The loss of the Hostess Twinkie is a symbol of a new era for the American worker. Chemical cupcakes usher in the race to the economic bottom, where the new business operandi is the stripping of worker wages and benefits. Gone are middle class incomes and lifestyles for most. Here are temporary jobs, no benefits and assuredly no retirement. America has been sliced, and diced, just like Wonder Bread.
The political everybody has an opinion not based in fact pundit world is ablaze over a new Romney ad claiming Chrysler is planning on building a plant in China and making Jeeps there. The ad references this Bloomberg article, from October 22nd, which reports Fiat, the majority shareholder in Chrysler, wants to move some production to China.
Cheese head land, Wisconsin, is exploding in protest. Why? The Republican governor, Scott Walker, is trying to union bust, all in an effort to dump their $3 billion dollar budget shortfall on the laps of workers.
Naked Capitalism through Guest Posts by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse, has done an excellent job of chronicling the problems with pension funds. I certainly encourage people to read his posts.
The headline is from a Bloomberg "exclusive" story. This is the lead in paragraph:
U.S. pension funds contributed to the record $1.2 trillion that private-equity firms raised this decade. Three of the biggest investors, state pensions in California, Oregon and Washington, plunked down at least $53.8 billion. So far, they only have dwindling paper profits and a lot less cash to show the millions of policemen, teachers and other civil servants in their retirement plans.
Time to relax, put your feet up on the couch, lay back, and watch some detailed videos on economic policy!
First, let me introduce Warren Gunnels, Senior Policy adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders. This is a guy working hard behind the scenes. He overviews some legislation battles against powerful multinational corporations. Bernie Sanders is one of the best Senators working for the U.S. middle class (you know, those constituents). He mentions the H-1B battle and IBM trying to deny pensions.
The loss of the Hostess Twinkie is a symbol of a new era for the American worker. Chemical cupcakes usher in the race to the economic bottom, where the new business operandi is the stripping of worker wages and benefits. Gone are middle class incomes and lifestyles for most. Here are temporary jobs, no benefits and assuredly no retirement. America has been sliced, and diced, just like Wonder Bread.
Welcome to the weekly roundup of great articles, facts and figures. These are the weekly finds that made our eyes pop.
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