Posts for March 29, 2011

Michigan Cuts Jobless Benefit by Six Weeks

By MICHAEL COOPER

The new governor, Rick Snyder, signed a law to provide fewer weeks of unemployment benefits than any other state. 127. Vincent Amato

New York City March 29th, 2011 11:19 am

Keep squeezing, squeezing every drop of "excess" fat out of the pockets of a working class that, by international standards, after all, is still far from destitute. If only America's workers could fully understand the heroic role they are now being asked to play in saving "the system," they would happily tighten their belts a bit more. If only they could fully understand just how badly the financial masters of the universe screwed up Plan A, how close the system came to imploding in 2008, they would be happy now to sign on for Plan B, which, though authored by precisely the same individuals who gave us Plan A, is sure to work this time. A progressive tax plan, the elimination of entitlements that, out of our sense of fairness and equality, go to millionaires and the impoverished alike, New Deal programs like the WPA that would put millions to work rebuilding our aged roads, bridges, rail and mass transit systems, the continued diversion of much-needed dollars to misguided social and cultural programs--all that would spell socialism. Place a veil of invisibility once again on the suffering of Black Americans for just a little while longer (you don't hear them complaining, do you?) and hope that things will not get so tough that the army of illegal immigrants that keep us a viable economy will not run home. Make sure that the have-nots and have-not-enoughs understand that their true enemies are the greedy handful who still have unions and pensions. Keep them in their free time focused on their HD flat screen television sets with their liquid pools of vivid color through which, vicariously at least, they can continue to enjoy the life style and the bounty which is their birthright.

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Tools for Thinking

By DAVID BROOKS

Science offers some help in the everyday as we navigate the currents of this world.

91. Vincent Amato New York City March 29th, 2011 12:04 pm

Unions, for example, right David? Just an old way of meeting the needs of ordinary people that is no longer relevant. David Brooks giving us his teleological and epistemological musings is a fine example of never knowing what will emerge from his column, but read carefully, just more of the same. >Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers