Tidbits – Oct. 10 – Reader Comments: The Election – Biden and Settling of Dock Strike; Immigration As Lightening Rod in U.S. Politics; Climate Disaster and Climate Denialism; New Resource – the Benefits of Immigration; More…

Reader Comments: The Election - Biden and Settling of Dock Strike; Immigration as Lightening Rod in U.S. Politics; Climate Disaster and Climate Denialism; New Resource - The Benefits of Immigration

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Tidbits - Reader Comments, Resources and CARTOONS - Oct.10, 2024,Portside

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Re: A Trump Win Would Bring Both Monarchy and Aristocracy to the US

This election may be America’s last stand against this country becoming, like Hungary and Russia, a full-on oligarchy run of, by, and for a small, malevolent group of the morbidly rich.

Jeff James
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Bigger and Bigger  --  Cartoon by Mike Luckovich

 

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Mike Luckovich
October 8, 2024
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

 

Re: Arab and Muslim Americans Could Decide Outcomes in Swing States 
 

Young women who are determined to have reproductive freedom and no government control over their bodies may also be a factor in swing states in voting for Democrats up and down the ballot.  

Elinore Krell

 

Re: Biden’s Amazing Win Settling the Dock Strike

(posting on Portside Labor)
 

It was amazing!  I think Biden doesn't get enough credit.  Glad see Robert Kuttner's article!

C Krauss

 

Category Trump  --  Cartoon by Rob Rogers

 

Donald Trump's dangerous lies about immigrants and federal disaster relief are compounding the devastation facing hurricane victims and only add to the growing threat that his campaign represents.

Rob Rogers
October 8, 2024
TinyView

 

Re: A Trump Win Would Bring Both Monarchy and Aristocracy to the US
 

I read the article with questions as to how Hartman was going to make a case that Trump's election will usher in Monarchy and Oligarchy. I was especially troubled by the notion that Trump will bring back the Monarchy. There is absolutely nothing in the article that makes the case for Monarchy. It does not recognize that the Dark Money faction is just one of several factions that support Right wing government. Trump's possible election will bring all of those forces into his administration. That is not oligarchy.

I find it problematic that your publication does not seem to question arguments and assumptions that contributor make. Using the term Monarchy, in any way, during a discussion of American politics is misleading and borderline irresponsible. Hartman does not even bother to define either of the terms.

Earl Picard

 

Re: How Immigration Became a Lightning Rod in American Politics
 

As you well know, besides the Native Americans who were here when Europeans arrived, the rest of us come from immigrants!!  My ancestors were Norwegian, Danish, Russian and Polish.  As a former Peace Corps Volunteer every 15-20 years starting in Chile, then Liberia and later Swaziland (Eswatini), I enjoyed living in local communities.  My first PCV assignment in Chile was "community development" based in a small town with lots of USG support because we were fighting the cold war against Communism.

The other two PCV assignments placed me with organizations with a more limited role and no continuing relationship.  Although as a Dept. of State Foreign Service Officer for 20 years full-time service and another 14 years on call to take on specific assignment of 1-3 months to resolve specific issues, I did reconnect with a few contacts from my PCV days in Liberia.

Only my Chile connection continues to this day.  My last visit in 2019 included a dinner in my honor because the elementary school was then in one of my building projects after an earthquake destroyed the previous School.  Another old friend was then a General in the Chilean Army.  He put me on a jet with a pilot who left me on an Easter Island to fare for myself and be picked up in three days.  Both were wonderful experiences!

In any case and back to your article, our ancestors came seeking a better life or escaping violence/persecution or leaving played out lands for the prospect of fertile lands and a better future.  Then others followed those relatives who reported rich lands, better lives, and opportunities for living well with hard work and, for some, good fortune.

And immigrants continue to enter the U.S. for the same reasons as our ancestors immigrated to the Americas.

I get that we don't need a mass immigration, but we do benefit from "new blood" with fresh energy and "new eyes" to see possibilities beyond our reality.

How do we block a crazed Trump and keep Dems balanced?  How do we "fairly" select/support new arrivals?

I just needed to put my thoughts down and send them to someone in a position to get reflections of others to come to a reasoned response rather than a lightning rod that divides us.

Dr. Susan Selbin (EDD)

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Anti-immigrant think tanks and advocacy groups operated on the margins until Trump became president. Now they have molded not only the GOP but also Democrats in their image.

WFTE Community Online Radio
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: Before Helene, a Perfect Storm of Climate Denialism
 

At some point we have to say this is an avoidable problem.  Or at least addressable.  And we're not.

Tommy Elder
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

This election, sisters are doin’ it for themselves  --  Cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz

 

Lalo Alcaraz
October 8, 2024
https://www.pocho.com

 

Re: Holy Grift! The OK Trump Bible Miracle
 

The state of Oklahoma wants to buy 55,000 bibles for its public schools. When put out to bid,  the specs for the bibles were so carefully drawn that only $60 & $90 bibles endorsed by Donald Trump (from which he get$ fees) could meet them. Will Oklahoma voters oust these criminals from office?  Facebook just removed a similar post on this subject which I had posted from Portside. I wonder whether it will remove this post as well or is WaPo more immune for Facebook's right-leaning censorship.

Daniel Millstone
Post on Facebook

 

But, They Said Vance Was So Nice In the Debate  --  Cartoon by Dr. James MacLeod

 

Dr. James MacLeod
October 2, 2024
MacLeodCartoons

 

Re: Hollywood’s New Sex Worker Roles Are Girlboss Heroines

(posting on Portside Culture)
 

Really great article. How many mothers of baby girls want them to grow up to sell their bodies, though? It's great to recognize sex workers as fully human but to normalize commodification of intimacy is very sad.

L A Kurth

 

The U.S. Benefits From Immigration But Policy Reforms Are Needed To Maximize Gains  (Economic Policy Institute)

 

Immigration strengthens the U.S. economy and has great potential to boost it more. However, current policies squander benefits by depriving immigrants of their full rights and employers easily manipulate the system.

If immigration policy was improved to guarantee equal and enforceable labor and workplace rights, especially when aligned with intersecting policies, win-win opportunities abound for the United States. Read the report

Introduction and executive summary

Immigration has been a source of strength for the U.S. economy and has great potential to boost it even more, but the current U.S. immigration policy regime squanders too many of its potential benefits by depriving immigrants of their full rights as workers and granting employers too much power to manipulate the system. It is crystal clear that immigration expands U.S. gross domestic product and is good for growth. And immigration overall has led to better, not worse, wages and work opportunities for U.S.-born workers. Yet, it is also clear that when workers are denied full and equal labor and employment rights, as some immigrants are when their immigration status is used against them—it makes immigrant workers’ lives more precarious and can harm the people with whom they work side-by-side in the same industries.

Even in the face of our unjust policy regime, immigration today provides numerous benefits to the U.S. economy. The nation could benefit even more, and the benefit could be shared more widely with a smarter set of immigration policies that benefit all workers.

The benefits are too often overlooked, and the challenges it poses for policymakers and U.S.-born workers are often grossly exaggerated. In this paper, we assess the evidence on immigration’s effect on a number of economic outcomes given the policy status quo. We then go on to highlight how immigration status impacts wages and working conditions, and finally, offer recommendations on how to craft a better immigration policy regime—one that grants immigrants their full rights as workers in U.S. labor markets, generating broad benefits for U.S. and foreign-born workers alike. Our key findings are: 

  • Immigration is enabling economic growth despite the sharp deceleration in the growth of the U.S.-born workforce.

  • Immigration does not reduce the number of jobs available for U.S.-born workers and has provided a source of deflationary pressure in recent years.

  • Immigration’s effects on U.S. wages overall range from neutral to slightly positive.

  • Immigration is clearly positive for the balance of taxes and spending at the federal level.

  • Increased housing costs are caused not by immigration, but by the failure of U.S. housing markets to meet any new demand with more housing units rather than higher prices.

  • People who immigrate into the United States increase the economy’s stock of human capital and ideas, two crucial ingredients for long-run economic growth.

  • Policy reforms that grant immigrants full rights in the labor market spur benefits for everyone in the U.S. economy.

  • Underresourced labor standards enforcement is enabling low-road employers to abuse immigrant workers with impunity and flout basic worker protections.

  • Immigration to the U.S. provides many economic benefits, and those benefits would increase substantially if immigration policy was improved to guarantee equal and enforceable labor and workplace rights. With proper alignment with other policy spheres, such as investment in physical and human infrastructure, win-win opportunities abound for the United States with respect to future immigration flows or even expansions.

Read the report

Economic Policy Institute  
1225 Eye St. NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-775-8810 • epi@epi.org