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REWIND - A Week of Quotes and Cartoons

SUNDAY

Quote of the Day
January 12, 2014

'More recently, rising inequality has had much
impact on the political process. Greater income and
wealth in the hands of top earners gives them
greater access to legislators. And it confers more
ability to influence public opinion through
contributions to research organizations and political
action committees. The results have included long-
term reductions in income and estate taxes, as well
as relaxed business regulation. Those changes, in
turn, have caused further concentrations of income
and wealth at the top, creating even more political
influence.'

Robert H. Frank , an economics professor
at the Johnson Graduate School of
Management at Cornell University

New York Times
January 12, 2014
 

Toon of the Day

Corner Pocket
Milt Priggee
 

MONDAY

Quote of the Day

'I was deeply concerned to hear the latest
announcement by the Israeli authorities to advance
settlement plans once more in the West Bank
including East Jerusalem.'

'The settlements are illegal under international law,
constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to
make the two-state solution impossible.

'... The EU is ready to provide its full support to a
peace agreement. At this delicate moment of the
negotiation, I call on all the parties to act now to
build trust - not undermine it - and to work
together for a lasting, just and final settlement of the
conflict.'

European Union's foreign policy chief
Catherine Ashton responding to the
news that Israel plans to build 1,400
new homes in the occupied West Bank
and East Jerusalem

Haaretz (Israel)
January 13,  2014
 

Toon of the Day

Not Enough
Monte Wolvrton
 

TUESDAY

Quote of the Day

'This policy would directly provide higher wages for
close to 17 million workers by 2016. Furthermore,
another 11 million workers whose wages are just
above the new minimum would likely see a wage
increase through "spillover" effects, as employers
adjust their internal wage ladders. The vast majority
of employees who would benefit are adults in
working families, disproportionately women, who
work at least 20 hours a week and depend on these
earnings to make ends meet. At a time when
persistent high unemployment is putting enormous
downward pressure on wages, such a minimum-
wage increase would provide a much-needed boost
to the earnings of low-wage workers.

'In recent years there have been important
developments in the academic literature on the
effect of increases in the minimum wage on
employment, with the weight of evidence now
showing that increases in the minimum wage have
had little or no negative effect on the employment of
minimum-wage workers, even during times of
weakness in the labor market. Research suggests
that a minimum-wage increase could have a small
stimulative effect on the economy as low-wage
workers spend their additional earnings, raising
demand and job growth, and providing some help
on the jobs front.'

A letter released Tuesday from 75
economists, including seven Nobel
Laureates, calling on the government
to raise the federal minimum wage from
$7.25 to $10.10 an hour by 2016 and
then peg future increases to inflation

Toon of the Day

Playing in Traffic
Barry Blitt - The New Yorker
 

WEDNESDAY

Quote of the Day

'If a federal contractor thinks that they can steal the
pay of workers, it's very hard to believe that they
would voluntarily pay those workers more money. Of
course they're not going to do that.'

Congressional Progressive Caucus
co-chair Raul Grijalva, one of 50
members of Congress who've
urged President Obama to wield
executive authority to enact more
pro-labor standards for federal
contracting

Salon
January  15, 2014
 

Toon of the Day

Freedom
Nick Anderson
 

THURSDAY

Quote of the Day

' "It gives you an empty feeling in the stomach to see
such man-made devastation," Wilfred Burchett
wrote, sitting in the rubble of Hiroshima in 1945.
The two US atomic-bomb attacks on the civilian
populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have deeply
impacted Japan to this day. Likewise, the triple-
edged disaster of the earthquake, tsunami and
ongoing nuclear disaster will last for generations.
The dangerous trajectory from nuclear weapons to
nuclear power is now being challenged by a popular
demand for peace and sustainability. It is a lesson
for rest of the world as well.'

Amy Goodman
The Guardian (UK)
January 16, 2014
 

Toon of the Day

Moochers
Jan Sorensen
 

FRIDAY

Quote of the Day

'It's flattering. The fact that they're attacking us is a
sign that they feel threatened. That's what happens
when you challenge the industry to do the right
thing.'

Saru Jayaraman, a co-founder of
the Restaurant Opportunities
Center, on the actions by business
groups and powerful lobbyists,
heavily backed by the restaurant
industry, that are mounting an
aggressive campaign against
workers centers.

"Advocates for Workers Raise the Ire of Business"

New York Times
January 17, 2014

Toon of the Day

Software
Larry Wright
 

SATURDAY

Quote of the Day

'I appreciate the president's willingness to examine
this important issue but I think that his remarks
did not go far enough. There is no question in my
mind that the collection of data on every phone call
made in the United States is unconstitutional and a
violation of the Fourth Amendment and that the
government has engaged in massive violations of
civil liberties and privacy rights.

'I am concerned about the chilling effect such
wholesale surveillance has on Americans' everyday
activities. I do not want writers, students and even
our children worried that the books they read,
the Internet sites they visit, the petitions they sign
will be conceived by the government as anti-
American or dangerous.

'Let me be clear: In my view terrorist acts against the
United States and other countries remain a serious
threat and we have to do everything we can to
protect our safety, but I am convinced we can do
that without undermining the privacy rights of the
American people.'

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
January 17, 2014
 

Toon of the Day

New NSA Rules
Patrick Chappatte