When he vetoed the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, President Harry Truman called it "a slave-labor bill." The Republican-controlled Congress called it "an end to chaos," and overrode Truman's veto immediately. They were both politicking ahead of a defining campaign year.

The Presidential election of 1948 was a pivotal, fiercely fought contest for the soul of America. Post-World War. Early Cold War. Backlogged domestic issues. A nation starving for a new direction. A time when working people thought their wartime sacrifices and unresolved problems on the home front would take center stage. Indeed, the parties vying for the Oval Office crafted their campaigns (and parties themselves) around varying notions of what it would take to swing the working class vote their way. >>

As usual, the ever-expanding economic divideremains the most under-considered issue worldwide. Through the prism (pyramid) of its creation, the ways it maintains itself, and its long and short term ramifications, every other major issue of our time is better understood, if not directly tied. This includes war, immigration, education, crime, health care, even climate change and national security. At what point should we (they)be more afraid of our own economically terrorized 90+%than of bands of 'extremists' holed up in caves on the other side of the world, disenfranchised and radicalized by the exact same forces?

http://www.beergirls.org/  reports that in Cambodia,

"Beer promotion women (called locally, beer girls) exclusively sell one brand of beer in bars and restaurants. It is usual for them to have to sell one case of beer per night in return for a monthly salary averaging approx $US55 - about half the income needed to support their family. To supplement their income, about half accept propositions from tourists and local beer drinkers and exchange sex for money."

Condom use following beer drinking is low; HIV/AIDS prevalence averages 20% for the past 7 years. While, the [girls] may sell $13,000 worth of beer annually for their company, they are paid $600-$800 [annually]and cannot afford the yearly $360 cost for life-prolonging anti-retrovirals. Death follows from 3 months to 2 years after diagnosis; beer girls are replaced with new young women from the countryside, often with less than 1 hour of training.

Here we go again:

At least a dozen states are giving monthly payments to low-income workers, hoping to keep them off welfare rolls.

We're so damned fearful of actually doing anything for real people we have to pretend we're not paying "welfare."

Well, you swallow that lie, I got a bridge or two to sell you.

The reality is, it's welfare for employers so they can continue to pay dirt poor wages and screw working people and get away with it.

Update [2008-2-24 21:19:29 by Ethan Strimling]:: Thanks for stopping by folks!  See you next week.

Here in Maine, we’re experiencing a very tough winter.  Across the state, thousands of people are unable to heat their homes because of increases in fuel costs (it’s gotten so bad that a number of landlords are simply not buying heating oil for their tenants, because the expense is now so great they fear they’d be bankrupted and lose their properties while their tenants would be evicted).

But fuel’s not the only thing that is more expensive these days.  The Labor Department reports that core inflation—the rise in cost of consumer goods other than food and fuel—is almost as high as the general inflation rate.  As we slip further into recession and remain mired in a housing crisis, it’s clear that the people with the lowest incomes are going to get stuck bearing the greatest burden for our slowing economy.

Everything is more expensive for consumers these days, and it’s going to get worse at least until our economy improves.

On today's CNN Political Ticker we find that Ralph Nader is considering running for president in 2008.  I can imagine the bile circulating among many as they hear that!  I voted for Nader in 2000 and have never regretted it.  I have been more and more disenchanted by the Democratic party as this campaign season progresses.  I am particularly unhappy about the party's stand on, or rather running from, the duty to impeach the criminals at the helm now.  As John McCain materializes as the likely republican candidate, the plot thickens considerably.  NPR suddenly saw fit to interview  a white southern democrat today who openly stated that he would not vote for Obama.  When asked why,  he answered that there were a number of reasons.  Asked to give them he mumbled something about his being a good speaker, but that there was no substance to what he said.  Then there was the race issue.  That ended the list.  He was asked if white southern democrats would vote for an African American and he strongly stated that they would not.  He claimed to be representative of many, but who knows?  Continue below the fold for more on the possible Nader move.

This Christmas season, I’m excited to offer a few thoughts on capitalism, consumption, Christmas and crookedness — while also summing up this week’s posts at the Movement Vision Lab.  Here goes.

UPDATE: Hey all!  Thanks for stopping by the live blog.  We'll be back next Sunday, same Kos-time, same Kos-channel. -Jack, Strimling for Congress worker (who doesn't like titles).

P.S. - If you like what you hear from the Senator, please consider supporting the campaign on ActBlue.  Thanks in advance!

Thanks to everyone who joined me last week for my first ever liveblog.  For those who might have missed it, my name is Ethan Strimling, and I’m a State Senator running for Congress in Maine’s First District.

Part of the reason I got into the race to succeed Maine’s next Senator (go Tom Allen!) in the House is that there’s an ongoing economic crisis in this country.  Well, more than one, actually, but one in particular that has persisted for decades.  I’m talking about the ever-growing gap between the richest Americans and the rest of us.

Well, there does seem to be a LOT of heat out there, and not so much light, about whether or not to give drivers licenses to "illegal" immigrants. It’s shaping up to be another one of those emotional hot button issues that regularly distort our elections.  With the debate coming up tonight on CNN (which, dammit, I won’t be able to watch live), I want to get a progressive analysis of the issue out there. I’m tired of seeing Democrats with that deer-in-the-headlights look on their faces, as they get hit with questions to which they have not thought through a good, progressive answer.

This is a framing problem. Thanks to the efforts of George Lakoff, Drew Westen, our own Jeffrey Feldman, and a thousand others, we are (hopefully) coming to understand that the frame within which we discuss an issue has a powerful influence on the outcome of the discussion. We need to get control of the frame within which the discussion of drivers licenses for "illegal" immigrants takes place.

"Let us put our minds together and see what we life we can make for our children."

– Sitting Bull

On Saturday afternoon, as I put up my new chandelier in the dining room, I was thinking about food.  I think about food a lot.  I love great food and thinking about it usually makes me hungry.  First and foremost I was trying to think of an appetizer to bring to my brother's for dinner based upon what I remembered was in the fridge and cabinets.  Secondly, I was thinking about the politics of food.  On Friday I'd taken the day off and (among other things) used the occasion to listen to Andrew Zimmern's show on FM 107.1.  I don't listen to the radio during the day at work, so today was my opportunity -- the reason was that I'm appearing on his show on September 20th.

Now that I've gotten my shameless self-promotion out of the way Thursday, September 20, 2007 at 2:00pm, The Big E appears on the Andrew Zimmern show to talk about politics, I'll get on to talking about the politics of food.

You are a cleaner at Camden Yards, a publicly owned baseball stadium. You will work all night - but first you must arrive at least 2 hours before your scheduled time. You get in line and wait.  When a shift is assigned to you, a barcoded wristband is attached to you and you are loaded onto a van.  

The loaded van waits with you and the rest of the crew waiting.  Others are still waiting in the temp agency lobby, in limbo and hoping for a job tonight.  Nobody is on the clock yet, this all unpaid wait time.  Unpaid, but required to wait - if you leave you will be taken off the shift and most likely blacklisted. The unlucky will be sent home, but must wait and lose out on finding another job someplace else.  You are all required to wait, either with your barcoded wristband or with any word.  You wait in the van or in the lobby.  You unpaid for up to two hours for each game you work.

Calling all activists, organizers, and anyone and everyone who cares about the welfare of Baltimore's day laborers!

We need YOU to help stand beside the Camden Yards workers as they fight for a Living Wage!

Since 2004, temporary workers at Camden Yards have been struggling to receive the living wage that they deserve. After almost 3 years of hard work and demanding a living wage, resulting only in broken promises, the workers are fed up. They initiated face to face talks with the Maryland Stadium Authority and set a Sept 1 deadline for a binding living wage policy. The MSA has informed the United Workers that they will miss the deadline. The United Workers will be announcing their plan for ramping up pressure on August 15.

The contractors who clean the publicly owned Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore violate the human rights of workers. Not only are workers treated as trash and not with dignity, but they are also paid poverty wages.  When illegal wait times are added into a worker's shift, cleaners make less than the state's minimum wage, far below Baltimore's living wage rate.  

Even worse are outright instances of underpayment for work done.  Here is Devin's story (1 min. YouTube video of Devin introducing himself and talking about not getting paid for work done below the fold)...

Today the Balitmore Sun reported on the struggle for living wages at Camden Yards:

For three years, the group representing workers who clean up plastic cups, peanut shells, spilled beer and hot dogs at Oriole Park at Camden Yards has been fighting for higher wages and better working conditions.

  The debate over illegal immigration is really rooted in our failure to address poverty in this country and until we address the root causes of that whatever we do about immigration, legal or otherwise, will be a Band-aid that will cure nothing in the long term.

(This is a compilation of two posts from Working Californians)

Newspapers need to revamp their business models to compete in this new multi-media environment.  Each paper is approaching this problem in a different manner.  LAT has decided to cut back on their Pulitzer prize winners and those that cover class, work and labor issues and invest more in celebrities and style.  They have now bought out 56 individual contracts in this latest round of cut backs.  Thanks to the blogosphere we know why people are leaving.

Here's a thought.  Could we borrow the notion of carbon offsets to promote better labor practices?

I think some good could come of it; follow me below the fold for my reasoning.