In a nutshell: Judging by the past, Hillary Clinton, just like most Republicans, will most likely support importing more cheap labor to displace more American workers — and further depress domestic wages — with more guestworker visas. Whereas, Bernie Sanders would not.
Is it America's moral duty and global responsibly to make sacrifices in our own lives to help other people in other countries to raise their standard-of-living?
Some people will use that argument to defend their practices of offshoring jobs overseas to low-wage countries, making it appear that somehow our "job creators" are doing something noble for humanity.
What would less government mean for you? Will you earn higher wages, be more safe, live a healthier life, have more financial security and be more free? The Republican mantra is: Less Taxes + Less Regulation = Less Government and more Freedom
We've been told that lower taxes and more "growth" equates to higher wages and more jobs (known as "trickle-down economics"). But since the depth of the Great Recession, even though stock prices and corporate profits are much higher, a lot more people are "not in the labor force" (and just aren't being counted in the official unemployment rate) — and wages are still down (not to mention, more people are also working part-time and temp jobs).
The latest jobs report shows that, once again, over a quarter of a million people have dropped out of the labor force. So should we celebrate Labor Day for just being lucky enough to have a job — any job at all?
The prominent economist and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz (and a Fellow of the progressive Roosevelt Institute) says: “An economy that doesn’t deliver for most of its citizens is a failed economy.”
For the past 40 years, our political leaders have not only allowed, but have deliberately effectuated economic polices that have crammed most of the profits generated by ordinary working people into the pockets of those at the very tippy-top of the income ladder — by conspiring against organized labor, giving preferential tax breaks to the very wealthy, and by allowing bad trade deals to offshore our best jobs.
Increased productivity no longer has an affect on raising wages, because all the gains go to the top — and the decline of labor unions plays a big part; as well as a tax code that Congress has skewed to mostly favor the very wealthy and large corporations.
Jared Bernstein, former economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, recently writes:
Economists refer to "job polarization" in the labor force when middle-class jobs (requiring a moderate level of skills) appear to disappear relative to those at the bottom (requiring fewer skills) and to those at the top — requiring greater skills; or those who are better networked and know people in a position of influence. (Below is a simple animation to show how job polarization might look).
Is it passive aggression? Is it cruel antagonism? Is it overt animosity? Is it open hostility, bordering on outright hate? Or it's much less evil that; maybe it's just apathy, ignorance or indifference.
Noah Smith (at Bloomberg) recently wrote: "A plurality of Americans still consider themselves middle-class.” (A plurality meaning, more than any other, but not an absolute majority.) But he linked to The Guardian to make his case, which appears to be saying something completely different:
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