I am Patient Zero in our New Economy: Raise the Minimum Wage
This piece originally appeared on Huffington Post In his State of the Union Address, the president said that the federal minimum wage should be raised to nine dollars an hour. He said also that a...
View ArticleWatch the Shiny Object
I fully support marriage equality. I support gun control. I support a woman’s right to choose whether to have an abortion or not. I am not this guy. But, I’m beginning to think politicians are...
View ArticleWe Were Once the American Dream
We were once the American Dream, and now we’re just what happened to it. That’s the phrase that informs my research into a new book I’m working on, The People on the Bus: A Story of the #99Percent. I’m...
View ArticleSubsidizing Poverty in America
Researching my upcoming book, Ghosts of Tom Joad: A Story of the #99Percent (April 2014), I learned these things: Most Jobs are Minimum Wage Jobs All those jobs being created we keep hearing about? All...
View ArticleWalmart Supports Raising Public Food Benefits– For Its Own Profit
They say politics makes strange bedfellows. They also say poverty is just another profit opportunity, at least over at Walmart. Walmart supports an increase in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance...
View ArticleTarget Stores Target Unions
As part of my research into the New Economy for my book, Ghosts of Tom Joad, A Story of the #99Percent, I worked a series of minimum wage jobs, as now do so many Americans. The work is long and hard,...
View ArticleHow Many Miles Can You Drive on a Gallon of Blood? Our Future is Feudalism
There is much talk about the minimum wage. What was once a way for teenagers and college kids to earn a little pocket money has devolved into the take-home pay for a vast swath of America. Defenders of...
View ArticleJust Raise the Minimum Wage
Raise the minimum wage. The arguments for are strong, and the arguments against don’t hold up to facts. You still think everything on the dollar menu really costs only a dollar? Better read this. One...
View ArticleOnce the American Dream
We were once the American Dream, and now we’re just what happened to it. The people I am talking about in my book Ghosts of Tom Joad: A Story of the #99 Percent seem illusive here on the East Coast; in...
View ArticleWalmart (Hearts) Food Stamps
How expensive are those everyday low prices? How much do things really cost on the dollar menu? The answer is more than you think, but maybe not for the reason you think. Lovin’ It: Food Stamps The...
View ArticleDo the Math: American Economy and Society
When most people talk about economics there are lots of statistics, as if economics is about math. Economics is really about people. It shows who we are as a nation and tells us what we will become. In...
View ArticleYou Can’t Earn a Living on the Minimum Wage
When presidential candidate Bernie Sanders talks about income inequality, and when other candidates speak about the minimum wage and food stamps, what are they really talking about? Whether they know...
View ArticleRestaurants Demand State Freeze Servers’ Wage
More Americans work for less than minimum wage than work for minimum wage. They are the people who occupy tipped positions, mostly working as servers in restaurants. They fall outside the minimum wage,...
View ArticleCalling Bull on Fast Food CEO Who Says Higher Min Wage Forcing Him to Automation
The CEO of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s visited a fully automated restaurant, and it’s given him some evil ideas on how to deal with rising minimum wages. CEO Andy Puzder (above) said “We could have a...
View ArticleWon’t Paying for Bernie’s Healthcare Make Us Pay Higher Taxes Like in Europe?
Won’t paying for Bernie’s healthcare make us pay higher taxes like in Europe? Not likely. Here’s what Hillary doesn’t want to tell you. Free or very low-cost universal health care is available to...
View ArticleU.S. Added 177,000 jobs in August, All of Them in the Service Industry
In portraying herself as a virtual Barack Obama third term, Clinton ties herself not only to a foreign policy that continues to inflame the Middle East, but also to his domestic economic record. A key...
View ArticleWatch the Shiny Object
I fully support marriage equality. I support gun control. I support a woman’s right to choose whether to have an abortion or not. I am not this guy. But, I’m beginning to think politicians are...
View ArticleWe Were Once the American Dream
We were once the American Dream, and now we’re just what happened to it. That’s the phrase that informs my research into a new book I’m working on, The People on the Bus: A Story of the #99Percent. I’m...
View ArticleSubsidizing Poverty in America
Researching my upcoming book, Ghosts of Tom Joad: A Story of the #99Percent (April 2014), I learned these things: Most Jobs are Minimum Wage Jobs All those jobs being created we keep hearing about? All...
View ArticleWalmart Supports Raising Public Food Benefits– For Its Own Profit
They say politics makes strange bedfellows. They also say poverty is just another profit opportunity, at least over at Walmart. Walmart supports an increase in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance...
View Article