tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68881672011-06-08T01:10:30.928-04:00We've Moved! <a href="http://trenches.wordpress.com/">Trenches@WordPress[link]</a>Micknoreply@blogger.comBlogger1921100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1169696933077022642007-01-24T22:34:00.000-05:002007-01-24T22:51:41.856-05:00

This blog, old as it is, still gets occasional traffic from - I presume - the few loyal readers who remember it fondly from the Old Days (only on the internet could 2 1/2 years be considered ancient history), so I thought I would let those few know the next time they came back that Trenches is once more in business.You can find the new Dispatch from the Trenches on WordPress. I've imported all

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1095693562406705082004-09-20T11:19:00.000-04:002004-09-20T11:26:05.576-04:00

Anybody who's been checking Omnium as well as here knows that my frustration with Blogger's growing list of glitches, shutdowns, lock-outs, and random idiosyncracies has reached a peak. All summer I have wasted many hours I don't have to waste trying to get a post published or a link added to the template. After suffering through the third time in one day that Blogger simply refused to publish

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1095417304336938992004-09-17T06:35:00.000-04:002004-09-17T06:35:45.036-04:00

Growers' Group Signs the First Union Contract for Guest Workers By STEVEN GREENHOUSE Published: NYT, September 17, 2004 The North Carolina Growers Association, which represents 1,000 farmers, signed a union contract yesterday covering 8,500 guest workers from Mexico - a move that the association and union said was the first union contract in the nation for guest workers. At the signing

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1095416355305236852004-09-17T06:19:00.000-04:002004-09-17T06:21:46.440-04:00

In a scene straight out of the Soprano's, LA's Wilshire Grand Hotel locked out its laundry workers in the middle of contract negotiations and hired scab replacement workers, telling the members of the union, Unite Here, that they could return to their jobs only if they signed the contract the LA Hotel Employers' Council was offering.By Ronald D. White, LA Times Staff WriterThe contract standoff

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1095355350088481652004-09-16T13:21:00.000-04:002004-09-16T13:22:30.086-04:00

Gary Oldman has dropped out of the next Star Wars movie. Oldman's spokesman explains, "Gary was excited and looking forward to working on the film. The snag is that the movie is being made without members of the Screen Actor's Guild. "It means Gary would have been working illegally overseas. Out of respect and solidarity with the other members, he could not and would not consider violating the

John McKaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1095349008306520752004-09-16T11:36:00.000-04:002004-09-16T11:36:48.306-04:00

Now that you've had time to digest what Mr Mulvey had to say, here's my response.Your writing is very cogent. Colleges don't teach that. They serve as a superstructure for the foundation that should have been taught in grammar and high school. With only 1 year of college before the money ran out, you appear to have been given the foundation and acted as your own contractor in building the

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1095333626699909082004-09-16T07:20:00.000-04:002004-09-16T07:22:10.650-04:00

The cost of a college education has risen dramatically in the past few years while wages have stagnanted and inflation, mild as it's been, has eaten up most of what few gains have been made. In real dollars, a lot of us are making less now than we were twenty years ago, making paying for college for our kids a struggle at best, impossible at worst. During the Clinton years, federally-funded or

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1095275801601854482004-09-15T15:12:00.000-04:002004-09-15T15:16:41.600-04:00

I'm glad to see Lynne Gobbell's story getting some coverage in the mainstream news media. As of this morning Google shows 89 sources running it (most are just running the short AP version, but a few have more detailed coverage). This is the kind of story that we should all have printed out and ready to hand to our coworkers and kin who are concerned about Kerry's "character." Here's a short

John McKaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1095256568947177982004-09-15T09:56:00.000-04:002004-09-15T09:57:17.250-04:00

It doesn't look like the old chattel slavery model. In fact, it works even better--for the owner. It's called 'contract slavery' and it's happening all over the world, including here in the US. By TOM THOMPSON GUEST COLUMNIST For most of us the word slavery conveys images from the 18th and 19th centuries. Tragically, however, slavery hasn't disappeared; it's just taken on a new, modern form.

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1095252422042780302004-09-15T08:47:00.000-04:002004-09-15T08:51:14.993-04:00

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp is trying hard to live up to its name. In the story Trenches has been following about the airline industry threatening to renege on its pension obligations as hard times and exceptionally poor management practices shove the carriers one after the other into bankruptcy, PBGC has emerged as both a whistle-blower and a champion of its trust. It could have sat back, as

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1095248752883321192004-09-15T07:45:00.000-04:002004-09-15T07:48:57.443-04:00

An editorial in today's NYT nails what one part of Bush's 'Ownership Society' actually means: the elimination of taxes on the wealthy and shifting the burden to anyone who lives off wages rather than investments. It's a direct strike at what's left of the middle-class and, as usual, he's lying about it. Taxes for an Ownership Society Published: September 15, 2004 When President Bush talks

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1095189329934932172004-09-14T15:15:00.000-04:002004-09-14T15:15:29.933-04:00

President Bush, working the stump, meets a waitress at a downtown diner and tells her he created 144,000 jobs in August.'I know,' the waitress replies. 'I'm working three of them.'Maybe this isn't so funny....

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1095171008549739662004-09-14T10:10:00.000-04:002004-09-14T11:12:59.393-04:00

NY Times reporter Jason DeParle's new book, American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, And A Nation's Drive To End Welfare, follows the lives of three mothers in Milwaukie after Clinton ended 'welfare as we know it'. An interview in Mother Jones this month shows Mr DeParle to be in some ways startlingly naive in his thinking about poverty, but what else is new? For example:MotherJones.com: Bill

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1095072874443230582004-09-13T06:54:00.000-04:002004-09-13T06:55:57.133-04:00

Jesus, I hate to see shit like this, but in retrospect it was almost inevitable and we should have seen it coming. Corporate productivity demands on workers have increased to such an extent that stress levels are going through the roof. Since management is refusing to hire more workers during this so-called 'recovery', the ones they have are forced to find ways to keep themselves going for the

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1095047082633751402004-09-12T23:44:00.000-04:002004-09-13T07:00:03.886-04:00

Via email, I received a response to 'Got a Govt Contract But You're Violating Labor Laws? No Problem' from one David P Mulvey. Mr Mulvey's reply makes a number of important points and I want to go into them because they reflect on some basic attitudes and beliefs that go toward helping to minimize and marginalize legitimate worker concerns about systematized unfair hiring and pay practices. But

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1094929601453462352004-09-11T15:06:00.000-04:002004-09-11T15:08:49.783-04:00

In a stunning defeat for conservative corporate mouthpieces, several New England and Midwest area moderate Republicans joined a solid phalanx of Democratic votes to reject the Bush Adminstration's revision of the overtime rules, rules which would not only have cost workers a lot of money but would have begun the process of re-defining the roles of grunts as 'supervisors' and 'salaried employees'

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1094824643999949982004-09-10T09:57:00.000-04:002004-09-10T09:57:24.000-04:00

In a comment on the 'Question of Class' post, reader 'Junco Partner' asks a simple question: What do we do about it?Before I expatriated myself three years ago, I noticed how everyone in the United States was not only deceiving themselves about their class (including many who deny class exists, almost with the same violence as the English) but were also imagining that it was a matter of time

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1094716262304712242004-09-09T03:51:00.000-04:002004-09-09T04:01:01.056-04:00

On this past Monday, Labor Day, Nathan Newman and Jordan Barab fittingly inaugurated a new blog devoted to labor issues. Mr Newman's work on labor issues is well-known and we've referred to it before (Phaedrus in particular has often used Newman as a resource). Mr Barab is new to us--to me, anyway--but he runs another blog, also devoted to labor issues, particularly worker safety, called Confined

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1094632277046888972004-09-08T04:31:00.000-04:002004-09-08T15:26:06.406-04:00

At an excellent blog called Collective Sigh, 'andante' writes about the tendency of Americans to 'upgrade reality' when talking about how much money they have. The working poor would invariably describe themselves as middle class; those who have a million dollars in assets and two million in debts would describe themselves as wealthy. A poster named Michael responded: I've always heard

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1094601147331455352004-09-07T19:52:00.000-04:002004-09-07T19:52:27.330-04:00

For years corporations have been treating the US Treasury as if it were their own private piggy bank. They have lobbied for tax 'reforms' and special legislation that has not only cut their tax liability but actually paid them blackmail if they'd continue to do business here ('Pass this "tax relief" or we'll move to Thailand'--that's blackmail, folks. Tony Soprano would be so proud.)FITE--

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1094563327449229532004-09-07T09:22:00.000-04:002004-09-07T09:26:17.026-04:00

We have spoken here before of the Productivity Trick, and we're going to speak of it again. For those of you who may not be up to speed on the Productivity Trick, it's easy enough to explain.When economic pundits and the reporters who feed off them go into shivers of ecstasy whenever they mention the astounding rise of the rate of productivity in this country, they tend to focus on technological

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1094530492249867812004-09-07T01:14:00.000-04:002004-09-07T00:22:58.950-04:00

Every once in a while I run across something on another site that someone has written about workers or the working class. It occurred to me that some of them ought to be re-produced and spread around a little bit more, either because they're emblamatic of ingrained attitudes against us or passionate defenses of us or, as in this case, both. There's an excellent blog called By Beauty Damned

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1094477787308016382004-09-06T09:36:00.000-04:002004-09-06T09:40:38.910-04:00

By BOB HERBERTPublished: NYT, September 6, 2004The Labor Department reported last week that 144,000 payroll jobs were created in August. Let's put that in perspective.The number was below market forecasts. It was also below the number of jobs needed to accommodate the growth in the employment-aged population. In short, this was not good news. It's only by the diminished job-creation standards

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1094476129756159662004-09-06T09:08:00.000-04:002004-09-06T09:11:05.310-04:00

Extol Brains as Well as Brawn of the Blue Collar Could you match up the angles of a four-gable roof? By Mike Rose I am watching a carpenter install a set of sliding French doors in a tight wall space. He stands back, surveying the frame, imagining the pieces as he will assemble them. What angle is required to create a threshold that will shed water? Where might the sliding panels catch or

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1094402674507962112004-09-05T13:44:00.000-04:002004-09-05T12:47:46.140-04:00

RAND Corporation, one of the premiere think-tanks with over $100Mil in govt contracts every year, several of which have to do with labor issues, continues to do business with the US govt despite admitting egregious labor violations, particularly of its female employees, going back some ten years.RAND now faces a sex-discrimination class action filed by a group of women on its research staff, and

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1094399612573950712004-09-05T11:53:00.000-04:002004-09-05T12:02:28.936-04:00

At the Firestone plant in Noblesville, Indiana, employees have been working without a contract for over a year as the company used one dodge after another to avoid negotiating. Now, rather than accept the 'pattern agreement' worked out in the initial talks, Firestone has returned to the table with 'a boatload of concessions' it expects the union to make. Chief among them is a brand new pay-scam

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1094302022937911762004-09-04T08:47:00.000-04:002004-09-04T08:47:30.316-04:00

LA Times EDITORIAL 'Ownership' Isn't the Cure After 27 years of work, Dave Parker lost his job at a small electronics sales firm in Orange in October 2001. A 1986 federal law called COBRA, requiring insurers to continue offering employer-based coverage to employees who have lost their jobs, kept Parker's insurer from dropping him. But that didn't stop the insurer from "customizing" his policy to

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1094301307290491122004-09-04T08:35:00.000-04:002004-09-04T08:41:23.690-04:00

U.S. Job Growth Up in August, Still Not Robust Unemployment edges down to 5.4%. Bush and Kerry both seize on the data while campaigning. By Warren Vieth, LA Times Staff WriterWASHINGTON — U.S. employers added a net 144,000 jobs to their payrolls in August and the nation's unemployment rate dropped a notch to 5.4%, the government said Friday in a report fraught with political and economic

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1094298679391599412004-09-04T07:51:00.000-04:002004-09-04T07:57:01.483-04:00

In a move that reeks of cynicism and Fuck You arrogance, the Bush Administration on the Friday afternoon of the Labor Day weekend released the news that due to their (deliberate) mismanagement of Medicare, not only is the deductible going up by 10% but premiums are going to be raised next year by a whopping 17%, marking an overall 30% hike in seniors' medical costs in addition to the hidden hike

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1094268964976589942004-09-03T23:36:00.000-04:002004-09-03T23:53:00.486-04:00

OK. Headline in the NY Times a year ago (Oct '03) when they were just starting their hunt for excuses why the Bush 'recovery' wasn't creating jobs: Overcapacity Stalls New JobsCan we just parse this for a second? "Overcapacity" means your production exceeds your sales, right? So what is the standard remedy for this situation? Production as a percentage of total capacity fell precipitously in the

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1093906004718161612004-08-30T18:46:00.000-04:002004-08-30T18:47:47.520-04:00

C.F. BAUMGARTNER SPI GUEST COLUMNIST The squeeze on the middle class is real. It began with the bailout of Social Security (FICA). In 1983, Social Security appeared to be in trouble. Congress acted to make certain it remained solvent. Many Americans believe that FICA is a contribution, which goes into their retirement account. That is not so. FICA taxes finance monthly payments to retired

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1093776651617419532004-08-29T04:52:00.000-04:002004-08-29T08:00:45.080-04:00

I suppose I should be used to it by now: balancing the budget on our backs, scheming to take every possible advantage of us, the attitude from owners that they're such paragons of virtue we ought to be willing to work for them for nothing and consider it a privilege, the invisibility, the lack of respect, and the daily fight to get through another week. I should be but I'm not. Some of you have

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1093607540527479142004-08-27T07:52:00.000-04:002004-08-27T07:51:42.286-04:00

By Maura Dolan and Lisa Girion, LA Times Staff Writers SAN FRANCISCO — In a closely watched labor law case, the California Supreme Court cleared the way Thursday for a class-action lawsuit brought by Sav-on Drug Stores workers who say they were misclassified as managers and improperly denied overtime. The unanimous ruling overturned a lower-court decision that would have discouraged such suits

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1093605067430362532004-08-27T07:11:00.000-04:002004-08-27T07:14:45.346-04:00

For the third year in a row, poverty increased in BushAmerica. Golly whiz, Martha, what a surprise. Poor and Uninsured Americans Increase for Third Straight Year By Peter G. Gosselin, LA Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON — An additional 1.3 million Americans slipped into poverty last year and another 1.4 million went without health insurance, the government reported Thursday. It was the third

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1093537847743288032004-08-26T12:30:00.000-04:002004-08-26T12:33:00.920-04:00

Elaine Chao's tenure at Labor hasn't exactly been known for its aggressive treatment of illegal corporate labor practices, despite the inconvenient fact that that's what it was created to do, and as the head of it, that's her job. She has usually supported whatever lame legal excuse or maneuver corporate attorneys came up with to justify their clients' behaviour, and been exceedingly lax in

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1093443001193601162004-08-25T10:10:00.000-04:002004-08-25T10:10:35.493-04:00

This article from today's Washington Post is puzzling. It seems straightforward enough but it's saying things that don't always make sense. Skilled Labor in High Demand Employers Lament Declining Ranks of Capable Workers By Nell Henderson Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, August 25, 2004; Page E01 David L. Hurley is eager to hire new workers at his Florida surveying company and isn't

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1093356048292089952004-08-24T10:00:00.000-04:002004-08-24T10:00:48.293-04:00

JOHN SWEENEYSPI GUEST COLUMNISTYesterday, the biggest pay cut in American history took effect: The Bush administration's overtime pay cut became official. It's a new federal rule that could strip up to 6 million workers of overtime pay protection, forcing them to work longer hours without fair compensation.Nurses, police lieutenants, chefs, team leaders, working supervisors, assistant managers

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1093344670379915842004-08-24T06:51:00.000-04:002004-08-24T07:01:31.660-04:00

Presumably you already know about the loyalty oaths the Bush Campaign is demanding before you're allowed to hear him speak, but here's something you might not be aware of: those speeches he's been making to 'workers' at plants in the MidWest? Well, um, the people who work in those plants weren't there. Picking the Right Audience By Dan Froomkin Special to washingtonpost.com Wednesday, August 18

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1093337700759202222004-08-24T04:55:00.000-04:002004-08-24T05:02:03.013-04:00

This is a personal anecdote, it's true, but it's a story that is being replicated by the millions every day. The Bush Administration's fawning over the heavily-contributing pharmaceutical industry has made America into a Third World country where everyone except the very rich may have to break the 'laws' that govern drug sales in the US if they want to keep sick relatives from dying. The FDA,

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1093273878334422072004-08-23T11:11:00.000-04:002004-08-23T11:09:55.653-04:00

Governing by Imperial Decree has its advantages: if people don't like it, there's not much they can do except bitch. You can't go to your elected representative because s/he doesn't have anything to say about it--Imperial Decrees aren't subject to legislative approval. They aren't even subject to legislative input. Imperial Decrees are top-down, 'We dictate, you obey' orders, and Bush loves them.

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1093262677786916302004-08-23T08:04:00.000-04:002004-08-23T08:07:10.340-04:00

Here's something you don't see every day--and may never see again: in response to the prodding of a dedicated and persuasive doctor--and their own terror that their workers might join a union *gasp*--a coal company in Wyoming has developed a health care system that is concentrated more on effectiveness than efficiency--and it's working. Sound implausible? Read on. Maverick Health Plan Ups

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1093217067674200522004-08-22T19:24:00.000-04:002004-08-24T05:34:56.970-04:00

The soft underbelly of Junior's blazing desire to kill Medicare (which he derisively labeled 'socialized medecine' in his younger days) by privatizing it has always been his assumption that private insurers wanted all of Medicare's business. In point of fact, they don't--they want to cherry-pick the profitable Medicare population and let the unprofitable one go fry. This week, they let him know

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1093116745090034552004-08-21T15:32:00.000-04:002004-08-21T15:34:01.690-04:00

Endangering Community Development Published: NYT, August 21, 2004 The Bush administration, which has already hobbled programs that provide housing subsidies for the poor, is undermining the Community Reinvestment Act, the most successful community revitalization program in the nation's history. The act requires banks to lend, invest and provide banking services to poor communities. So far, it

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1093010459215798972004-08-20T10:00:00.000-04:002004-08-20T10:02:50.840-04:00

By James F. Peltz, LA Times Staff Writer United Airlines, moving closer to a cost-cutting change feared by employees and retirees, said it probably would cancel its pension plans in hopes that the move would help the carrier emerge from bankruptcy proceedings. "This is not good news," said Redondo Beach resident John Givens, 58, a former United reservations director and union official who

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1093009881739100102004-08-20T09:51:00.000-04:002004-08-20T09:54:21.490-04:00

By Matea Gold, LA Times Staff Writer DERRY, N.H. — Sen. John F. Kerry assailed President Bush on Thursday for the state of the nation's healthcare, saying that spiraling healthcare costs had slowed the growth of jobs. To support his charge, the Democratic presidential candidate cited a study he commissioned that found some employers that offered extensive healthcare plans had cut full-time jobs

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1092939967521856882004-08-19T14:26:00.000-04:002004-08-19T14:29:07.033-04:00

In the never-ending attempt to find even more excuses why Bush's 'recovery' isn't providing more jobs, the NYT locates the blame on rising health care costs. In this case, they may have a point. By EDUARDO PORTER Published: NYT, August 19, 2004 A relentless rise in the cost of employee health insurance has become a significant factor in the employment slump, as the labor market adds only a

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1092901226620199942004-08-19T03:40:00.000-04:002004-08-19T03:40:26.620-04:00

FITE NewsletterConservative policy has long pushed to shift the federal tax burden off wealth and onto income taxes and state and local taxes. The Bush Administration has accelerated this radical shift away from our historically progressive tax system. They have made clear that a second Bush four-year term would mean more of the same, a direction with profound results.Even though they’ve already

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1092830920980894612004-08-18T08:08:00.000-04:002004-08-18T08:10:04.343-04:00

With Deluge, Longshore Jobs Become Long Shots By Ronald D. White, LA Times Staff Writer Hundreds of thousands of applications have poured in for 3,000 temporary jobs at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles — about 10 times as many submissions as expected — underscoring just how hungry people are for high-paying work in a weak labor market. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1092760267139812152004-08-17T12:31:00.000-04:002004-08-17T12:32:35.290-04:00

The rules governing overtime pay have always included a "duties test," determining which workers do and do not qualify for overtime pay. For instance, under the current criteria, in place since 1938, cooks and registered nurses must receive time-and-a-half for overtime work because they do not hold professional degrees. On the other hand, executive chefs and doctors are exempt. The criteria aimed

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1092681456237243022004-08-16T14:28:00.001-04:002004-08-16T14:37:36.236-04:00

The lot of Appalachia's coal miners has ever been a struggle, above ground and below. And now comes a fresh blow for more than 3,000 unionized miners who will lose their health care and retirement benefits under a federal judge's ruling that it is not necessary for their troubled employer to honor its contract guarantees. Some veteran miners among the 2,300 affected retirees already suffer from

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1092511285874052742004-08-14T15:21:00.000-04:002004-08-14T15:22:27.760-04:00

A lot of Republicans--and media types--profess confusion over why polls are showing that Americans in general don't believe the US economy is 'turning the corner' and 'getting better' as the president insists it is. After all, some of the economic indicators aren't as bad as they were a couple of years ago when Bush's tax cuts helped shove a slightly faltering economy over the cliff into a

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1092421195724985142004-08-13T14:19:00.000-04:002004-08-13T14:21:36.380-04:00

By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: NYT, August 13, 2004 A new Bush campaign ad pushes the theme of an "ownership society," and concludes with President Bush declaring, "I understand if you own something, you have a vital stake in the future of America." Call me naïve, but I thought all Americans have a vital stake in the nation's future, regardless of how much property they own. (Should we go back to

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1092178437696989992004-08-10T18:53:00.000-04:002004-08-10T18:54:56.973-04:00

When I was growing up, many workers were part of the middle-class; most of them, in fact. Today that's not the case. Wages have been static for a quarter-century while costs have, of course, risen markedly during the same period. This piece discusses why this has been less noticable than you might have expected, and why it's now beginning to loom as a real crisis. Middle-Class Tightrope It's

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1092175197793850212004-08-10T17:59:00.000-04:002004-08-10T18:00:54.870-04:00

By JENNIFER 8. LEE Published: NYT, August 10, 2004 WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 - Susan Lim, a 20-year-old Georgetown University student, is working 89 hours a week this summer: two part-time jobs and an unpaid internship offered through the Public Policy and International Affairs Program. Her schedule - working for money as a clerical assistant and a summer school resident adviser and without pay as a

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1092090446409949212004-08-09T18:27:00.000-04:002004-08-09T18:28:05.420-04:00

Admit We Have a Problem By BOB HERBERT I suppose there are people who still believe that enormous tax cuts for the very wealthy will lead to the creation of millions of good jobs for working people. In the twilight of his first term, the president, stumping for votes in regions scarred by the demon of unemployment, continues to sing from the tattered pages of his economic hymnbook: "The economy

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1092080741406592202004-08-09T15:45:00.000-04:002004-08-09T15:55:15.743-04:00

A discussion started by eRobin of Fact-esque in Comments to the post, 'Taxpayers Paying for Wal-Mart's Low Wages' (click the title), centered arounf her contention that WM was so paranoid about even the tiniest dip in their sales that a boycott aimed at forcing them to improve their mega-substandard wages and working conditions could prove effective.Excerpts:I still say those rotten bastards are

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1092079529147438232004-08-09T15:25:00.000-04:002004-08-09T15:26:10.470-04:00

Jobs Grow, Optimism Shrinks in Wisconsin Displaced workers find new employment, but they're earning less in a service economy. By Warren Vieth, LA Times Staff Writer GREEN BAY, Wis. — For several months, the city known as "Titletown" — for its football prowess — has been earning recognition of a different sort. Green Bay was the nation's fifth-fastest-growing job market in June. The previous

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1091990720694693102004-08-08T14:45:00.000-04:002004-08-08T14:46:14.803-04:00

Pension Tension NYT Editorial Published: August 8, 2004 First it was the steel companies. Now it's the airlines. Is the auto industry next? In the past three years, bankrupt companies, mostly in unionized, old-economy industries, have dumped $11.2 billion in pension obligations on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the federal agency that insures the pensions of 44 million people. As a

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1091840185460470372004-08-06T20:56:00.000-04:002004-08-06T20:56:25.466-04:00

Yesterday, in a speech he made in Michigan reported by the WaPo, Bush said everything is getting better. Bush Stumps in Dem Stronghold of MichiganBy DEB RIECHMANNThe Associated PressThursday, August 5, 2004; 7:44 PM SAGINAW, Mich. - President Bush ventured into Democratic strongholds of this swing state on Thursday to attract crossover voters with a message that was tough on terrorists and full

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1091814861963504892004-08-06T13:54:00.000-04:002004-08-06T13:56:17.856-04:00

Anything to avoid raising wages or paying overtime....By Janet Hook and Peter Wallsten, LA Times Staff WritersCOLUMBUS, Ohio — President Bush called on Congress on Thursday to pass legislation making it easier for employers to offer workers time off instead of overtime pay — an idea Republicans hope will appeal both to Bush's core business supporters and to swing voters juggling home and work

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1091806409148860662004-08-06T11:32:00.000-04:002004-08-06T11:33:29.150-04:00

Stumping in Michigan yesterday, Bush said, "we're not going to rest until everybody who wants to work can find a job." He made that promise in the same month that he's taking a two week vacation. Of course, he usually takes a four week vacation in August. It would be nice to think that the change is because he is concerned about our jobs, but we know that's not true. He admitted a month ago that

John McKaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1091530868154936852004-08-03T07:01:00.000-04:002004-08-03T07:08:41.290-04:00

People who defend Wal-Mart's and other low-wage employers say that at least they're keeping down costs for consumers. Not if those consumers are taxpayers, they're not. A new study shows what some of us have been saying for a while: Wal-Mart employees are so poorly paid that they still need state aid to get by. By Abigail Goldman, LA Times Staff Writer Inadequate wages and benefits force

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1091505330917626872004-08-02T23:55:00.000-04:002004-08-02T23:57:25.436-04:00

We knew sensitivity to the problems faced by the underclass wasn't a Bush or Cheney trait. Now we know that that disconnection extends to their campaign workers as well. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A campaign worker for President Bush said on Thursday American workers unhappy with low-quality jobs should find new ones -- or pop a Prozac to make themselves feel better. "Why don't they get new jobs if

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1091481402456875952004-08-02T17:16:00.000-04:002004-08-02T17:16:31.726-04:00

It turns out that one of the strongest and most focused calls for regulating corporations may come from inside the corporations themselves, where young liberal professionals are only too aware of the pitfalls involved in handing over political power to the corporations they work for. The party in Fort Point Channel had been organized by a group called the 2020 Democrats, and as soon as the film

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1091478546390503222004-08-02T16:29:00.000-04:002004-08-02T16:31:01.043-04:00

PORTLAND, Ore. — Unlike many fellow inmates, Andrew Wiederhorn won't have to worry about finding a job when he's released from federal prison. In fact, the CEO of Fog Cutter Capital Group will be making $2.5 million while he serves his 18-month sentence. His company's board of directors voted to keep Wiederhorn on the payroll and even make him eligible for a bonus after he pleaded guilty to a

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1091477013272143922004-08-02T16:03:00.000-04:002004-08-02T16:05:02.013-04:00

Mutiny in the House Published: NYT Editorial, August 2, 2004 After a stretch of bad news for the millions of Americans trying to find decent affordable housing, there are finally signs of progress. First, lawmakers rejected the Bush administration's attempt to shortchange Section 8, the housing subsidy program for the poor. Now, there is a procedural mutiny against Republican leaders in the

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1091471559527217242004-08-02T14:32:00.000-04:002004-08-02T14:34:56.113-04:00

Where have all the profits gone, long time passing? What hasn't gone into raises for corporate board members and executives apparently isn't going anywhere.Cash is rolling into corporate coffers by the truckload, but spending, relatively speaking, is being doled out by the capful.According to John Lonski, senior economist for Moody's Investors Service, corporate cash flow relative to capital

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1091405287665130732004-08-01T20:08:00.000-04:002004-08-01T20:09:20.143-04:00

We wrote previously about SIEU boss Andy Stern's comments regarding Kerry's stance on unions and its roots in the strategy sessions of the business-friendly DLC. A story in today's NYT explains some of the background in the split between traditional unionists and the new breed that Stern represents. BOSTON, July 30 - The nation's labor unions have rallied behind John Kerry after being openly

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1091392214705184192004-08-01T16:30:00.000-04:002004-08-01T16:32:52.636-04:00

In a raft of trouble due to mismanagement, United Airlines wants to bail out of its pension obligations as the first step to getting out of bankruptcy. The NYT reports that the repercussions could be devastating for the economy--and taxpayers. Bailout Feared if Airlines Shed Their Pensions By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH Published: NYT, August 1, 2004 In an echo of the savings and loan industry

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1091378441073985392004-08-01T12:40:00.000-04:002004-08-01T12:43:29.820-04:00

Along with every other major newspaper, LAT current-events/political reporters are treating Junior's insistence that the economy is booming as if it were an open question: this one says Yes, that one says No. But in the business pages all that pussyfooting disappears. The blue-chip Standard & Poor's 500 stock index's return is exactly flat year-to-date, counting dividend income. The average

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1091163933315768832004-07-30T01:05:00.000-04:002004-07-30T01:05:33.320-04:00

FITE asks a simple question, but the answer is complicated.Newsletter #33 Will Kerry Target the extremely rich?Can the American public warm up to a campaign of "class warfare?" John Kerry evidently doesn’t think so. As of this writing, he has not uttered one word on the most egregious part of an ongoing class warfare being waged by the extremely rich, the corporate crime wave of the past 15 years

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1091126811065689562004-07-29T14:46:00.000-04:002004-07-29T14:49:22.000-04:00

UNION: HIGH-LEVEL JOBS BEING SENT OVERSEAS By Kristi Heim San Jose Mercury News Two years after Microsoft executives began urging managers to outsource software development work to India, a Washington state technology union says the company has sent increasingly high-level jobs overseas, including some related to Longhorn, the next version of Windows. The Washington Alliance of Technology

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090969123611327402004-07-27T18:58:00.000-04:002004-07-27T19:04:20.386-04:00

I've spoken before of the tricks conservatives have embedded in the welfare regs to make the poor ineligible for help the instant they raise their heads above water. The National Center for Children in Poverty has released a study done in Pennsylvania that shows that those tricks, developed under Reagan, are still very much in use. About 85 percent of low-income children have parents who work,

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090874483575128062004-07-26T16:41:00.000-04:002004-07-26T16:42:39.976-04:00

I've been trying to get to this since Thursday but haven't had either the time or the energy to do it justice. Steven Roach, chief economist for that bastion of radical Commie progressives, Morgan Stanley, wrote a long article in the NYT on 'the state of the American labor market' that makes sober reading. The state of the American labor market remains the defining issue of the current economic

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090866862305365272004-07-26T14:30:00.001-04:002004-07-26T14:34:22.306-04:00

In an Op-Ed in today's NYT, Wiiliam Gould, chairman of the National Labor Relations Board under Clinton, makes the case that no matter who is elected in November, national governments can have little impact on slowing globalization. They can, he argues, have a significant effect on the impact of those changes domestically. Stanford, Calif. — Wages declined and unemployment held steady last month

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090789539483350962004-07-25T17:05:00.000-04:002004-07-25T17:09:26.420-04:00

I rarely do this except with short newspaper editorials, but I'm going to reprint this Barbara Ehrenreich piece in full. I don't think Barbara will mind. The NYT might but fuck 'em. I can't bring myself to cut a single word. By BARBARA EHRENREICH Published: July 25, 2004 It's torn cities apart from Inglewood to Chicago and engulfed the entire state of Vermont. Now the conflict's gone national

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090736869614014622004-07-25T02:27:00.000-04:002004-07-25T02:31:52.970-04:00

In a development that I must admit has me scratching my head in befuddlement, the Republican Senate, previously one of the best friends corporate America has ever had (except for Bush, Cheney, and the Republican House, but they're not so much 'friends' as 'employees'), is about to vote to--and this is the part I don't get--close a legal loophole that has saved some big corporations from paying $$

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090602802312077492004-07-23T13:13:00.000-04:002004-07-23T13:14:15.726-04:00

By SAM SKOLNIK SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER A local union branch, trying to place many of the area's private security guards in its fold, released a study Thursday that it said showed a unionized work force would make the guards better able to respond to crimes, natural disasters or the threat of terror attacks. Officials with the Service Employees International Union Local 6, which

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090602042287717432004-07-23T13:00:00.000-04:002004-07-23T13:02:14.766-04:00

By Elizabeth Mehren, LA Times Staff Writer BOSTON — For "years and years," when people told him to vote, Anthony Addison retorted that he had no faith in the political system. After all, what had it done for him, a homeless Vietnam veteran who said he was too disabled to work? But on Thursday, as Addison, 59, joined nearly 200 other homeless people here to register as first-time voters, he

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090572653240934302004-07-23T04:50:00.000-04:002004-07-23T05:03:20.996-04:00

Can homelessness end? Not this way SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD Like many cities, Seattle is working on plans to end homelessness in 10 years. But no city can pull off such a worthy goal without help. Unless the federal government is a true partner, the now-chronic problems will entangle men, women and children who today still have decent shelter. But even as hard-pressed cities

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090520599370316702004-07-22T14:23:00.000-04:002004-07-22T14:27:30.056-04:00

We've written about some of the predatory practices of corporations toward their employees, and even though we've only scratched the surface so far--doctoring records in order to avoid paying workers for all the hours they worked; the threats, intimidation, even blackmail when workers try to unionize; the rising demand that we work part-time without pay, and so on (there's a lot more)--it's

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090489465314405772004-07-22T05:44:00.000-04:002004-07-22T05:47:05.270-04:00

A San Francisco District Federal Judge is so unhappy with the bargain Ah-nud struck with the guards' union that he's threatening to take over the State Prison system altogether. Henderson said the pact grants the union too much control over prison management and he suggested that Schwarzenegger was not serious about fixing the "systemic problems" in corrections "condoned for many years by the

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090389981977167552004-07-21T02:06:00.000-04:002004-07-21T02:13:12.260-04:00

Former HBS Prof Blasts BushBusiness scholar says president was 'shallow,' 'flippant' in 1970s classBy SIMON W. VOZICK-LEVINSONCrimson Staff Writer As the race for the White House heats up and the nation’s left-leaning heads come together to unearth potential skeletons in President Bush’s closet, one line in his resume has avoided major scrutiny: the time Bush spent just across the Charles River,

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090347820142931912004-07-20T14:23:00.000-04:002004-07-20T14:25:36.166-04:00

By HEATH FOSTER SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER Angelito Haney was just over a year old when his teeth started to fall apart. Chips of the curly-haired toddler's baby teeth would come out if he bit down on a plastic toy. The SeaTac boy's pediatrician gave his mother the card of a local dentist. But when Tammy Haney called to make an appointment, she was told the dentist wouldn't accept her

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090261193429029022004-07-19T14:19:00.000-04:002004-07-19T14:21:35.456-04:00

An Emerging Catastrophe By BOB HERBERT Published: NYT, July 19, 2004 Drive through some of the black neighborhoods in cities and towns across America and you will see the evidence of an emerging catastrophe — levels of male joblessness that mock the very idea of stable, viable communities. This slow death of the hopes, pride and well-being of huge numbers of African-Americans is going

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090173814417350912004-07-18T14:03:00.000-04:002004-07-18T14:06:44.810-04:00

By EDUARDO PORTERPublished: NYT, July 18, 2004The amount of money workers receive in their paychecks is failing to keep up with inflation. Though wages should recover if businesses continue to hire, three years of job losses have left a large worker surplus. "There's too much slack in the labor market to generate any pressure on wage growth,'' said Jared Bernstein, an economist at the Economic

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090170606772823542004-07-18T13:10:00.000-04:002004-07-18T13:10:40.440-04:00

By Thomas Frank (Thomas Frank is editor of the Baffler magazine and author of "What's the Matter With Kansas?" This article was adapted from that book by arrangement with Metropolitan Books, an imprint of Henry Holt and Co) WASHINGTON — That our politics have been shifting rightward for more than 30 years is a generally acknowledged fact of American life. That this movement has largely been

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090169350279813102004-07-18T12:49:00.000-04:002004-07-18T12:50:31.150-04:00

By Tim Reiterman and Jenifer Warren, LA Times Staff Writers SACRAMENTO — Fourteen years ago, California voters put convicts to work for private companies behind prison walls. Businesses were granted cheap rent and other perks, while inmate workers earned real-world wages and shared them with victims. Created by a statewide ballot measure, the program took off and became a national model. Its

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1090093660020485892004-07-17T15:47:00.000-04:002004-07-17T16:14:40.413-04:00

The US Court of Appeals yesterday overwhelmingly rejected The Department of Transportation's new rules allowing companies to demand more road-time from their drivers. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday threw out new U.S. government regulations allowing commercial truck drivers to spend more time on the road without taking a break. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1089993104956406642004-07-16T11:51:00.000-04:002004-07-16T11:54:13.520-04:00

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and KAREN W. ARENSON Published: NYT, July 16, 2004 The fast-growing movement to unionize graduate students at the nation's private universities suffered a crushing setback yesterday when the National Labor Relations Board reversed itself and ruled that students who worked as research and teaching assistants did not have the right to unionize. In a case involving Brown

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1089907916894656742004-07-15T12:11:00.000-04:002004-07-15T12:13:58.556-04:00

Union study finds that contracting tax-funded work to India and other low-wage nations is proliferating despite legislatures' efforts. By Warren Vieth, LA Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON — More than 40 state governments have contracted with companies in India and other low-wage countries to help administer new food-stamp and other taxpayer-funded programs, according to a study released

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1089829665829503812004-07-14T14:27:00.000-04:002004-07-14T14:35:20.956-04:00

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alfonso Jackson is instituting policies that will effectively cut the Housing Assistance funds Congress has already allocated by simply preventing agencies from dispersing them.HUD’s new fiscal year 2004 funding policy (which is distinct from an Administration budget proposal to cut voucher funding

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1089762303209158822004-07-13T19:45:00.000-04:002004-07-13T19:40:55.386-04:00

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Jonathan Weisman Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, July 13, 2004; Page A01 No company in the nation had more to lose than General Electric Co. when the World Trade Organization decreed in 2002 that U.S. tax laws violated international treaties. The multinational conglomerate was saving hundreds of millions of dollars a year in taxes from the export subsidies that

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1089735311104363972004-07-13T12:15:00.000-04:002004-07-13T12:12:32.543-04:00

By Henry Weinstein, LA Times Staff Writer Four decades after the Supreme Court's landmark decision mandating that poor defendants in criminal cases are entitled to legal representation, a group of prominent American lawyers says the promise of that ruling remains unfulfilled. "There are still defendants who have not been provided competent counsel — or they have no real representation at all,"

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1089572796031567982004-07-11T15:06:00.000-04:002004-07-11T15:07:40.710-04:00

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 07/11/2004 By now, Karl Rove and his minions had expected that improved jobs reports would have boosted the president's election prospects immeasurably. After all, the stock market is doing just fine and corporate profits are going gangbusters. How come so many workers are still worried? Well, most workers don't get to share the bounty of those

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1089396162106182132004-07-09T14:01:00.000-04:002004-07-09T14:02:42.106-04:00

In The Minimum Wage and the EITC, Brad DeLong quotes Steven Landsburg's article in Slate: Now that we've re-evaluated the evidence with all this in mind, here's what most labor economists believe: The minimum wage kills very few jobs, and the jobs it kills were lousy jobs anyway. It is almost impossible to maintain the old argument that minimum wages are bad for minimum-wage workers. In fact, the

Phaedrushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13640571288468404013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1089392898749649502004-07-09T13:08:00.000-04:002004-07-09T13:10:32.380-04:00

Rapidly increasing prices may thrill those who already own a place, but they have crushed the hopes of many seeking entry into the middle class. Three decades ago, a California family earning about a quarter of the median income could afford a median-priced home. But today, a family would need to earn more than [4 times] the median income to afford the same home. With nearly three-quarters of

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1089348245344137942004-07-09T00:44:00.000-04:002004-07-09T00:51:15.606-04:00

The consequences of the radcons 'starve the beast' strategy can be ugly. In a recent speech, Bill Moyers said:These deficits have been part of their strategy. Some of you will remember that Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan tried to warn us 20 years ago, when he predicted that President Ronald Reagan's real strategy was to force the government to cut domestic social programs by fostering federal

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1089348123776204132004-07-09T00:42:00.000-04:002004-07-09T00:52:49.033-04:00

eRobin at Fact-esque has some good advice for the Kerry/Edwards campaign. They should take it.Step One - Use the anger of the base. Don't be cowed by the accusations of class warfare, because that's a war that we'll win and are used to fighting. Step Two - Give the voters the truth. Explain what Starving the Beast means. It's no longer an abstract concept now that there are fifty beasts across

Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888167.post-1089310771111777512004-07-08T14:19:00.000-04:002004-07-08T14:19:59.970-04:00

Child Care, Up in Smoke Welfare reform has been widely hailed as a smashing success, but it can't continue that way without child care subsidies for both recipients and the working poor. Faced with their own budget problems and inadequate federal subsidies, many states have taken steps to cut child care budgets. In many places, that means denying services to children who are entitled to care

Micknoreply@blogger.com