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A farewell to How the World Works Coverage of politics, the economy, and globalization will continue, but the branded blog will not Andrew Leonard Friday, Sep 23, 2011 10:24 PM UTC Politics How the World Works Operation treason?
The final nail in the supply side coffin - How the World Works
Woman Gang-Raped by 7 Halliburton Employees "Signed Away" Her Right to Sue? How Justice Has Become the Privilege of Corporations
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Benmosche: AIG Mortgage Unit Thrives on `Red State' Culture
American International Group Inc .’s mortgage insurer does more business in Republican-leaning states as it signs up more reliable customers than those in “more liberal” areas, Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche said. “All of the states where we’re a leader, where we’re the No. 1 insurer, are red states, all of the states where we’re at the bottom are blue states,” Benmosche, 66, said yesterday at a conference in Washington. “Part of what we found out is that our model is about culture and it’s about the attitude in the public. And what we find is where there’s more of a tendency for people to be more liberal, more that the government is responsible for what happens to me.”Walmart Allows Its Workers To Unionize In Other Countries, Just Not In The United States
To complete its acquisition of Massmart, a chain of retail stores in South Africa, Walmart struck a deal that must seem extraordinary to the company’s American employees. To win government approval of the acquisition, Walmart made concessions to a South African labor union, agreeing to avoid worker layoffs, honor existing union contracts, and use local suppliers. The idea that Walmart negotiated with and made concessions to a labor union in South Africa may seem odd to workers in the United States, where Walmart has developed a reputation as one of the country’s most virulent opponents of organization efforts. In fact, Walmart’s workers are organized in many of the foreign countries in which it does business. In Brazil, Argentina, China, the United Kingdom, and now South Africa, some Walmart employees are organized. In China, Walmart is required by law to recognize union membership, and in Mexico, 18 percent of its workers are organized.
By: Rmuse April 21st, 2011 see more posts by Rmuse A little over a year ago the Supreme Court of the United States made a controversial ruling that says corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited. The case known as Citizens United v Federal Election Commission allows corporations to use their general funds to buy campaign ads that was prohibited under federal law, and opened the door for unlimited contributions by corporations as well as unions. The high court cited the 1 st Amendment’s guarantee of the right of free speech, and it was the first time a corporate entity was treated like a person. Detractors of the ruling cried foul and correctly pointed out that, “ .”
With A Stroke Of His Pen Obama Strikes Back At Citizens United
Thinking of getting away? You probably have much less vacation than workers in other parts of the world. Employers in the United States are not obligated to offer any paid vacation Vacation is mandated by law in many other parts of the world Poll: Only 57% of U.S. workers use up all of the vacation days they're entitled to Study: Working more makes Americans happier than Europeans
Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?
By Christopher D. Cook / February 23, 2011 Question: Would you want a small handful of government officials controlling America’s entire food supply, all its seeds and harvests? Skip to next paragraph Subscribe Today to the Monitor Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
Control over your food: Why Monsanto's GM seeds are undemocratic
Even as the federal deficit has ballooned, U.S. corporations are paying lower tax bills than ever before, according to one measure. That's the takeaway from a new report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities dissecting the tax structures of corporations, which CBPP Director Chuck Marr says are now paying taxes at "historical lows as a share of the [total] economy." Marr points to a basic discrepancy: While the U.S.'s top corporate tax rate of 35 percent is one of the highest in the world, the amount corporations actually end up forking over to the government is much lower, sometime as low as 4 percent . This is due to a dizzying number of deductions, write-offs, and other accounting tricks that allow corporations to legally reduce their tax burden.
Corporate Tax Revenues Nearing Historic Lows As A Percentage Of GDP, Report Says
The Rachel Maddow Show recently did something I’ve rarely seen — an episodic news show (a news show divided into episodes, like Countdown ) in which the episodes formed a single structure. About all the messy Republican mayhem happening in the states, Maddow concludes: “This is about a massive reallocation of resources held in common by the citizens to corporations for their private gain. And it is about a tactical kneecapping of the political force that might resist that — a tactical kneecapping of the Democratic party and its union base.” Each “chapter” in this essay develops an aspect of this idea, brilliantly. Here’s Episode 1, Connecting the dots .
What Republicans are doing in the states is 'a massive reallocation of resources to corporations'
The myth of 'American exceptionalism' implodes | Richard Wolff | Comment is free
A homeless encampment known as Tent City, in Sacramento, California, in 2009. Since the 1970s, real wages stopped growing and the gap between rich and poor expanded as the US economy slowed down after decades of growth. Photograph: Rich Pedroncelli/AP
By John Byrne Tuesday, December 14, 2010 8:30 EDT The massive industrial conglomerate Halliburton has reportedly offered to pay $250 million to settle charges against its former chief executive, ex-Vice President Dick Cheney, in a multi-million dollar bribery case. Nigeria filed charges against Cheney last week in an investigation of alleged bribery estimated at $180 million. Prosecutors named both Halliburton and KBR in the charges, as well as three European oil and engineering companies — Technip SA, EniSpa, and Saipem Construction. Eleven Halliburton officials were arrested last month and freed on bail Nov. 29. The charges allege that engineering contractor KBR, until 2007 a subsidiary of Halliburton, was among companies that paid bribes to secure a $6 billion contract for a natural gas plant.
Halliburton reportedly agrees to pay Nigeria $250 million to drop bribery charges against Cheney, firm | Raw Story
Who Eats Cotton Anyway? - Room for Debate
Farm subsidies represent a solution in search of a problem. Fruit, vegetable, livestock and poultry operations receive nearly no payments, yet still produce two-thirds of the farm economy. We are told the farm economy cannot function without subsidies.Rupert Murdoch sees a world of opportunity in education technology. Picture by AFP Source: The Australian NEWS Corporation will pay $US360 million ($A364.7m) in cash for 90 per cent of Wireless Generation, a US education technology company. The global media giant said Wireless Generation will become a subsidiary of News Corporation that will be managed by founder and CEO Larry Berger, president Josh Reibel and executive vice-president Laurence Holt. News Corp said Mr Berger, Mr Reibel and Mr Holt will collectively retain a 10 per cent interest in the privately held, Brooklyn-based company. Wireless Generation was established in 2000 and provides mobile and web software, data systems and professional services that enable teachers to use data to assess student progress and deliver individualised instruction.