Bobbi Murray: Walmart de Mexico (called “Walmex”—no kidding) was alleged to have spread around $24 million or so in bribes to make sure Walmart’s presence there expanded at a rate that eclipsed the competition.
Occupy and Organized Labor: Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win
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Mark Naison: If I dare to dream, I can see where this collaboration between Occupy and Labor might lead—to the unionization of Wal-Mart, to the unionization of McDonalds, to the unionization of financial services workers in the nation’s largest banks.
The Art and Science of Political Ads
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Victoria Defrancesco Soto: In the 2012 election cycle we will see ads targeted to left-handed political science majors at Big 12 Schools — OK, maybe not quite that specific, but close.
Walmart Trying to Open First LA Grocery Store, Major Fight Looms
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LAANE: Small business leaders have expressed serious concerns about Walmart’s impact on existing businesses, while opponents have long maintained that Walmart’s entry into the grocery industry would create a race to the bottom
The GOP’s Big Investors
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Robert Reich: Have you heard of William Dore, Foster Friess, Sheldon Adelson, Harold Simmons, Peter Thiel, or Bruce Kovner? If not, let me introduce them to you. They’re running for the Republican nomination for president.
Manufacturing Illusions:
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Robert Reich: Suddenly, manufacturing is back – at least on the election trail. But don’t be fooled. The real issue isn’t how to get manufacturing back. It’s how to get good jobs and good wages back. They aren’t at all the same thing.
The Right to Shirk
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John T. Cumbler: Indiana ’s proposed “Right to Work” Act is not just anti-union, it is anti-democratic. Under the law if a majority of workers in a plant vote for a union, those who opposed the union would not have to contribute dues to the union.
Who Is Sheldon Adelson and What Has Newt Promised Him?
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Robert Reich: Never before in the history of American politics has a single couple given more money to a single candidate and had a bigger impact than Sheldon Adelson and his wife – all courtesy of the Supreme Court and its grotesque decisions that speech is money.
A Government Overwhelmed by Corporate Money
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Robert Reich: American business won’t and can’t lead the way to more and better jobs in the United States. First, the private sector is increasingly global, with less and less stake in America. Second, it’s driven by the necessity of creating profits, not better jobs.
Friday Feedback: Attacks on Teachers
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This week, an article by Mark Naison, “How Attacks on Teachers and Government Workers Will Impact All Our Lives,” drew the following exchange between Ryder and Steve Wider.
How Attacks on Teachers and Government Workers Will Impact All Our Lives
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Mark Naison: The attack on Teachers Unions has been driven by foundations and funding sources traditionally associated with the Democratic Party and has been enthusiastically endorsed by the Obama Administration.
The Remarkable Political Stupidity of the Street
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Robert Reich: Wall Street is its own worst enemy. It should have welcomed new financial regulation as a means of restoring public trust. Instead, it’s busily shredding new regulations and making the public more distrustful than ever.
EU ‘Shocked and Awed’ by GOP Primary Reality TV Show
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Denis Campbell: Yet the entire GOP is deluded into thinking they will regain all three branches of government with a policy of tax cuts for the rich and ignoring the 99%?
I Am the Spokesperson for #OWS: These Are Our Demands
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David Kristjanson-Gural: The general assemblies of New York, Oakland, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas and 350 communities across the United States have appointed me spokesperson for the Occupy Wall St. movement. I am hereby empowered to submit the following demands.
Professionals Moving to Organized Labor
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Sharon Kyle: Labor union membership has declined significantly in the United States over the last 50 years, but this segment of the labor market is booming.
What Occupy Wall Street Has Accomplished in Two Short Months
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Mark Naison: While Occupy Wall Street and its spinoffs around the nation have certainly not developed “leaders” who articulate its goals to the media or negotiate with public officials, it has already registered a formidable list of accomplishments for a movement this young.
Cook for President!
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Carl Matthes: Is Tim Cook, now head of Apple, qualified to be President of the United States? Check! Oh, and did I mention that he’s gay?
Bank of America’s Cut of Unemployment Checks
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Leonard Isenberg: Did it really have to be so difficult or was this just a hidden incentive to debit card users to let the money just sit on the debit card, where B of A could continue making the float interest?
Wal-Mart Heiress Opens Lavish Art Museum As Company Cuts Worker Health Care
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Randy Shaw: Alice Walton and her family have earned riches by denying workers adequate benefits and living wages. What the museum really needs is a large painting of a Wal-Mart worker suffering from unmet health problems,
The Corporate Pledge of Allegiance
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Robert Reich: The Court thinks corporations have First Amendment rights to spend as much as they want on politics, and Romney (and most of his fellow Regressives) think they need lower taxes and fewer regulations in order to be competitive. These positions are absurd on their face.
GOP’s Finest in Fierce Battle to Become 2012 Jester-in-Chief
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Michael Sigman: When Tea Partiers warned the Feds to stay away from their Medicare, little did we know they were foreshadowing the all-out battle now raging among Republicans for the role of Jester-In-Chief.
Psst! Wanna Buy a Bridge for Cash?
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Wendy McElroy: If America’s most aggressive state crackdown on the “gray market” in used goods proves to be revenue-enhancing, other cash-starved states are likely to follow Louisiana’s lead.
From Occupation to Door-to-Door
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Craig Williams: Now is a great time for the AFL-CIO and a coalition of groups involved in the Occupation of Wall Street movement to begin a national door-to-door campaign. It might not only be helpful to the effort but necessary given the commercial media’s negative coverage of the movement.
FBI Account of “Terror Plot” Suggests Sting Operation
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Gareth Porter: While the administration of Barack Obama vows to hold the Iranian government “accountable” for the alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, the legal document describing evidence in the case provides multiple indications that it was mainly the result of an FBI “sting” operation.
It’s a Tremor, Not a Quake. Yet.
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Tom Hayden: The LA occupation is not merely symbolic, but constitutes an interruption of government-as-usual by its presence on the City Hall lawn. The protest simply cannot be avoided by those in power.
Fuel for Occupy Wall Street’s Fire
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Shamus Cooke: Ultimately, the Occupy Wall Street protests have already succeeded. The movement has successfully re-focused the nation’s debate on who ruined the economy and who should be targeted, shifting blame away from immigrants, unions, and other groups of working people, like public employees.
What Occupy Wall Street Protestors Want
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Lydia Howell: After 30 years of reversals of 20th century progress towards equity and equality, towards inclusion and true democracy, We the People are awakening.
What to Do with the Anti-Government Outrage
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Adam Eran: The real outrage is that private banks receive far more money than any social safety net program would need, but the proposed cuts impact only safety net programs.
Sheared by the Shorts: How Speculators Fleece Investors
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Ellen Brown: When done on a large enough scale, short selling can force prices down, allowing assets to be picked up very cheaply.
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Cain Case Shines Light on Workplace Sexual Harassment
Michael Sigman: If the credible-sounding charges from Sharon Bialek — a conservative Republican — are to be believed, Herman Cain’s behavior was a bridge way, way too far.