Of all developed nations in the world, the United States has the most unequal distribution of income...and it's getting worse. Tomorrow, you can find out why and what we can do to change this when “ Inequality for All ,” a new documentary by former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, opens in select theaters across the country.
Click here to find a theater near you and opening dates and here to visit the film’s Facebook page .
One of the most deceptive ideas continuously sounded by the Right (and its fathomless think tanks and media outlets) is that the "free market" is natural and inevitable, existing outside and beyond government. So whatever inequality or insecurity it generates is beyond our control. And whatever ways we might seek to reduce inequality or insecurity—to make the economy work for us—are unwarranted constraints on the market's freedom and will inevitably go wrong.
Yesterday, as fast-food workers participated in the largest strike the industry has ever seen , former Labor Secretary Robert Reich released a new video and petition , along with MoveOn, calling on McDonald's and Walmart to pay their workers a decent wage. In the video, he breaks down what steps are needed to make sure workers get a fair share in the current economy, where jobs are coming back, but most of them are paying less than they were before the recession.
Of all developed nations in the world, the United States has the most unequal distribution of income...and it's getting worse.
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich says in his new documentary, "Inequality for All," "If workers don't have power, if they don't have a voice...their wages and benefits start eroding."
Check out the trailer for this film and see more content like this on the Upworthy Workonomics site .
How do we close the inequality gap and restore a potent middle class? The AFL-CIO’s live online discussion yesterday with Robert Reich, former secretary of labor and the Chancellor’s professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley, went far beyond the idea of raising taxes on the wealthiest 1%. Worker co-ops, co-determination, reducing student debt, shortening the workweek, campaign finance reform and raising the minimum wage were among the excellent suggestions offered in the seventh in a series of online discussions to help us shape the 2013 AFL-CIO Convention and how the labor movement can meet the needs of working people in the future.
Don’t forget to join the live online discussion with Robert Reich today from noon to 1 p.m. EDT. Reich, former secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton and Chancellor’s professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley, is posing this question to you:
The rich keep getting a bigger share of the economic pie while everyone else’s share keeps shrinking. What should be done to reverse this trend?
Join Robert Reich on Thursday, June 20, noon–1 p.m. EDT for the seventh in the AFL-CIO series of live online discussions on how we build a movement for the future of working people . Reich, former secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton and Chancellor’s professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley—and the AFL-CIO—wants to hear your ideas on new ways the labor movement can change economic trends that hurt working people. He poses this question:
The rich keep getting a bigger share of the economic pie while everyone else’s share keeps shrinking. What should be done to reverse this trend?
Economic forecasters exist to make astrologers look good. Most had forecast growth of at least 3 percent (on an annualized basis) in the first quarter. But we learned this morning (in the Commerce Department’s report) it grew only 2.5 percent.
What should the president do now?
Push to repeal the sequester (a reconciliation bill in the Senate would allow repeal with 51 votes, thereby putting pressure on House Republicans) and replace it with a “Build America’s Future” Act that would close tax loopholes used by the wealthy, end corporate welfare, impose a small (1/10 of 1%) tax on financial transactions and reduce the size of the military.
Brace yourself. In coming weeks you’ll hear there’s no serious alternative to cutting Social Security and Medicare, raising taxes on middle class and decimating what’s left of the federal government’s discretionary spending, on everything from education and job training to highways and basic research.
“ We ” must make these sacrifices, it will be said, in order to deal with our mushrooming budget deficit and cumulative debt.
But most of the people who are making this argument are very wealthy or are sponsored by the very wealthy: Wall Street moguls like Peter Peterson and his “Fix the Debt” brigade, the Business Roundtable, well-appointed think tanks and policy centers along the Potomac, members of the Simpson-Bowles commission.
It’s been four years since low-wage workers got a raise. Sign the petition to tell Congress it’s time to raise the minimum wage.
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