmy razzle dazzle; and somehow the public thought it was great. But in retrospect, who gained and who now suffers?
Go vegetarian problem solved ❤️👍🏾👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Thank you JL Graham for sharing this link! I will email my state and federal representatives about this and watch how they vote. I value my fellow HCR readers. This is an example of how you and other HCR readers help me be an informed voter! I have already passed on the link to my family. Thank you again.
Also an example of how The Guardian is a real newspaper.
Thank you for this important article JL. Shared.
I find it interesting that the Guardian often has better articles of this type than our own media although I do read the Atlantic and the Nation.
Shared.
It seems the Repub party has no more feeling for young children (of course migrant children) than they do for other species. I dont eat beef anymore after seeing pictures of a slaughterhouse using a forklift to take downed cows into the plant. The cruelty & abuse present in these places - whether its cows, horses, pigs or chickens, should make anyone aware of what it takes to "make our meat"! I'm not a vegetarian, but eat very little of any meat these days.
Well, in devaluation of all life, farm animals seem to be at the bottom of their ranking.
Souls eagerly traded for a shot at absolute power.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/09/trump-administration-family-separation-policy-immigration/670604/
I read this article earlier - certainly makes clear exactly what tfg's administration AND the Bush Administration did.
The fact remains - as ever - if the environment is healthy, there are enough jobs for people, and THERE IS LESS CRIME - people will have no reason to migrate. How the hell is that so dam hard to understand?
That works in whatever country is losing their people.
Could it be that "developed" nations might possibly have an interest in helping to stop the crime & the economic mess in these countries?
I realize this kind of problem/issue is not something to be corrected with a snap of the fingers - but maybe making a try at it?
Maybe put a billion or so from our defense budget towards it.
Some have suggested creating a "Department of Peace" that is actually devoted to uncovering and promoting conditions that reinforce peace in the world. Not that there are no precedents or current examples for such efforts, but perhaps there are ways to bring them into better focus. One thing for sure is that war is mass murder. Violence may be a legitimate last resort defense, but violence (which can manifest in subtler ways) is the bane of humanity.
It seems as though most of our most serious problems are either rooted in politics or made worse by political power plays. So many seemingly soluble problems don't progress for political reasons. Follow the money.
J L , G . NOW ! Your Thought, SHOULD BE, a WAKING Moment, for ALL, of MANKIND ! The MAMMONITES, Will Not UNDERSTAND That They CAN NOT " TAKE IT !", With THEM ! LOVE !, ,,,,,,, HAS Already WON !, in The END !
I agree that politics seems to be the root of all evil - as much or more so than money!
JL, thanks for the link
Isn’t it odd that the very people who trumpet their support for states’ rights are so eager to eliminate those rights when the states threaten to use regulation to improve food safety and animal comfort.
The "state's rights" they object to are any that empower or protect the general public. Like for "all" of the people, such as the right to vote. Trump was hot to deprive California of the right to set stricter auto emission standards than other states. Inconvenient for auto manufactures don'cha know. Profit uber alles.
And the healing won't start until they're both off the Court.
Not just those two. Roberts, Gorsuch, Kavenaugh, Coney-Barrett rammed through and supported by Federalist Society influence must go, too. No one can ever see the Court as an unbiased purveyor of justice as long as they are a part of SCOTUS.
True, but it's much more feasible to replace 2 Justices, even seriatim, than 6. The Court will need to continue operating while the surgery takes place.
SCOTUS ! Re NAMED ! ,,,,,,,* SCROTUSS ! * ( LORD ! , have MERCY !! )
Dave, definitely.
Interestingly, there is a judge in Florida (where else?) who is refusing to recuse himself from hearing about an abortion bill that his WIFE has sponsored!! It was said that he had been in the legislature before becoming a judge and it would be impossible to recuse himself from every thing since he knows the Senators and Congressman. The article went on to say that at least he could recuse himself from really important crucial issues-especially those sponsored by his wife!
Such articles have little effect because Floridians don't read newspapers, which generally stick to the facts.
We must realize that most of the strategies of the Republican Party are virtual seditious attempts to reshape the American experiment.
White Supremacy Christian Nationalism are manifest in the arrogant corruption of Clarence Thomas, the blithe dismissal of precedence by Anthony Alioto and just the seating of religious fanatic Amy Coney Barrett who exemplifies the crude applications of religious ideology over the precepts of Jesus Christ.
The continuation of these threats to the nation’s freedoms must be interrupted and ended and the only path to relief is the election of decent valid representatives that obviously must be Democrats for at least 3 national elections.
We must forever purge our nation of the taint of adoring wealthy might and passive witnessing of these destructive forces.
Does anybody have the balls and power to confront Thomas now before he fouls the Supreme Court nest any further? Or is the American system so coated so hidebound and impotent that it cannot produce a legal solution to get a total freeloader out of the Court?
The Supreme Court has the potential to be the most majestic branch of government. Most citizens have revered it symbolically without understanding its workings in detail for decades. This is true faith - a commodity that is magical when the group receiving is aware of the enormous challenge that faith confers - to do what will maintain and increase the belief of the country (and other countries) that here is an institution searching impartially for the truth.
ProPublica has effectively told us that there is no Santa Claus. And it’s not like we are too young to hear this. The Court has become tawdry, a mere shadow of what it should be. And it appears that Clarence Thomas has been in the vanguard.
How much worse can it get? Is it going to be a marketplace where the worst ideas prevail because American shysters are willing to pay to get them?
Somebody please blast this court into permanent oblivion and start over again. They are a sickeningly bad joke on the concept of fairness in America. We cannot tolerate this egregious defiance of the common good any longer. The longer this goes on the more the Court appears to be “above reproach” - in the most meaningful sense of the phrase.
Fool me once - shame on me. Fool me as nauseam - ah well nobody’s perfect seems to be the bored response.
This is a disgrace in plain sight.
And when you know that the Koch family fortune was made in Russia and Germany in the 1930’s and that Koch Enterprises continues to operate, regardless of sanctions, in Russia.... The Fifth Column is still alive and very healthy.
Time for mass demonstrations in Washington demanding the court clean up.
This should be completely acceptable to any republican since they approve and condone mass demonstrations in Washington.
Did not think of that .. :)
THREE YEAR TERM !!, MANDITORY !,, ( No ! ,,,,," LIFE RUNS !! " )
‘Doc Killian, who has worked in a Ford assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan, for 26 years, says he can no longer afford the cars he helps build, crystallizing how the nation’s middle class has been squeezed.’ (AP)
‘Jaron Garza, 49, a third-generation General Motors autoworker, said for him, the strike is about much more than getting a raise, but preserving the middle class job security that uplifted his family after emigrating from Mexico. Garza has been on strike three times before.’ (WAPO)
‘In the 88 years since it was founded, the union has called strikes aimed at a single automaker, and a handful have halted production for several weeks. G.M. plants were idle for 40 days in 2019 before the company and the union agreed on a new contract.’
‘The plants designated for walkouts on Friday represent only a small portion of all the unionized factories of G.M., Ford and Stellantis and of those companies’ 150,000 U.A.W. members.... And Mr. Fain has made it clear that the walkout could grow wider as contract accords remain elusive.’
‘The union’s demands for significantly higher pay and new benefits are a sharp departure from the past 20 years, when the automakers were ailing and the U.A.W. was forced to accept major concessions to help the companies survive.’
‘In speeches to union members, he has frequently highlighted the pay of the automakers’ chief executives. Last year, Ms. Barra took home $29 million. Jim Farley of Ford made $21 million, while Stellantis’s chief, Carlos Tavares, was given a package worth about $25 million.’
‘An extended strike would crimp the availability of new cars and drive up prices. A long stoppage would also ripple through the automakers’ supply chain and could hurt other businesses as workers live off $500 per week in strike pay from the union.’
‘Fain has sought to broaden his argument beyond just autoworkers, telling a recent livestream that his union’s demands are about “raising the standard for workers everywhere.”
“The auto industry accounts for about 3% of the nation’s gross domestic product and though union leaders say they are mulling strikes at a small number of factories run by those automakers, as many as 146,000 workers could eventually walk off their jobs. The effects would be most immediate in Michigan and other auto job-heavy states such as Ohio and Indiana. But a prolonged strike could trigger car shortages and layoffs in auto-supply industries and other sectors.”
“Anything that goes beyond a week, you’re going to start feeling the pain,” said Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. “And anything beyond two weeks, that’s when the effects start to compound.” (AP)
‘What role is the switch to electric cars playing in the negotiations?’
‘The auto industry is in the middle of a sweeping transition to battery-powered vehicles, and G.M., Ford and Stellantis are spending billions of dollars to develop new models and build factories. The companies have said those investments make it harder for them to pay workers substantially higher wages. Automakers say they are already at a big competitive disadvantage compared with nonunion automakers like Tesla, which dominates the sale of electric vehicles.’
‘The U.A.W. is worried that the companies will use the switch to electric cars to cut jobs or hire more nonunion workers. The union wants the automakers to cover workers at the battery factories in their national contracts with the U.A.W. Right now those workers are either not represented by unions or are negotiating separate contracts. But the automakers say they cannot legally agree to that request because those plants are set up as joint ventures.’
‘Will a strike have political ramifications?’
‘The union fears that Mr. Biden’s decision to promote electric vehicles could further erode union membership in the auto industry. Mr. Fain has criticized the administration for awarding large federal incentives and loans for new factories without requiring those plants to employ union workers.’ (NYTimes) Sorry that a gifted link was not possible.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/14/business/uaw-strike-plan.html
https://apnews.com/article/auto-workers-targeted-strikes-general-motors-stellantis-ford-a0b4b8b66e2001230fda0f2114ef78a0
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/13/business/uaw-strike-shawn-fain.html
‘Workers at the big three carmakers earn less now in real dollars than they did 15 years ago – as their CEOs make more and more. Their fight is everyone’s fight’
__Bernie Sanders
Excerpts from Bernie’s OPINION in The Guardian
'In the United States today, at a time of unprecedented income and wealth inequality, weekly wages for the average American worker are actually lower than they were 50 years ago after adjusting for inflation. In other words, despite a massive increase in worker productivity, despite CEOs now making nearly 400 times more than what their employees earn, despite record-breaking corporate profits, dividends and stock buybacks, average American workers are worse off than they were 50 years ago.'
'The UAW members will be fighting not only for themselves but against a corporate culture of arrogance, cruelty and selfishness causing massive and unnecessary pain for the majority of working families throughout the country. Their fight against corporate greed is our fight. Their victory will resonate all across the economy, impact millions of workers from coast to coast and help create a more just and equitable economy.'
'What are some of the issues that are pushing UAW members to strike? At the top of the list is the extraordinary level of corporate greed shown by industry leaders.'
'In the first half of 2023 the big three automakers made a combined $21bn in profits – up 80% from the same time period last year. Over the past decade, these same companies made some $250bn in profits in North America alone.'
'Yet last year, the big three spent $9bn – not to improve the lives of their workers, not to make their factories safer, but on stock buybacks and dividends to make their wealthy executives and stockholders even richer.'
'Further, while many of their workers are struggling to survive financially, last year the CEO of General Motors raked in about $29m in total compensation, the CEO of Ford approximately $21m and the CEO of Stellantis over $25m.'
'Incredibly, over the last four years, CEO pay at the big three has increased by more than 40%.
While auto industry CEOs and stockholders make out like bandits, the workers who build the vehicles earn totally inadequate wages.'
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/12/bernie-sanders-support-united-auto-workers-strike
‘Tiers’‘Ending tiers, or in-progression pay, where members are paid differently based on seniority, has been a top priority of the union for years.’
‘Fain said each of the automakers has proposed cutting an eight-year grow-in period to top wages that are currently at more than $32 an hour to four years.’
‘COLA’ ‘Fain has demanded a return to cost of living adjustments, or COLA, which increase wages to keep pace with inflation.’
‘Fain said all companies have made “deficient COLA” proposals that either include lump sum payments, limit the amounts, or only kick in at certain levels that the union finds inadequate.’
‘Ford has proposed a return to a COLA formula used in the past, which Fain said would provide estimated wage protection of less than $1 over the term of the contract; proposals from GM and Stellantis would provide no protection, he said.’
“Profit-sharing”‘The UAW wanted to enhance profit-sharing payments to provide workers $2 for every $1 million a company spends on share buybacks, special dividends and increases to normal dividends.’
‘Fain said the Detroit automakers have each offered “concessionary profit-sharing” formulas that lower the current standards, which are based on a company’s North American profits.’
‘The union said Ford’s formula would have resulted in 21% smaller checks over the last two years; GM’s would have resulted in 28% smaller checks over the last year; and Stellantis would like to base payments on “an unknown internal company attendance calculation.”
“Profit-sharing was implemented in recent years as a way for the companies to “reward” members in good times but not have to pay as hefty of bonuses when the companies were not doing well.”
‘Temps’ ‘Ending the use of temporary workers, who can be paid lower wages and have no job security, is another longstanding UAW priority. Fain said that Ford has agreed to convert all current temporary workers with 90 days of continuous service to full-time workers, with full benefits, in the tiered progression.’
‘Fain said that GM has offered “inadequate” benefits and “meager” wage increases for temps and that Stellantis’ proposal provides no path at all to full-time status’
‘Job security’ ‘The UAW has proposed what it calls a “Working Families Protection Program,” under which employees at a shuttered factory would be paid by the automakers to do local community-service work. All three automakers rejected the proposal, Fain said. Stellantis went further, proposing a unilateral right to close and sell 18 facilities, including factories and parts depots, he said.’
‘Work-life balance’ ‘The UAW has demanded more time off for workers, with more paid vacation and holidays and extended parental leave. All three of the automakers agreed to make Juneteenth an official holiday, Fain said, but only Ford went further, proposing 2 weeks of parental leave.’
‘Retirees’ ‘The UAW has demanded a “significant” increase to pay for retired workers. All three automakers rejected any increases, Fain said.’ (CNBC) See link below.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/13/where-uaw-negotations-stand-a
Thank you, as always. Question: the small towns of the Midwest were once linked by trains. As we try to pollute less, shouldn’t we focus more on public transportation (which brings people together and might get vaccinations and masking to be more popular as Covid continues) than on private cars?
We've just been traveling by U.S, Highway 80 from New York to Chicago. The number of trucks on the road is staggering, and while we build more electric autos and pick-ups, while crucial, is only part of the problem. We need to move more freight and people by rail, it seems to me.
Yes. Absolutely. The catenaries left from the PRR still stand on the East coast (or did 10 years ago). Electric trains are still possible. Also electric trolleys.
Virginia, my grandmother talked about rail lines connecting small towns in Illinois. They were gone by the 1950's (how did that happen?) and agree that is a tremendous negative for the environment but also for those who live in rural areas today and have no option but cars and truck for transportation. Living in a large city I love the freedom of public transit.
People in the US love the independence of owning their cars.....and big trucks. Other countries have wised up.
Transportation by rail, air and the roads need to be planned, regulated and used with life on earth, including health, housing, community, efficiency, equality, and cost... considered to be crucial factors.
'Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Birth of the Interstate Highway System'
'On June 29, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation funding the construction of the U.S. Interstate Highway System (IHS)--something Americans had dreamed of since Detroit starting building cars.'
'The Missouri Highway Commission awarded the first contract to begin building the interstate along the famous Route 66 in rural Laclede County, 160 miles southwest of St. Louis. However, construction on the first section of interstate actually began in St. Charles County, Missouri, on Aug. 13. Kansas and Pennsylvania have also made competing claims that their states were first to possess sections of interstate.'
'No matter who was first, the enthusiasm for a uniform system of roads, bridges, and tunnels was very high in 1956, nearly fifty years after the introduction of Henry Ford's Model T automobile. The building of the IHS, formally known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, proceeded rapidly throughout the country, and by the early 1990s, nearly 45,000 miles of interstate highway were complete.' (ArmySustainmentMag.) See link below.
https://www.army.mil/article/198095/dwight_d_eisenhower_and_the_birth_of_the_interstate_highway_system
Yes, and it has proved disastrous for climate. BTW: Amtrak runs on some of those small town connective rail lines. My husband had old maps which we followed taking Amtrak from Charlottesville to Chicago.
Fern, thank you for all the information and links!
Mary Hardt, you always nourish us with understanding and heart. Thank you.
Thank you for the compliment—it means a lot coming from you.
Mary Hardt, it is wonderful that we are together with such a rich assembly of
friends!
Yes, it’s such a joy in these turbulent times.
Don’t hold your breath, Roberts will have none of that.
The corruption in the courts will continue just like the corruption in Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and the House of Representatives. The basis of the current Republican Party is corruption. They still hold enough power to protect themselves from any consequences, just like they are doing for Trump.
KARMA ! , Will come, Eventually ! ( THEY !, Just Do NOT ! , ,,,,BELIEVE IT ! ) . ( NOTHING !, is Hidden ! From the EYES ! ,, of OUR LORD/GOD ! . ALMIGHTY ! )
It seems that the Supreme Court is allowed to be the only branch of government that has nothing to balance its power.
Exactly. An ethics code is necessary for these special folks.
I am so happy to see that Biden is going to stand with the UAW! I hope Trump gets booed off the stage.
The only reason Trump will go there is publicity. He doesn’t give a damn about those auto workers. Doesn’t care about the unions. He only cares about himself and making more money.
Trump has truckloads of his expired bottled water and paper towels to distribute, and many many discount coupons for pizza with which to buy votes.
Oh, wait...
😂 how right you are, Ed!
Thanks, and for the record, I am a loyal union man. When non-union workers complain about paying dues or other expectations, I ask them to list all the benefits they enjoy which were given to them out of the company's goodness of their heart.
The conversation usually ends at that point.
Without a doubt, without unions wages would be much lower and workers would have no method of demanding more. But, where the auto workers are concerned, they're working on a dinosaur, so to speak. Electric vehicles are much less complicated. Down the road all of those auto service centers like Jiffy Lube, etc., will be gone. No need for them. They're the blacksmiths of the current era, soon to be gone.
Your comment is on the money sir, and provides even more incentive for the UAW to get what they can while it's still there to get. EVs plus automation plus temp workers plus a fickle consumer market adds up to a lot of uncertainty.
Union concessions made in 2007 have evidently not been rewarded, 16 years later. Without a union underpinning, the middle class, by which I define as those who can afford the products they make, will suffer and whither away.
Labour saving technologies have always been both boon and bane. However things develop, the long term financial gain has to accrue broadly, not simply to improved profits. Part of this could be greater corporate tax rates, which have been gradually clawed back in recent years, esp via the GOP.
I’m going to say some things here, and I dearly hope I don’t puss anyone off. But, it’s what happened to me, and I wish to share it.
In the early 70s, as a beginning law enforcement officer, and firefighter, for a small town in South Carolina, my starting salary was under $300 a week, gross pay mind you. That’s for each position. Not every officer had that opportunity. I strived to gain the training so I could do both jobs to get employed in both positions, and therefore draw two checks from the city. That’s the only way I could have ends meet, and all I had in me at the time was my rent, utilities, and vehicle payment. I didn’t buy much food because I usually ate at the firehouse or just took lunch to work at the P. D.
Anyway, we talked about unionizing for better wages, better benefits, and the like. We were quickly informed by the upper powers that if that discussion continued, we would be immediately replaced. They had a drawer full of applicants begging to work. Plus, it was against the law to unionize a Civil Service position. So, we couldn’t unionize anyway.
Fast forward to early 1980s. I’m working as a deputy sheriff in DeSoto County, Florida. I’m employed at a salary of $900 a month, gross pay, taking home just over $400 a month on a single check the first of every month. My rent was $350 a month. I had a wife, 4 step-children. Two were in school, early grades, two were at home, still in diapers. My wife got a job at a local store, but after a couple months I had her give that up because it was costing us money for her to work. She wasn’t bringing home $150 a week after taxes, and it was both g more than that for the babysitting, her lunch, wear and tear on the vehicle, plus fuel. So it wasn’t worth it for her to work. I gained two extra jobs, after begging the Sheriff to allow me to work. That’s how we almost made ends meet.
We talked of unionizing at the local police and our department. We were informed quick that it was a violation of state law. We couldn’t unionize.
I was injured at a fire I assisted the local city fire department at one morning. I was actually a volunteer for them, since I had such extensive training, I joined them when I moved there in ‘79. After I was injured, when a roof caved in on me at a house fire, I was tossed like a piece of trash. I eventually was forced to give up my law enforcement career in 1995 because of my back and leg injuries. The illustrious Florida state Retirement System decided that I didn’t qualify for a full medical retirement, although I had over 26 years with the system! They cut my retirement by 76%, and I turned me that I was able to gain employment in a different field.
I tried. I went to school to become an insurance agent. And, for a few years was extremely good at it. I actually had a reputation of telling people the truth about their coverage, and if my policies I offered would help them, or not. Many times I sent I to homes to do reviews and walked out without writing insurance, because they didn’t need any written. A lot of families had much more than they needed. And I told them exactly that.
My long story is this. We tried as law enforcement and firefighter officers to get unionized. We needed better benefits. We needed better wages. We were not able to support our families on our salaries, and the upper echelon knew this. We were their slaves, and they owned us.
Now, in disabled, homebound, and living in a hospital bed under daily nursing care in my apartment, alone, and if you think fit one second that any part of this government gives a damn, you are sadly mistaken.
Yet, the northern departments were able to unionize years and years ago. Those folks had benefits. Those folks had good salaries. I had a buddy that lived in Arcadia. He was an officer for a department in Ohio when he retired. His check monthly was almost $2,000. My check at the time was $236. I served more time as a law enforcement officer than he did! He had full paid health benefits from his department. I had nothing!
Tell me the justice in that!
Several years ago a co-worker made some disparaging remarks about unions and didn't understand what value they had.
I whipped around and asked her:
Do you like your 40 hour work week, safety in the work place, child labor laws, overtime pay, sick leave, vacation time, medical and retirement benefits? If so thank the people who had their heads bashed in order to obtain those benefits from the 'Gilded Age' company owners. Today's unions that strike are trying to level the field with today's corporations and their CEOs!
Time for some respect for the people that do the work, that generate those profits! "A rising tide raises all boats." An old expression we need to make new again!
Ed, and the workers in the same geographic area often get higher wages because the companies are worried that they’ll unionize.
Yes, I remember wondering why cars and trucks manufactured in right-to-work states were not priced much differently than union-made vehicles, when the supposed justification was to save all that benefits package cost.
Didn't he swoop down on that train derailment with bottled trump water? Fortunately it was not the same brand which was discontinued 10 years ago. BUT how convenient he just happens to have some free time and a hotel with trump labels on the water bottles. It seems he never had time to console in person the other victims of the 3 derailments he had on his watch.
Yes he did, and one of my references. Puerto Rico and Iowa are the other two
It makes me mad that people like MTG are yelling Biden and Pete for not going. Duh, the man is in Ukraine attending some serious business. trump's Transportation head didn't go to any of them either. It only is a crime when democrats do it.
The same with the Chinese balloon. We are being spied on-all our secrets are being revealed-national security risks. Yet trump did nothing with the 3 that passed over in his term.
He cares deeply about getting re-elected. So he can put an end to his prosecutions (or persecutions, as he views it) and continue destruction of the entire government in service to the plutocrats that pull his strings.
T L, the 🍓💩🤡has made it well known what his intentions are WHEN he regains control of the White House.
A. ALL government departments will answer only to him.
B. The FBI, DOJ, CIA, will all be totally disbanded, then, IF he decides to reopen them, it will be done totally at his discretion and with his picks to work and run the departments.
C. All state governments will answer to him. Including local governments in all states.
D. All heads of all government offices will be fired immediately and replaced with his picks.
E. All powers of Congress will be stripped, with the President being the one and only
I don’t actually know rest sll this is called, but, to me, this is called a DICTATORSHIP, and I for one want absolutely no part if this type of government.
This is exactly why thus crippled up old man is begging everyone to get all they know registered to vote. Hey all they know to the polls. Not only in the upcoming election, but future as well. We MUST replace every single Republican in office right now, and it’s going to take at least three, or four voting cycles to do this. We MUST stay vigilant on this the next 8 to 10 years. Hopefully, I’ll live long enough to see us regain our Democracy back where it needs to be.
Daniel , ALL SAID, is Truthful, SO !, to Turn the TIDE , By Getting OFFA' Our Pathetic Slumbering BEHINDS!, & BEAT on Our NEIGHBORHOOD DOORS ! ( LIKE J W s DO ! ) and WAKE uP !. * the DEAD !* . IF NOT !! , Our USA, will BE, The NEW ! ---- NORH KOREA ! . ' NUFF' SAID !! ( AMEN ! )
And, 🙏 AMEN! We’ve given up the House of Representatives by sitting in our asses. Look what we are getting fine now under Republicans control. Nothing! The government will be shut down in less than 4 days unless the Senate can get something figured out to bypass the House fiasco,
I don't disagree.
The CONMAN cometh.
👍
He is also counteracting the debate he is skipping. And yes, I hope they boo him and maybe a few one finger salutes.
So will he actually show up? How will his people curate that crowd?
You better have some very strong moderators if trump debates with the group or even when he debates Biden. He probably won't refuse to debate Biden since he thinks that Biden is a senile fool. I suggest a high powered water pistol to shoot at those who go over their time limit or interrupt. trump will need to bring a towel.
KAREN, AS Before !, Simply Have an ON/OFF SWITCH ! ,,,, on the MICROPHONES! ( AND !, a 12 inch LEG IRON, .... at his PODIUM, to KEEP him, ,,,,, in PLACE ! ) ( We ALL Know, he is Just " BANGIN' his GUMS ! ",,, to keep his * FLYIN' MONKEYS !," ' JACKED UP !! ' )
He also doesn't want to do a debate and fall on his face with Chris.
Dave, Chris Christie would chew him up and spit him out in a debate. I have a news flash for him. He better think more than twice about debating Biden too.
AMEN ! on THAT ! Daniel !
Yep!
cHUMP ,,,! , needs a ' TRIPPLE BAG JOB ! ' , over his head ! WE Have ALL ! , SEEN,, Enough !,,,,, of UGLY !! ( The MEDIA ! , just won't LET it GO ! )
He'd better, or he'll hear about it from Jill, a card-carrying member of the National Education Association! I am too! We stand with the UAW!
Trump has a lot of nerve going to Detroit, doesn't he?
I doubt Trump will come to Detroit. He will probably go to Macomb County , which has many Union households but is a MAGA haven.
Victoria ! he HAS !, A Lotta' MORE DUMB! ( REMEMBER ! , he Carries a PERFECT VACUUM ! in his Cocoanut HEAD ! ) BRAINCELLS !, don't Survive in " OUTER SPACE ! " ( DANGER ! ,,,,,, DANGER !, Will Robinson !! )
I love that Biden will be there the day before tfg! Timing is everything! ; ()
Are all the electric cars being manufactured by new factories or are some of the older factories being refitted? This could be one way of not hurting the older car manufacturing factories. I think we still have a long way to go on the electric cars, maybe the impact isn't going to be as great as one thinks.
I not so sure, once it really takes off it will grow fast. Norway is a prime example. In 2022 88% new car sold were EV.or PEV (hybrid). When we were there in 2015 it was about 10 %. Now Norway is a country of only 5 million, and well educated but it is still a road map of the future.
Lots and lots of news for today! I watched Biden and Harris speak about the new gun commission and I am extremely happy about its creation. We have to have an impetus in place in which to fight the NRA and the MAGAs. Harris is very experienced in this department as she was a prosecutor, our Attorney General and our CA Senator. Thank you, Heather, for highlighting her accomplishments because there are so many people I know who tell me they don’t see her as being “presidential”. Totally angers me because they haven’t taken the time to educate themselves about her. it’s Maxwell Frost who I am impressed with. He is the youngest Congress member but he shines a bright light for us all. I look forward to seeing what he brings to the table.
I think Kamala Harris is as well prepared to be President as was Abe Lincoln.
She is obviously an excellent Lawyer and her ascent has credentialed her beyond and candidates aside from Joe Biden.
I think he attracting older intelligent Americans and she the younger intelligent Americans are becoming an irresistible team for 2024.
But we cannot be silent in support.
Art,
I completely agree. Harris is well spoken, well educated, has had a tough job in the past as prosecutor and her eyes are bright (I have always thought bright eyes were a good sign).
When she looks at a camera or at someone, that person sees bright eyes. When she ran for President she was my number 1 pick. I personally think Biden has made a terrible mistake not elevating her and stepping aside and letting her run against Trump. She would trounce Trump at a debate. No contest. She would run mental circles around him.
Trump's eyes are as dim as a night without moon light.
She would trounce 45 in a debate, but remember how many Americans have jettisoned rationality in their political choices. Looking at you Texas, Florida and my neighbor that has a trump sign in her yard with a vuvek sign in the garage in case he rises to the top. These people vote folks.
Yes Rickey and that is all the more reason to find something, ANYTHING, with which we can relate to them on an emotional level because it is clear they don't like or aren't able to reason against what feels good, what feels familiar, what feels like what I feel, what feels like "my tribe."
I still have my Anybody Else t-shirt as well as my Nope with a blonde hair on top. I'm waiting a bit longer before I wear them.
Great insight on the eyes as the window to the soul.
I worked on projects that required me to temporarily hire men for temporary but demanding physical work.
I had to be quick and learned to assess their eyes rather than resumes.
Joseph Goebbell, Donald Trump and his henchman Stephen Miller all have the pitiless gaze of the. Living dead.
While I’m at it watch the twitching evasive eyes of John McCarthy as he speaks.
Empty living dead
GOEBBELL , tRUMP, & SWASTIKA miller, ALL ! ,,,,,, HAVE TOOMBSTONES! . " IN THEIR EYES !! " the * PUSHERS * ( NUFF' SAID !! )
I like your thoughts Mike S but fear you miss what makes tRump so problematic; one CAN'T debate someone who makes things up as he goes along. It sinply becomes word salad and adds to the impression that everything is broken. Debates operate on the principle that there are facts which can be debated and it has been abundantly clear that tfg is fact-free.
I see the dem strategy as keeping the Biden-Harris ticket to keep the coalition together. In my mind if Biden wins, we most likely get the first female president without the adnauseum gender debates. The chances of Biden dying in the next four years are the greatest of any president since Roosevelt. She becomes President, and only then do we get the hoopla of fitting her with a V-P. And the bench is extensive. She get s the remaining years of the B-H presidency to stay the course and prove her mettle. Then goes into 2028 in a stronger position than an gop candidate, because she will have Biden AND her records to run on.
An 88 year old voter who leads a very active life wonders why so many are sure of Biden’s frail hold on life.
When I was his age vertigo and arthritis began to restrict my activity and I envy Joe’s freedom of mobility.
I agree, Art. He has an unusually busy worklife for someone in his 80's but his physical vitality is better than most. I believe his mind is still good and it is mostly his dealing with the aftereffects of stuttering that causes his hesitancy in speech. Every US president looks worn out after their term - why should Joe be different?
His heart appears to in the top tier for his profession!!
Julia , Remember ; age = WISDOM !! ( the DEMS ! , Better FOCUS !, ,,,,, on THAT ! ) PS !, and , TRUE CHARACTER !!
💯💯💯 Exactly Art!!
“The average life expectancy in the United States is 9.1 years for 80-year-old white women and 7.0 years for 80-year-old white men. Conclusions: For people 80 years old or older, life expectancy is greater in the United States than it is in Sweden, France, England, and Japan.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7565998/#:~:text=The%20average%20life%20expectancy%20in,France%2C%20England%2C%20and%20Japan.
The fact that he is healthy and fit matters! Also he has the best healthcare of almost any human anywhere!!
The focus on his age in the media really pisses me off and is definitely a GOP talking point. Period!
THAT ! , is the MEDIA ! , that NEEDS, to Be , SHUT DOWN !! Right ON ! ,,,, Christy !
tfg is smart enough to decline the debate stage.
I would say his handlers are smart enough to prevail on him.
Biden has been undergoing GOP manufactured propaganda attacks all his life and continued to weather them. Better that he is their target thru the 2024 election. It is historically these GOP attacks that have kept us from caring for our Mother Earth and her inhabitants for too many decades
and no stars either.
You are so right, Art. We must all fully support them, and get everyone we know to the polls. We must get rid of every Republican running for reelection, and not allow any into any political arena in the local, state, or federal offices.
When her time comes to take the reins of the top spot, I’m extremely confident she can handle the he job. President Biden has groomed her just right and her background has always been one “for the people”, not “for the greedy” as the majority seems to be these days
Amen to "cannot be silent"
It's encouraging to see a VP allowed to meaningfully and publicly participate in an administration. The VP, after all, is always a heartbeat away from taking the wheel, and needs to be every inch presidential material and up to speed with presidential circumstances.
I agree with J.L. - "It's encouraging to see a VP allowed to meaningfully and publicly participate in an administration." Not sure if Kamala was not allowed to, or was not prepared to more actively engage in the government in the last few years. How many foreign leaders would know her (or vice versa), and would she be on top of all the major issues currently on the table and radar, if she had to take the wheel on the spur of the moment? Let's hope her more frequent presence on stage and in the MSM might instill trust in the voters that she could take on the country's highest office on any day in the next 5.5 years.
There had to be an "apprenticeship", learning on the job. She's learnt. As for debates and Trump -waste of time, he's incapable of debating. There was Hillary (bright-eyed), holding the floor, talking factually with total confidence, and all he could do was prowl around her, sneering. And Biden was reduced to an incredulous laugh and a "C'mon, man!" I wish Hillary had let him get a bit closer and then walked heavily (in high heels) on his foot.
Even at that moment when I saw an intelligent Lady actually trying for the semblance of discussion and the ignorant Hulk hovering over her my mind said “turn around and knee him in the crotch.”
I always thought that ended that dream.
But she's intelligent, and a lady, and the occasion was meant to be of serious significance to the voting public. (Sigh). Re-running the whole fiasco of those weeks in my mind and knowing what happened makes me feel sick.
I have a gut feeling that Biden has been grooming her to do just that, and now with her being more visible to us, he’s showing us that she’s fully prepared to take the helm in that moments notice, if necessary.
Remember all the cleanup Biden had to do when they first got into office; work that Biden’s experience gave him the best tools for. Now that they have much of the cleaning done we are seeing their work towards the future and that will feature Harris.
From your mouth to God's ear!
VP job has also been not a very career building job. What did Pence do? Who can even name VP's unless the president died and they had to take over. Having Kamala out there is a great thing.
As writer and futurist, Buckminster Fuller said, “You never change something by fighting the existing reality, to change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” This is Bidenomics. New, innovative initiatives such as The New Deal and the newly created Gun Commission, projects designed to make the world a better place, to not only put food on the tables of ordinary people, but to provide them with purposeful, meaningful lives and hope for a better future. Let the MAGAts huff and puff and threaten to blow the house down. Biden and Harris have got this. I believe people know the truth when they hear it. And let's not forget, the good guys always win.
Thank you for the Bucky quote,been a Buckminster fan for decades, he was 100 years ahead of his time.
And was still patenting his inventions well into his 80’s!!
Love the Bucky quote. As to the gop, I first read your comment as “MAGA hate and puff” - which I at first laughed at, but then decided was even more accurate.
🤣
Maybe it takes longer so that not many remember, if they are alive to remember.
Well said.
Maxwell ‘s shine appeared awhile ago , he has made a future promise focused in the top echelon .
What amazes me STILL is Heathers magical mind , memory, and connecting the dots so well.
The ‘Weird, huh’? Is poignant humor.
That the elephant(s) in the room command the spotlight , I appreciate the vigil from all who do...I’m beyond needing ‘further evidence’ but it all put on their list of criminal intent needs done for future indictments.
Me and my mute muscles- ears & finger - are ever-ready. So tired of it😵💫 Relatively nothing surprises me.
Thank you... for the steady monitoring favorite writers , and the interesting ,often eloquent commentary of Marlene and our merry band of subscribers. So grateful. 😌
Have a wonderful weekend , fall is here , the colorful changing is usual splendor . Enjoy.
“Me and my mute muscles- ears & finger - are ever-ready. So tired of it😵💫” That gave me a big chuckle! I always have my mute button nearby. It came in handy when Jim Jordan and his gang of squawking collaborators held their patently obvious political performance, otherwise called a “hearing,” attacking Merrick Garland this week. What a pathetic display of noise signifying nothing!
🤣🤣…..‘Noise nonsense nullifies negligent nuts’ ….I do love laughing with y’all . Thanks Maureen🫶
Marlene, the only reason that Kamala Harris is not seen as "presidential" are her race and her gender. Period.
Yup!! And after living thru 2008 and 2016 elections it’s definitely the latter that presents the bigger barrier!
“It may turn out that no one is better suited to mobilize young voters.”
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/kamala-harris-joe-biden-2024-ticket-rcna105315
I still remember when she was your attorney general and did not charge Steve Muuchin for his illegal foreclosure and he went to become Trumps Secretary of Treasury.
2007 is the critical point in the UAW strike. Not only did the UAW give up a lot to help save the backward thinking industry that refused to see the relavance of the foreign competition, the Federal funding that bailed out the industry was the TAX DOLLARS THAT THE WORKERS PAID.
Thank you Heather for laying it all out so clearly, as always.
What I would like to see is some profit sharing by UAW based on quarterly profits and management salary restricted to a base amount until workers are paid the contract amount.
Why just “until workers are paid the contract amount”? Why not have that become industry/business standard. When you have to profit share, you are acknowledging that more than just the C-suite makes the business/corporation run. That’s reality and basic respect. And rather democratic, versus monarchical.
Agreed, seems fair to me.
Yes
Thank you for that reminder that it our tax dollars and purchasing power that support those wealthy people. We work for our living
True, but also remember the bulk of the net non-payback was paid by the top 50% of American taxpayers, who pay almost all Federal Income tax. Corporate tax rates were also larger then.
Of course. I was not writing a dissertation. OUR tax $$, of which UAW workers were a big part of.
Your message suggested UAW/ Labour were a lion's share of taxes paid to cover the net payback loss to taxpayers. That simply isn't remotely true, check out the % paid by top 1, 10% for starters. Im Not arguing that union tax payers didnt contribute to the bail out. This has nothing to do with a "dissertion" All i had to do was goggle who pays taxes in the USA and weed out some overly self-interested sites.
OK OK. I. did not have time to write a footnoted essay. The issue is that the big three screwed up big time and were bailed out by OUR tax $$$ of which the UAW workers paid into also, as well as making significant give backs so they would survive, the scale of which can be researched too. The Big Three are not acknowledging the contributions made by the workers that kept them afloat.
ill likely agree on that last point. Kindly stop redirecting my main point with your not having written now... a "footnoted essay", enjoy a good evening!
🗣️🙌
Executive pay that is orders of magnitude greater than the average worker pay is immoral, unfair, and ultimately bad for business. Strikers wanting to hold on to production of more labor intensive combustion engine vehicles need to let that go… it’s not sustainable. The best way to sort this out IS a strike it seems. I support the unions, and union workers please realize that anti-union Republicans are on the fat cat executives side in practice and principle.
Coming through the pandemic, with 25% of the healthcare workforce having left already, and CEOs of health insurance companies making 100’s of millions of 💰, and hospital system executives rewarding themselves for their contributions from safe and tidy offices far removed from patient care - you’re next I hope.
We should bring back the Eisenhower tax years with the 90% marginal rate, and slap it on pay over $1 million a year - and stock options should be taxed as what they are: income.
Eat the rich - it'll take a lot of barbecue sauce to cover up the bad flavor.
But the best first step is one Biden already made and the gop are trying to use the newest Gov’t shut down to eliminate: a correctly funded and mandated IRS to retrieve the illegally squirreled away corporate/wealthy-cheat taxes.
They didnt think marginal top tax rates of 90% were such a bad deal back then, it was deliberate redistribution policy, upheld by a popular Republican president. I dont think it's necessary to go back to that, but i'm sure the current rates are too low. The latest cutback also came out of the last president's administration, directly translating into the current deficit.
One other thing, TC. Have Social Security taxes go up to the 1M threshold.
I'll make the sauce. Hot and Smoky, or Sweet and Tangy, for those who prefer.
Lol Ally !
Yes, but why stop at $1M?
It is a starting point, especially since the current threshold is 160,200. 5 million would be an excellent alternative. I suspect that any higher, and laws would be passed to redefine "income" even more restrictively. I mean, my Oregon tax refund is considered income by the feds...
I mean, not all of the congressional pay received by congress critters today is not subject to federal tax!
Yes, it’s more complicated than a slogan like “scrap the cap” can express. Whether the cap is in the low six figures or $1M or $10M, the FICA tax is regressive, and regressive taxes are unfair at best. I would classify them as immoral. As Piketty has carefully documented, what we need, both for fairness and for stable capitalism, is a steeply progressive income tax together with a progressive wealth tax that kicks in around $5M or $10M in net worth. Social Security should be a pension program paid for out of tax revenues. No special taxes like FICA, and no tax-break categories like capital gains.
Jeez, TC, you've got me drooling!
🤣
Stock options should be taxed as non-labor income and at a higher rate than any income that comes from an individual’s labor. We need to give more respect to the worker bees if we want to thrive in a changing world
Lol TC ! I don't think there exists enough sauce to cover the flavor ! Even if Ally House makes barrels full !
We need to name and shame these fat cats. Australia's recently 'forced to resign' Qantas CEO Alan Joyce took home $21.4 million last financial year, blaming 1700 worker layoffs, airfare price hikes and the shonky outsourcing of ground staff (causing untold delays and jeopardizing passenger safety), on an increase in fuel costs rather than profit margins. Other profiteering scandals abound. Yet the company recorded a profit of $1.7billion in the last financial year. The payrates and working conditions of blue collar workers in the US seems almost 3rd world - as we all know, due to Republican-responsible funding cuts to services allowing greater tax cuts for their fat cat puppet masters. Putting workers' safety and the safety of the general public at risk for profit is medieval - exampled by the recent US railroad workers strike, who only wanted paid sick leave and relief from grueling 14 day on-call scheduling systems leaving them mentally and physically compromised. Strike. Strike. Strike. I'd rather see America shut down by fed up workers than by extremist right-wing Republicans holding the government ransom for greed induced personal gain.
Right you are sister !
Insurance is one of the odd industries where the more incompetent they are, the more profit they make, and the health insurance sector is the worst of them all -- since they get their money up front, the fewer claims they pay for any or no reason, the more money they can give to executives and shareholders.
Worse still, they encourage fraudulent billing on the part of medical providers by forcing low reimbursement rates and maintaining a byzantine procedure coding system that leads to "coding wars," where providers denominate procedures at the highest rate possible, regardless of whether the code actually fits the service provided.
After a past year of absolutely bizarre experiences with both medical incompetence and opaque claims, I wish there were a law that required medical providers to "cc" patients with the claims submitted on their behalf to the insurance company. I've caught two instances where my insurance was billed for services or drugs that weren't even provided to me and if I caught two, given how difficult it is to match provider bills with insurance "EOB's", then there must be dozens more.
OMG! I do get a readout of what my insurance company pays to medical providers. My head usually explodes reading these payouts!
A 2 minute telephone consult can reward a medical practice with 360! These phone calls used to be no charge!
GODS " spiritual KARMA !,, AWAITS ALL the MOTHER-RAPERS !! ETERNITY , is a LONG TIMELESS, JOURNEY! ( Will They BE, in the 'Smoking Section ?,, OR , ? ,, GET PARDONED !, and Be ABLE, to ENTER, ,,,,,
the ' NON - SMOKING ' SECTION !? ( LORD ! , have MERCY !! )
Hey, fella, thanks for the agreeance, but please take a few deep breaths and calm down a bit. (Unless you're being facetious, in which case I'm sorry I missed the humor.)
AS JUST EXPLANED ! BLESSINGS ! , to You, , and Yours !
Shine a light on the ancillary lowely paid claims processors. They fudge along with no oversight, unless a client like you has the patience to track the billing.
Not to mention the independent coding firms. But how do you track the billing between the medical provider and the insurance company? With a small provider with a local office I can at least walk in and talk to someone, but how do you get the same information out of a behemoth such as Emory Healthcare in Atlanta? It's almost impossible to even find someone to talk to, and trying is virtually a full-time job, very tough for the patient who's already sick from whatever condition made him subject to the mess in the first place.
Dirk ! , I * Second That !! ,,,,, INSURANCE !! is ( Euphanism ! ) ' legal RIP OFF !! Look , at Michigan * manditory * , vehicle Insurance !! RAPE ! . in PROGRESS ! . WORST ! , of the MAMMONITES !
The who? And as for rape, I've never had the chance to get that close to my insurance agent, but may I should keep a sharper eye on him. He is kinda hot, though...
Dirk , I Play a Cynical Game, With The TRUTH ! ( I do not know, Your Generation Position, ,,, But , in Mine ' Arlo Guthree ' Talked about " The DRAFT ! " After, ALL Of The " INfection, Inspection NEGLECtion, ,,,, iF !, You Did not PASS, Certain Parts, .... You Would be Placed, ,,,,, on the GROUP W (!) BENCH ! , With ALL, of the MOTHER- RAPERS ! ( The FATHER RAPERS, were Collected there, TOO ! ) COMEDY, ASIDE !,, Corperations, and Insurance Companies, Make UP, the Greater part Of MAMMONITE SECTOR,, ,,,,of BREAKING OUR BANK ACCOUNTS ! ( IF ! , You HAVE ONE !)
It sounds a bit like Beat poetry. But who/what are/is the Mammonites/Mammonite Sector?
Btw, I'd almost forgotten the Father Rapers! That was a great song...
Also pushing overloading of caseloads (from what I can see) to a point that risks public health in the service of profit for a few. I believe in (real) free enterprise and the role of the public sector, but in any case reasonably "fair trade" and government of, by, and for the people.
I just knew I liked you for good reasons JL.
For another take on the depravity of the US health insurance industry, I recommend checking out this Dr's satire/not-satire series '30 days of US healthcare'. His commentary is spot-on.
https://youtube.com/@DGlaucomflecken?si=UqFyU1QOpdFyuPuB
Besides this series, his take on the medical profession in general is helpful when sitting on hold with UHC. Beats the alternative of sticking a fork in my eye for every repeat of the bad muzak and facetious proclamations of valuing my time...
UHC Medicare advantage is a prime example! My amazon account is better managed than mine @ UHC! Huge Co, Huge CEO salary but the Co has a genesis of the corpus callosium & faux customer service
We’ve had friends who discovered that, although they used a hospital in network, their emergency room doctors and anesthesiologists are not in network—very large non-covered cost for heart attacks and an appendectomy. Then, due to preexisting conditions, when they tried to switch back, the Medicare supplement (Medigap) policy premium was four times the cost before they tried Medicare Advantage.
Thank goodness I live in MA. I tried a PPO for one year. Scam in my view. I reside in 1 of 4 states that allowed me to switch back from nasty PPO to my original Blue Cross plan. I would have gone broke had I continued with the 'free' PPO!
Marj, I've wondered a lot about the experiences of us living in MA re., the medical care. It all might've been different if adopted country wide; problems to fix.. certainly, but a better cost model for all I should hope.
I agree! I have family in FL. I watch with horror some of the medical care they receive or more to the point- don't receive.
Did you watch this doc's video? https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YF6MDTvZlNA
omg..
My plan thru UHC allows non ppo people to bill. Although I have had conflicting information from UHC. My understanding is that when u sign up, the plan get $1200. I dont know what nefarious method they use, UHC seems like it is a for profit minimum care plan. I have heard better things re other advantage plans
Every time I read things like all these posts, it turns out that "year in hell" back in Vietnam wasn't that terrible. I get the VA - which has its problems, most of them inflicted on the system by GOP congresscritters - but I don't have any of these problems. I got my "eyes" back for zero - zip, nada. I keep thanking my lucky stars when my doctor tells me twice a year that "you're in great shape for a 55 year old."
Hmm. How many times did you turn 55 TC ? (lol)
Many :-)
My brother is a PA for Allina and had a union vote this week. Nurses' unions have been somewhat effective. I was in independent practice until this spring-a model increasingly difficult in this era. The move to stronger unions is a good thing, but I do worry that prolonged strikes and shutdowns will reflect badly on the Biden administration.
Well, the reason our strike (WGA) is heading to break the previous record of the 1988 strike (150 days) next Wednesday is because the AMPTP refused to negotiate till day 140. It's not the workers doing it - it's the companies, who then blame the workers for their "unreasonable" demands. Hah! I went over to the picket lines at Warner's a few weeks ago and talked to young writers. I make more money from my books than they make! When I told them of how things used to be - before the studios became minor wings of the intergalactic widget-makers - when writers got PAID a middle class wage (the myth of everyone in Hollywood being rich is just that; most of us aspire to being able to pay our bills on time) and got to write scripts for movies they actually might like to see, they were actually surprised.
It most certainly won't be a 'hit' for the 'Chamber of Con, er Commerce' crowd, but a very, very important and necessary thing that must happen. The consolidated hospital and medical systems have grown utterly out of touch.
Ryan , that’s right!
MAGAS sure did a number on a very vulnerable US Healthcare system thru the pandemic. Boomers will suffer for it.
US nurses fare better than Venezuelian Nurses who ear $50 per month. Van you even imagine...excuse the associative looseness her.
Thank you, Heather! The UAW’s clear message is very uplifting. I am happy Biden will walk the picket line in Michigan. This is a critical moment in US labor history. May the workers win all their demands....especially being paid fairly, with no “tier” system. How the CEOS can sleep at night, they who are paid obscene amounts by the sweat of the workers’ brows, is beyond me. I really hope the union movement to help ALL workers is reignited and strengthened by this strike, as you have pointed out. I hope Menendez will face the music with his wife, of their corruption. The judicial system IS working. However, as the Thomas and Alito deep corruption continues to be exposed, the urgency to change the SCOTUS was never greater! Great that Kamala Harris is leading the fight against gun violence and for women’s rights. So much to think about! Happy Fall and happy weekend to you and Buddy.
Agree with your optimism here, and as someone who works in Jersey, Menendez needs to go. A shame b/c I think he stands for and supports a lot of the right ideas, and is environmentally progressive. But the back channel self enrichment is disqualifying and probably to be found illegal in court.
Why must the ring of power be so precious to some?! 💍
An environmentalist who's a crook is still a crook.
I’m so sick of fake people, criminals, con artists, etc running in any kind of election. There’s got to be a solution for preventing this from continuing to happen. Note: I’m sure there are people who’ve gotten convicted of a crime and can do a good job for voters in whatever they’re trying be elected for, but voters should at least be aware. Really, people should know a lot about history, values, and goals of the people running in any election.
The indictment pleads 2 Conspiracy counts & the Prosecutor need only prove-up the Overt acts. Stuffing your monogrammed pull over with large bills does not help. Memo to Crooks -- IF you are being paid in gol , it does NOT help to do internet searches checking the dollar value of gold ingots. Sorry, I have to cut away, I think the Toast is burning.
It definitely tends to corrupt. Corruption is infectious, and if Memendez is dirty, he needs to be shown the door.
Always has been. Always will. That why we need to renew our will to hold all accountable to the law. It gets pretty tiresome to be the only party doing that. The worst is that it makes reasonable supporters question the practice. Fight fire with fire, may burn everything down in the end, but until that actually happens, many wonder why we don’t use it. That’s disheartening to see.
Definitely succumbing to the Gollum phenomenon.
The corruption of the Republicans can spread through the Democratic Party by the thought that I’ve heard voiced: “If we force the incumbent to resign, we stand a good chance of losing that seat. The Republicans don’t make their incumbents resign, so why should we?”
Thank you Elizabeth for referencing "no 'tier' system ..." & the union movement "to help ALL" [emphasis by Elizabeth] workers.. In past decades Corp Exec's & new contracts have sold out newly hired workers in the 2 Tier system . These workers are sometimes called "CASUALS" meaning these workers have a short shelf life (90 days sometimes) with LESS pay & sharply reduced rights.
Now is the time to consciously address the many issues involving the manufacture of ALL Electric E-Vehicles & Hybrids for the benefit of auto workers & their families, manufacturers, the climate & our country.
I will be paying close attention next week to the messaging of ALL the players all the moving parts.
Bryan, so well said. The abuse of the working man or woman is always shocking. Shawn Fain is a good leader. I agree wholeheartedly with you about the issues of producing E-vehicles/hybrids “for the benefit of auto workers & their families, manufacturers, the climate & our country.” Thank you!
Great contribution Elisabeth ! It's important to know that the near auto industry collapse was kicked down the road by President Obama's predecessor. The hardest 'lift' was passed on to Obama. He and his administration leaned very hard on the UAW leadership at the time of that crisis to 'share the pain' in order to gain the loans granted to GM and Daimler/Dodge, Chrysler, Plymouth, and Jeep. Ford did not ask for nor got U.S. loans because Ford saw the 'train coming at them in the tunnel' ahead of them, and privately and publicly borrowed against every asset they had, including their 'blue oval' to modernize their operations. The UAW relented, and for a short time the companies did likewise - but ever patient, they reneged on their pledges eventually. Right too about the 'tier system'. The UAW (and the companies, tee hee) knew and saw this rightly as a poison pill that would divide the membership, and it did, nearly catastrophically. They balked, yet gave in to pressure from the Obama administration. And Ford UAW employees had to go along with the deal handed to GM and the other borrowers to give Ford the same labor cost parity. Some of what you have seen regarding membership splitting off from the International Union's endorsement of democrats is fallout from that and other deceits by democrats prior. I'm ashamed to admit that some level of racism began to simmer among the rank and file during that time as well, along with a despise of the democratic party.
D4N, Thank you for spelling it out. Always so terrible for the workers, when all is said and done. Obama also did not bail out the homeowners screwed over by the banks. He sided with them over supporting their victims. The banks laughed all the way to the bank😭.
Clarence Thomas has committed so many unsavory acts that it's almost impossible to stay current. Tax avoidance. Not declaring his wife's sizeable income on their taxes. Abusing Anita Hill by coercing or forcing her to watch, "Long Dong Silver." Not declaring gifts on his taxes. Catering to the billionaires for assorted rulings benefitting them. Et al. Clarence doesn't care. He knows he will be protected by the billionaires. It's all so blatant.
So many of us knew this back during the Anita Hill hearings. It was obvious that he was unqualified for the Supreme Court.
Right. Plus, Anita Hill was so credible, right from the start. Back then, Koch Bros probably told Bush Sr., "Clarence is our Boy. He understands our needs. Put him up for the court. He won't let us down."
Further, people should know that Clarence was a Monsanto lawyer before going to the SC. Perhaps a Monsanto or Koch staffer was perusing law school classes to find someone to meet their needs. And voila! Then, Clarence Thomas went from promoting Genetically-Modified agriculture to the public to promoting GMO Corps. on the SC. (I seem to recall some GMO case before the SC in which Thomas should have recused himself.)
Yes, thank you Heydon.
You're welcome. My pleasure.
Ending is so great. Nice to have a bit of comic relief.
A note of wry humor, but also nailed it.
Yes!
Thank you Heather! In every election there is a fork in the American road. One toward a vibrant middle class, valuing labor, embracing and expanding rights. The other path is more incompetence, corruption, and concentration of wealth.
https://youtu.be/ch6hM1AOZ6s?si=kexjzibokew9lM_N
It is always interesting to read your summary of some of the events of the day and how you so often connect them to other current events and/or history. I think that you would like to know that one of the statements you made in your September 22, 2023 column is some combination of being inaccurate and misleading - though I am sure that was not your intent. I am referring to your assertion that last year's compensation for Ms. Mary Barra (Chairman of the General Motors Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer) was almost $29 million .
The following information is per her 2022 proxy statement. Ms. Barra was awarded:
$2,100,000 salary, $6,258,000 bonus, $4,875,010 in stock options, $14,625,000 in stock and $1,121,560 in other compensation. When extra earnings derived from cash bonus payouts, gains from stock awards, benefits and perquisites are cashed out or otherwise accounted for at some future date, there is a distinct possibility that the total amount of her 2022 compensation could be much, much more than "just" $29 million dollars. No one will know what her exact compensation is until some indeterminate future date. The awarding of "stock options" as a form of executive compensation is an insidious practice. (A simple example: John Smith is doing a great job as CEO at XYZ Corporation. But the Board of Directors either can't or won't pay him the "fair" cash money equivalent of his actual value to the company. Instead, they will award him an option on 100,000 shares of XYZ Corporation stock, exercisable at some specific date in the future, for $5.00 per share. If Mr. Smith does a great job and on that redemption date in the future the stock is worth $100 per share, he could exercise that option, sell the stock, and pocket a cool $9,500,000 (less capital gains taxes.) Of course, he doesn't have to exercise the option. If he thinks the price will increase, he can do nothing, and sell the stock at a later time when it is valued even higher. Meanwhile, Mr. Smith can obtain loans secured by the value of his options to invest, go on vacation, or whatever. As, the money is a loan, no taxes are paid on it. It should be noted that if options are exercised, the per share value of the company is diluted by the number of optioned shares . It should also be noted that the wealth of many if not most of today's billionaires wealth is tied up in options. As an example, in one sense, Elon Musk's status as a billionaire is illusory in that it is not backed up by "real money". He will turn some or all of his options into cash when it is most advantageous or necessary for him to do so. In a way, stock options, are like owning a printing press that spits out legitimate dollar bills. Of course, with the aid of "Wealth Managers" numerous methods have been devised to ensure that when the options are sold the tax consequences will have been minimized if eliminated. Who do we think actually "runs" the country/economy and sets up its parameters? That's a rhetorical question!
Oh, the webs that hide and obfuscate, deliberate and with malice. But the payoff is grand.
I'm sure they feel guilty too; all the way to the bank.
Money soothes the guilty conscience, or substitutes nicely when one is missing. So I hear, never had that experience.
It would be interesting if the tax laws were changed to allow direct stock transfer to the IRS to discharge tax debts, valued at the highest rate attained during the tax year in question. The government would then be required to liquidate the stock, either paid voluntarily or seized in tax forfeiture, within five years of receiving it.
I like that idea Dirk; it may 'have' to happen.
OH!
Well done Jack. Thank you
Interesting to see the Koch family pop up again.
They should be more famous. Where are all the documentaries? Perhaps they should be included in school curricula. Such interesting business strategies.
How about dedicating a special day when there's a festival and effigies of them are burnt on bonfires - like we do, all over England, every year on the 5th of November with Guy Fawkes .
Which treason and plot is most in need of remembrance? It would take the month of November at the very least, but yes, we need a way to observe and preserve an understanding of the treachery unleashed on our society at present. And Jan 6th and the threat to the republic should never be forgot.
Personally I feel that January 6 should be declared a national holiday. Not as a day of celebration, but remembrance of the brave officers that faced down that mob, with no backup, no leadership. Remember those that perished that day, and because of that day, that not one person has been brought to justice as yet charged with their deaths.
I agree with that notion Daniel. And they certainly 'knew' they had no backup coming. That is courage and devotion thoroughly personified.
I’m afraid my commander, sheriff, chief, whomever would have a serious “come to Jesus” meeting after that was all over. Chances are, they wouldn’t like me when I gut dive with what I had to say.
I'll never forget the sight.
First things first; we first have to get past the still current threat JL. It's not over yet; one wonders if it ever will.
The USA will need more than ONE annual holiday to burn in effigy the traitors we've seen. Maybe we should use the 13th of every month to protest - or - maybe a different day every month and a different traitor. Also, hand out pamphlets to teach of the history so people learn more (since it will never show up in history books).
Julia, you have forgotten that we ‘WOKE’ folks can’t teach anything like that. We can’t put anything like that in our history books. We can’t teach our young people anything about that history of our nation.
Just ask DeStupid. He will tell you that this will never make it to the classrooms. If it does, he will put those teachers in prison!
"Fain has withheld an endorsement for President Biden out of concern that the transition to electric vehicles, which are easier to build than gas-powered vehicles, will hurt union jobs, and out of anger that the administration has offered incentives to non-union plants"
I believe that all middle class workers owe a debt to the union movement for helping to establish rights and protections for workers that Republicans now conspire to take away. Unions a check and balance (and there are more) on the anti-democratic power of highly concentrated money. Much of the 20th century was built in battles to curb abuses of that power, such as manipulative and abusive power, such as "trusts" that controlled markets. Thus the establishment of anti-trust legislation, and other reforms that have been withdrawn or sidelined since the "Reagan Revolution". And what has become of the lot of American workers since?
I think unions, that have suffered a steep decline in the last half century, have often missed the larger picture. They too owe their first allegiance to their country as a whole, as well as the advocacy of their members interests. I think they have missed opportunities to forge alliances with the public at large, including non-union workers, to defend economic justice. United we stand, divided we fall, and clearly self-contained solidarity within the union alone has not been enough. Plutocracy threatens union and non-union workers alike, and gets it away with it with divide and conquer.
As for electric cars, if they help protect our children and our children's children, and our quality of life as a whole, the short term adjustments of workers to existential realities of the present seems a strategically wise move for union leadership, and indeed a truly patriotic one. Such a stance contrasts starkly and favorably with the self-obsessed greed of certain billionaires.
What they're worried about is all the electric car manufacturing - particularly batteries - being moved to the anti-union "right to get screwed to work" South.
In Michigan my Trump Stooge Rep John Moolanaar is fighting a proposed battery factory because it will be owned by a Chinese based company. Every form of xenophobia is being used to inflame the population who’s only form of news comes from Rupert Murdoch
GOP Sabotage
Youngkin turned down that plant in Virginia for the same reason. So short sighted in their performative posturing.
They act like Foreign investment should be illegal
Why not ban all Chinese imports then?
They crow “buy American” but shop at Walmart. Hypocrisy rules.
I recall reading the Walmart was selling TV's emblazoned by the words "Made in America". The finished TV assembly was apparently shipped from China with a circuit board that when slipped into a slot in the TV made it operational. Having American workers do the slipping apparently was sufficient legal qualification to call it "American made". Who makes those rules for whom?
It seems to me that it all boils down to who has enough money to shape the economy. Companies that were the leading American brands prior to the "Reagan Revolution" has been hoovered into a handful of conglomerate's, and passed around like poker chips on the tables of the hyper-wealthy. Stellantis (which includes Chrysler) one example. The nationality of the company, in and of itself is less the issue. Much of the labor for many major American companies is off shored, and some of the foreign owned employers hire Americans. The question is whether "we the people" get to set the ground rules for commerce in our own society or whether commerce and much of law is controlled by those with the most money, foreign or domestic? The latter is not democracy. Who has gained and who suffers due to the decline of anti-trust?
Exactly JL, and the money is not just rebelling, they've turned outright subversive, sneaky, and seditionistic, believing they can put Humpty Dumpty back together again with their divine and monetary powers - even greater than 'all the kings men.'
Hey! My state resembles that remark! "Race to the bottom," indeed.
That's a starting point to a correct conclusion based on what one see's in the media TC; but there's much more. So much more.
I agree, I grew up in a union town and watched as ADM broke the union at one of the largest corn processing plants in the country......lots of people lost their jobs because the union refused to negotiate a settlement, even though the workers were making more than at any other factory in town for doing less work. At the time, I couldn't understand it, but those were days when unions were getting too greedy and falling out of favor for demanding outrageous wages and benefits. Now the only union factories in that town are worker owned.
Also, it's troubling that the UAW president is so anti Biden about electric cars. There is nothing stopping battery manufacturers from organizing in the future, and much like coal, the internal combustion engine is on the way out. On a related note, at least he sees through Trump's obvious grovelling for union voters. People are starting to see that Trump is a total scum bag and they are tired of his whiney rhetoric.
Wish it were so in Texas
Bob, there are more reasons and reasoning behind the print and broadcast snippets that are commercially noted by media. Please know and accept that broadcast and print have been doing a hatchet job on all unions for decades now. They and he, are not totally anti electric auto's, not by a long shot; there's more to the whole story than you know. I can say all this because I have the very most insider track.
How about cease with the teasing and spill some of this “inside track” information so the rest of us “uneducated” folks can be enlightened. I, for one, definitely want to learn the truth, while truth, and nothing but the truth. Especially from such an “inside track” petsin such as yourself.
Most folks here are highly educated, some with, some without walls of diplomas Daniel. I know that for certainty. More importantly to me, the majority of the folks in this community are very reflective, humble, honest, and open minded. I regret that it would seem to you that I 'poked the bear,' but only that it upset you, quite obviously. As far as any condition that proof is some requirement, you'll have to learn for yourself; This forum is 'not private'. Trolls with ill intent follow this forum. I wish you peace DC.
Actually, D4N, every once in a while I need someone to ‘poke the bear’ as you say. I have a notebook full of diplomas, and even a college criminal justice degree. A lot of gif all that training, and education does me now.
And, for the record, I didn’t get upset. What you told was the truth, just as I spoke. I only write my “Thoughts and Opinions”, and what I truly to perceive or believe is the truth. I will say, since I’m lying in a damn bed 95% of my day, I spend a hell of a lot of time researching. But, we both know in the internet of today, how that works. As you pointed out, the media has a bad habit. Not telling everything “truthfully” as it should’ve been told.
ADM is one of our oligarchic organizations so far as I am aware. I have observed unions taking what I view and short sighted power game positions, but I don't know what the the long view looked like in the case you mention. I'm pretty sure ADM was doing no favors. I have heard Republicans whip up anti-union fervor by pointing out that they enjoy advantages the non-union employees are not receiving, and that seems to have been an winning argument since it is frowned on to ask why other workers should not enjoy the same protections. Who says that it is "natural" for full time workers to have to struggle to survive?
J. L. I fully agree either way everything you have said here.
What I’m having a problem understanding is that a truck identical to the one I purchased in 2019 for $32,000 will now cost me over $50,000.
This is no cut to the unions, but to the billionaire sitting on the top floor of that corporate office behind the big desk that is getting $29 million or more a year in salary plus a substantial bonus at the end of the year. That’s where my problem with all of this lies.
We all know that when the auto companies give the unions what they want, and they will, the into people it will hurt is us, the people. I hate saying this but it’s the same in every business, no matter what. “Shit flows downhill.” And this will flow downhill to the prices if these vehicles will skyrocket again. I wish the unions would think of the consumer in their negotiations. The V people at the top of these companies don’t need to be making more than the President of the United States!
"I wish the unions would think of the consumer in their negotiations. The V people at the top of these companies don’t need to be making more than the President of the United States!"
I agree that unions would be wise to go to far greater effort to encourage the public to take their side. And yes, a living wage will increase the cost of doing business for many businesses. It will also increase the pool of customers with money to spend, with is the actual drive of a market and thus employment in it's service. It is also a major factor in inflation, but by no means the only one, no matter what the Fed seems to think. I was a young adult with little to spend in the "hyper-inflation" of the 1970S, and from what I can tell, I have never seen so many crazy price jumps as now; at least for the stuff I buy. HCR notes that while "Barra, for example, makes 362 times the median GM employee’s paycheck, ... autoworkers’ pay has fallen behind inflation by 19%.", CEO pay by itself not enough to drive inflation but a symptom of something more systemic. Biden speaks of corporate "record profits"; so where are those "record profits" coming from? Was the American economy unworkable when auto industry unions were strong? Did unions force the American auto industry to retract, or was it corporate laziness; the "milk" the "cash cow" until it was almost dry approach? Are American workers pouring trillions into dodgy offshore tax shelters or is it someone else? Follow the money.
Precisely accurate and on point JL. There is far more to the whole story. See my comments to some others above, if you will. ↑
As you unglamorously point out, 'stinky' stuff flows downhill.' What you and other armchair economists 'fail' to point out, is that the sh_t flows downhill absent and despite the "thoughtless (?)" selfish union effect. Imports caught on to the 'fact' that American consumers are ignorant fools and will pay whatever the market will bear and have charged and grossly profited, owing to among other factors, lopsided money exchange rates. The UAW has always historically been linked in conscience with their respective companies And their consumer customers - and that's a historic, well documented truth, whether 'you' and any other 'self - centered' consumers believe it or not. You and 'they' are also ignorant to the 'fact' that the broadcast media have for decades done a 'hatchet job' about the autoworkers, citing exceptions that are eye grabbing and sensational, yet far from short on truths and documented history.
I do s as colonize for being an old “self-centered” man. I’ll try to do better in the future, if that’s okay with you.
I apologize for my harshness and personalization Daniel. I have a flaw or two.
Not a pro blame, D4N. I, too, have that same problem. I got mine from my years dealing with dirtbags both on the streets and while working Close Management Units in the state prison system.
My wife and step-children often reminded me of my hard-hearted attitude, and how it needed to change.
also important to note that in states that have "right to work" laws, not everyone is forced to pay union dues even though their jobs may be covered under union contracts. On one hand, I think this is not a bad thing, since struggling families shouldn't have to forgo some of their income to become members of the union. On the other, the union is not obligated to help them if their situation calls for intervention. And of course, this creates some animosity on either side. I still am inclined to support unions, maybe because most "right to work" laws are touted by conservative governors to gaslight constituents into thinking the unions are their worst enemy, when the opposite is usually true.
In this ↑ you are correct Bob. The whole of it and much of what's really going on behind the curtains today, is the business class demanding the yoke or leash of laws and unions go away. Union and regulating law shedding is a fundamental behind most of our American conflicts today and for the past 20 or 30 years; but lately, with allies they've committed to all out warfare - with a take no prisoners, by any means justify the end mentality, and as we've seen, actions. "They" believe to their core that "they" are the 'exceptional Americans' - and that exceptionalism applies 'only' to them - not we serfs.
Clarence Thomas has been groomed by his wife, Leonard Leo and a series of billionaires to see himself as not only one of them but also their protector. He internalized a belief that he was a victim of progressives that fought his nomination to the highest court in the country.
With the exception of his wife, these were not life-long friends. For them, the association was transactional with an individual willing to sell out average Americans. They treated him as a club member with all the trappings, buying his loyalty with gifts so extreme as to shock common sense. He returned the favor with steadfast support and protection of their privilege.
A man who is dogmatic in his unwillingness to change has signaled that he will flip on maintaining the Chevron Decision that preserves regulatory control over commerce. He’s also likely to protect ultra wealth from taxation that would rollback the ever increasing wealth gap that has steadily climbed since Nixon and Reagan.
Thomas and Alito see themselves as unaccountable to anyone, misconstruing lifetime appointments to mean duty and care is whatever they personally decide it is.
Trump stained the Executive Branch with narcissistic authoritarianism and by reaching out to extremists.
Gingrich, the Freedom Caucus and gerrymandering has made a mockery of legislative democracy.
Thomas, Alito and McConnell’s capitulation to billionaires (acting through The Federalist Society) has perverted the Supreme Court.
Constitutional democracy is in peril.
Every word true, reflective, predictive and a mirror as well as a window. Traitors to democracy
Don'tcha' know Paul, that Amurican "exceptionalism" belongs to only one caste of folks in 'their' country ? You, I, and any others who's 'disposable income' is below a certain level, are only 'cannon fodder' and 'property tenders' for the eventual or actual owners. All else 'we want' to dream and believe, is totally fabricated myth and blind aspirational hope. The vast majority of Americans are nothing more than wishful dreamers; The right wing faithful have been enlightened by 'our masters' of the truths that it's "those who own all the gold, really actually make all the rules." They've been assured that if they follow them (the 'masters') that they will be rewarded; both in this life and the next. I state facts herein, and not conjecture. I've followed these 'cats' for a very long time.
I basically agree. I think that badly tattered and corrupted infrastructure protecting liberty and justice is present and delivering to some degree, but that is under threat. Modern Republicans are flirting with totalitarianism. Drawing reasonable boundaries around the power of concentrated money is crucial to avoiding that fate, let alone an uninhabitable climate. We made progress on that in the past, but like climate, it has to be a sustained and motivating focus.
L'Affair Menendez, a Democratic senator, and spouse, investigated and then indicted by the DOJ of a Democratic administration, does indeed evaporate the GOP complaint of a weaponized government agency aimed at Republicans.
"We go after law-breakers. Period." to paraphrase Merrick Garland. It's just that there are so many more Republican law-breakers these days. Many of them lawyers!
Weird, huh?
Has been true for all of my long life. The stats are shocking.
Well, you know, the rules are for little people. And Democrats, of course.
Senator Menedez and his new wife are crooks and deserve to be indicted, but as with every last one of the indicted Republicans, they are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
What I don't understand is how the "gifts" (disclosed and undisclosed) Clarence Thomas and his wife received over the past 20 years are not crimes. They are clearly bribes.
And why did the DOJ choose not to indict Senator Ron Johnson for conspiracy to obstruct justice when he was caught handing off a list of alternates. And Lindsay, for obstruction and racketeering and also Matt Gaetz for pedophilia.
It is no secret Senator Rick Scott defrauded Medicare and Medicaid and paid a relatively small fine in comparison to the money he stole. But he was tried and cut a deal. And ever since then he has used his dirty money to buy the governorship of FL and the US Senate seat.
Something is rotten in Denmark......
Something is rotten in the USA; we are all buried in the Schitt piled high and deep.
OVERLORDS VS UNIONS & WORKING STIFFS
I have had a half-century working life from joining the Air Force in 1963 to retiring from my last job in 2015, which was my longest lasting job of 15 years. All the others were disparate and lasted five years at most with some of only a year or two. In my mid 60s Social Security sent me lists of my taxable income for a lifetime and at the end in 2015, the total was a mere $665K. Not even a notable bonus for wealthy executive overlords.
However, I've had a good life, supported myself & sometimes others in my meager lifestyle, traveled a lot in the U.S., Centro America, Europe & Middle East as far as India. I could only retire when my sister & I split a half-million dollar inheritance due to our father dabbling in the stock market in the 1960s. I'm still nursing that and hope it lasts longer than me, as my monthly rent is now my entire Social Security check.
Just a reflection that after a couple thousand years of Western Civilization, with illusions of Democracy and Equality, we still have a Royalty Class that lives above the law and hoards the Wealth, while most are Serfs who toil for a pittance.
And, I still can't understand how my dad, an electrician, blue-collar worker, Union Man all his life idolized Ronald Reagan to the point that it was the only time I yelled at him while traveling together in his pickup truck in the late 1980s.
So many were bamboozled by Reagan. I never could figure it out. And I never could figure out why no one acknowledged he was in early dementia by 1980! Well. . . KKKoch money and planning were in play at that time. Money talks. And Money buys avenues for spreading weaponized propaganda. Reagan was the first one to openly use divisive language and gaslight issues with “here we go again.”