strengthen the bargaining power of all workersâwhich is why big business is so set against it. As a senator, Barack Obama was one of many bipartisan cosponsors of the Senate version (S. 842) of the bill, sponsored by the late Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA).
The house version (H.R. 1696) was sponsored in 2005 by Representative George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, who said during the billâs introduction, âThe current process for forming unions is badly broken and so skewed in favor of those who oppose unions that workers must literally risk their jobs in order to form a union. Although it is illegal, one quarter of employers facing an organizing drive have been found to fire at least one worker who supports a union. The employer has all the power; the employer controls the information workers can receive, can force workers to attend anti-union meetings during work hours, can force workers to meet with supervisors who deliver anti-union messages, and can even imply that the business will close if the union wins.â
Where would we be without unions? Unions and union organizers fought and died for child labor laws, the eight-hour workday, and safer working conditions. Unions pressured companies to pay women equal wages and defended workers against age discrimination. Through the years, many organizers were murdered for their efforts. At their core, unions defend not only workersâ rights but human rights .
As of December 2009, the Employee Free Choice Act had not yet been brought to a vote, but the passage of this bill will be an important milestone along the road to empowering workers and rebuilding the middle class. Americaâs economy will never be robust without a thriving middle class, and the success of unions will have much to say about that.
PAYING YOUR FAIR SHARE
Any time you have a fiscal policy that causes the richest 1 percent of American households to own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent, youâve got a problem. The last time America had such a drastic difference between the haves and the have-nots was before the Great Depression. This more recent handout to the wealthy picked up warp speed with tax cuts for fat cats under Ronald Reagan, who lowered the top tax rate from 70 to 28 percent (it was 35 percent in 2009), and culminated with tax cuts for the rich under Bush II in the midst of two warsâsomething unprecedented in American history. (Taxes have increased in every previous U.S. war, except when they stayed level during the war against Mexico in the 1840s.)
Where was the sacrifice for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Bush and Cheney fought these wars with credit cards, and now that they are out of office, the statement has come in the mail.
Meanwhile, überconservatives, having slept through straight talk about fiscal matters for eight years, are now hypocritically concernedabout the national debt. These Rip Van Republicans want to use the Bush-Cheney national debt to squelch everything from health care to stimulus programs, seemingly clueless that the way to kick-start the economy is to get more disposable income back in the hands of consumers.
Any student of Business 101 understands that when expenditures exceed income, itâs a good idea to increase income. In this case, we need to tighten our belts and do what Bush I and Bill Clinton did, and that is to raise taxes on the top bracket. Bush I went from 28 to 31 percent and Clinton, during the largest economic boom ever in America, made it 39.6 percent. The nation thrived! Clinton was balancing the budget! He also tightened up welfare.
When it comes to Social Security and Medicare, I believe in means testing. I know, I know, we all paid in, but does Bill Gates really need Social Security? If you have the means to do without the programs, you should. We all contribute to aspects of the infrastructure that we may not use but that are there
The house version (H.R. 1696) was sponsored in 2005 by Representative George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, who said during the billâs introduction, âThe current process for forming unions is badly broken and so skewed in favor of those who oppose unions that workers must literally risk their jobs in order to form a union. Although it is illegal, one quarter of employers facing an organizing drive have been found to fire at least one worker who supports a union. The employer has all the power; the employer controls the information workers can receive, can force workers to attend anti-union meetings during work hours, can force workers to meet with supervisors who deliver anti-union messages, and can even imply that the business will close if the union wins.â
Where would we be without unions? Unions and union organizers fought and died for child labor laws, the eight-hour workday, and safer working conditions. Unions pressured companies to pay women equal wages and defended workers against age discrimination. Through the years, many organizers were murdered for their efforts. At their core, unions defend not only workersâ rights but human rights .
As of December 2009, the Employee Free Choice Act had not yet been brought to a vote, but the passage of this bill will be an important milestone along the road to empowering workers and rebuilding the middle class. Americaâs economy will never be robust without a thriving middle class, and the success of unions will have much to say about that.
PAYING YOUR FAIR SHARE
Any time you have a fiscal policy that causes the richest 1 percent of American households to own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent, youâve got a problem. The last time America had such a drastic difference between the haves and the have-nots was before the Great Depression. This more recent handout to the wealthy picked up warp speed with tax cuts for fat cats under Ronald Reagan, who lowered the top tax rate from 70 to 28 percent (it was 35 percent in 2009), and culminated with tax cuts for the rich under Bush II in the midst of two warsâsomething unprecedented in American history. (Taxes have increased in every previous U.S. war, except when they stayed level during the war against Mexico in the 1840s.)
Where was the sacrifice for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Bush and Cheney fought these wars with credit cards, and now that they are out of office, the statement has come in the mail.
Meanwhile, überconservatives, having slept through straight talk about fiscal matters for eight years, are now hypocritically concernedabout the national debt. These Rip Van Republicans want to use the Bush-Cheney national debt to squelch everything from health care to stimulus programs, seemingly clueless that the way to kick-start the economy is to get more disposable income back in the hands of consumers.
Any student of Business 101 understands that when expenditures exceed income, itâs a good idea to increase income. In this case, we need to tighten our belts and do what Bush I and Bill Clinton did, and that is to raise taxes on the top bracket. Bush I went from 28 to 31 percent and Clinton, during the largest economic boom ever in America, made it 39.6 percent. The nation thrived! Clinton was balancing the budget! He also tightened up welfare.
When it comes to Social Security and Medicare, I believe in means testing. I know, I know, we all paid in, but does Bill Gates really need Social Security? If you have the means to do without the programs, you should. We all contribute to aspects of the infrastructure that we may not use but that are there
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