40,000 IOUs

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Clouded behind the health-insurance debate this week was the announcement by the country’s highest military officer that we need to send more troops to Afghanistan. Surprisingly, I didn’t hear a chorus of fiscal conservatives bemoaning the fact that we will need to borrow trillions more dollars to do so.
While Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman [...]

Taking on the workers

I love it when a number of my interests intersect in one post. A superb post over at Education Week captures everything that is wrong when people criticize the unionized nature of this country’s school system. As Diane Ravitch suggests Unions are Not The Problem:
I must confess that I have always [...]

Are you being served?

Tipping waiters and waitresses is supposed to be about rewarding good service. Unfortunately, in these tough economic times they also illustrate the injustice of piece work. Through no fault of their own, servers are today taking home fewer dollars for the same work.
You’ve probably been there. Sitting in your favorite restaurant, that is. Wondering [...]

To Save or Not To Save the Auto Industry

What should we do with the auto industry? On the one hand, they employ millions of people directly and support businesses that employ millions more. Can ourcountry handle the collapse of this industry in these already disastrous economic times?
On the other hand, I can’t really deny that they cars they make aren’t as good as [...]

The Rebirth of Robert Reich, and the Debate to Come

Republicans are gonna love this. Robert Reich, former Harvard professor (currently at the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy) and Clinton-era Secretary of Labor, wants to resurrect Keynesian economics. The whole post is worthy of your time, but this paragraph in particular caught my attention:
What the hawks don’t get [...]

John Engen, I hardly know you

While leaders all around the world are investing in their own communities, our Mayor John Engen is busy cutting back. That’s right – at a time when local businesses are hurting, when unemployment is rising, and when our city keeps on growing, we’re spending 3.7% less.
What Engen is doing is shifting the costs [...]