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Mostly agree but doubt many at WMT have college 'degress'
I hear ya, Chuck. If it was up to me instead of that corporatist asshole in the White House, you'd have plenty reason for hope, and more than just a sliver. - AIW
4 day work week with a 3 day alternative shift. Ban forced overtime.Start with first responders, law enforcement and teachers. Allow students two days off a week if they choose. One from the 4 day teacher. One day offf the 3 day. Limit class size to 20, 15 for math and science. School year round. Vacation arranged around family schedules. You will find the students will attend more then required. Create a 4 day work week.There would no longer be any unemployment woes and the human misery that pervades our present disfunctional economic system. We must learn to work less, consume less and live more if we hope to solve global warming.
We need the new economic "bill of rights". We must start the action now to amend the constitution and fullfill the vision of FDR. Include a supreme court reformation that formulizes term limits to 3 - 6 year terms with the last term requiring reconformation. End money is speech and the artificial creation of life from chartered organizations. Include in the new amendments the inalienable right to clean water. Make water a public common. Very important social movements. This struggle we must win.
Veeery punny, Chuck.
Anthony -- Every person having a job is nothing like every person should have a college degree. I think it should be hard to get a good job, The difficulty should be the degree of hardness when the unemployment rate is 3.8% not 7.8%. The unemployment rate is high because Republicans have decimated labor unions. It seems that high unemployment is due to two factors. Those two factors are productivity increases and the out-sourcing of jobs. Outsourcing jobs would include the large number of H1B visas that are given. In order to counter the effect of productivity, labor unions have historically negotiated for shorter work weeks. To counter outsourcing of jobs, labor unions have supported representatives that propose reasonable tariffs.
To get a job lot planting trees in a national park, I do not think it should be difficult.
Thom, defense manufacturing is capital intensive rather than labor intensive. That is, it's largely automated and doesn't employ a lot of people. It's mostly good for lining the pockets of cronies in the defense contracting business.
kend WMT is not looked on with favor for good reasons . And Re repair & upkeep of roads, bridges ,sewers, investments in high speed rail ..GOP has voted DOWN- Blocked every single attempt Obama has made to do just that . Recall Cantor, Boehner , Ryans Dermints GOP # 1 vow was to ' make Obama a one term Pres / Make him fail > Re WMT they pay low wages, few if any benefits, many WMT workers qualify for assistance, medicaid, food stamps at taxpayer expense ! I do NOT shop WMT even though I am a lower income widow caring for a sick relative ,who's late husband got gyped out of his pension after working long hours for many years . Of course..Thats perfectly legal in US.. where we bail out crooked greedy bankers, gives giant OIl ,pharma subsides, loopholes , tax cuts to powerful corps , billionaires, & the super wealthy. Our US COngress lives like ' royalty ' They are exempt from the laws they make, work 'part- time' have generous ' benefits ' ( lobbyist bribes ) after a few years they retire as over paid lobbyists !
Kend!
The poverty wages of Walmart are not a benefaction but an exploitation of people's desperation. You'll find that people working places like that, entry level retail, food service and below (Walmart), these days are very commonly overqualified posessing more than one college degree.
We do, in fact, rob people of their resources. We make a deal with a corrupt dictator whom, half of the time, we installed in the first place. He lines his pockets and his citizens get nothing for it but a bullet in their heads if they've got anything to say about it.
I don't care how much you've got invested in fossil fuels, wind turbines, solar panels and electric cars work great and they're what the planet needs - or we're done for. More than 20% of Germany's power comes from solar, the delivery fleet of the U.S. Post Office would be electrical today if the Republicans hadn't sabotaged the service and wind turbines work great except for hurting a few little birdies - but we'll work that out.
The stimulus package contained infrastructure projects but Republican governors refused them. Obama's jobs bill was an infrastructure bill but Republicans wouldn't even consider it, even when Obama broke it up into its componant parts and tried to pass each one individually. Republicans, since Clinton, maybe before, would never pass a good idea if it was the Democrats' - if it wasn't their own or couldn't take credit for it. They always put politics before the well being of the country. In fact, they don't care at all about the well being of the country they're just lokking to steal it for their own purposes. They're just trying to take control.
Dan and AIW -- I was just wanting a sliver of hope.
AIW -- However, there is a strong correlation. That is, if you are a patient, you had better have a lot of patience.
DAnneMarc -- These topics are complex. I prefer you take a day or two to think about them.
DAnneMarc -- I am usually a week late.
Thom - Certainly we have a tragic situation with high unemployment caused by a severe economic turn-down. And we can discuss (and try to correct) the causes of that. But have you really thought through the things you are saying, namely "Every American has the RIGHT to a job," etc.
Maybe jobs came like that to you - I had to work hard for my jobs, both my first jobs and those I got as I progressed in knowledge and skills. What you are saying is like saying "Every American has a right to a college degree!" Again, I had to:
1) work hard enough to earn ENTRANCE into a university or college; and
2) work hard in school to EARN my degree
every American should have the right to a good-paying job - See more at: http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2014/04/when-capitalism-failsa-job-should-still-be-right#sthash.IsSsLEWQ.dpufevery American should have the right to a good-paying job - See more at: http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2014/04/when-capitalism-failsa-job-should-still-be-right#sthash.IsSsLEWQ.dpuf
"
Easier to get into Havard then Walmart. Have you never been to Walmart? It doesn't take much to get a job there. The truth is there is a lot of people working there who couldn't get a job any where else. It a great place for the young to get there first job. I don't get why it is that the left hates Walmart so much. They have done nothing wrong. They buy stuff mark it up and sell it. Thats it.
Alice, Alice. "robbing other countries of their natural resoures" they don't rob it they buy it. Then it helps those countries get jobs and food. "Murdering their citizens" I am with you on that one I think the US gets involved a little too much.
There hasn't been any money for roads, bridges, school renovations, airport mainainance & improvements, updated sewage systems, high speed rail, etc etc because it all went to build solar panels, wind turbines and electric cars. All of which are failing or highly subsidized to keep them a float. I would be scared to death to give this government a cent. There track record isn't that great when it comes to spending your hard earned tax dollars.
I would bet there isn't one person on this blog that would agree that this government has spent those trillions wisely. In fairness has any of them
roads, bridges, school renovations, airport maintainence & improvements, an updated sewage system, high-speed rail in all major cities, etc. etc. - See more at: http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2014/04/when-capitalism-failsa-job-should-still-be-right#new
A number of searches have failed to locate a split-screen version of the first Reagan swearing-in. I found only an 'official' recording at .gov. History sanitation proceeds efficiently by the reich-wing.
No problem, Marc. I don't offend that easily. And I'm all too familiar with bad typing habits, having had more than my share. Just lookin' out for mah blog buddies! - AIW
Agreed, Thom... except the part about defense projects, which are mostly a waste of money beyond any paychecks they might generate. Reagan's pet Star Wars project is a classic example of the bullshit our precious resources have been squandered on. These chicken hawks have made defense a way bigger priority than it ever should have been. Government funds would be much better spent on infrastructure that serves peaceful purposes such as roads, bridges, school renovations, airport maintainence & improvements, an updated sewage system, high-speed rail in all major cities, etc. etc. Only a tyrannical empire needs the sort of monstrosity our system of defense has become. These relentlessly imperialistic, kleptocratic foreign policies and unprovoked acts of aggression make our government the biggest terrorist organization in the world. So the hell with defense! If we could just stop robbing other countries of their natural resources and murdering their citizens, we wouldn't need all this defense-related crap, would we(?!). Seems a no-brainer to me. - Aliceinwonderland
Aliceinwonderland ~ Thanks for pointing that out. I type so fast I get clumsy. I have a lot of bad typing habits and usually run it through the spell check before posting; however, it doesn't catch everything. I really upset myself by constantly misspelling the same words. I just type too fast and let the spell checker clean it up. However, some misspelled words, like "patients" is actually correctly spelled, although misused, and goes unchecked. Although I'm consistent, I hate repeating mistakes. I appreciate you pointing it out.
Please don't be offended if I repeat the mistake in the future. Some old habits die hard. I'll learn eventually. I won't mind if you point it out again if and when it happens. I really appreciate your patients... I mean patience!
Marc, I agree. Totally. The TPP is the next level of fascism and it must be stopped. - AIW
Marc, I hate to nitpick but the word you want is "patience" not "patients"! If it was just one type-0, I wouldn't say anything, but you've made this error a number of times already. These words might sound very similar but in actual meaning, they are light years apart. - AIW
chuckle8 ~ That depends on the exact wording of the legislation, the ability of sovereign nations to control their own laws, and the ability of Corporations to control sovereign nations. As I understand the TPP is being negotiated largely in secrecy here in the US. Yet details have been released that this legislation would make our environmental legislation null and void. It would stand to reason that such facts may have been left out of debate in countries which took climate change far more seriously than we do. After all, it is such legislation in our country that threatens the bottom line of most Corporations the most. It is also such legislation that would do the most good for the planet. The real battleground for the TPP is here in the US.
It is not the other nations in the TPP that I fear "overwhelming our oligarchs." It is the new fascist order of Corporate authority that will emerge from the TPP that will.
Whoops! Talk about a day late and a dollar short. Thanks for your patients buddy!
chuckle8 ~ Very well. I found that link and watched the video. I believe you or someone shared it before. I stand corrected. However, I still stand by my original assertion that these problems occur as a result of the modern day, Gesellschaft Nuclear family. Yet I stand corrected that there intensity of occurrence is directly related to economic disparity.
DAnneMarc -- Just to be controversial. Every other signee to the TPP believes climate change is a signifcant threat. Do you think those other countries could overwhelm our oligarchs?
DAnneMarc -- The proof is highlighted in the following link:
http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson
The more extensive proof is in Richard Wilkinson's book "The Spirit Level". I know I don't have enough energy (or time) to plow through the book, but maybe you do. One point he covers quickly in the Ted talk (AKA the link) is that besides the inequality there is a bare minimum income needed. I think it is a annual salary of $7000. I think he is saying if the annual income is below that level even if everyone has the same income his correlations start to fall apart.