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Open thread June 18, 2010

Dan Crawford | June 18, 2010 3:44 pm

Comments (6) | Digg Facebook Twitter |
6 Comments
  • CoRev says:
    June 19, 2010 at 7:00 am

    A question.  Is there any one out there who is proud of voting for Obama?  Not proud of not voting Republican, but proud of their vote for Obama. 

  • Rdan says:
    June 19, 2010 at 8:36 am

    Didn’t vote for him in the primaries.  What’s a person to do?  We have a two party system.  However, mightily relieved I didn’t vote for Sarah.

  • VtCodger says:
    June 19, 2010 at 8:55 am

    Out of curiousity, I tried looking up the German unemployment rate the other day.  It seems to be substantially lower than the US — a bit over 7%.

    Part of its lower level seems to be attributed to a program called “Kurzarbeit” (literally “short work”).  The way it works is that a company that is facing layoffs can put workers on half time and half pay.  The government kicks in an additional 30% bringing the worker’s take home up to 80%.  The duration of Kurzarbeit can be up to six months in normal time.  More in hard times.  It’s two years at the moment.

    I can read German after a fashion, but not well enough to plow through web sites and comments in colloquial German that might tell me about the program’s strong and weak points.

    It seems a kind of an intriguing alternative to unemployment.  Does anyone have any knowledge how it works in practice?  Is it something that the US should be considering as an alternative to unemployment insurance for some workers?

  • ddrew2u says:
    June 19, 2010 at 10:38 am

    Need a new American political party?   No; today’s Dems and Repubs parties need to revert to their priorities of the ’60s and early ’70s — against which low-life segregationist George Wallace railed: “There isn’t a dime’s worth of difference.”  Back then both made top priority out protecting the country from outside threats (Bush the Second worried more about terror than whether the FBI read a few extra emails they shouldn’t) while both worked hard in the interest of the average person’s economic good (the latter mostly ignored by Dems almost as much as by Repubs). 

    Wallace was right (good): Nixon signed a $9/hr minimum wage to go into effect immediately — at 60% of today’s average income — and was poised to finish LBJ’s health insurance work by extending coverage to all ages and incomes.  LBJ stuck harder by Vietnam than Nixon who withdrew our financial and air support just at the moment the South Vietnamese were able to take over all the bloody ground fighting.

    Today’s Republican party tries its best to destroy our economy by distorting the balance of every market — financial, real estate, and labor — heavily in favor of its rich patrons.  Today’s Dems give most all their economic attention to mopping up after Repub damage to the financial and real estate markets — while almost totally forgetting the labor market (a minimum wage hike to 75 cents below Ike’s doesn’t count — not 250% higher average income later) which not only dominates the lives of most middle class (and going down!) but pulls the political forum inside out — in favor of Republican lies (a vicious circle Dems really must bust out of if sanity or Dems are ever to rule again).
     
    [If this reply sounds a little canned — it is — borrowed from my blogspot.  🙂 ]

  • ddrew2u says:
    June 19, 2010 at 10:39 am

    Need a new American political party?   No; today’s Dems and Repubs parties need to revert to their priorities of the ’60s and early ’70s — against which low-life segregationist George Wallace railed: “There isn’t a dime’s worth of difference.”  Back then both made top priority out protecting the country from outside threats (Bush the Second worried more about terror than whether the FBI read a few extra emails they shouldn’t) while both worked hard in the interest of the average person’s economic good (the latter mostly ignored by Dems almost as much as by Repubs).

    Wallace was right (good): Nixon signed a $9/hr minimum wage to go into effect immediately — at 60% of today’s average income — and was poised to finish LBJ’s health insurance work by extending coverage to all ages and incomes.  LBJ stuck harder by Vietnam than Nixon who withdrew our financial and air support just at the moment the South Vietnamese were able to take over all the bloody ground fighting.

    Today’s Republican party tries its best to destroy our economy by distorting the balance of every market — financial, real estate, and labor — heavily in favor of its rich patrons.  Today’s Dems give most all their economic attention to mopping up after Repub damage to the financial and real estate markets — while almost totally forgetting the labor market (a minimum wage hike to 75 cents below Ike’s doesn’t count — not 250% higher average income later) which not only dominates the lives of most middle class (and going down!) but pulls the political forum inside out — in favor of Republican lies (a vicious circle Dems really must bust out of if sanity or Dems are ever to rule again).

    [If this reply sounds a little canned — it is — borrowed from my blogspot.  🙂 ]

  • CoRev says:
    June 19, 2010 at 10:53 am

    Codger, the system is similar to the UAW and auto industry contracts from the mid 60s.  The big difference there is the worker is laid off, but this salary is continued and with unemployment compensation they recieve nearly 80-90%.  The UAW only saves 1/2 as much for the company as does the German approach.

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