US Chamber of Commerce view of the workplace: We don't need unions because “The workplace is much better today”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is headquartered across Lafayette Park from the White House. For the past eight years, the Chamber had open access to the Bush administration and called the shots. The group wanted less regulation -- and got it. So, the Chamber had a big hand in creating today's economic climate, which is a nightmare for most workers.

The Chamber is, no surprise, leading the opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act. In this weekend's Parade magazine, a top official with the Chamber explained the group's opposition to that legislation:

Others contend that unions have outlived their usefulness. “The workplace is much better today,” says Michael Eastman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “Employers know they need to offer certain benefits and good wages to keep good workers.”

It takes someone living in the bubble of the Chamber of Commerce to think the workplace is much better today. Compared to what? The days when there were no labor laws? The Chamber sets the policy for the Republicans on the Hill so it's no wonder all those GOP knuckleheads don't get the economic crisis.

The reality is that today's workplace sucks for many workers -- if they still even have their jobs. Unemployment is skyrocketing. Workers are not only losing their jobs, but their health care benefits. 401ks are tanking. But, the Chamber doesn't want workers to organize. The Chamber and the Wall Street CEOs, working hand in hand with the Bush administration and the rest of the GOP, did enormous damage to the workplace. That crowd doesn't want workers to have any kind of job security, which is exactly why workers need the ability to organize. And, unions don't just help union members. They make life better for most workers:

Professor Clete Daniel, a labor expert at Cornell University, says a revived labor movement could benefit workers both in and out of unions. “ There is definitely a need for forces that promote a fairer sharing of wealth,” he says, noting that the gap between America’s rich and poor is the largest it’s been since 1928. Over the last 75 years, unions helped secure benefits like unemployment insurance, Social Security, and the 40-hour workweek.

Don't for a second think that the Chamber, aided by its allies in the GOP, wouldn't take that all away. Don't for a second think they wouldn't. That's why they're all so apoplectic about the Employee Free Choice Act. They think everything is just fine. And, they don't want an even playing field for America's working men and women. Read More......

14th bank failure of 2009, plenty more to come

Regulation is for idiots because banks can self regulate, you know. CNNMoney:

For six consecutive weeks, industry regulators have seized control of a bank after the market closed on Friday, bringing the total number of failed banks so far this year to 14.

To put that into perspective, 25 banks failed in 2008, suggesting that the rate of failures is quickening as the economic crisis deepens.

"We'll have a banner year [of failures] this year," said Stuart Greenbaum, retired dean and professor emeritus at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.

At the current rate, nearly 100 institutions -- with a combined $50 billion in assets -- will collapse by year's end.

The latest is Oregon's Silver Falls Bank, which was closed by U.S. regulators Friday.

With more consumers and businesses likely to default on loans as the recession drags on, some industry observers think the pace of bank failures could accelerate further.

Gerard Cassidy, managing director of bank equity research at RBC Capital Markets, upped his expectations for bank failures earlier this month, warning that he anticipates 1000 institutions could fail over the next three to five years.

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Atlantis found?

UPDATE: Google says the lines in the ocean were created by its own boats while they were collecting the photographic data. Bummer.

Just southwest of Spain and west of Morocco.




They found something. And it's very strange. And the cool part? They found it using a new feature on Google, where you can scan pictures of the ocean floor.

The network of criss-cross lines is 620 miles off the coast of north west Africa near the Canary Islands on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.

The perfect rectangle – which is around the size of Wales – was noticed on the search giant's underwater exploration tool by an aeronautical engineer who claims it looks like an "aerial map" of a city.

The underwater image can be found at the co-ordinates 31 15'15.53N 24 15'30.53W.

Last night Atlantis experts said that the unexplained grid is located at one of the possible sites of the legendary island, which was described by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato.

According to his account, the city sank beneath the ocean after its residents made a failed effort to conquer Athens around 9000 BC.

Hat tip to reader Jonathan for sending us this. Very cool. Read More......

Morgan Stanley & Citi to pay $3 BILLION to retain brokers

Um, what? This is yet another bonus though they're now giving it another name. Maybe this is capitalism to Rick Santelli and CNBC but for everyone else who works for a living to fund their plush lifestyle, it's socialism for the elite. Citi and Morgan Stanley are receiving $55 BILLION in TARP money so let them decide to either keep that money and make do without new bonuses or hand out billions of their own money, wherever that may come from and run the risk of total failure. Whether they want to gamble - as they've done for a while - and use their own money and risk failure is fine by me, but don't come begging for more in the future.

Since the Wall Street worshipers love talking so much about socialism, fine, let's talk about it. Let Rick Santelli walk Main Street and see how his silly rants fly with Americans who aren't traders and banksters. Let's do a live feed and see how it all works out when he talks about the path to communism. Then let him explain how taxpayer bailouts of banks isn't socialism. The banksters, Santelli and CNBC can all go Cheney themselves.

Morgan Stanley's brokerage joint venture with Citigroup Inc will pay brokers as much as $3 billion to stay on, while Wells Fargo & Co will not offer retention payouts to brokers from the former Wachovia Corp.

Retention bonuses are often paid to keep brokers from defecting after a company is bought. Financial companies, however, are facing strong criticism from Congress and regulators to limit pay in the wake of heavy credit-related losses and large taxpayer-funded infusions into the sector.

Brokers at Morgan Stanley and Citigroup's Smith Barney unit who produce at least $1.75 million of revenue may be eligible for a payment equal to 105 percent of their annual production, according to a person familiar with the plan.

About 6,500 of the combined entity's 20,000 brokers are expected to be eligible for the retention package, with the first payment in January 2010 and the second in 2012, the person said. Overall retention bonuses could total $2 billion to $3 billion, the person said.

Citigroup and Morgan Stanley together received $55 billion of capital infusions from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

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Soros: "We witnessed the collapse of the financial system"

So are we going to allow the Republicans to allow more of the same or are we going to get serious and find balance that works for everyone? Reuters:

Renowned investor George Soros said on Friday the world financial system has effectively disintegrated, adding that there is yet no prospect of a near-term resolution to the crisis.

Soros said the turbulence is actually more severe than during the Great Depression, comparing the current situation to the demise of the Soviet Union.

He said the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September marked a turning point in the functioning of the market system.

"We witnessed the collapse of the financial system," Soros said at a Columbia University dinner. "It was placed on life support, and it's still on life support. There's no sign that we are anywhere near a bottom."

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CNBC: The network that worships Wall Street and CEOs has about as much credibility as Wall Street and CEOs, which means none

How about the brilliant takedown of former derivatives trader, now CNBC reporter, Rick Santelli by Robert Gibbs? (Chris eviscerates Santelli and his ilk below, too.)

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I feel about CNBC reporters the way I feel about the White House reporters who sat by and let Bush lead us into a war. The CNBC crew were cheerleaders for Wall Street over the past few years. But, while they were cheerleading, the biggest economic collapse since the great depression was unfolding.

CNBC's reporters were too busy sucking up to corporate CEOs and hopping rides in their corporate jets. Remember how CNBC's star, Maria Bartiramo, was flying around on the Citigroup jet? Yes, that Citigroup, the one right at the center of this fiscal calamity. CNBC defended her, of course. And, seriously, how was a reporter supposed to know that things might be going south? It's probably mean of us to even suggest that they should have been asking hard questions. That might have caused problems with all of their rich Wall Street friends...the derivative traders and people like that.

The network is a massive fail. They let the economic collapse happen right under their noses. Now, one of the CNBC family, Rick Santelli, the former derivatives trader, is showing outrage at Obama. Please. "Former derivatives trader" is all you need to know about him. He's one of them.

The only worthwhile thing on CNBC is Suze Orman. They should turn the network over to her. We'd all be better off. Read More......

Obama's weekly address on "the most sweeping economic recovery plan in history"

Not a bad week for Obama. He signed the economic recovery act, proposed a plan to save housing and even got in a trip to Canada. It wasn't just any economic recovery act, it was "the most sweeping economic recovery plan in history." We need the most sweeping economic recovery plan in history to dig out from the mess left behind by George Bush.




Here's an excerpt:

But as important as it was that I was able to sign this plan into law, it is only a first step on the road to economic recovery. And we can't fail to complete the journey. That will require stemming the spread of foreclosures and falling home values, and doing all we can to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes, which is exactly what the housing plan I announced last week will help us do.

It will require stabilizing and repairing our banking system, and getting credit flowing again to families and businesses. It will require reforming the broken regulatory system that made this crisis possible, and recognizing that it's only by setting and enforcing 21st century rules of the road that we can build a thriving economy.

And it will require doing all we can to get exploding deficits under control as our economy begins to recover. That work begins on Monday, when I will convene a fiscal summit of independent experts and unions, advocacy groups and members of Congress, to discuss how we can cut the trillion-dollar deficit that we've inherited. On Tuesday, I will speak to the nation about our urgent national priorities. And on Thursday, I'll release a budget that's sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don't, and restoring fiscal discipline.

No single piece of this broad economic recovery can, by itself, meet the demands that have been placed on us.

Yes, let's not forget about all the demands that have been placed on us -- and who placed them. It was the Bush administration's failed economic policies combined with the Bush administration's refusal to regulate corporate America. The Republicans on Capitol Hill, who now won't help Obama solve the crisis, were complicit. Also owning a share of the responsibility are the patsies in the business press who wanted to be friends with corporate titans instead of reporting on their misdeeds.

Lots of blame to go around, but Obama and the Democrats now have to fix it. And, fix it the right way. Read More......

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

A couple of the week's best haikus from KarenMrsLloydRichards. An homage to those hypocritical Republicans who fawned all over the President like teeny boppers:

The Party of No--
Blank pages shoved in his face
They're autograph hounds

Yes, they did. And, Bristol got one:

Just wait, like, ten years!
But Abstinence is not hawt--
Bristol's, like, mixed-up . . .

So much can be said with so few words -- and with such attitude.

I think that's a good way to start a Saturday...what's the latest? Read More......

The CNBC Santelli rant

This rant by CNBC's Rick Santelli is being treated like it's a masterpiece. It's all of the normal wingnuttery that we've heard for years. Nobody likes to fund "bad behavior" and it's questionable whether the new bailout plan for homeowners will work, but even the "well behaved" will benefit from stabilization in the housing market. Maybe CNBC hasn't noticed but the markets continues to be in a free fall. Stability is what is needed both for housing and Wall Street.

Asking traders to cheer may make Santelli feel warm and cozy but outside of his little world, America and the world ranks these people lower than whale shit. Sorry CNBC, but Americans are not shedding any tears for those folks since THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN BAILED OUT in terms of the free cash pumped into the market by the Fed. Each interest rate cut was there to help these pathetic bastards. Americans may have treated their houses like ATMs the last few years but traders actually made cold, hard cash in recent years selling the ups and downs, profiting along the way. Cash is cash but paper value is just paper value. Americans are now left with debt from that ATM but traders are more likely to still have that cash on hand.

Leave the talk about the founding fathers because they already rolled over in the graves a few dozen times in the previous eight years. This is typical CNBC nothingness. More later from Joe. Read More......

Volker surprised at speed of recession

Even those who predicted this collapse have been shocked at the rapid decline around the world. Paul Volker has some excellent ideas including what "innovation" means and where the markets ought to be headed. People want to move back to the regulatory systems that used to exist before the GOP stripped the system and handed it over to Wall Street and the scam artists. If the US wants to force people to base their retirement programs on Wall Street, cleaning up the system to benefit everyone and not just trading houses is a must have.

Speaking to a number of those experts Friday, Paul Volcker, a top economic adviser to President Barack Obama, cited not only the lack of understanding of the global financial meltdown but the "shocking" speed with which it had spread across the world.

"One year ago, we would have said things were tough in the United States, but the rest of the world was holding up," Volcker told a conference featuring Nobel laureates, economists and investors at Columbia University in New York. "The rest of the world has not held up."

In fact, the 81-year-old former chairman of the Federal Reserve said, "I don't remember any time, maybe even the Great Depression, when things went down quite so fast."

He noted that industrial production is falling in countries across the globe faster than in the U.S., one result of the decline caused by the breakdown of unbridled financial markets that operated on a global scale.

"It's broken down in the face of almost all expectation and prediction," he noted.

Volcker didn't offer specifics on how long he thinks the recession will last or what will help start a recovery. But he predicted there will be some lasting lessons from the experience.

"I don't believe it will be forgotten ... and we will revert to the kind of financial system we had before the crisis," he said.

Another excellent point that Volker makes is the need to coordinate between countries. The gamblers of Wall Street received everything they ever dreamed of in recent years and played one country against another. Now it's time to work together, unless we want more of the same scams and economic collapses across the globe. Read More......

The Godfather

After my latest problems with Orange (France Telecom's name to help you forget that it's France Telecom) I'm rejoicing and counting the days until our 12 month contract expires. Yes, I jumped at the chance to have fiber optic 100MB speed when they came calling. Everyone complains about the poor service by Orange/FT but I was blinded by that speed. Just imagine the fast connection!

The reality has been a bit different since most websites really aren't tuned to this level so pages don't load any faster. For downloads or sending large files, sure, it's great but looking back at the problems with customer service, I should have stayed with my old fashioned 24MB connection. The first sign of trouble with Orange was that the connection would not last. In the first two months I estimated (conservatively) that the system crashed 150 times. It wasn't just a normal failure, but one that had me walk over to the router and unplug everything. After 30 seconds or so, I then had to plug it back and wait for it to restart. Imagine over 150 hard reboots in 2 months.

The friendly Orange customer service - *when* they bothered to answer the phone - did the usual "I think it's your fault" that I've become accustomed to with customer service in France. No matter what happened, it's your fault. (The customer is not king, but a scum-sucking peasant, at best.) The upside is that they no longer charge 0.35 per minute for support calls.

The next phase was then the billing. Despite signing up for free calls around the world and a few hours of mobile phone calls in Europe for 48e per month (yes, a healthy increase from my 25MB connection at 30e per month) the first bill was almost 500 euro. (In most of Europe, mobiles are only paid when calling, not receiving but calling them from a landline is more expensive.) We dared question the incorrect invoice so they did what any company would do, which is to terminate us as customers. Immediately. After working through the maze of phone lines - whichever number you just called, it was the wrong one - I eventually settled on the 48e per month that we agreed upon and service was restored.

For a few months the monthly bills were all over the place. It was impossible to figure out what we actually owed since there were a few months when no bill even arrived. We sent 2 registered letters to the CEO or Orange and the response was even better. Nothing. Some schmuck sent us a form letter that explained nothing and they did cut costs from one month but still no apology let alone a clear explanation of what the hell we were supposed to pay.

After a few months of this and waiting for clarity again, they cut the service, again. This time is took dozens of calls to every Orange number available, none of which could do anything other than sign you up as a customer. Sure, if you had the secret code that you can only get from a working phone *at home* you could try, but since our phone was cut, no success. Friends lent me office space for a week and a few days ago Joelle finally met someone with a heart at Orange who accepted payment over the phone, so we're back. Now I'm just counting the months until this contract expires. They refuse to let you leave despite their own service failings. For anyone coming to Europe, avoid Orange like the plague and heaven help you if this POS service is available in the US. Meanwhile, it's the godfather of punk. Read More......

Fewer jobs and lower wages threaten China

Unemployment may be deteriorating quickly in the US, but 20 million unemployed in one region alone should be enough to keep Beijing awake at night. There is a great fear in Europe about social unrest (which seems a bit over-played) but for China, the government is understating the problem. The government needs answers quickly if they want to maintain their lofty positions of power.

Scarce jobs, falling wages, sputtering assembly lines and labor scams are some of the rising problems faced by millions of Chinese migrant workers struggling to weather the downturn in export hubs like Guangdong.

Twenty million workers have lost their jobs in Guangdong alone as economic growth has slumped, but flareups of social unrest have not materialized since workers began returning en masse in early February from the Chinese New Year holiday.

Migrants are focused on economic survival -- scouring factory towns for jobs, lowering expectations, living frugally and awaiting an easing of the deep export slump that has shuttered thousands of factories as the global economic crisis worsens.

"It's not long after the Chinese New Year, so many workers are still busy looking for work. Only if they fail to find work over the next few weeks and months might we see more strain," said Liu Dejun, a labor rights activist based in Shenzhen, bordering Hong Kong.

But in typical Chinese factory towns like Changping, around three hours drive from Hong Kong, the strains are building.

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