ALEC and the Minimum Wage

Seth Sandronsky Talking Union, a DSA labor blog
“Taking away local control over wages (and a range of other pro-worker, pro-environment, and pro-civil rights policies) has become a major priority of ALEC, a corporate-backed group with extensive lobbying resources and influence in our state legislatures,” according to an National Employment Law Project statement. “ALEC drafts “model” minimum wage preemption bills for conservative legislatures to simply copy and paste.”

Class, Race and Political Strategy in the Rust Belt

Glenn Perusek The Stansbury Forum
Through much of the United States, Washington is viewed with deep suspicion. When unconnected with a higher purpose, said Augustine, the state is nothing more than highway robbery on a larger scale. (2) When was the last time the American state seemed connected to higher purpose? This sensibility is acute in the rust belt, with our towering hulks of shuttered steel mills, machine shops, auto assembly plants and so on.

Friday Nite Videos -- November 27, 2015

Portside
Nebraska Republicans Squash the Death Penalty. Alice's Restaurant, 50 Thanksgivings Later. Killer Mike Introduces Bernie Sanders in Atlanta. In America: Walmart Workers. How Puerto Rico's Economic 'Death Spiral' is Tied to Legacy of Colonialism.

Killer Mike Introduces Bernie Sanders in Atlanta

Rapper and rights activist Killer Mike gives an eloquent introduction to Bernie Sanders at an Atlanta rally: "In my heart of hearts, I truly believe that Sen. Bernie Sanders is the right man to lead this country." 

In America

In America, on Thanksgiving, people working for our country's largest employer don't make enough to buy the food they need. Here are some of their voices, and what you can do.