War On Families

AN ONGOING BUZZFLASH SERIES ON THE GOP ECONOMIC WAR AGAINST AMERICAN WORKING FAMILIES
by Meg White

A report out today from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) details widespread neglect and outright lies coming out of the Department of Labor's office that records and investigates labor law violation complaints.

The report, through analysis of both actual cases as well as cases called in by undercover investigators posing as tipsters and stiffed workers, concluded that the division failed to investigate serious cases 19 percent of the time.

AN ONGOING BUZZFLASH SERIES ON THE GOP ECONOMIC WAR AGAINST AMERICAN WORKING FAMILIES
by Meg White

In the overarching story of the Obama Administration's nominees for cabinet posts, there have been a lot of characters. You've got your Beltway insiders, your nerdy scientist types, your IRS scofflaws, your post-partisan picks, and everyone in between.

Put Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA) in the "victim" category. In fact, while you're at it, put "labor" in that category, too. Obama's pick to lead the Labor Department has fought an uphill battle since being nominated.

First, Republicans put the breaks on Solis' confirmation because she didn't come out and say what everyone knows: She's pro-labor. Her work in the California legislature and U.S. Congress combined with her pro-union upbringing is a clear sign of her prerogatives at the Labor Department. Also, her role as the unpaid treasurer for the pro-labor group American Rights at Work speaks to her work on the issue.

But instead of stating the obvious at a confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Solis dodged questions about so-called "right to work" states, card check, and the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). The questions weren't out of line; these are the main issues facing the labor force in this country.

AN ONGOING BUZZFLASH SERIES ON THE GOP ECONOMIC WAR AGAINST AMERICAN WORKING FAMILIES
by Meg White

On Sunday, President-elect Barack Obama announced the formation of a new task force to help determine how to better serve the needs of working class families. Vice President-elect Joe Biden will head up the task force, the first example of a concrete role for him beyond advisor in the incoming Obama Administration. Of course, this announcement gave the right wing reason to lash out at working class people under the guise of politics.

It started with Sean Hannity's blog. Apparently, Hannity's soldiers don't think this is at all necessary.  One writes, "Talk about providing a solution in search of a problem."  Right.  There's no problem because there are no working class people left; we've spent the last eight years whittling away their jobs and homes! Another refers to it as comic relief, a joke that is lost on me.

But it's not just Hannity and friends.

AN ONGOING BUZZFLASH SERIES ON THE GOP ECONOMIC WAR AGAINST AMERICAN WORKING FAMILIES
by Meg White

Here at BuzzFlash, we don't always have money for all the stuff we want. Included in that unfulfilled wish list is an economic expert. So we've had to rely on outside experts to cut through all the talk on taxes lately. One thing seems to ring true no matter where you go for information: Under a McCain Administration, the GOP war on American working families would continue.

As we've noted before, fairy tales about tax cuts are a familiar weapon in this war, especially during election years. But you don't have to take it from us.

A recent survey of academic economists by the British magazine The Economist shows many respondents tended to agree with us:

AN ONGOING BUZZFLASH SERIES ON THE GOP ECONOMIC WAR AGAINST AMERICAN WORKING FAMILIES
by Meg White

It seems the explosive financial news is seeping into every corner of the political landscape lately. Even the first presidential debate to be held this evening on the topic of foreign affairs may end up focusing more on the economy. In one case, however, simmering anger over who benefited from the housing bailout bill this summer may end up preventing some innocent Americans from voting.

Clearly, the bickering isn't really about voters' rights. James Terry, chief public advocate for Consumers Rights League (CRL), a nonprofit organization that supports the wide availability of credit, testified before Congress Wednesday about how corrupt the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has been in their get-out-the-vote efforts.

ACORN has had its fair share of problems, that's true. Most of it stems from the grassroots nature of ACORN's voter registration effort. By hiring local canvassers all over the country, and sometimes even paying them per registrant, ACORN was almost guaranteed to have problems with fraud. However, lawsuits against ACORN's registration drives in 2004 were dismissed as frivolous and politically motivated, and the group has never been indicted for any voter misdeeds.

We don't want to speculate here upon the veracity of these latest charges, but something more needs to be said about the motivations of this politicized battle. Why is a representative of a consumer rights group with no previously expressed interest in voters' rights, who is far from an expert witness for voter fraud cases, testifying alongside secretaries of state before Congress on this matter?

PART FOUR OF A BUZZFLASH SERIES ON THE GOP ECONOMIC WAR AGAINST AMERICAN WORKING FAMILIES
by Meg White

Republicans like to paint themselves as champions of the free market, but only when it makes them money.

After years of bad investments and wild spending, the government is asking Congress to give $700 billion of our tax money to a former CEO of Goldman Sachs for him to spend however he wishes with no oversight or legal accountability. And this is after taxpayer money was granted to save the hides of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as AIG.

The money, which works out to more than $2,000 per American according to WashingtonWatch.com, will be used to secure failing investments on Wall Street, but it's clear that this is a boondoggle. Even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) can see that.

These bailouts are part of the ongoing GOP economic war on working Americans. Republicans are working to redistribute wealth from working people to CEOs and investors. Taxpayers are being forced to take on risk and debt from the people who justify their huge profits and salaries by claiming they take on such huge risks and debt.