An interesting point of view from the founder of big box store Home Depot, Bernie Marcus, explaining how enforcing labor law will lead to the ruin of America....I'm not sure how many houses Bernie owns, but in my neighborhood America is already in economic ruin, despite the long decline of unions.  

I think the path to economic ruin was caused by the declining wages from Americans competing globally against workers in the third world.  Big boxers like Walmart and Home Depot also helped kill a lot of small businesses and entrepreneurs, with their unfair advantage in beating down employees by abusing labor law.  Beating down suppliers is okay, but keeping your labor costs low through illegal means isn't.  Plus the bulk of the customers for small biz are the middle class.  They need fair wages.

Would enforcing labor rights help America back track from the path to Economic Ruin?  Maybe.  When unions were the strongest in the late 1950's the middle class was thriving.  CEO's like Bernie only made about 20 times the average workers salary back then, so maybe not so much from his perspective.  Today CEO's rake in 200x the average salary!

I'm amazed at the amount of negative press in the Wall Street Journal and other pro-business rags against the Employee Free Choice Act.  Today, the founder of famed big box store Home Depot speaks out with his op-ed Bad Labor Law Is a Path to Economic Ruin in the WSJ.  A couple of weeks ago big boxer Wal-Mart raised the alarm and started holding mandatory meetings for all managers and supervisors warning about the EFCA, which will add penalties for violating the 71 year old National Labor Relations Act.  

One thing Wal-Mart and Home Depot have in common is that they have utilized their humongous size to run Mom and Pop stores out of business.  In addition to beating down suppliers on price, they also have an unfair advantage in beating down employees who might otherwise seek better wages and benefits.  Mom and Pop don't worry about Federal Labor Law, because they don't have sufficient employees to fall under the National Labor Relations Act.  
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  Yesterday, I attended two briefings held by labor leaders that gave very concrete outlines to labor's battle plan for the 2008 elections: where resources will be deployed and how much money will be spent. Both briefings were sparsely attended by the traditional media--and, while they seem obsessed by polling snapshots, they are missing an important component to the election battle ahead that polls don't catch--but count for millions of mobilized voters. I think this will be the difference in the election. Here's why.

Fred Smith, CEO of FedEx, John McCain's campaign co-chair and potential VP candidate or cabinet level position holder is in a world of trouble.  Having built up the company (and his personal salary, estimated at $6 million/year) on the back of his workers through a business model that screwed the drivers through calling them "private contractors", the chickens are coming home to roost through a lawsuit by the drivers asking for $1 billion in damages.  Not only is this bad for ol' Fred, but it is an indication of the type of labor policies John McCain would follow--more of the same.  

Since the nation is in the midst of John McCain's 'housing crisis', in which he tries to remember how many houses he owns, and we're all still trying to figure out why McCain thinks an income of $5,000,000/year is needed to be considered rich, it's worth revisiting McCain's opinion about the value of wages. In 2006 at an AFL-CIO convention, when asked about the effect of immigration in depressing wages, McCain declared that no Americans would be willing to do agricultural work for as little as $50/hour. At that rate, a worker would make as much in 6 months as the average annual household income in the US.

McCain responded by saying immigrants were taking jobs nobody else wanted. He offered anybody in the crowd $50 an hour to pick lettuce in Arizona.

Shouts of protest rose from the crowd, with some accepting McCain’s job offer.

“I’ll take it!” one man shouted.

McCain insisted none of them would do such menial labor for a complete season. “You can’t do it, my friends.”

Some in the crowd said they didn’t appreciate McCain questioning their work ethic.

A fake jobs program - the only kind Republicans favor. That's more than arrogant. McCain is totally out of touch with the realities of working Americans.

I'd love for voters to ask McCain at townhalls this summer and fall whether he still thinks nobody's willing to work for as little as $50/hour.

Update [2008-8-21 22:9:0 by smintheus]: Here is a transcript of McCain's remarks to AFL-CIO workers in April 2006, from the audio (h/t skids):

John McCain: "I don't think I need to tell you that there are jobs that Americans will not do. I don't think I have to tell you that there are ... the backbone of our economy...

Audience members: "Pay them the right wages."

John McCain: "You know I've heard that statement before. Now, my friends, I'll offer anybody here fifty dollars an hour if you'll go pick lettuce in Yuma this season and pick for the whole season. So, ok, sign up! Ok, when you sign up, you sign up, and you'll be there for the whole season, the whole season, ok, not just one day. Because you can't do it, my friend."

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters announced today that it is supporting Barack Obama, with just about everyone else in the United States union movement. This is clearly excellent news, at least for me. On this eve before a vacay, I thought to leave a diary entry around this news and how labor, sometimes seen as a house divided, is coming together in a big way to support who I hope will be the next president of my country.

Please read on, and enjoy some good news for a change.

Unless you've been in hiding somewhere, the guess is that you probably heard by now that the Teamsters Union (and just about every US-based organized labor organization) is backing Barack Obama -- and in a big way.

My goal here is share about one primary reason for this overwhelming endorsement. Perhaps you will be out canvassing and you'll meet up with a worker who is still on the fence as to who he or she will vote for ... maybe some of this information can help you along.

I hope so.

The A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the Service Employees International Union have feuded plenty in recent years, but they have banded together to help distribute and publicize a new online video that characterizes Senator John McCain as elitist and out of touch.

Campaign Receiving Important Endorsements:

As we move into the fall campaign season, the McCracken for Congress campaign is receiving several important endorsements.   Earlier this month we were honored to receive the endorsement from the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO.   This is a key endorsement from an organization that is a leader in supporting the rights of the working people, not only in the 5th district, but in Pennsylvania and across the nation.

On Monday I wrote a diary about Obama's targeted radio spot hitting McCain over the economy in Wisconsin.  It emerged as part of an overall strategy in which Obama airs positive ads nationally, but targets McCain with attack ads locally.  

Well, Obama just upped the ante, asking: "How can John McCain fix the economy.  When he doesn't think it's broken?"  As of now, the ad is just running in Indiana (a test, perhaps?).  Take a look here or below (as soon as YouTube is available, I'll swap this out):

Transcript follows:

You will see in the diary that I wrote as fast I could, decided to not eat melon with my beautiful Gwen, have to leave in a hurry and ... could not move forward in the day without asking people to get pissed off about the ill-treatment of working people ... so pissed off that they start acting like King Lear before the sadness kicks and, instead, uses the rage to wake people up to something they might not ever considered -- fairness.

I hope you enjoy.

White House Announces Bush Administration to Leave a Record Budget Deficit of $482 Billion.

Since January when we began our campaign for the 5th District seat in the US Congress, I've consistently stressed that my biggest concern is the fiscal mess that has happened in Washington.  This week, White House officials admitted the Bush administration would leave office in January 2009 with a record budget deficit sitting on the books of $482 BILLION.   This record $482 billion deficit is coupled with a record debt of $9.5 trillion.  

On January 20th, 2001, when George W. Bush was sworn in to his first term in office and the Republican Party had control of both houses of Congress, the United States government had a record budget surplus, our economy was in a period of record expansion and the national debt was being paid down.  In fact, if the Bush administration would have continued the fiscally responsible polices from the 90's by continuing to grow the surplus and pay down the debt, the federal debt could have been retired by 2013.

  Where does a politician, or a political party, draw the line in the willingness to sacrifice principles for a few bucks? When we talk about the need to "change" the political environment and the culture of money and politics, isn't there some place where you can say, "right here, this is the perfect example and we aren't going to let this go on anymore"? I would argue that the place to draw the line is the relationship between the Democratic Party and Wal-Mart. And the time to draw the line is now.

A busy week campaigning across the 5th district:

The highlight of the past week was the opening of the Centre County Democratic Campaign Headquarters in State College.  Over 200 people were on hand to celebrate  the opening that included a round of rousing speeches from candidates and campaign representatives including Greg Stewart and Jay Paterno for the Obama campaign, Auditor General Jack Wagner, State Representative Scott Conklin and candidate for state representative Joanne Tosti-Vasey.  I want to thank and congratulate Centre County Democratic Chair Diane Gregg, Greg Stewart, Ben Flatgard and everyone else involved in getting the headquarters up and running.  Having a facility like this in downtown State College is going to be a tremendous help to all the candidates and the people who are working on the campaigns.

On Thursday, Americans saw the minimum wage jump to $6.55 an hour.  Boosted by the second of three 70 cent increases passed by the new Democratic majority in Congress after the 2006 mid-term elections, the minimum wage will move to $7.25 next year.  But to be sure, the two million Americans who got a raise today won't have John McCain to thank for it.

In December 2007, the Sheet Metal Workers' International Association(SMWIA) filed paperwork with the Arizona Secretary of State to form the Arizona Homeowners’ Bill of Rights Committee. The goal was clear, to  provide homeowners with improved rights to deal with construction defects and shady home sales practices that have been plaguing consumers across the country and in particular in the hot Arizona homebuilding market.  

Last month, the committee presented petitions with more than 260,000 signatures to the state to allow Arizona voters to determine the outcome of this issue in the fall.

Tuesday, a small group of poweful GOP-backed homebuilders filed a lawsuit looking to stop homeowners from having any say about the construction defects in their homes.

  There is a very obscure--obscure to most people, I think--event going on this week in Geneva that won't get the attention it deserves. And it should get attention because it is an amazing example of what people power can do to stop the worst kind of abuses to working people everywhere.

The AFL-CIO is running an ad, featuring Vietnam veteran and retired International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers member Jim Wasser, in Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Every vet respects John McCain’s war record. It’s his record in the Senate that I have a problem with.

He wants us to keep spending $10 billion a month in Iraq, just like Bush. That’s money we could use to build schools and roads and create needed jobs here at home. He even took sides with Bush against increasing health care benefits for veterans.

People should let John McCain know. His agenda is not what we need. Not now.

The ad is part of a broader campaign focusing on McCain's poor record on veterans' issues. Last week, unions held kick-off events  in several states, from rallies to roundtable discussions. The media may be willing to keep giving McCain a pass on his opposition to Webb's 21st Century GI Bill and his votes against healthcare for veterans, but America's labor movement, and the millions of veterans it represents, will not be following suit.