By Robert Reich – I was in Seattle, Washington, recently, to congratulate union and community organizers who helped Seattle enact the first $15 per hour minimum wage in the country. Other cities and states should follow Seattle’s example. Contrary to the dire predictions of opponents, the hike won’t cost Seattle jobs. In fact, it will…
By Robert Reich – I was in Seattle, Washington, recently, to congratulate union and community organizers who helped Seattle enact the first $15 per hour minimum wage in the country. Other cities and states should follow Seattle’s example. Contrary to the dire predictions of opponents, the hike won’t cost Seattle jobs. In fact, it will…
By Robert Reich – Thirty years ago, on its opening day in 1984, Donald Trump stood in a dark topcoat on the casino floor at Atlantic City’s Trump Plaza, celebrating his new investment as the finest building in Atlantic City and possibly the nation. Last week, the Trump Plaza folded and the Trump Taj Mahal…
Speech predicts the death of print newspapers, delivered at the turn of the century Writing Today conference at Birmingham Southern College, Saturday April 30, 2000. I am planning to say something more on this subject soon. This is a link for background in advance. You can read the talk, since it was published then on…
By Nicholas Sheppard – How much have the Republicans cost the taxpayer, directly and in terms of hindered economic potential, since they took over the House in 2010? A few days ago, the price tag was announced for the Republican lawsuit against the president. House Administration Chairwoman Candice S. Miller, R-Mich., said the firm BakerHostetler…
By David Underhill – MOBILE, Ala. – Remember those photos from Pakistan several years ago? Squadrons of unruly lawyers in suits and ties, some with flowing wigs left over from British imperial days, wielding brief cases like cudgels in the streets to protest an insult to themselves and the constitution by autocratic rulers? Now picture…
By Heather Gray – Years ago, Alex Cockburn tried to encourage me to write a book about The Coca-Cola Company. I haven’t done this as yet. But he would be pleased, however, about me mentioning the recent victory reported by the India Resource Center regarding Coca-Cola Expansion Plans Rejected” in India. This was followed by…
By Robert Reich – In recent weeks, the managers, employees, and customers of a New England chain of supermarkets called “Market Basket†have joined together to oppose the board of director’s decision earlier in the year to oust the chain’s popular chief executive, Arthur T. Demoulas. Their demonstrations and boycotts have emptied most of the…
Guest Editorial Amazon Books Just before World War II, there was a radical invention that shook the foundations of book publishing. It was the paperback book. This was a time when movie tickets cost 10 or 20 cents, and books cost $2.50. The new paperback cost 25 cents – it was 10 times cheaper. Readers…
If Union Members Were Not So Politically Conservative – By Berry Craig – PADUCAH, Ky. — Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes says Bluegrass State union members are her “secret weapon” in her quest to unseat arch conservative Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and help the Democrats keep a majority hold on the…
By Robert Reich – What someone is paid has little or no relationship to what their work is worth to society. Does anyone seriously believe hedge-fund mogul Steven A. Cohen is worth the $2.3 billion he raked in last year, despite being slapped with a $1.8 billion fine after his firm pleaded guilty to insider…
By Heather Gray – In 2005, I attended the National Media Reform Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. While there I visited the historic St. Louis courthouse and the huge Gateway Arch by the Mississippi River that symbolizes St. Louis as the gateway to the west. It was here that U.S. corporate agribusiness, the U.S. occupation…
The signs of climate change are all around us, according to a new report just released by the White House. The average temperature in the United States during the past decade was 0.8° Celsius (1.5° Fahrenheit) warmer than the 1901-1960 average, and the last decade was the warmest on record both in the United States…
By Glynn Wilson – Mercedes was found guilty this week of violating labor law against employees by an administrative law judge ruling for the National Labor Relations board. Judge Keltner W. Locke ruled that Mercedes-Benz U.S. International in Vance near Tuscaloosa committed three violations in dealing with employees who were working to try to unionize…
The American Federation of Government Employees union supports of the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s unanimous vote on Friday to allow federal prisoners serving time for low-level drug offenses to apply for early release, according to a press release issued shortly after the decision was announced. Overcrowding in federal prisons has become a significant problem in recent…
A new report released by the U.S. Department of Labor provides solid evidence that raising the minimum wage in states tends to spur job growth, the opposite of what conservative critics claim. The state-by-state hiring data, released Friday by the Labor Department, provides ammunition to the camp in favor of raising the minimum wage. In…
By Robert Reich – In a new Pew poll, more than three quarters of self-described conservatives believe “poor people have it easy because they can get government benefits without doing anything.” In reality, most of America’s poor work hard, often in two or more jobs. The real non-workers are the wealthy who inherit their fortunes.…
By Robert Reich – Dozens of big U.S. corporations are considering leaving the United States in order to reduce their tax bills. But they’ll be leaving the country only on paper. They’ll still do as much business in the U.S. as they were doing before. The only difference is they’ll no longer be “American,” and…
To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize. – Voltaire, 1694-1778 – By David Underhill – MOBILE, Ala. – Newly captured Africans bound for slavery in the Americas often didn’t arrive directly. They stopped in the Caribbean islands for “seasoning.” There they lost their culture, language, religion.…
By Glynn Wilson – MARION, Va. — The Council of Economic Advisers released a report on Wednesday detailing the negative effects on local economies and public health in states where Republican administrations failed to cooperate with the federal government and expand Medicaid. The report, entitled Missed Opportunities: The Consequences of State Decisions Not to Expand…
