August 2003 Page

August 31, 2003
  • The Next Seattle-style Protest - Mark your calendars for Nov. 21-22. That's when it looks like the global justice protests will revive and converge on... MORE...

    August 30, 2003
  • Why California is Just Fine - A couple of conservative bloggers (here and here) are citing my article from last year, California: Where Democrats Can Be... MORE...
  • Will Arnie Disown U.S. English? - (Thanks to Atrios for getting me going on this research). Want to know why the rightwing Wurlitzer is going after... MORE...
  • Young, Educated, and Jobless - in Turkey - Okay, if the educated and jobless in the United States want to get really scared, go look at this article... MORE...

    August 29, 2003
  • More on Lies by Fox - In the original Fox News story smearing Bustamante, the article stated: "At a July 4 celebration in 1996, members of... MORE...
  • GOP: Repudiate YAF - Where are the calls for Gubernatorial candidate Tom McClintock to repudiate his connections to the racist California Young Americans for... MORE...
  • Dean Walks the Line - Dean is courting labor in the smartest way possible-- joining the picket line of Yale University strikers. Labor increasingly doesn't... MORE...
  • Politics of the Minimum Wage - So here you have the minimum wage-- supported by 80% of the population and able to put tens of billions... MORE...
  • El Plan de Philadelphia - Apparently there is another racist group that harks back to a founding document that "excluded Indians" from its body and... MORE...

    August 28, 2003
  • Why Job Losses from Min Wage Don't Matter - When the minimum wage is discussed, conservatives suddenly discover an overwhelming compassion for the poorest Americans who they see victimized... MORE...
  • Faux News Smears Bustamante - FOXNews has jumped on the anti-MEChA bandwagon to smear Bustamante. Here you have conservatives saying that folks like Strom Thurmond... MORE...

    August 27, 2003
  • Yale on Strike - The staff at Yale University are on strike starting today. Go here for news on the strike and here for... MORE...
  • More Pro-Worker Ill. Laws - Governor Blagojevich of Illinois just signed into law another series of pro-worker legislation, such as whisteblower protection, paid leave for... MORE...
  • Who Pays for the Minimum Wage? - Whether the increased costs of the minimum wage are passed onto consumers or decrease business profits is as much disputed... MORE...
  • Right Hypes Minor Labor Scandals - Nothing highlights conservative propaganda more than their continual efforts to hype minor isolated union scandals in order to draw attention... MORE...

    August 26, 2003
  • How Minimum Wage Increases Employment - Here's the problem with the simplistic argument that minimum wage laws automatically cut jobs. It's based on Economics 101 for... MORE...

    August 25, 2003
  • Why is Tapped Rightwing on Immigration? - It saddens me tremendously that TAPPED today has made a post that rings of almost nativistic rightwing language, following up... MORE...
  • Perot Voters Ride Again - As manufacturing plants shut down in the face of global low-wage competition, a lot of former Bush voters are turning... MORE...
  • Popularity of Raising Min Wage to $8/hr - After the exchange with Matt on the merits of the EITC versus the minimum wage, along with my original post... MORE...

    August 24, 2003
  • Christianity: Religion of Peace? - It's always bizarre to hear commentators discussing "Islam" as a distinctly brutal religion compared to "Christianity" as if both had... MORE...
  • Better To Be White Felon Than Honest Black - Want to know why affirmative action and other more activist programs are necessary? Because hard-core racism is pervasive throughout the... MORE...

    August 23, 2003
  • Why Drug Corps Hate Drug Benefit - With the Feds talking about pumping hundreds of billions into drugs for the elderly, you'd think the drug companies would... MORE...
  • Why Minimum Wage Beats EITC - Matthew Yglesias thinks the minimum wage is only the second best alternative to the Earned Income Tax Credit and other... MORE...

    August 22, 2003
  • Illinois Raises Minimum Wage - IL Governor Blagojevich signed a bill raising the state's minimum wage to $6.50 per hour over the next sixteen months.... MORE...
  • Flood the Zone Friday - Courtesy of Ezra Klein, here are instructions on how to Flood the Zone with letters to the media using Bush's... MORE...
  • New Feature: Quick Hits - The new left column of my blog is a way for me to link to interesting blog posts or news... MORE...

    August 21, 2003
  • Save Money- Eliminate Health Insurers - The US spends $209 billion per year on useless health care paper work-- enough money to provide health care for... MORE...
  • Numbers Up, Real Economy Down - The Index of Leading Indicators seems to be pointing to a modest recovery, growing 0.4% in July for the fourth... MORE...
  • Broken Infrastructure-- Jobs for America - As this ABCNEWS.com story details, the decayed power distribution system behind the blackout is just part of the more general... MORE...

    August 20, 2003
  • Dean's Pro-Labor Promises - I finally watched Dean's performance at the AFL-CIO Exec Council and I was duly impressed. His proposals for labor law... MORE...
  • 1000 KY Autoworkers Join UAW Through Card Check - In tough antiunion territory, over 60% of Dana Corp. employees signed UAW cards and under a recently neutrality agreement negotiated... MORE...
  • Using Bush's Web Site Against Him - Okay Ezra Klein has a plan to use the "action tools" at Bush's new web site against him, flooding newspapers... MORE...
  • Bustamante and the Anti-MEChA Canard - As the rightwing guns for Cruz Bustamante, it was inevitable that they would use a racist attack on his membership... MORE...

    August 19, 2003
  • Trademark Amok - After the silliness of the Fox "Fair and Balanced" fight with Al Franken, you see an even more dangerous attack... MORE...

    August 18, 2003
  • Anti-Labor Utility Cause of Blackout? - Hardly surprising that anti-labor criminals also violate other laws protecting the public. Look at MCI. Look at Enron. And now... MORE...
  • Why This "Recovery" is So Unstable - The Wall Street Journal writes that the real dangerous thing about this "recovery" is that the mortgage bubble and Federal... MORE...

    August 16, 2003
  • Blackouts: I Told You So - As my power was finally restored late last night, I could take small spiteful comfort in feeling like a prophet... MORE...

    August 14, 2003
  • Attack by Right on Union Neutrality Agreements - The corporate-funded National Right to Work Foundation (often called the Right to Work for Less Foundation by labor activists) is... MORE...

    August 13, 2003
  • Brilliant Non-strike by Verizon Union - This Village Voice article outlines how Verizon is being outmaneuvered in its goals of undermining labor standards for its workers.... MORE...
  • US Families of Iraqi Dead Blast Bush - Military Families Speak Out and Veterans for Peace are staging a press conference blasting Bush live on C-Span at the... MORE...
  • Racism and Liberals - Barry Freed in comments captures a bit of why I am suspicious about folks reactions to my "whiff of racism"... MORE...
  • Why I Hate Zoning - Here is why zoning should be banned: Great Haven for Families, but Don't Bring Children-- although the economics driving this... MORE...
  • Yellowcake in Education Results - The lies told by Bush to sell the Iraq war are little different from the lies told to sell other... MORE...

    August 12, 2003
  • Left Radio Spreads - 115 radio stations nationwide are directly broadcasting radio shows produced by the United Auto Workers. For all the worry about... MORE...
  • Bringing California to New York - Mayor Bloomberg wants to change the ballot system in New York City to look like the upcoming California recall ballot--... MORE...

    August 11, 2003
  • Hit Pieces on Bustamante Start - For those that jumped on my rather gentle analysis of the problems with Arianna running, how about taking on this... MORE...
  • Illinois: Please Sue Us for Discrimination - In a series of cases, the Supreme Court has ruled that state governments could not be sued by their employees... MORE...

    August 10, 2003
  • Why Isn't Arianna Withdrawing? - I like Arianna but she should get out of the race. Not just because she indicated earlier that she would... MORE...

    August 09, 2003
  • Lies That Kill - A new internal report by the inspector general of the EPA says White House Told E.P.A. to Lie in... MORE...

    August 08, 2003
  • Why Won't Progressives Give Credit to Unions? - A range of unions, environmental, women's organizations and rich guys have created a broad umbrella organization to turn out the... MORE...

    August 07, 2003
  • Why Recall Will Improve California - Okay, this is like improvement in the form of cocaine, given the short-term framework, but the high could be long-lasting... MORE...
  • Good That Bustamante is In - Bustamante is in the race, and other Democrats should stay out. He was elected to replace Davis in case of... MORE...
  • Gentrification and Density - Larry Kastenbaum, as usual, has interesting comments on the housing thread of discussion, arguing: I'm in favor of legalizing higher... MORE...
  • More on Red "Welfare States" - AngryBear had crunched some numbers on previous Tax Foundation reports on this issue, and came up with this graph. The... MORE...

    August 06, 2003
  • The Recount Was Not the Florida Scandal - Let's be straight-- messing around with vote procedures in close elections was not invented in Florida in 2000. The Supreme... MORE...
  • More on Housing in NYC - More Than 100,000 Families Live In Illegal Housing in New York City-- new study shows that the lack of new... MORE...
  • Why Housing is So Expensive in NYC - When people complain about housing prices in New York City, many conservatives try to blame rent control, an odd villain... MORE...
  • IL Governor Signs Pro-Labor Laws - Governor Blagojevich signed 4 pro-labor bills yesterday, mostly aimed at easing organizing among public employees by eliminating delays in recognition... MORE...

    August 05, 2003
  • So Much for the Wonders of Privatization - Why are our troops suffering in such filth and discomfort over in Iraq? That's been an odd puzzle, since getting... MORE...
  • Firebombing, Not Napalming Iraqis - More lies from the Bush administration. Back during the war, allegations were made that the US was using banned napalm... MORE...
  • Why This "Recovery" is Different - This article from thestreet.com points out why the economic optimists' "jobs are a lagging indicator" mantra is missing the boat.... MORE...
  • Jobs Lost During Bush "Jobs Tour" - A fun blog called JobForJohn.com about an unemployed guy who decided to shadow the Bush "jobs tour" last week while... MORE...
  • Wolfowitz v. Turkish Democracy - Since a military coup in the early 1980s (and repeatedly before that), the military in Turkey has exercised an antidemocratic... MORE...

    August 04, 2003
  • Bush States Are Spending Hogs - Here's a basic issue on taxation and spending. The politics is not about how much to spend-- since conservatives love... MORE...
  • Unions Vie to Organize Hospitals - This is a good article about a bruising battle between two unions, SEIU and the California Nurses Association, to organize... MORE...
  • Job Losses- Largest Since Great Depression - The job crash continues: One economist, Larry Mishel of the Employment Policy Institute, called the ongoing US manufacturing cuts "the... MORE...

    August 03, 2003
  • "No Fly" List Targets Peaceful Protesters - Okay, this is fascism. Not the late stages but the early stages, where if it's not stopped, it grows into... MORE...
  • Current Weblog
    Recent Entries

    February 21, 2007
  • Amnesia on the Death of Reconstruction - I am going to pick on Brad Delong precisely because he is a brilliant and well-educated academic-- and his list... MORE...

    February 18, 2007
  • So What if Mitt Wants A Person of Faith as President? - There's a bit of a furor that Mitt Romney declared:We need to have a person of fiath lead the country.So... MORE...

    February 16, 2007
  • States Taking Action Against Iraq Escalation - So the New York Times is covering the story that resolutions denouncing Bush's Iraq Escalation have been introduced in over... MORE...

    January 01, 2007
  • Wal-Mart Doing Good for Environment - Seriously. This initiative by Wal-Mart to promote energy-saving light bulbs is a major environmental initiative. "Compact fluorescent" bulbs fit in... MORE...

    December 22, 2006
  • Dems' Stupid Positioning on Minimum Wage - As a followup to discussing why politicians need to appeal to a broad consensus, it's worth emphasizing that it's easier... MORE...

    December 21, 2006
  • Obama and the Need for Large Progressive Majorities - I've been as disappointed as many other progressive bloggers with Obama's bad votes on tort reform and seeming trimming of... MORE...

    December 13, 2006
  • test - tst... MORE...

    November 27, 2006
  • Ecuador Goes Left - Another country moves left-- whatever you want to say, Bush has been very good for reviving the global left, especially... MORE...
  • Building a Progressive Majority in the Statehouses - The Progressive States Network today rolled out its legislative agenda for the 2007 session and is looking to promote it... MORE...

    November 13, 2006
  • The Future Belongs to US - While the actual results seem razer-thin in this election, I'll be bold and argue that they are part of a... MORE...

    November 11, 2006
  • Pro-Labor "Conservative Democrats" - One more nail in the narrative that the victory of a few moderate Democrats means this election is really a... MORE...

    November 10, 2006
  • The Collapse of Tax Cut Politics - You can check out Progressive States rundown of progressive successes in the states on Tuesday, but I want to focus... MORE...

    November 08, 2006
  • A Good Night for Progressives - Let's be clear-- this wasn't just a good night for Democrats. It was a good night for progressives, and no... MORE...

    November 01, 2006
  • Labor Cold War Ends - New International Labor Federation - At the dawn of the Cold War, the international union movement divided up between the ICFTU, dominated by US and Western European unions, and the World Confederation of Labor, largely allied with the Soviet Union. It's taken a decade and a half, but the irrelevancy of that division will end today as the two federations merge-- bringing together 241 labor organizations from 156 countries representing 190 million workers. The new International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is a good step for a labor movement looking to globalize itself in the taking on global capital power.... MORE...

    October 19, 2006
  • Immigrant Poor Send More Foreign Aid than US Govt - The United States government spends less money on foreign aid as a percentage of its budget than almost any other... MORE...

    October 17, 2006
  • - Valuing Families:  State Legislative Models Brought to you by Progressive States and MomsRising What would a policy that really values families look... MORE...

    October 09, 2006
  • Emaciated Models, Labor Regulation - There's a bit of debate in the blogosphere around Spain's new law banning underweight models from the runways in that country. See Jordan, Amanda at Pandagon and Lindsay Beyerstein at Majikthise on whether this is an intrusive regulating violating free expression or something like that and whether OSHA safety regulations are appropriate. Just to throw my two cents in-- any broader OSHA approach would seem cumbersome and bureaucratically intrusive in a deep way. But the original Spanish proposal is brilliant in its high-impact, low-intrusion approach. Regulate only the fashion week type runways, where in a single spotcheck, models can be... MORE...

    October 03, 2006
  • Big loss for Labor-- - The National Labor Relations Board ruled today that a range of professionals are now deemed "supervisors" and thus lose all protections under labor law. That means if they say a positive thing about unions, their bosses are free to fire them at will. The AFL-CIO has more here. To put this denial of labor rights in perspective, 32 million workers or 25% of the workforce already have no right to form a union under federal, state or local law (see this GAO report and this ARAW summary). This includes: Supervisors 16.6 million workers, 8 million new supervisors plus traditional 8.6... MORE...

    September 27, 2006
  • Civil War on the Right- Dick Armey trashes Dobson - The economic business- right and the religious right are moving towards total civil war. This piece by former GOP Majority... MORE...

    September 24, 2006
  • Allen the Racist - Three college teammates confirm that George Allen regularly used the N- word: Allen said he came to Virginia because he... MORE...