"Roosevelt would have agreed in today's world that 'Right-to-Work' is un-American"
We Party Patriots
Posted January 2, 2012
Ruth Needleman has penned a piece for the Post-Tribune opposing “Right-to-Work” in which she describes the contentious legislation not only in terms of infringing upon unionism, but on democracy itself.

Needleman references President Teddy Roosevelt for historical context:

Teddy Roosevelt realized back in 1910 that he had to increase government regulation to get money out of politics. He upheld “the general welfare” against “corporate greed,” because of the latter’s destructive impact on a nation’s democratic life. Further along in his speech, he, too, linked citizenship with a decent standard of living. “No man (or woman) can be a good citizen unless he has a wage more than sufficient to cover the bare cost of living, and hours of labor short enough so that after … a day’s work, he will have time and energy to bear his share in the management of community.”

Right-to-work looks to lower wages, eliminate unions, and give “freedom” to robber barons to bring back sweatshops.

The degree of unionization in a country is a reflection of how far a society has come in establishing democracy. It took more than a century of struggle to force companies to recognize organized workers and negotiate with them. Before unions, workers referred to themselves as “wage slaves.” Anything that restricts voting rights, free public education, or unions is anti-democratic, because in the long run, it will restrict opportunities for meaningful participation in society. Nothing will be for the people unless it is of and by the people. Roosevelt would have agreed in today’s world that “right-to-work” is un-American.

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REPORT: The Republican Candidates' Economic Agenda For The 1 Percent
Think Progress
Posted January 2, 2012
This Tuesday, Iowans will officially kick off the process to nominate the Republican candidate for president.  A close examination of all of the GOP candidates’ records and policy positions reveals that Mitt Romney is not the only candidate who “represents the one percent.” All of the Republican candidates share at least one thing in common: an economic agenda that will benefit the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans at the expense of the other 99 percent.

Each and every Republican candidate has called for trillions of dollars in new tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and corporations — all while calling for ending Medicare as we know it and dramatic cuts to Social Security, Medicaid, and countless other programs and services that Americans depend on each day.

All of the candidates would take us back to the Bush-era policies that increased income inequality, resulted in the worst job growth in decades, exploded the deficit and national debt, and ultimately crashed the economy.  Indeed, the policies proposed by the candidates would not only embrace this failed economic agenda, they would take it even further.
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America's top export in 2011 was ... fuel?
The Washington Post
Posted January 2, 2012
Fuel is now the top U.S. export. The Associated Press reports that America is on pace to ship out more gasoline, diesel and jet fuel than anything else in 2011. (Aircraft, motor vehicles, vacuum tubes and telecom equipment were next on the list of top exports.) Granted, this is only for refined petroleum products — and those exports are still dwarfed by America's much, much larger imports of crude oil. Still, it's the first time fuel has been our top export in 21 years. So how did this happen?
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Big Coal's Bidding
Editorial, The New York Times
Posted January 2, 2012
It is a national disgrace that the strongest supporters of tougher mine safety concede that it will likely take another disaster before lawmakers will be willing to buck Big Coal and pass desperately needed safety legislation. "This is out of mind until another explosion takes place," Representative George Miller, a California Democrat and sponsor of reform legislation, grimly predicted.

Republicans in both houses have led the way in stymieing worthy bills that address the many dangers and regulatory failings laid bare in the Upper Big Branch explosion that killed 29 miners in April 2010. Chief among them is the need for stronger fines for operators that violate safety rules or block safety monitoring — and a clear path for federal regulators to close the mines of serial offenders. Investigators need subpoena power. And whistle-blowers need protections against company intimidation.
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As Big Bank Stocks Plunge, CEOs Continue To Reap Huge Salaries
Think Progress
Posted January 2, 2012
Wall Street Pit’s Ron Haruni points out that as the banking industry’s stocks plunged this year — with major megabanks like Bank of America facing uncertain fates — their executives have walked away with sky-high salaries.

Haruni cites the work of Rochdale Securities analyst Dick Bove and shows how banks have seen their value and stocks plunge by double-digits while executive compensation remains high:

According to data from Rochdale Securities analyst Dick Bove, the heads of major banking groups including JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Bank of America (BAC) are out-earning their employees and shareholders even as shares of bank stocks as a group lost about 26% this year.

Bove found that while the 23 financial institutions he follows saw their stock prices and market cap drop by more than 30% and 11%, respectively, bank CEO compensation averaged $7.74 million. That means the banking heads brought in 50 to 100 times the average worker. Take BofA’s CEO Brian Moynihan who will earn $2.26 million this year while his bank’s market value dropped 60% – the worst in Rochdale’s study.

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Where the Real Jobs Are
The New York Times
Posted January 2, 2012
The Republicans believe they have President Obama in a box: either he approves a controversial Canadian oil pipeline or they accuse him of depriving the nation of jobs. Mr. Obama can and should push back hard.

This is precisely the moment for him to argue the case for alternative fuel sources and clean energy jobs — and to lambaste the Republicans for doubling down on conventional fuels while ceding a $5 trillion global clean technology market (and the jobs that go with it) to more aggressive competitors like China and Germany.
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Mitt Romney's new antagonists: His layoff victims
The Washington Post
Posted January 2, 2012
In Iowa yesterday, the Democratic National Committee held an event featuring testimony from a man who was laid off from a company that was restructured by Bain Capital on Mitt Romney’s watch.

“I really feel he didn’t care about the workers there,” said the worker, Randy Johnson, who was fired from American Pad and Paper even as investors raked in huge profits from the arrangement. “It was all about profit before people.”

Here’s what’s key to understand: This is only the first of many such workers we’ll likely hear from as the campaign unfolds.
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Iowa officials brace for Occupy protests
Politico
Posted January 2, 2012
Republicans across Iowa are bracing for trouble on Tuesday, concerned that caucus sites will be the next stop for the Occupy protesters who've staged demonstrations and disruptions at election events across the state.

Occupy leaders say they're not planning to interfere with the voting, though they expect actions leading up the vote at candidates' headquarters and afterward at victory parties. But even if 99 percent of the 99 percenters comply, the prospect of scattered protesters inciting confrontations with Republican voters has people from both camps on edge.
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China and India Really Are Cheap Labor in Manufacturing
Economic Populist
Posted January 2, 2012
Everybody has heard the reason manufacturing goes to China and services jobs are offshore outsourced to India is cheap labor. Well, there appears to be more than a grain of truth to this claim. The BLS maintains an international labor comparison statistics site. Manufacturing labor costs in China and India are 4% of the United States for 2009.

[to see the charts, click the link below!]

At the same time though, European labor costs are much more than the United States and one of the reasons Germany's economy is so strong, is their exports and manufacturing sector. Germany clearly has bucked the trend, yet the below percent change for 2009-2010 in manufacturing unit labor costs graph, shows other nations are lowering wages. The great labor arbitrage race to the bottom looks full on.
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The $18 Trillion Threat Of The Unregulated Shadow Banking System
Forbes
Posted January 2, 2012
My favorite bond guru, Robert Smith of Smith Capital, has been pounding on me for many months about the risks attendant with the weak underbelly of American finance — the shadow banking system of unregulated hedge funds, money market mutual funds, family investment offices, sovereign wealth funds, exchange traded funds(ETFs) and the dealers involved in the very murky business of finding and lending securities as collateral for leveraged finance.

When you add together the assets in hedge funds, ETFs, money market mutual funds, sovereign wealth funds and family investment offices(think Soros) the total amount of assets that are subject to oversight and regulation appears to be $18 trillion, down from $25 trillion before the 2008 meltdown. This money is what we call "the shadow banking system." And is where the most "games" are being played using other people's money.
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Indiana caps union protests before they start
The Maddow Blog
Posted January 2, 2012
The Indiana Legislature will consider a bill in the new year that would effectively ban union shops and force unions into a much weaker position for collective bargaining. With a wary eye on what happened in Wisconsin, Ohio and their own state this year, officials in Indiana have announced that they will limit the number of people who can be inside the state capitol building.

From the Indianapolis Star:

The Indiana State Police, Indiana Department of Homeland Security and Indiana State Fire Marshall's Office have decided to cap the number of people who can be inside the Statehouse building in Indianapolis at 3,000. That number includes the 1,700 employees who work at the building.

That leaves room for 1,300 people. Protests over a failed anti-union bill in 2011 drew as many as 8,000 people, the paper says. So much for that in 2012.

As one Indiana Republican told the Kokomo Perspective, the state needs to curb the power of the unions so it can lower wages and attract manufacturers. He had a hard time proving that the state had lost companies because of union wages.

From next door in Kentucky comes the story of companies -- including G.E., which owns a chunk of us -- finding that rising wages in China have made it attractive to bring manufacturing jobs back the States. To make themselves more attractive, unions have been agreeing to split-track wages, with the longer-term members keeping their comfortable pay and the newer ones pocketing much less.
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This is crony capitalism
LDS Geek
Posted January 2, 2012
Crony capitalism - a capitalist economy in which success in business depends on close relationships between business people and government officials.


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A Christmas Message From America's Rich
Rolling Stone
Posted January 2, 2012
It seems America’s bankers are tired of all the abuse. They’ve decided to speak out.

True, they’re doing it from behind the ropeline, in front of friendly crowds at industry conferences and country clubs, meaning they don’t have to look the rest of America in the eye when they call us all imbeciles and complain that they shouldn’t have to apologize for being so successful.

But while they haven’t yet deigned to talk to protesting America face to face, they are willing to scribble out some complaints on notes and send them downstairs on silver trays. Courtesy of a remarkable story by Max Abelson at Bloomberg, we now get to hear some of those choice comments.
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Worker Laid Off Under Bain Capital: Romney 'Didn't Care About The Workers,' Put 'Profit Over People'
Think Progress
Posted January 2, 2012
Speaking to reporters tonight in Des Moines, Iowa, a worker laid off by a company owned by Bain Capital accused former Bain Capital CEO and current Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney of being “out of touch” with the concerns of average Americans.  Randy Johnson and more than 250 of his fellow workers at a Marion, Indiana American Pad and Paper (AMPAD) facility lost their jobs after Bain decided to close the plant amid a labor dispute.  Johnson, who noted that he personally reached out to Romney during the labor dispute, said, “I really think [Romney] didn’t care about the workers. It was all about profit over people.”  In addition to the layoffs and eventual bankrupting of AMPAD, Bain Capital under Romney’s leadership drove several other firms into bankruptcy and caused thousands of layoffs.
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The Slush Funds of Iowa
Editorial, The New York Times
Posted January 2, 2012
Turning on the television in Iowa recently has meant getting hit by an unrelenting arctic blast of campaign ads stunning in volume and ferocity. Residents here say they have never seen anything like the constant negativity in decades of witnessing the quadrennial combat of the state presidential caucuses. The ads have transformed the Republican race for a simple reason: a new landscape of unlimited contributions to “independent” groups that was created by the Supreme Court.

To influence the small fraction of Iowa voters who will participate in Tuesday's caucuses, the candidates and their supporters will have spent $12.5 million, an unprecedented amount. Only a third of that was spent by the candidates themselves; the rest comes from the "super PACs" that most of the candidates have allowed to be established. These political action committees are essentially septic tanks into which wealthy individuals and corporations can drop unlimited amounts of money, which is then processed into ads that are theoretically made independently of the candidates.
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