The new face of education reform
Over at Forbes I talk about Scott Walker’s plans to layoff 1,500 state workers and cut $1 billion in state aid to schools and local governments. I think Walker is doing what Chris Christie would like to do, and what reformers like Michelle Rhee never had the power to do – he calls it balancing [...]
February 28, 2011
· 
E.D. Kain · 
53 Comments
Tags: education reform, Scott Walker, unions · Posted in: Education
Organized Labor in America
I mentioned this before, but we’re hosting a League Roundtable on the questions facing organized labor in America. The series was kicked off by Kevin Carson, who wrote about Taft-Hartley and other ways the government has legally restricted the ability of workers to organize. That was followed up by Mark Thompson, who argued that market [...]
February 25, 2011
· E.D. Kain · 56 Comments
Tags: leftism, libertarianism, organized labor, unions · Posted in: Domestic Affairs
The Walker Roadmap
Mike Konczal has an excellent post up on the three-pronged approach Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is taking in his stealth budget. In fact, he’s charted the whole thing out: The assault on unions is currently the most obvious and contested part of this plan (despite the health of the public pension system in Wisconsin), but [...]
February 24, 2011
· E.D. Kain · 82 Comments
Tags: healthcare reform, medicaid, organized labor, Scott Walker, unions, wisconsin · Posted in: Domestic Affairs
Soak the Super-Rich
I like big colorful pictures and graphs that throw things into perspective. This one goes well with that pie-chart I had the other day: Lots more here. And don’t forget to read Kevin Drum’s article (which these charts accompany) on the decline of unions, it’s well-worth the read.
February 22, 2011
· E.D. Kain · 108 Comments
Tags: Mother Jones, organized labor, unions, wealth distribution · Posted in: Domestic Affairs
Three Decades of Union-Busting
Andrew Sullivan has two more posts up on Wisconsin, and both are remarkably even-keeled. In the first, he looks at Walker’s campaign promises and notes that Walker did campaign on cutting public sector wages and benefits: But not end their collective bargaining rights on everything but wages. There’s no reference to any such bid in [...]
February 22, 2011
· E.D. Kain · 162 Comments
Tags: Andrew Sullivan, Kevin Drum, organized labor, Robert Reich, Scott Walker, unions, wisconsin · Posted in: Decline and Fall, Domestic Affairs
The Death and Life of the Great American Middle Class
I don’t agree with Andrew on the issue of public sector unions at all but at least this post is a good deal more measured than many of his recent efforts. It’s also revealing of a certain mindset that I think a lot of Americans share. I will try to explain how I see the situation. [...]
February 21, 2011
· E.D. Kain · 254 Comments
Tags: Democratic Party, Madison, public sector unions, Scott Walker, the middle class, unions, wisconsin · Posted in: Decline and Fall, Domestic Affairs
A Piechart’s Worth a Thousand Words
Alex Knapp illustrates the distribution of wealth in this country with a handy piechart: Alex notes that, “As you can see, this is why the wealthy in this country pay most of the taxes — they have most of the money, by a staggering amount.” More charts and numbers here. Good thing the Tea Partiers [...]
February 19, 2011
· E.D. Kain · 158 Comments
Tags: Russ Feingold, Tea Parties, unions, wealth distribution, wisconsin · Posted in: Domestic Affairs
Outsourcing libraries and other bad ideas from the new Class War
Nick Gillespie wants to outsource public libraries to private companies. Anything to save a few dollars, I guess. Apparently “everyone from Marxists to libertarians” will tell you that a library is a hugely regressive institution, subsidizing people who like to read with the hard-earned tax dollars of the illiterate. This is also, apparently, a new [...]
February 11, 2011
· E.D. Kain · 181 Comments
Tags: libraries, public sector, public sphere, unions · Posted in: Domestic Affairs
