Posted on February 8, 2013 by Lou
A devastating terrorist attack against the U.S. during Obama’s first term could have destroyed his presidency and opened the door to a victory by the hard right. I want this president to have the option to target suicide bombers who plot to blow up planes, buses and buildings. Of course, the national security state is [...]
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Posted on February 6, 2013 by Lou
Though this might sound like a “cold war liberal” defending CIA-led coups and military interventions, I support President Obama’s drone attacks. And I admit that I’m a hypocrite. If a republican administration were executing these practices, I’d probably join the chorus to condemn them as unconstitutional, authoritarian or worse. But I trust this president’s judgment [...]
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Posted on February 1, 2013 by Lou
Ninety percent of white voters in Mississippi opposed Barack Obama in the last election. I was thinking about that when I read Chris Hedges piece about what he calls the “rise of neo-confederate ideology in the south.” A strident critic of American institutions, Hedges is inclined to demonize the “liberal class” – including our president [...]
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Posted on January 25, 2013 by Lou
Ask Los Angeles Times reporter Alana Semuels why union membership in California rose by 100,000 in 2012 and she’ll give you a simple answer: “Latino workers.” To explain the contrast between the trend in California and the U.S. as a whole – where union membership dropped last year by 400,000 – Semuels turned to some [...]
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Posted on January 11, 2013 by Lou
Expect scuffles between Jerry Brown and legislative democrats over the governor’s budget blueprint. California’s social services have certainly been cut to the bone during the recession. But Brown’s proposal for a balanced budget is a remarkable and critically important achievement which sends a message to the rest of the country: That the bluest of all [...]
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Posted on January 5, 2013 by Lou
California’s second largest city has a progressive mayor, former Democratic U.S. House member Bob Filner who beat his Republican rival by three points in November. The 70-year old Filner spent 20 years in Congress. A reliable and articulate liberal – with high marks on his AFL-CIO, ADA and Sierra Club scorecards – he’s a founding [...]
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Posted on January 4, 2013 by Lou
I’ve decided to resist criticizing Barack Obama until after the inauguration and state-of-the-union. Even then, I’m not sure how strident I’ll be complaining about the president’s tendency to fold too soon or trade away his leverage or reward bad behavior by his opponents. Sure, the details of the fiscal cliff deal are a little hard [...]
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Posted on December 21, 2012 by Lou
To be posted in about laborlou.com Laborlou.com began in 2009 as commentary on the Obama Presidency and then became more open-ended. This past year I posted several autobiographical narratives. Writing about my past helped me cope with the emotional stress of the 2012 election. If the Obama Era had come to an end, I might [...]
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Posted on December 12, 2012 by Lou
1) Obama Stuffs Republicans Once Again, President Outsmarts Opponents 2) Wages Rise as Unemployment Drops Workers Make Gains After Decades of Decline 3) Elizabeth Warren – Superstar Senator Progressive Populist Considers White House Bid 4) Momentum Builds for Sarah Palin GOP Base May Have Found Hero 5) Supremes Bless Gay [...]
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Posted on November 30, 2012 by Lou
Jumping off the fiscal cliff Will cause a panic only if Financial markets big and small React as if they hit a wall Otherwise I think it prudent For anyone who is a student Of politics the way it works To just relax and let the jerks Protect those tax cuts for the rich [...]
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Posted on November 27, 2012 by Lou
The year my daughter was born, SEIU Local 399 in Los Angeles had a high-profile contract dispute with Kaiser Permanente, the giant HMO. Dispatched from Washington D.C. to help the L.A. local were some of SEIU’s best and brightest organizers and strategists. It was 1993, two years before SEIU President John Sweeney would lead a [...]
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Posted on November 9, 2012 by Lou
I’m thrilled Barack Obama was re-elected but I’m worried that he won’t deliver. He begins “fiscal cliff” negotiations with House Republicans by asking the “wealthiest Americans to pay a little more in taxes.” I’m already annoyed. Why use the word “little”? If we want a small increase, shouldn’t we start by demanding a medium-sized one and [...]
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Posted on November 3, 2012 by Lou
I don’t want to jinx the outcome but, every day, Barack Obama’s re-election becomes more likely. Also breaking our way are our chances of holding onto the Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate. In California, two ballot measures will determine whether we’ve really succeeded in warding off right-wing attacks. By defeating the deceptive and egregiously [...]
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Posted on November 1, 2012 by Lou
A member of the American Federation of Teachers [AFT] since 1989 when I taught my first class for the L.A. Trade Tech Labor Center, I grab every chance I can to talk about the New York local of that union and its former leader Albert Shanker. I was in high school in Brooklyn when Shanker [...]
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Posted on October 29, 2012 by Lou
Barack Obama appears to be holding a narrow lead as election-day nears. That, according to the New York Times Five Thirty Eight, upgrades his “chance of winning” to nearly 75 percent. See Nate Silver’s recent analysis.
Continue ReadingPosted on October 25, 2012 by Lou
If you’re waking at 3:00 a.m. with night sweats thinking about a Romney Administration, here’s some news which might help get you through the weekend.
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