• About
  • Contact
  • Editorial
  • Policies
  • Archives
Angry Bear
Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.
  • US/Global Economics
  • Taxes/regulation
  • Healthcare
  • Law
  • Politics
  • Climate Change
  • Social Security
  • Hot Topics
« Back

Open thread Feb. 2, 2018

Dan Crawford | February 2, 2018 7:23 am

Tags: open thread Comments (14) | Digg Facebook Twitter |
14 Comments
  • Denis Drew says:
    February 2, 2018 at 9:41 am

    I’m thinking of offering a line of Donald Trump dinner plates — with Donald’s smiling face staring up at you — six to a pack. Plastic of course because people may throw them.

    I will call them Donald Trump Diet Dinner Plates. First, you lose some of your appetite just looking at your plate. Then, you put a normal amount of food on it — and you can’t finish it because you will be faced with a nausea inducing image.

    How much do you think I should price it at?

    • Dan Crawford says:
      February 2, 2018 at 9:49 am

      Denis,

      Now that is funny!

    • run75441 says:
      February 2, 2018 at 10:59 am

      Nope, no throwaway, and mandatory recycling. Recycle them as you would not want someone to dig them up a thousand or so years from now and think this was a god we paid homage to, now would you?

  • EMichael says:
    February 2, 2018 at 10:06 am

    Hehe.

    Lost my appetite just thinking about it.

  • EMichael says:
    February 2, 2018 at 10:26 am

    “Around 1905, when Norway would have been considered a “shithole,” my great-grandmother sailed to the United States. She was 16 years old, without family and money, and found work as a house cleaner. My great-grandfather was a Norwegian sailor who jumped ship and just started living in Chicago.

    Fortunately for me, the immigration laws we had then let them get green cards and earn citizenship. My mother recounts her grandparents as kind and decent, suffering humiliation and enduring hardship to provide opportunities for their children. They were frugal and bought a house. Both of their sons served in WWII; one was shot down and was a POW. Their granddaughter, my mother, was the first in their family to attend college.

    Their story, an immigrant story, exemplifies the American dream. But their story also illustrates that these old laws made the right calculus ― not measuring a person’s worth based on what they lack at their arrival, but by valuing the future contributions that arise from their hopes, grit and gratitude.

    Over two decades ago, Congress passed a law that changed that calculus. In the same month that he cravenly appealed to the right by “reforming” welfare and signing DOMA, former President Bill Clinton also signed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.

    IIRIRA was neither a solution to an existing problem nor a pragmatic compromise. Rather, the Republicans wanted to look tough on immigration, and the Democrats were afraid to look soft, despite knowing the law was bad policy. The law closed many doors that used to let people stay. Previously, someone who crossed the border earned a green card if they had spent seven years paying taxes, demonstrated good character and proved a citizen needed them here. For those who married citizens, they got status if they paid a $1,000 fine. IIRIRA instead elevated a border crossing into an unforgivable sin, deporting the same people who used to get green cards.

    If that law had been in place in 1905, both my great-grandparents would be “illegal” — one overstayed her visa, the other crossed a border without one. My great-grandparents would be placed in detention and scheduled for immediate deportation, likely without a hearing. The old immigrants did not have superior character; our laws just were not captured by right-wing talking points. ”

    https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-hong-immigrants-iirira_us_5a734e0ae4b01ce33eb0b97b

  • EMichael says:
    February 2, 2018 at 10:51 am

    Anyone interested?

    A friend of mine has two tickets for the 2018 SUPER BOWL, both are box seats.

    He paid $2,500 each & comes with ride to & from Airport, Dinner, $400 bar tab & back stage pass to the winners locker room. But he didn’t realize last year when he bought them, it was going to be on the same day as his Wedding.

    If you’re interested, he’s looking for someone to take his place. It’s at St Paul’s Church, in Minneapolis, at 3 pm. Her name is Ashley, she’s 5’4″, about 115 lbs, great cook, loves to fish, hunt & clean your truck. She’ll be in the white dress.

    • run75441 says:
      February 2, 2018 at 10:56 am

      Kind of like a Sophie’s choice? Is this a stand in for him at the wedding?

  • Denis Drew says:
    February 2, 2018 at 11:21 am

    HERE WE GO AGAIN DEPT:

    Teachers’ unions in Florida are upset about a bill in the Florida House that will require them to maintain 50 percent membership among all eligible teachers at all times in order to avoid being decertified. Unions argue that in the summer when older teachers retire and new teachers are in orientation membership may temporarily dip below 50%. Supporters of the bill argue that minority leadership cannot be “a voice for the majority.”
    http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/01/31/teachers-unions-say-house-republican-bill-puts-them-at-risk/

    Auto-decertify. Not even an election! How about turning this concept around to help labor (that’s almost everybody). Auto-certify/decertify elections at every non gov workplace: —
    periodically.
    * * * * * *

    Economist think of “irrational” market choices as a whole new intriguing area of study. Suppose you could bargain for better wages and benefits and better work conditions by organizing collective bargaining with employer — and you didn’t — wouldn’t that be irrational? What difference if you cannot organize because of hard headed employer extortion — isn’t that the same end result?

    By that count, up to 94% of US labor/consumer market (flip sides of same thing) could be considered irrational.

    Even if updated current law could produce the same level of union density as auto-certify/decertify elections — wouldn’t it be better to achieve that in a businesslike, civilized way instead of employees running an all-out war gauntlet put in the way by management?

    Does management war on workers in other modern countries? We need to work on that.

    PS. Biggest pro for instituting auto elections? Right now it is hard to get any interest up in union issues since they are only showing 6% private business presence above the sunset. Seems only about “a small circle of friends.” Auto-election means everyone is auto interested. :-O

    PPS. Don’t count your 2018 Democratic wave chickens before they hatch (or your cows before they come home).

    The Last Two Weeks of Polls Have Been Great for Republicans. Do They Signal a Shift? The Democrats’ impressive lead in the generic congressional ballot has slipped. 5h ago By NATE COHN
    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/02/upshot/polls-midterm-election-republicans-democrats.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fupshot&action=click&contentCollection=upshot&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

    Maybe progressive have to put out some real effort into wooing low wage workers after all — like offering their power back to seriously upgrade wage and benefits. (Listening Bernie, Listening Eliz?) This goes for ghetto youth who won’t work their toes off for $10/hr as well as rust belt blue collar who feel exactly the same.

    Let’s make working in an American supermarket great again!

  • EMichael says:
    February 2, 2018 at 12:10 pm

    Dennis?

    You are aware that the Dem platform called for a $15 minimum wage, right?

  • Denis Drew says:
    February 2, 2018 at 1:07 pm

    Emichael,

    I read somewhere this week (tough to look up urls when hiding anon in pay walls doesn’t record history) that Bernie is now supporting $15/hr by 2024 which the article said will be $12/hr with inflation. 1968 fed min: $11.57/hr. Double the per capita income since!

    To me a $15/hr min is good for sales. It wakes people up that employees could be paid a lot better. Like EITC, it helps who it helps; it’s no overall solution to our labor market breakdown (Great Wage Depression?).

    Bobby Kennedy wanted to help the poor and middle class in 1968. For the poor he had something in mind called Model Cities. Can’t imagine how any big moves could have been made in Michael Harrington time with half today’s per capita income.

    Now we have so much money we just have to learn how to slosh it around better. Double under 40 percentile share to from 10% to 20% (was maybe 15% before? — no matter; we have so much). Share doubled by not showing up for work if middle 39 percentile doesn’t want to pay higher consumer prices.

    Shifting 10% overall income away from “mid 39 percentile” means shifting 14% of their income (a bit less than 70% of overall). But we have so much money to slosh around we can more than make that up to them by taxing away 12.5% over all from the top 1 percentile — whose share has ballooned from 10% to 22.5% over recent decades. (Sorry Colin Kaepernick — hay; Joe Namath made $600,000 today’s money; he’ll get by just fine on double that.)

    I always ask this about any econ program so called progressive politicians push:
    What is it going to do for Chicago’s West side and South side ghettos where 100,000 gang age males (about half I think — not sure) are in drug dealing (shoot-it-out-with-rivals) street gangs. Chris Kennedy (Bobby’s son) thinks improving education is the best path. What’s that going to do for folks making $10 in Walgreen’s ,Chris? Ditto for the $10/hr blue collar rust belt.

  • Denis Drew says:
    February 2, 2018 at 1:11 pm

    Fed min 1968: $11.57/hr — forgot

    https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=1.60&year1=196801&year2=201712

  • coberly says:
    February 3, 2018 at 12:58 am

    Well, to improve education you are going to have to do something about teacher pay and working conditions.

    The thing about managers and bosses is that they are all reptile people from outer space. It’s not that they love cruelty so much, the just haven’t got a clue what it takes to motivate human beings.

  • coberly says:
    February 3, 2018 at 1:00 am

    EMichael

    but, but, but..

    your great grandparents were Norwegian.

    just the people Trump and Kimel WANT to let into the country, don’t you see.

  • coberly says:
    February 3, 2018 at 1:02 am

    We let a whole bunch of people immigrate here from Africa between about 1640 and 1808. See how that worked out?

Featured Stories

Index of leading indicators says recession almost certain; so what of the coincident indicators?

NewDealdemocrat

Extending Capital to Nature, Reducing Nature to Capital

Peter Dorman

Trump and the debt ceiling

Eric Kramer

And the King of Coincident Indicators rolls over

NewDealdemocrat

Contributors

Dan Crawford
Robert Waldmann
Barkley Rosser
Eric Kramer
ProGrowth Liberal
Daniel Becker
Ken Houghton
Linda Beale
Mike Kimel
Steve Roth
Michael Smith
Bill Haskell
NewDealdemocrat
Ken Melvin
Sandwichman
Peter Dorman
Kenneth Thomas
Bruce Webb
Rebecca Wilder
Spencer England
Beverly Mann
Joel Eissenberg

Subscribe

Blogs of note

    • Naked Capitalism
    • Atrios (Eschaton)
    • Crooks and Liars
    • Wash. Monthly
    • CEPR
    • Econospeak
    • EPI
    • Hullabaloo
    • Talking Points
    • Calculated Risk
    • Infidel753
    • ACA Signups
    • The one-handed economist
Angry Bear
Copyright © 2023 Angry Bear Blog

Topics

  • US/Global Economics
  • Taxes/regulation
  • Healthcare
  • Law
  • Politics
  • Climate Change
  • Social Security
  • Hot Topics
  • US/Global Economics
  • Taxes/regulation
  • Healthcare
  • Law
  • Politics
  • Climate Change
  • Social Security
  • Hot Topics

Pages

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial
  • Policies
  • Archives