The Problem with “American Jobs”

As the opening to his re-election campaign, President Obama’s rousing State of the Union address laid out a vision for a renewed American social compact, one in which hard work and responsibility offer everyone a decent life. It was a stirring message, aptly crystallizing the central theme of the 2012 campaign: Does our economy work for everyone?  Or does it just work for the lucky, wealthy, or unusually talented few?

One of the reliable applause lines in the speech – and in politics more generally – was about saving and creating American jobs.  The President assailed American companies that “outsource jobs” and “avoid paying [their] fair share of taxes by moving jobs and profits overseas.” President Obama is absolutely right on that latter point: it’s time for American corporations to stop shirking their tax responsibilities through complex accounting and putting subsidiaries in tax havens like the Cayman Islands.  In fact, as I wrote in a recent blog post, Congress’s latest desire to give these corporations a “tax holiday” to repatriate profits to the United States is both economically foolish and morally unacceptable.

As for outsourcing, though, I have a problem: I’m not sure that I believe in such a thing as an “American job.”  Of course, I believe in the literal fact that there are jobs in the United States, that they are primarily filled by American workers, and that they are at companies with headquarters in the U.S.  But, at a broader level, I worry about the notion of “American jobs”: it suggests that the United States has a moral claim on these jobs, that workers in other countries who do work that was once done by Americans are not entitled to that work.

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[ Above: Steel plant by Flickr: LibraryArchives ]

Fireside Chat with Sen. Liz Krueger

There may not have been a fireplace, but last Thursday ACT NOW was honored to have progressive champion State Senator Liz Krueger (26th District) over for an informal “fireside chat.”  As she approaches her 10th anniversary in office, Liz is certainly turning up the heat on in Albany on key progressive issues.

We talked with Sen. Krueger about redistricting reform in New York State, a subject dear to ACT NOW’s heart and on which we have worked tirelessly since last winter.  Liz spoke about Senate Republicans’ recently disclosed plan to add a 63rd Senate seat in a transparent attempt to hold on to their decades-long majority in this heavily Democratic state.  And she urged progressives to stand firm in calling on Gov. Cuomo to veto partisan district lines drawn by the legislature that do not fairly represent the voters of New York.  We also talked about public financing of elections, for which both the Senator and ACT NOW have long been outspoken advocates.  Liz’s bottom line on independent redistricting and public financing was simple:  New York doesn’t have to choose between fair district lines and fair elections — we can do both.

The Senator also discussed her advocacy for a Senate resolution reaffirming the reproductive health rights of New Yorkers — and how it ended up being sanitized by Senate Republicans to omit any mention of family planning, contraception, or reproductive rights!  It’s a stark reminder of the challenges that progressive values face this election year, in which every Republican candidate for president has sworn to overturn Roe v. Wade.  We also thanked the Senator for her vigorous opposition to hydrofracking in New York State, a practice that would enrich energy companies by putting our environment at risk of catastrophe.

Finally, Sen. Krueger spoke about her No Bad Apples PAC, a continuing initiative to recruit Good Government Democrats to run for Senate across the state and help them win.  And she reminded us that there is much work to be done in 2012 to help elect a progressive State Senate that reflects the values and the priorities of New York.

[ Above: Sen. Liz Krueger (D-26) by Lenny Braman ]

State of the Union Watch Party

Join ACT NOW, Greater NYC for Change, Democracy for New York City, and many more progressive groups, on Tuesday, January 24th, as we watch President Barack Obama deliver the State of the Union Address. Come on down, and bring your friends!

Date: Tuesday, January 24th

Time: 7PM-11PM

Location: The Forum, 4th Avenue between 12th and 13th Streets

RSVP below.

Brooklynites,  join Drinking Liberally (and other ACT NOWers too cold to trek into the city) at Building on Bond (112 Bond @ Pacific) at 7PM.

R.S.V.P….

Serve With Care

Recent food writing has made much ado about how our food travels from the farm to our kitchens. But far less has been written about the journey from the restaurant kitchen to your dining table. While we’re cheerfully indulging in a delicious meal, craning for quick service, and self-righteously contemplating whether our server earned a 15 or 25 percent tip, the restaurant workers have most likely been toiling under poverty level wages, with no benefits, and little chance for promotion.

The restaurant industry in America, one of the fastest growing sectors of our economy, employs 10 million workers. Yet, more than half of those workers live below the federal poverty line for a family of three. At a minimum wage of $2.13 per hour, waiters and waitresses have three times the poverty rate of the rest of the U.S. workforce, according to Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC). And the Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the average hourly wage of restaurant employees (including tips) at approximately half the average wage across all private sector jobs.

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[ Photo: Flickr: Wonderlane ]

Global Risks 2012

One of the more interesting items circulating around Wharton this week is the Global Risks 2012 report, co-written by the Wharton Center for Risk Management.  Though directed primarily at the financial industry, the report aggregates and analyzes the thinking of “469 experts and industry leaders” from government, corporations, NGOs, and international organizations.  It’s valuable reading for anyone who wants to know what the world’s elite is worried about in 2012.

Top 5 Global Risks Source: Global Risks 2012 report

Most interesting is the prominence of “Severe Income Disparity” as a “High Impact” and “High Likelihood” risk, along with “Chronic Fiscal Imbalances” and “Water Supply Crises.”  Even more notable is the fact that, until this year’s survey, Severe Income Disparity was not rated among even the top 5 “most likely” risks (from 2007 – 2011).  This year, it is number one.

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Governor Cuomo: We’re Counting on You for Redistricting Reform

CALL GOVERNOR CUOMO TODAY AT (518) 474-8390 TO SAY  YOU SUPPORT HIS PLEDGE TO VETO GERRYMANDERED DISTRICT LINES. NEW YORK NEEDS HONEST REDISTRICTING AND FAIR ELECTIONS!

December 19, 2011

The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Cuomo:

As the 2012 Legislative Session approaches and a variety of difficult budgetary and legislative issues await, we strongly implore you to uphold your commitment to veto legislative district lines that are not created from an independent process. As a leading progressive organization in New York State, we believe that any system that allows legislators to craft their own district lines, especially in a re-election year, is an affront to the democratic process. Read More

Help Stop SOPA/PIPA

ACT NOW is participating in a widespread protest of the House’s Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its Senate corollary (Protect IP), and our site will be unavailable on Wednesday, January 18th.

The bills, written largely by self-interested juggernauts like the Motion Picture Association of America (whose revolving door to Washington recently let in scandal-plagued former Senator Chris Dodd to assume its chairmanship) and GoDaddy, represent the most brazen and corrupt forms of lobbying and influence-peddling. It abrogates our government’s responsibility to enforce its own laws, handing the policing of online activity to corporate copyright holders, who would be authorized to shut down sites they suspected of infringement. No due process, no innocent-until-proven-guilty, no impartial judiciary.

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I Was Kicked Out of a Mitt Romney Event and Arrested. I’m Still Trying to Figure Out Why.

(Originally posted at thewheatandchaff.com)

I’d been in New Hampshire for the past several days to follow the campaign and see some of the candidates in-person. Yesterday morning, I was chatting up a Romney campaign staffer before an event at the Gilchrist Manufacturing Company in Hudson, NH, when a police officer approached. Sir, we have to ask you to leave the premises.

“Sir, is this about my backpack? I’d be happy to show you – there’s nothing dangerous in there.”

“No, sir – we’ll explain it to you outside.”

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[ Above: "The holding cell at the Hudson Police Department" by Matt Bieber ]

Honest Conservatives

It is possible, although decreasingly so in American politics, to admire, if disagree with, your political opponents. I keep a dwindling collection of conservatives, who are not preoccupied with vengeance, destruction, pledges and sexual politics. I call them “thinking conservatives” and perhaps the matters where we disagree would come down to economics and foreign policy. David Frum is on that list. So is David Brooks. William Buckley, the lucid founder of conservative magazine National Review, whose son Christopher Buckley famously left his father’s venue and voted for Obama in 2008, was a pleasure to read before he passed away, if not for agreement but for his deft command of English. I can hardly imagine a current day conservative publicly criticizing Ayn Rand, as well as denounce the John Birch Society as “far removed from common sense”. Who does the Right have now to carry the torch – Rush Limbaugh? Charles Krauthammer? It’s beyond embarrassing!

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[ Above: Vampire Squid by Flickr: Laughing Squid ]

Grading Obama on Foreign Affairs

If you had to give President Obama a grade in International Affairs for these past three years, what would it be?  A plus?  B minus?  “Incomplete”?  For my part, I give him (and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, key architect of his foreign policy) an A minus, for a job well done, with room for improvement.

It’s been interesting to watch Republicans try to find fault in every foreign policy decision Obama has made, without much of a coherent theme or a credible claim of what they’d do differently.

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[ Above: World Map 1689 by Gerard van Schagen via Wikimedia Commons ]