By Michael Bryan Senator McCain has embarrassed himself, and the state of Arizona, over his baseless attacks on Susan Rice and the Obama Administration regarding the Benghazi attack. It is now clear, and has been since Petraeus' testimony, that Ambassador Rice's comments on the attack were vetted by the intellegence community and reference to terrorist … Read more
Posted by Bob Lord
It's hard to find much to be happy about regarding the situation in Gaza. We have our supposedly progressive President making statements like this: "There's no country on Earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders." Really, Mr. President? What country to you know that would tolerate a five-year naval blockade of its coastline? But, as the President's logic seems to go, if a country resists such a naval blockade, it's resistance justifies an aerial bombardment by the same folks who are imposing the blockade.
By Karl Reiner
On November 8, the Tucson City Council voted 6-0 to ask the U.S. Department of Commerce to reverse its decision to terminate the Mexican tomato suspension agreement. The council fears damage to the region's economic relationship with Mexico and wants to avert the possibility of a trade war. Senators Kyl and McCain, Representatives Grijalva, Barber, and others have expressed similar positions.
When the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect in 1994, it eliminated U.S. tariffs on imported Mexican tomatoes. The American producers of fresh winter tomatoes then charged the Mexican producers with low price dumping that injured the industry. In November 1996, the resulting U.S. anti-dumping investigation was suspended when agreement was reached between the U.S. Department of Commerce and Mexican growers. In 2008, a review established a revised floor price for Mexican tomatoes at $.0172 per pound in summer and $0.216 in winter.
Retail employees who work for Wal-Mart, Target, Sears, Toys R Us, Kmart, Tanger Outlets, Gap, and Meijer can forget the Norman Rockwell-style Thanksgiving Dinner again this year.
Although Wal-Mart is getting the most heat for requiring employees to work on Thansgiving, they are not alone. Corporate greed runs deep in the US. Fortunately, so does Internet-based activism. According to CNBC, a "Black Thursday" backlash is building against retailers who are hawking Thanksgiving Day sales. Read more after the jump.
Except for a few bumps in the road– like the crash of worldwide financial markets and the colapse of the housing industry– capitalists have had a great run in the past decade.
Profits are at record levels. Wages are down– except for CEO pay, which averaged $9.6 million/year in 2011. The Supreme Court says corporations are people with the right of free speech and the right to buy elections. Humans are desperate for work worldwide.
And thanks to multinational expansion, the demise of manufacturing, and a barrage of attacks on unions, major US corporations can pick and choose workers from a worldwide buffet of skills and salaries.
So, if the capitalists are doing so well, why are they being so stingy with their workers? Find out after the jump.