The Debate We Need (Article -- Robert Borosage)

[Armstead]

A good summation of what this election should be about....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-l-borosage/a-debate-worthy-of-a-grea_b_126746.html

A Debate Worthy of a Great Nation in Trouble

Excerpt...

The fact is that the very few captured the benefits of growth. The 15,000 richest families -- one one-hundredth of American households -- captured fully one quarter of all the growth of national income. The vast majority of households lost ground. (See Scott Lilly's analysis here)

This hollowing out of the American middle class is rather a direct expression of policies designed to benefit wealth at the expense of work, to empower CEOs and weaken workers, to privilege Wall Street over Main Street.

Over the last 30 years, conservatives and their ideas dominated Washington. Both parties joined in. Under Reagan and Clinton, banks were deregulated and a casino financial system grew in the shadows. Global trade deals protected property rights, not worker rights. Taxes were lowered on the wealth and raised on work. With the crushing of the PATCO air comptrollers strike, Reagan declared open season on unions. The minimum wage was frozen for a decade, lowering the floor. Companies under pressure from speculators and global competitors began shredding the promises once made to workers -- cutting health care, abandoning pensions, ignoring rules on hours and overtime. Undocumented workers were easily exploited. Even Microsoft, the most profitable monopoly of the time, resorted to using permatemps -- permanent temporary workers -- to avoid paying folks full-time benefits. Under Bush, this all came to a head.

What's needed is a fundamental change of direction. Instead of trickle down growth, we should be driving the economy from the bottom up. Instead of focusing on freeing up capital and executives, we should be empowering workers. The IAF ad suggests three fundamental reforms that reflect a growing consensus among progressive economists.....


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[kentuck]

1. Great points!

Especially on page 3... :-)

[Armstead]

2. kick