Adam Smith (sometimes referred to as "the father of capitalism") wrote in his magnum opusThe Wealth of Nations (the first modern work of economics): "Labour was the first price, the original purchase-money that was paid for all things.
In a 219-206 vote, the House passed a new spending bill that the progressive wing of the Democratic party and the Tea Party wing of the GOP had opposed. The bill, which Obama had been pitching for, will now be headed to the Senate for a vote.
The U.S. Air Force has a motto: "Second to None". It's a shame that the U.S. economy can't make the same claim. After already over-taking Japan has the world's 2nd largest economy, the Chinese economy has just passed the U.S.’s to become the largest economy in the world.
In the 2014 elections, the Democrats' only "Hail Mary" hope in Hell had been, not just keeping the Senate, but winning back the House as well. Now (maybe for an entire generation) the Democrats have lost almost any chance at all of getting back any meaningful political power in Washington for a very long time to come — because their messaging during the 2014 elections was such an utter and dismal failure.
Just before the annual gathering of the global elites last January (at the Swiss mountain resort of Davos), the anti-poverty charity Oxfam released an eye-opening report that showed the world’s 85 richest billionaires hold as much wealth as 3.5 billion of humanity’s poorest half. That shocking statistic quickly went globally viral. Now there's a new report.
Everybody is picking on the multi-billionaires. The beggars (aka "the takers") are always holding out their hand and constantly demanding more — a living wage or a minimum wage, healthcare insurance, paid sick days, vacation days, safety regulations, equal pay for women, pension contributions ... the list goes on and on. When will it ever stop? And can multi-billionaires even afford these unreasonable demands without tanking the entire economy?
Conservatives have been well known for bad-mouthing our European ancestors — especially the French 1 — calling them "socialists" and whatever other insults they can think of to hurl at them 2.
If for no other reason, the Republican party's ABSOLUTE REFUSAL to raise the federal minimum wage should be the best reason for why the GOP should lose the 2016 congressional elections. Republican voters (who might earn more) should understand that, by setting the ground floor for the lowest federally mandated minimum wage, that also puts great pressure on their employers to raise their wages as well. How can their bosses explain to a factory worker in Tennessee (or elsewhere) that McDonalds employees are earning more than they are?
After the Great Recession had officially began (but prior to the stock market crash of 2008/09) George W. Bush responded to the early signs of economic trouble with a "helicopter drop" in the form of lump sum tax rebates to wage earners to help stimulate the economy. They were provided for in the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, with support from both the Democrats and the Republicans. The bill was signed into law on February 13, 2008.
In a speech yesterday at Northwestern University, President Obama said, "American manufacturing has added more than 700,000 new jobs." But since Obama first took office in 2009, we've actually had a NET LOSS of 400,000 manufacturing jobs.
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