Posted on March 3, 2012 by Lou
Take two minutes to watch this quick exchange between a reporter from The Daily Caller – Tucker Carlson’s popular and provocative conservative website – and Rich Trumka. The AFL-CIO prez matter-of-factly and convincingly links the decline in union density with economic malaise and affirms union membership as a civil right. Though the Daily Caller showcased [...]
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Posted on February 29, 2012 by Lou
Now that Mitt is back on top, what could he do to clear the path to the convention? Why not buy off his pesky primary challengers with promises of future jobs in a Romney Presidency? Here’s what that could look like: Rick Santorum – Health and Human Services Secretary While working diligently to dismantle “Obamacare,” [...]
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Posted on February 25, 2012 by Lou
Expect tens of thousands of Southern Californians to remove their bookmark from the online edition of the Los Angles Times when it imposes its paywall next month, further diminishing the reach and influence of this once important publication. With the skimpy print edition of the paper bleeding circulation, the barely-adequate website at least gave interested [...]
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Posted on February 22, 2012 by Lou
Moving to Los Angele more than 30 years ago, I recognized that I’d come to a very unsettled region. Not just because of seismic activity (which I would experience first-hand the following decade when my family was forced to vacate our Northridge Earthquake-damaged apartment just north of the Santa Monica Freeway bridge collapse). But – [...]
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Posted on February 19, 2012 by Lou
What was more repulsive and contemptible than when establishment republicans were fueling the “birther” issue: Exploiting paranoid suspicions among vulnerable segments of the population. Insinuating that the President is un-American. Now they’re seething over Obama’s birth control policies. And back to stoking doubts about the president’s Christianity. Democrats believe we’re finally in the driver’s seat. [...]
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Posted on February 16, 2012 by Lou
Did you know that American unions are planning to “ambush” employers throughout the land? “…[S]tifling employer free speech and worker free choice.” That’s how the republican-controlled House Education and Workforce Committee officially describes a modest rule change by the National Labor Relations Board [NLRB] to allow certification elections within ten days. Of course, what the [...]
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Posted on February 15, 2012 by Lou
Senator Orrin Hatch – who fought and foiled liberals for 36 years – is on the tea party hit list. Republican ultra-conservatives – busy stopping Romney’s nomination – are determined to purge “big government barnacles” like Hatch. Also targeted in an upcoming state primary is Indiana’s Dick Lugar. These attacks by “ultras” on incumbents push [...]
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Posted on February 10, 2012 by Lou
James Fallows – a disciplined and experienced political observer – assesses the Obama presidency in the March issue of Atlantic. Although the piece is long and repetitive, he makes important points about the president’s character and performance. Here’s the link and highlights (the cover graphic pictured here is from a previous issue of the magazine): [...]
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Posted on February 8, 2012 by Lou
Making sure the labor movement never regains real power in America, republicans in congress and the states do everything possible to prevent unions from organizing, bargaining and collecting dues. Republican governors make undermining government worker unions their top priority. So even if conservatives hold statehouse majorities for only a couple of terms, they leave office [...]
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Posted on February 4, 2012 by Lou
Even conservatives desperate to beat Obama may now be concluding that Romney is no more “electable” than his primary opponents or a brokered convention nominee. Mitt’s thickheaded comment on the “very poor” appalled right wing pundits like Andrew C. McCarthy: While arming the Left with a luscious sound bite with which to caricature him as [...]
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Posted on February 1, 2012 by Lou
It’s an imperfect analogy. Ralph Nader’s third party candidacy in 2000 may have cost Al Gore the election. But it wasn’t a primary fight and Ralph was not pummeling Al everyday. Newt’s relentless assault on Mitt may land Barack Obama a second term. And history may blame Gingrich for doing the democrats’ dirty work. Though [...]
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Posted on January 31, 2012 by Lou
Occupy Wall Street protests across the country were pivotal in making economic inequality a national issue. But since the sites were cleared out a few months ago, activists who claim to represent OWS in its present form haven’t added very much to the pubic discussion. Though it’s hard to sort through who did what, the [...]
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Posted on January 29, 2012 by Lou
You won’t find out everything about me by reading laborlou.com. I almost never mention friends and family by name. Or talk too much about my work. But it’s not hard, for example, to guess my age. Especially when I write about the roots of my pragmatic progressivism: How the “new left” blew it when we deserted Humphrey in ’68 and handed the [...]
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Posted on January 26, 2012 by Lou
Want a high-paying job fighting mortgage bankers and credit card companies? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau [CFPB] may just what you’re looking for. The start-up federal agency is up and running with its new director – Rich Cordray – firmly in charge. The former Ohio Attorney General recently received a one-year recess appointment from President [...]
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Posted on January 23, 2012 by Lou
If you want to see how much trouble republicans are in, scan any of these current articles in the conservative Weekly Standard: What Mitt Must Learn from South Carolina Newt Gingrich and the Politics of Frustration Florida Poll: Gingrich 34, Romney 26 Conservative “thought leaders” don’t want to look like they’re panicking, but they already [...]
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Posted on January 16, 2012 by Lou
Republican success in the 2012 election depends on a miserable economy and they must be ticked off that their business allies are beginning to hire. Because a one or two percent drop in unemployment could help the democrats keep the white house and senate. Employers, of course, are just responding to business conditions by adding [...]
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