“I don’t want to eliminate government. I want to shrink it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it.”–Grover Norquist, current Republican “thinker”/former Confederate soldier. Over and over again, we’ve been told by Republicans that government is inefficient, wasteful, harmful, dangerous, a thief, and pretty much everything but a…
Category: Working Class Economist
Working Class Economist: 5 Revenues That Should Be Considered to Lower the Deficit
1. Legalizing Marijuana: No true list of deficit reduction ideas would be complete without it. I didn’t even waste time by putting a preamble paragraph before getting right down to the business of getting high. It’s impossible to know for sure how much taxable revenue the US is missing out on by moving such a…
WCE: Salute the Real People Making America Free: The American Worker
This weekend was that most hallowed of American holidays, the 4th of July. And while I was watching some of the different celebrations of American independence on Television (i.e. blowing the fuck out of some clouds with fireworks) a definitive trend emerged. Over and over again we were told to “Salute the Troops” “Pray for…
Working Class Economist: The Private Sector Wants Gay Marriage
Republicans like to pretend that the private sector can solve any and every problem. The post office loses one of your packages? Privatize it. Public education getting you down? Dismantle the whole budget and give out private school vouchers. Ron Paul even believes the Civil War wasn’t necessary and the private sector could have solved…
Working Class Economist: Why Mexicans Are Not Taking Your Jobs
Recently, Alabama’s Republican legislature passed the most restrictive immigrant legislation since the Japanese saw the inside of an internment camp. The real reasons are politically cynical (most families that are illegal have kids or relatives that are legal, if the whole family uproots to a different state none of them will be able to vote…and…
Why McJobs Aren’t Worth Teacher Layoffs
If I’ve said it once in this feature, I’ve said it a hundred times: low paying jobs with no benefits created at McDonald’s and Wal-Mart aren’t worth layoffs for decent paying government jobs with respectable benefits. In a previous WCE titled “Why the Bush Tax Cuts Actually COST Jobs” I debunked the myth that tax…
WCE: Why the Private Sector Has to Create Jobs and Quit Blaming Obama
So lately we’ve heard a lot about unemployment figures and we’ve especially heard that they’re the President’s fault. That he has to do more to create jobs. That he has to eat lightening and crap rainbows. Wait…we haven’t heard that last one? Well it’s about as realistic as saying the President can singlehandedly stop companies…
Working Class Economist: Outsourcing is a Greater Threat to America than Terrorism
I’ll try to keep this post short as my head is still spinning from yesterday’s self-debate. First, congratulations to Obama on killing Osama Bin Laden. Second, now maybe he could work on America’s real enemy number 1: outsourcing. Instead of bombarding you with statistics you might not believe, I’ll just put what’s happened to America…
Working Class Economist: Banks are Too Big To Fail, but America Isn’t
So last night I watched the HBO TV film Too Big Too Fail, and even though I was already well versed in what led to the economic disaster of 2008, some things still surprised me. 1. Exactly what went into the behind the scenes negotiations the days of and how much power the banks actually…
Working Class Economist: You Don’t Have to be a Socialist to Think Fiscal Conservatives Are Out of Control
“Socialist.” That one word is thrown around more than any other by the right wing trying to dismiss or slander anyone from me to President Obama. And since it’s hard to factually shoot down–unlike Obama not being born in the US–it lingers a lot longer, existing in that nebulous region of rumors you don’t have…
Working Class Economist: Drinking at Home, No Longer for Alcoholics
This item is about the money you can save drinking at home instead of at a bar. I’ll keep this brief because, let’s be honest, if you’re interested in reading an article solely about the price of bar drinks you might not be on this blog in the first place. By now you know some…
Working Class Economist: Why Liberals Need to Get Better at Math
It happens at least a handful of times every week: I talk Math and nobody listens. By Math, I mean what politics really boils down to: fundraising, economic clashes, working class versus rich, unions versus corporations, simplified to the extreme: money. The political feud between Democrats and Republicans isn’t some lofty war of morals like…
Working Class Economist: Why Tax Cuts for Corporations COST Jobs
If I’d heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times: “Tax cuts for the rich create jobs.” But if the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy are extended it will plunge America further into debt? “Tax cuts for the rich create jobs.” But in the ten years the Bush tax cuts have been in…