Something everyone needs to know about Right-to-Work laws whenever they come up on the ballot: They’re always worded in such a way as to make you think, “OK, this is totally reasonable. There’s no reason I should vote against this law.”

Here’s what showed up on Alabama’s ballot in November for an Amendment that put… Read more

Yes although you wouldn’t start by uniting plumbers and cops. You start with interdependent groups of workers, plumbers, carpenters, stone masons etc. at some point you can add in more extraneous groups of workers. They would collectively bargain together to a point as no two fields have the same needs but they would… Read more

“WHO CARES! We have laws to protect workers now! The union is TOTALLY WORTHLESS!” I hear people say. But what unions do provide is a significant lobbying power in Washington and state governments. If you take away the unions, there is no organized power counterbalance with corporate interests. Read more

I agree with this. Being from Kentucky unions we’re what kept the coal industry from more or less enslaving the eastern half of our state. But now that since the 70's we’ve been shipping our jobs out for less expensive slave labor unions have probably hurt us more than they’ve helped. There’s a lot of unions here that… Read more

In the early 1900s, coal miners in Kentucky, Virginia, and Pennsylvania were fed up with horrible working conditions and wages. They unionized and went on strike, wearing red bandanas for solidarity, hence “Red necks”. The workers were attacked by independent security forces like Pinkertons, some being shot and killed. Read more

No comment that in about 2008 the graph goes, basically, straight up? It looks like the inequality went down under the Bush administration and then right back up and, likely, to its highest level under Obama. No article about that, huh? Read more

Ultimately, we are the ones who decide what we will demand from the people we put into power. Which is why we will always get what we deserve. Read more

Great point. I 100% agree that the real way for things to change is for people to put their money where their mouth is - literally. Don’t want American jobs to go over seas? Stop buying shit made by foreign workers. Don’t like cronyism? Don’t vote for people who will hire cronies. Read more

I work for a city government in California. As part of that work, I tangentially oversee some procurement. Due to that, I, like nearly 30,000 other California public employees, file a Form 700 with the California Fair Political Practices Commission where I disclose any financial interests that MIGHT possibly raise a… Read more

The answer is incredibly simple, we pass a series of laws clearly delineating conflicts of interest and mandating financial transparency to assume the office. Read more

This is a good combo. I’d like to add that over the last few years I, an avowed peanut butter lover, have gotten really into natural peanut butters and have done extensive product testing within the category in order to determine the best peanut butter. This blog comment is as good a place as any to finally reveal my… Read more

thanks for this year’s Combo of the Year. Read more

Already done did. I love this organization so much. Read more

Thank you so much for always highlighting JDI, Hamilton. I’m currently doing post-conviction work with people sentenced to LWOP sentences as minors - imagine being tried as an adult and sent to adult prison at 15, 16, or 17 years old. Imagine being told you’re going to die in prison before you’re old enough to vote or… Read more

That’s because so many bloodthirsty people disagree with that part of the Constitution that any amount of prison reform is vastly unpopular. Look at some of the comments on this article, for example. Read more

No snark at all - thanks for this post. JDI has done fantastic work advocating for reforms, particularly the Prison Rape Elimination Act in 2003. Read more

We’re a society that throws people away. Rob a store when you’re 19? Spend years in prison being raped, mentally, and physically beaten, and told you are human garbage. Then when they’ve served their debt to society, slap them with a permanent “felon” label, strip their voting rights away, and then have the audacity… Read more

This is a wonderful idea. I sent one. Our constitution bans cruel and unusual punishment, and that includes preventing sexual harm from happening to prisoners. Read more

In other words, presidents do things for reasons, so what the fuck does it matter what those reasons are? Makes complete sense. Read more

Like touting that $50 billion Softbank investment in exchange for Justice Department approval for their acquisition of T-Mobile. Read more