Over 5 million workers will have higher pay on January 1 thanks to state minimum wage increases [feedly]

Over 5 million workers will have higher pay on January 1 thanks to state minimum wage increases
https://www.epi.org/blog/over-5-million-workers-will-have-higher-pay-on-january-1-thanks-to-state-minimum-wage-increases/

On January 1, 2019, 20 states will raise their minimum wages, lifting pay for 5.3 million workers across the country.1 The increases, which range from a $0.05 inflation adjustment in Alaska to a $2.00 per hour increase in New York City, will give affected workers approximately $5.4 billion in increased wages over the course of 2019. Affected workers who work year-round will see their annual pay go up between $90 and $1,300, on average, depending on the size of the minimum wage change in their state.

The map below describes the impacts of each state increase, which are also summarized in Table 1. Note that these estimates do not account for changes in local minimum wages. There are 24 cities and counties with higher local minimum wages taking effect on January 1, all of which can be found in EPI's Minimum Wage Tracker. They also do not include any "indirectly affected workers" already making more than the new minimum wage who receive raises as employers adjust their overall pay scales.

Figure A

Increases in eight states are the result of automatic adjustments for inflation. In Alaska, Florida, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, South Dakota, and Vermont, the minimum wage is adjusted each year to reflect changes in prices over the preceding year—thereby ensuring that the minimum wage supports the same level of spending year after year.

In six states—California, Delaware, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, and Rhode Island—the increases reflect new minimum wage levels set by state legislatures. Several of these increases, such as those in California, Massachusetts, and New York, are intermediate steps as these states gradually raise their minimum wages to $15 per hour. In 2017, congressional Democrats proposed raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2024, which would lift pay for an estimated 41 million U.S. workers, but the bill was never allowed to come to a vote. Lawmakers in Congress have not raised the federal minimum wage since 2007, and since the last federal increase took effect, the purchasing power of the federal minimum wage has declined by over 12 percent.

The increases in the remaining six states—Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Missouri, and Washington—are the result of ballot measures approved directly by voters in those states. In recent years, as federal and state lawmakers in many states have failed to update minimum wages, voters have taken up the charge themselves, passing wage increases at the ballot box.

Not every state allows for these ballot referenda, and unfortunately in some states, lawmakers have intentionally denied wage increases that either passed or were likely to be passed by voters. The Council of the District of Columbia overturned a voter initiative that passed with 55 percent support that would have gradually raised and eventually eliminated the separate lower minimum wage that currently exists for workers who receive tips. In doing so, the D.C. Council undermined pay increases for thousands of the city's tipped workers, who are predominantly people of color.

Similarly, the GOP-led state legislature in Michigan took extraordinary steps to deny a wage increase for hundreds of thousands of workers in the Wolverine State. In September 2018, the Michigan legislature adopted, as legislation, a ballot initiative that had been scheduled to be on the November ballot that would have raised the state minimum wage to $10 per hour on January 1, 2019, with subsequent increases raising it to $12 by 2022. The measure would have also established automatic inflation adjustment after 2022, and would have gradually raised and eliminated the lower minimum wage for tipped workers. By adopting the initiative, the legislature removed the measure from the ballot, denying the state's citizens the opportunity to vote on the proposal. Then, after the November election, the legislature watered down the legislation so that the minimum wage will instead reach $12 by 2030—eight years more slowly—with no further automatic inflation adjustments and only a $0.07 increase to the tipped minimum wage. Governor Snyder signed the legislation into law.

As shown in Table 1, had the Michigan ballot measure taken effect as it was written, nearly 320,000 Michiganders would have received a raise, with the average directly affected worker who works year round receiving over $900 in income. Instead, state lawmakers shrunk the wage increase so much that only 136,00 workers—nearly 200,000 fewer—are likely to get a raise, with the average year-round affected worker getting an annual pay increase of only $270.

Table 1

Raising the minimum wage is one of the most straightforward ways to lift pay for the lowest-paid workers in the economy. After decades of policy choices that have suppressed wage growth for the most workers, it is encouraging that policymakers and voters have increasingly embraced this simple and effective policy tool. The flurry of state minimum wage increases that have taken effect in recent years have led to sizable gains in wages for millions of workers across the country. Yet there are 21 states that still use the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. With a new Congress taking office in January, perhaps there is hope that the millions of workers earning low wages in those states will finally get a boost to their paychecks.

1. This includes New York, where the minimum wage increases take effect on December 31.

 -- via my feedly newsfeed

Re: Democrats Just Blocked Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Push for a Green New Deal Committee

II confess I don't put much weight on this critique, at least not now. Do I support a green new deal? Yes. But nothing will be accomplished without first deposing Trump, on any front. The coalition to remove Trump requires forces esp in Congress wider than supporters of the green New deal. The fascist forces we confront are prepared to rip up democracy and the Constitution before ANY expansion of public goods if any kind.

InDeed, the EPA, HEALTH CARE, energy, labor, wages are all being rolled back. This is still defense not offense

Hide quoted text

On Dec 21, 2018 11:00 PM, "Portside" <moderator@portside.org> wrote:

Democrats Just Blocked Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Push for a Green New Deal Committee Alexander C. Kaufman  December 20, 2018 Huffington Post Instead, Democrats are sticking to their original plan, and channeled Exxon Mobil in an announcement refusing to bar members who take fossil fuel money. ,   Democratic leaders on Thursday tapped Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) to head a revived U.S. House panel on climate change, all but ending a dramatic monthlong effort to establish a select committee on a Green New Deal. Castor's appointment came as a surprise to proponents of a Green New Deal. The move also kicked off a controversy as the six-term congresswoman dismissed calls to bar members who accept money from fossil fuel companies from serving on the committee, arguing it would violate free speech rights.  Despite weeks of protests demanding House Democrats focus efforts next year on drafting a Green New Deal, the sort of sweeping economic policy that scientists say matches the scale of the climate crisis, Castor told E&E News the plan was "not going to be our sole focus." She then suggested that barring members who have accepted donations from the oil, gas and coal industries from serving on the committee could be unconstitutional.  "I don't think you can do that under the First Amendment, really," she said. That reasoning echoed arguments Exxon Mobil Corp. made in court as recently as this year to defend its funding of right-wing think tanks that deliberately produced misinformation about climate science to stymie government action on global warming.  Soon after the remarks were published, Castor walked back the statement in an interview with HuffPost, calling it an "inartful answer." But she said she did not know whether, as chairperson, she could bar members on the committee from serving if they accepted fossil fuel donations.  "Maybe that's a discussion we need to have in the caucus," Castor said.  It's a stunning upset, essentially returning Democrats to the original plan leaders laid out before the protests began in November. The announcement comes as a loss for Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Her meteoric rise and devoted base made it seem as if she were poised to win the burgeoning cadre of leftist Democrats a beachhead in a select committee that, even with limited capacity, would have demonstrated tangible power in Washington.  But, if it's defeat, it's bittersweet. The campaign, seemingly quixotic at first, shifted the stagnant climate policy debate not just to the left but, for the first time, in the direction of policies that could make a dent in surging global emissions and curb soaring income inequality. Coupled with back-to-back United Nations and federal reports that showed climate change already rapidly worsening, the effort established a new litmus test for lawmakers, breaking the binary of whether or not a politicians "believes" in the science of human-caused warming.  The movement gained stunning support in just a few weeks. A poll released Monday found 81 percent of registered voters supported the policies outlined under the Green New Deal resolution ― including 64 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of self-described conservative Republicans. Last Friday, more than 300 state and local officials voiced support for a Green New Deal in an open letter.  "We don't have time to sit on our hands as our planet burns," Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday in a tweet. "For young people, climate change is bigger than election or re-election. It's life or death." It's unclear whether Ocasio-Cortez will even get a seat on the select committee.  Asked if she accepted money from fossil fuel companies, Castor said, "I cannot think of a contribution from an oil company or fossil fuel company, but I cannot say without going back and with a fine-toothed comb that there wasn't something in the past." According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Castor accepted more than $73,000 from the energy and natural resources sector over her 12-year tenure in Congress, including $60,000 from corporate political action committees. The League of Conservation Voters gave Castor an 86 percent score last year on its ranking, which is based on her voting record. She had a 93 percent lifetime score.  She said she would consider taking the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge, a vow overseen by a handful of progressive groups including proponents of a Green New Deal. Asked what the decision hinged on, Castor said, "I don't know." "We're at year-end with a possible shutdown and I think the important thing is looking at folks for the committee who are ready to serve," she said.  The restoration of the select committee on climate change puts an end to a month-long effort to replace it with a panel focused specifically on crafting a Green New Deal, an umbrella term for a suite of policies that would include shifting the United States to 100 percent renewable energy over the next decade and guaranteeing high-wage, federally backed jobs to workers in outmoded industries. The proposal stormed into mainstream political debate over the past month after protesters from the progressive groups Sunrise Movement and Justice Democrats held sit-ins in Pelosi's office. The demonstrations came in response to what they saw as plans for a tepid response to the climate crisis when the party takes control of the House next month. Ocasio-Cortez, a left-wing firebrand with a powerful online following, joined the protests and proposed swapping Pelosi's plan to restore the climate select committee with a plan for a panel devoted to the Green New Deal.  For a few weeks, it seemed likely to happen. More than 40 incoming or sitting House Democrats pledged to support the resolution, and nearly half a dozen senators announced their support for the effort, including at least three likely 2020 presidential contenders.  But the proposal ruffled feathers in Washington. Incoming chairmen of committees that traditionally oversee energy and environmental policy complained that a Green New Deal select committee would strip them of legislative power. And Beltway veterans privately expressed frustration that a cadre of insurgent freshmen, some of whom toppled long-time allies in primaries, were using their grassroots popularity to call shots.Democratic leaders responded in kind, declining to contact activists or Ocasio-Cortez before announcing plans to ignore the resolution and restore the previous climate select committee instead.  Representatives from Sunrise Movement and Justice Democrats confirmed they were not told of the decision until they read about it on E&E News. Castor said she "chatted with Rep.-elect Ocasio-Cortez, but not specifically on this."  In a statement, Sunrise Movement said a select committee "that makes a plan for implementing a Green New Deal is an opportunity for Democrats in the House."  "Without a mandate to create a plan and a requirement that its members don't take fossil fuel money, we are deeply concerned that this committee will be just another of the many committees we've seen failing our generation our entire lives," Varshini Prakash, the Sunrise Movement's co-founder, said in a statement. Later Thursday evening, Sunrise political director Evan Weber said the group would continue the fight.  "Nancy Pelosi has the power to determine whether or not the Select Committee for a Green New Deal lives or dies," Weber said. "Sunrise Movement's position is and will continue to be that it's not over until she makes it clear that it's over."  But, earlier this week, Democratic leaders announced that a Green New Deal select committee would lack subpoena power, seemingly sounding the death knell for the resolution.  Castor said the select committee she agreed to chair would likely have subpoena power, but not legislative power. She said she did not know yet which individuals or companies she would use that power to investigate.   "I honestly thought the Democratic Party leaders would see this opportunity," said Waleed Shahid, the communications director for Justice Democrats, a left-wing group championing the Green New Deal proposal. "It's infuriating to see a fellow Democrat basically parrot the talking points of the Koch Brothers when it comes to the very common-sense idea that any politician who accepts donations from the fossil-fuel corporations should not be allowed to legislate on climate change."  But Castor's appointment won praise from establishment environmental groups.  "Rep. Kathy Castor is an outstanding choice to help lead the House's renewed focus on climate change," John Bowman, senior director for federal affairs at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement. "As a longtime environmental champion, few are better suited to help shine a bright light on the threats Americans face from the climate crisis and advance the solutions we urgently need." Alexander Kaufman is a climate and environment reporter at HuffPost, based in New York. Email him at alexander.kaufman@huffpost.com. Direct message him on Twitter @AlexCKaufman for his phone number on the encrypted messaging app Signal.         INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT     Submit via web Submit via email Frequently asked questions Manage subscription Visit portside.org Twitter Facebook

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On Wed, Dec 26, 2018, 11:29 AM John Case <jcase4218@gmail.com wrote:

I confess I don't put much weight on this critique, at least not now. Do I support a green new deal? Yes. But nothing will be accomplished without first deposing Trump, on any front. The coalition to remove Trump requires forces esp in Congress wider than supporters of the green New deal. The fascist forces we confront are prepared to rip up democracy and the Constitution before ANY expansion of public goods if any kindaybe yyt

Deed, the EPA, HEALTH CARE, JOBS, WAGES, be. My yyt

On Dec 21, 2018 11:00 PM, "Portside" <moderator@portside.org> wrote:

Democrats Just Blocked Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Push for a Green New Deal Committee     Alexander C. Kaufman December 20, 2018 Huffington Post Instead, Democrats are sticking to their original plan, and channeled Exxon Mobil in an announcement refusing to bar members who take fossil fuel money. ,   Democratic leaders on Thursday tapped Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) to head a revived U.S. House panel on climate change, all but ending a dramatic monthlong effort to establish a select committee on a Green New Deal. Castor's appointment came as a surprise to proponents of a Green New Deal. The move also kicked off a controversy as the six-term congresswoman dismissed calls to bar members who accept money from fossil fuel companies from serving on the committee, arguing it would violate free speech rights.  Despite weeks of protests demanding House Democrats focus efforts next year on drafting a Green New Deal, the sort of sweeping economic policy that scientists say matches the scale of the climate crisis, Castor told E&E News the plan was "not going to be our sole focus." She then suggested that barring members who have accepted donations from the oil, gas and coal industries from serving on the committee could be unconstitutional.  "I don't think you can do that under the First Amendment, really," she said. That reasoning echoed arguments Exxon Mobil Corp. made in court as recently as this year to defend its funding of right-wing think tanks that deliberately produced misinformation about climate science to stymie government action on global warming.  Soon after the remarks were published, Castor walked back the statement in an interview with HuffPost, calling it an "inartful answer." But she said she did not know whether, as chairperson, she could bar members on the committee from serving if they accepted fossil fuel donations.  "Maybe that's a discussion we need to have in the caucus," Castor said.  It's a stunning upset, essentially returning Democrats to the original plan leaders laid out before the protests began in November. The announcement comes as a loss for Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Her meteoric rise and devoted base made it seem as if she were poised to win the burgeoning cadre of leftist Democrats a beachhead in a select committee that, even with limited capacity, would have demonstrated tangible power in Washington.  But, if it's defeat, it's bittersweet. The campaign, seemingly quixotic at first, shifted the stagnant climate policy debate not just to the left but, for the first time, in the direction of policies that could make a dent in surging global emissions and curb soaring income inequality. Coupled with back-to-back United Nations and federal reports that showed climate change already rapidly worsening, the effort established a new litmus test for lawmakers, breaking the binary of whether or not a politicians "believes" in the science of human-caused warming.  The movement gained stunning support in just a few weeks. A poll released Monday found 81 percent of registered voters supported the policies outlined under the Green New Deal resolution ― including 64 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of self-described conservative Republicans. Last Friday, more than 300 state and local officials voiced support for a Green New Deal in an open letter.  "We don't have time to sit on our hands as our planet burns," Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday in a tweet. "For young people, climate change is bigger than election or re-election. It's life or death." It's unclear whether Ocasio-Cortez will even get a seat on the select committee.  Asked if she accepted money from fossil fuel companies, Castor said, "I cannot think of a contribution from an oil company or fossil fuel company, but I cannot say without going back and with a fine-toothed comb that there wasn't something in the past." According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Castor accepted more than $73,000 from the energy and natural resources sector over her 12-year tenure in Congress, including $60,000 from corporate political action committees. The League of Conservation Voters gave Castor an 86 percent score last year on its ranking, which is based on her voting record. She had a 93 percent lifetime score.  She said she would consider taking the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge, a vow overseen by a handful of progressive groups including proponents of a Green New Deal. Asked what the decision hinged on, Castor said, "I don't know." "We're at year-end with a possible shutdown and I think the important thing is looking at folks for the committee who are ready to serve," she said.  The restoration of the select committee on climate change puts an end to a month-long effort to replace it with a panel focused specifically on crafting a Green New Deal, an umbrella term for a suite of policies that would include shifting the United States to 100 percent renewable energy over the next decade and guaranteeing high-wage, federally backed jobs to workers in outmoded industries. The proposal stormed into mainstream political debate over the past month after protesters from the progressive groups Sunrise Movement and Justice Democrats held sit-ins in Pelosi's office. The demonstrations came in response to what they saw as plans for a tepid response to the climate crisis when the party takes control of the House next month. Ocasio-Cortez, a left-wing firebrand with a powerful online following, joined the protests and proposed swapping Pelosi's plan to restore the climate select committee with a plan for a panel devoted to the Green New Deal.  For a few weeks, it seemed likely to happen. More than 40 incoming or sitting House Democrats pledged to support the resolution, and nearly half a dozen senators announced their support for the effort, including at least three likely 2020 presidential contenders.  But the proposal ruffled feathers in Washington. Incoming chairmen of committees that traditionally oversee energy and environmental policy complained that a Green New Deal select committee would strip them of legislative power. And Beltway veterans privately expressed frustration that a cadre of insurgent freshmen, some of whom toppled long-time allies in primaries, were using their grassroots popularity to call shots.Democratic leaders responded in kind, declining to contact activists or Ocasio-Cortez before announcing plans to ignore the resolution and restore the previous climate select committee instead.  Representatives from Sunrise Movement and Justice Democrats confirmed they were not told of the decision until they read about it on E&E News. Castor said she "chatted with Rep.-elect Ocasio-Cortez, but not specifically on this."  In a statement, Sunrise Movement said a select committee "that makes a plan for implementing a Green New Deal is an opportunity for Democrats in the House."  "Without a mandate to create a plan and a requirement that its members don't take fossil fuel money, we are deeply concerned that this committee will be just another of the many committees we've seen failing our generation our entire lives," Varshini Prakash, the Sunrise Movement's co-founder, said in a statement. Later Thursday evening, Sunrise political director Evan Weber said the group would continue the fight.  "Nancy Pelosi has the power to determine whether or not the Select Committee for a Green New Deal lives or dies," Weber said. "Sunrise Movement's position is and will continue to be that it's not over until she makes it clear that it's over."  But, earlier this week, Democratic leaders announced that a Green New Deal select committee would lack subpoena power, seemingly sounding the death knell for the resolution.  Castor said the select committee she agreed to chair would likely have subpoena power, but not legislative power. She said she did not know yet which individuals or companies she would use that power to investigate.   "I honestly thought the Democratic Party leaders would see this opportunity," said Waleed Shahid, the communications director for Justice Democrats, a left-wing group championing the Green New Deal proposal. "It's infuriating to see a fellow Democrat basically parrot the talking points of the Koch Brothers when it comes to the very common-sense idea that any politician who accepts donations from the fossil-fuel corporations should not be allowed to legislate on climate change."  But Castor's appointment won praise from establishment environmental groups.  "Rep. Kathy Castor is an outstanding choice to help lead the House's renewed focus on climate change," John Bowman, senior director for federal affairs at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement. "As a longtime environmental champion, few are better suited to help shine a bright light on the threats Americans face from the climate crisis and advance the solutions we urgently need." Alexander Kaufman is a climate and environment reporter at HuffPost, based in New York. Email him at alexander.kaufman@huffpost.com. Direct message him on Twitter @AlexCKaufman for his phone number on the encrypted messaging app Signal.         Interpret the world and change it     Submit via web Submit via email Frequently asked questions Manage subscription Visit portside.org Twitter Facebook

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Re: Democrats Just Blocked Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Push for a Green New Deal Committee

I confess I don't put much weight on this critique, at least not now. Do I support a green new deal? Yes. But nothing will be accomplished without first deposing Trump, on any front. The coalition to remove Trump requires forces esp in Congress wider than supporters of the green New deal. The fascist forces we confront are prepared to rip up democracy and the Constitution before ANY expansion of public goods if any kindaybe yyt

Deed, the EPA, HEALTH CARE, JOBS, WAGES, be. My yyt

On Dec 21, 2018 11:00 PM, "Portside" <moderator@portside.org> wrote:

Democrats Just Blocked Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Push for a Green New Deal Committee     Alexander C. Kaufman December 20, 2018 Huffington Post Instead, Democrats are sticking to their original plan, and channeled Exxon Mobil in an announcement refusing to bar members who take fossil fuel money. ,   Democratic leaders on Thursday tapped Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) to head a revived U.S. House panel on climate change, all but ending a dramatic monthlong effort to establish a select committee on a Green New Deal. Castor's appointment came as a surprise to proponents of a Green New Deal. The move also kicked off a controversy as the six-term congresswoman dismissed calls to bar members who accept money from fossil fuel companies from serving on the committee, arguing it would violate free speech rights.  Despite weeks of protests demanding House Democrats focus efforts next year on drafting a Green New Deal, the sort of sweeping economic policy that scientists say matches the scale of the climate crisis, Castor told E&E News the plan was "not going to be our sole focus." She then suggested that barring members who have accepted donations from the oil, gas and coal industries from serving on the committee could be unconstitutional.  "I don't think you can do that under the First Amendment, really," she said. That reasoning echoed arguments Exxon Mobil Corp. made in court as recently as this year to defend its funding of right-wing think tanks that deliberately produced misinformation about climate science to stymie government action on global warming.  Soon after the remarks were published, Castor walked back the statement in an interview with HuffPost, calling it an "inartful answer." But she said she did not know whether, as chairperson, she could bar members on the committee from serving if they accepted fossil fuel donations.  "Maybe that's a discussion we need to have in the caucus," Castor said.  It's a stunning upset, essentially returning Democrats to the original plan leaders laid out before the protests began in November. The announcement comes as a loss for Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Her meteoric rise and devoted base made it seem as if she were poised to win the burgeoning cadre of leftist Democrats a beachhead in a select committee that, even with limited capacity, would have demonstrated tangible power in Washington.  But, if it's defeat, it's bittersweet. The campaign, seemingly quixotic at first, shifted the stagnant climate policy debate not just to the left but, for the first time, in the direction of policies that could make a dent in surging global emissions and curb soaring income inequality. Coupled with back-to-back United Nations and federal reports that showed climate change already rapidly worsening, the effort established a new litmus test for lawmakers, breaking the binary of whether or not a politicians "believes" in the science of human-caused warming.  The movement gained stunning support in just a few weeks. A poll released Monday found 81 percent of registered voters supported the policies outlined under the Green New Deal resolution ― including 64 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of self-described conservative Republicans. Last Friday, more than 300 state and local officials voiced support for a Green New Deal in an open letter.  "We don't have time to sit on our hands as our planet burns," Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday in a tweet. "For young people, climate change is bigger than election or re-election. It's life or death." It's unclear whether Ocasio-Cortez will even get a seat on the select committee.  Asked if she accepted money from fossil fuel companies, Castor said, "I cannot think of a contribution from an oil company or fossil fuel company, but I cannot say without going back and with a fine-toothed comb that there wasn't something in the past." According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Castor accepted more than $73,000 from the energy and natural resources sector over her 12-year tenure in Congress, including $60,000 from corporate political action committees. The League of Conservation Voters gave Castor an 86 percent score last year on its ranking, which is based on her voting record. She had a 93 percent lifetime score.  She said she would consider taking the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge, a vow overseen by a handful of progressive groups including proponents of a Green New Deal. Asked what the decision hinged on, Castor said, "I don't know." "We're at year-end with a possible shutdown and I think the important thing is looking at folks for the committee who are ready to serve," she said.  The restoration of the select committee on climate change puts an end to a month-long effort to replace it with a panel focused specifically on crafting a Green New Deal, an umbrella term for a suite of policies that would include shifting the United States to 100 percent renewable energy over the next decade and guaranteeing high-wage, federally backed jobs to workers in outmoded industries. The proposal stormed into mainstream political debate over the past month after protesters from the progressive groups Sunrise Movement and Justice Democrats held sit-ins in Pelosi's office. The demonstrations came in response to what they saw as plans for a tepid response to the climate crisis when the party takes control of the House next month. Ocasio-Cortez, a left-wing firebrand with a powerful online following, joined the protests and proposed swapping Pelosi's plan to restore the climate select committee with a plan for a panel devoted to the Green New Deal.  For a few weeks, it seemed likely to happen. More than 40 incoming or sitting House Democrats pledged to support the resolution, and nearly half a dozen senators announced their support for the effort, including at least three likely 2020 presidential contenders.  But the proposal ruffled feathers in Washington. Incoming chairmen of committees that traditionally oversee energy and environmental policy complained that a Green New Deal select committee would strip them of legislative power. And Beltway veterans privately expressed frustration that a cadre of insurgent freshmen, some of whom toppled long-time allies in primaries, were using their grassroots popularity to call shots.Democratic leaders responded in kind, declining to contact activists or Ocasio-Cortez before announcing plans to ignore the resolution and restore the previous climate select committee instead.  Representatives from Sunrise Movement and Justice Democrats confirmed they were not told of the decision until they read about it on E&E News. Castor said she "chatted with Rep.-elect Ocasio-Cortez, but not specifically on this."  In a statement, Sunrise Movement said a select committee "that makes a plan for implementing a Green New Deal is an opportunity for Democrats in the House."  "Without a mandate to create a plan and a requirement that its members don't take fossil fuel money, we are deeply concerned that this committee will be just another of the many committees we've seen failing our generation our entire lives," Varshini Prakash, the Sunrise Movement's co-founder, said in a statement. Later Thursday evening, Sunrise political director Evan Weber said the group would continue the fight.  "Nancy Pelosi has the power to determine whether or not the Select Committee for a Green New Deal lives or dies," Weber said. "Sunrise Movement's position is and will continue to be that it's not over until she makes it clear that it's over."  But, earlier this week, Democratic leaders announced that a Green New Deal select committee would lack subpoena power, seemingly sounding the death knell for the resolution.  Castor said the select committee she agreed to chair would likely have subpoena power, but not legislative power. She said she did not know yet which individuals or companies she would use that power to investigate.   "I honestly thought the Democratic Party leaders would see this opportunity," said Waleed Shahid, the communications director for Justice Democrats, a left-wing group championing the Green New Deal proposal. "It's infuriating to see a fellow Democrat basically parrot the talking points of the Koch Brothers when it comes to the very common-sense idea that any politician who accepts donations from the fossil-fuel corporations should not be allowed to legislate on climate change."  But Castor's appointment won praise from establishment environmental groups.  "Rep. Kathy Castor is an outstanding choice to help lead the House's renewed focus on climate change," John Bowman, senior director for federal affairs at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement. "As a longtime environmental champion, few are better suited to help shine a bright light on the threats Americans face from the climate crisis and advance the solutions we urgently need." Alexander Kaufman is a climate and environment reporter at HuffPost, based in New York. Email him at alexander.kaufman@huffpost.com. Direct message him on Twitter @AlexCKaufman for his phone number on the encrypted messaging app Signal.         Interpret the world and change it     Submit via web Submit via email Frequently asked questions Manage subscription Visit portside.org Twitter Facebook

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Charles Dickens on Management vs. Labor [feedly]

Charles Dickens on Management vs. Labor
http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/2018/12/charles-dickens-on-management-vs-labor.html

There's a sort of parlor game that the economically-minded sometimes play around the Christmas holiday, related to A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. Was Dickens writing his story as an attack on economics, capitalism, and selfishness? After all, his depiction of Ebenezer Scrooge, along with his use of phrases like "decrease the surplus population" and "a good man of business" would suggest as much, and a classic example of such an interpretation is here. Or was Dickens just telling a good story with distinct characters? After all, Scrooge is portrayed as an outlier in the business community. The warm portrayal of Mr. Fezziwig certainly opens the possibility that one can be a successful man of business as well as a good employer and a decent human being. And if Scrooge hadn't saved money, would he have been able to save Tiny Tim?

It's all a good "talker," as they say about the topics that get kicked around on radio shows every day. As part of my own holiday break, I republish this essay each year near Christmas day.

I went looking for some other perspectives on how Charles Dickens perceived capitalism that were not embedded in a fictional setting. In particular, I checked the weekly journal Household Words, which Dickens edited from 1850 to 1859. Articles in Household Words do not have authors provided. However, Anne Lohrli went through the business and financial records of the publication, which identified the authors and showed who had been paid for each article. The internal records of the journal show that Dickens was the author of this piece from the issue of February 11, 1854, called "On Strike." (Lohrli's book is called Household Words: A Weekly Journal 1850-59, conducted by Charles Dickens, University of Toronto Press, 1973. Household Words is freely available on-line at at site hosted by the University of Buckingham, with support from the Leverhulme Trust and other donors.)

The article does not seem especially well-known today, but it is the source of a couple of the most common quotations from Charles Dickens about "political economy," as the study of economics was usually called at the time. Early in the piece, Dickens wrote: ""Political Economy was a great and useful science in its own way and its own place; but ... I did not transplant my definition of it from the Common Prayer Book, and make it a great king above all gods." Later in the article, Dickens wrote: "[P]olitical economy is a mere skeleton unless it has a little human covering and filling out, a little human bloom upon it, and a little human warmth in it."

But more broadly, the article is of interest because Dickens, telling the story in the first person, takes the position that in thinking about a strike taking place in the town of Preston, one need not take the side either of management or labor. Instead, Dickens writes, one may "be a friend to both," and feel that the strike is "to be deplored on all accounts." Of course, the problem with a middle-of-the-road position is that you can end up being hit by ideological traffic going in both directions. But the ability of Dickens to sympathize with people in a wide range of positions is surely part what gives his novels and his world-view such lasting power. The article goes into a fair amount of detail, and can be read on-line, so I will content myself here with a substantial excerpt.

Here's a portion of the 1854 essay by Dickens:

"ON STRIKE"

Travelling down to Preston a week from this date, I chanced to sit opposite to a very acute, very determined, very emphatic personage, with a stout railway rug so drawn over his chest that he looked as if he were sitting up in bed with his great coat, hat, and gloves on, severely contemplating your humble servant from behind a large blue and grey checked counterpane. In calling him emphatic, I do
not mean that he was warm; he was coldly and bitingly emphatic as a frosty wind is.

"You are going through to Preston, sir?" says he, as soon as we were clear of the
CharPrimrose Hill tunnel.

The receipt of this question was like the receipt of a jerk of the nose; he was so short and sharp.

"Yes."

"This Preston strike is a nice piece of business!" said the gentleman. "A pretty piece of business!"

"It is very much to be deplored," said I, "on all accounts."

"They want to be ground. That's what they want to bring 'em to their senses," said the gentleman; whom I had already began to call in my own mind Mr. Snapper, and whom I may as well call by that name here as by any other. *

I deferentially enquired, who wanted to be ground?

"The hands," said Mr. Snapper. " The hands on strike, and the hands who help 'em."

I remarked that if that was all they wanted, they must be a very unreasonable people, for surely they had had a little grinding, one way and another, already. Mr. Snapper eyed me with sternness, and after opening and shutting his leathern-gloved hands several times outside his counterpane, asked me
abruptly, " Was I a delegate?"

I set Mr. Snapper right on that point, and told him I was no delegate.

"I am glad to hear it," said Mr. Snapper. "But a friend to the Strike, I believe?"

"Not at all," said I.

"A friend to the Lock-out?" pursued Mr. Snapper.

"Not in the least," said I,

Mr. Snapper's rising opinion of me fell again, and he gave me to understand that a man must either be a friend to the Masters or a friend to the Hands.

"He may be a friend to both," said I.

Mr. Snapper didn't see that; there was no medium in the Political Economy of the subject. I retorted on Mr. Snapper, that Political Economy was a great and useful science in its own way and its own place; but that I did not transplant my definition of it from the Common Prayer Book, and make it a great king above all gods. Mr. Snapper tucked himself up as if to keep me off, folded his arms on the top of his counterpane, leaned back and looked out of the window.

"Pray what would you have, sir," enquire Mr. Snapper, suddenly withdrawing his eyes from the prospect to me, "in the relations between Capital and Labour, but Political Economy?"

I always avoid the stereotyped terms in these discussions as much as I can, for I have observed, in my little way, that they often supply the place of sense and moderation. I therefore took my gentleman up with the words employers and employed, in preference to Capital and Labour.

"I believe," said I, "that into the relations between employers and employed, as into all the relations of this life, there must enter something of feeling and sentiment; something of mutual explanation, forbearance, and consideration; something which is not to be found in Mr. M'CulIoch's dictionary, and is not exactly stateable in figures; otherwise those relations are wrong and rotten at the core and will never bear sound fruit."

Mr. Snapper laughed at me. As I thought I had just as good reason to laugh at Mr. Snapper, I did so, and we were both contented. ...

Mr. Snapper had no doubt, after this, that I thought the hands had a right to combine?

"Surely," said I. " A perfect right to combine in any lawful manner. The fact of their being able to combine and accustomed to combine may, I can easily conceive, be a protection to them. The blame even of this business is not all on one side. I think the associated Lock-out was a grave error. And
when you Preston masters—"

"I am not a Preston master," interrupted Mr. Snapper.

"When the respectable combined body of Preston masters," said I, " in the beginning of this unhappy difference, laid down the principle that no man should be employed henceforth who belonged to any combination—such as their own—they attempted to carry with a high hand a partial and unfair impossibility, and were obliged to abandon it. This was an unwise proceeding, and the first defeat."

Mr. Snapper had known, all along, that I was no friend to the masters.

"Pardon me," said I; " I am unfeignedly a friend to the masters, and have many friends among them."

"Yet you think these hands in the right?" quoth Mr. Snapper.

"By no means," said I; " I fear they are at present engaged in an unreasonable struggle, wherein they began ill and cannot end well."

Mr. Snapper, evidently regarding me as neither fish, flesh, nor fowl, begged to know after a pause if he might enquire whether I was going to Preston on business?

Indeed I was going there, in my unbusinesslike manner, I confessed, to look at the strike.

"To look at the strike!" echoed Mr. Snapper fixing his hat on firmly with both hands. "To look at it! Might I ask you now, with what object you are going to look at it?"

"Certainly," said I. " I read, even in liberal pages, the hardest Political Economy—of an extraordinary description too sometimes, and certainly not to be found in the books—as the only touchstone of this strike. I see, this very day in a to-morrow's liberal paper, some astonishing novelties in the politico-economical way, showing how profits and wages have no connexion whatever; coupled with such references to these hands as might be made by a very irascible General to rebels and brigands in arms. Now, if it be the case that some of the highest virtues of the working people still shine through them brighter than ever in their conduct of this mistake of theirs, perhaps the fact may reasonably suggest to me—and to others besides me—that there is some little things wanting in the relations between them and their employers, which neither political economy nor Drum-head proclamation writing will altogether supply, and which we cannot too soon or too temperately unite in trying to
find out."

Mr. Snapper, after again opening and shutting his gloved hands several times, drew the counterpane higher over his chest, and went to bed in disgust. He got up at Rugby, took himself and counterpane into another carriage, and left me to pursue my journey alone. ...

In any aspect in which it can be viewed, this strike and lock-out is a deplorable calamity. In its waste of time, in its waste of a great people's energy, in its waste of wages, in its waste of wealth that seeks to be employed, in its encroachment on the means of many thousands who are labouring from day
to day, in the gulf of separation it hourly deepens between those whose interests must be understood to be identical or must be destroyed, it is a great national affliction. But, at this pass, anger is of no use, starving out is of no use—for what will that do, five years hence, but overshadow all the mills in
England with the growth of a bitter remembrance? —political economy is a mere skeleton unless it has a little human covering and filling out, a little human bloom upon it, and a little human warmth in it. Gentlemen are found, in great manufacturing towns, ready enough to extol imbecile mediation with dangerous madmen abroad; can none of them be brought to think of authorised mediation
and explanation at home? I do not suppose that such a knotted difficulty as this, is to be at all untangled by a morning-party in the Adelphi; but I would entreat both sides now so miserably opposed, to consider whether there are no men in England above suspicion, to whom they might refer the matters in dispute, with a perfect confidence above all things in the desire of those men to act justly, and in their sincere attachment to their countrymen of every rank and to their country.

Masters right, or men right; masters wrong, or men wrong; both right, or both wrong; there is certain ruin to both in the continuance or frequent revival of this breach. And from the ever-widening circle of their decay, what drop in the social ocean shall be free!

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