New Game at Left of Centrist

Play Bush x 3 - a new game launched by Robert over at Left of Centrist. I played and feel better already! I'm having kind of a crappy day, but this game is sure to lift your spirits, well if your Left of Centrist that is.

A Hopeful Year for Unions!

From an editorial in The New York Times

By virtually every indicator, 2007 was a dismal year for American workers. Job growth slowed, unemployment jumped and wages lost what little ground they had gained against inflation since 2003. There is one sliver of good news: the percentage of American workers who belong to a union rose for the first time in three decades...

...There is little doubt that American workers need unions. Wages today are almost 10 percent lower than they were in 1973, after accounting for inflation. The share of national income devoted to workers’ wages and benefits is at its lowest since the late-1960s, while the share going to profits has surged. The decline in unionization has been a big part of the reason that workers have lost so much ground...

...the uptick offers hope that the renewed emphasis on organizing workers by some of the nation’s largest unions — like the service employees’ union, the Teamsters and others that split off from the A.F.L.-C.I.O. to form the Change to Win coalition — might start paying dividends despite the difficult odds.

A bill that would have made it easier for unions to organize workers died in the Senate last June. Congress should take up this issue again to stop companies from using threats and other aggressive tactics to keep organized labor out, and to help win workers their rightful share of the economic pie.

View full article here.

I constantly wonder where the public and our country's labor force's outrage is when CEOs consistently walk away with such a higher percentage of the profits than do the labor force. I completely agree with analysts when they attribute this to union busting and the decline in union membership. Another contributing factor is how our country's CEOs have been transformed from the bosses into media icons. They are praised rather than criticized for their high incomes and their lavish lifestyles. We have been "convinced" that the outright disparities between the workers and the bosses is okay.

As noted by economist, teacher and author Paul Krugman whose most recent book, The Conscience of a Liberal, "the percentage of workers in unions declined from a high of 35 percent in the mid-1950s to today’s level of 12 percent. As a result, the United States has 'lost something that’s essential to maintain a decent society.' Krugman attributes the nation’s worsening economic inequality in large part to declining unionization and the erosion of legal protection of workers’ freedom to choose unions and bargain...
...Krugman explained that when a high percentage of workers are in unions and workers’ freedom to choose unions is protected, there is an “umbrella” effect in which all workers, union and nonunion, benefit."

Hey Hey Nancy!

Here's a new video from Robert Rouse over at Left of Centrist. I think this is his best video to date that I've seen. The interaction between Robert's "personalities" is awesome! Too funny man! And yet, very serious!

Thank You Iowa!

Way to go Iowa! Thank you! Do I dare to believe? Let's go New Hampshire!

The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman

I've been reading a lot lately. Books that is, not blogs. Our computer is housed in our sun room which is a bit chilly this time of year, especially in the evenings and when I'm at the bookstore, I've actually been working. Imagine that! Both scenarios have left me with very little time to spend leisurely perusing the blogosphere or making many posts of my own.

The book I just finished is The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman and I think it is one of the single most important books I have read in years. If you believe our country needs a Universal Health Care system, read this book! Or if you often wonder why the economy seems to go to the dogs when our friendly conservatives are in office, read this book! Krugman is an economist and so some parts of it are a bit dry. I even flashed back to my Econ 101 college days every now and then whilst reading and remembered how I'd have rather jammed toothpicks underneath my fingernails than read my Econ text.

This book fortunately did not create such urges, I think mainly because Krugman weaves within his text, topics besides economics including politics, unions, race and comparing and contrasting our system with those of Canada, France, Germany and Britain to support his arguments. The parts of the book which focus on the role of unions during the last 100 years of our country and it's economy was particularly interesting to me as my dad was a union steward during his life and I am a supporter of unions. Perhaps I'll go more into that aspect of the book in a later post.

So for those of you who just can't get enough Paul Krugman in your life, which will most decidely be the case after you have read the book, he has a blog through the New York Times! So yes, try and hold back your glee as I have had to... You can connect with this man's thoughts daily. Sigh! Sob! Life would be so terribly dreadful without the internet. Wouldn't it? I can't believe I lived through the first five-sixths of my life without it.

The Campaign to Protect Children's Nutrition

Corporate profiteers and their backers in Congress want to privatize Food Stamp eligibility determination, which means auctioning off nutrition for needy children, the elderly and disabled to corporate bidding.

Food Stamp privatization results in multibillion dollar contracts for big corporations like IBM, MAXIMUS, Accenture and others. But for millions of needy children, elderly and disabled Americans, it means their next meal could depend on the whims profit-seeking CEOs, not professional, experienced caseworkers whose only motivation is to help those in need.

In July 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives voted for language in the Farm Bill that prevents the Administration from allowing states to bypass the existing prohibition that prevents companies from taking over the process of deciding who is eligible for Food Stamps. Now the Senate must act.

The Food Stamp program has its origins in the 1940s, as many American families struggled to put food on the table due to harsh economic conditions. Enacted into law in the 1960s, the modern Food Stamp program now enables as many as 26 million Americans each month to afford the nutritious food they need for good health.

To guard against corruption, federal law required that only qualified, merit-based civil service employees would determine who was eligible for Food Stamps. But in the mid-1990s, major corporations began lobbying for huge state contracts to take over most of the eligibility determination process for Food Stamp, Medicaid and other public welfare programs.

These efforts failed miserably in Texas. And despite the Texas disaster, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels seems determined to force his State down the same road. So to protect accountability and the integrity of the Food Stamp program, a coalition of anti-poverty, anti-hunger, women’s, children’s and labor groups created the Campaign to Protect Children’s Nutrition.

The campaign won a provision in the 2007 Farm Bill that bars the administration from allowing states to auction off nutrition for needy Americans to corporations. The House approved the language in August and the Senate will act soon. But big corporations are now doing all they can to strip the Farm Bill of the anti-privatization provisions.

Make your voice heard on this matter and protect those in our country who are greatly in need of the Food Stamp program. Head to www.needovergreed.org and sign the petition. Call or e-mail your congress people. If enough of us speak out, I believe we will be heard.

Hat tip: Left in Aboite
Thanks John for the post!