Unhappy Labor Day

Last week the Census Bureau released a report and what it had to say about American workers was all bad news.

According to the report, while the productivity of workers grew 14% between 2001 and 2005, their median household income fell by 5% after adjusting for inflation.

Entry-level/young workers fared even worse:

"...median income for families with at least one parent age 25 to 34 fell $3,009 from 2000 to 2005, sliding to $48,405, a 5.9 percent drop, after having jumped 12 percent in the late 1990’s."

But that isn't the full story. The Center for American Progress lays to out, including:

Wages stagnate.

Benefits disappear.

Savings plummet.

Job growth is the weakest for any business cycle.

The unemployment rate overstates the strength of the labor market.

The poverty rate climbing

Government deficits are soaring -- endangering our economic independence.

Energy prices soar.

Record trade deficits mount.

And the response by the Republicrat Party in Power?

Apparently, Islamofascists aren't the only terrorist threat out there:

U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige labeled one "a terrorist organization." Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, called them "a clear and present danger to the security of the United States." And U.S. Rep. Charles Norwood, R-Ga., claimed they employ "tyranny that Americans are fighting and dying to defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan" and are thus "enemies of freedom and democracy," who show "why we still need the Second Amendment" to defend ourselves with firearms.

Who are these supposed threats to America? No, not Osama bin Laden followers, but labor unions made up of millions of workers -- janitors, teachers, firefighters, police officers, you name it.

Bashing organized labor is a Republican pathology, to the point where unions are referenced with terms reserved for military targets. In his 1996 article, headlined "GOP Readies for War With Big Labor," conservative columnist Robert Novak cheered the creation of a "GOP committee task force on the labor movement" that would pursue a "major assault" on unions. As one Republican lawmaker told Novak, GOP leaders champion an "anti-union attitude that appeals to the mentality of hillbillies at revival meetings."

But in this Brave New World it's not just the unions who are terrorists. Oppose a big corporation, and you're a terrorist too:

"...Herman Cain, a member of Wal-Mart's front group, Working Families for Wal-Mart, wrote an audacious column posted on Townhall.com, a popular conservative opinion website, viciously attacking Democrats and describing Democrats as Hezbollah terrorists. Specifically, Cain renames Democrats who are calling on Wal-Mart to change into a responsible employer as "Hezbocrats."

That's right, folks. You don't even have to oppose the Iraq Occupation to be labeled a terrorist these days, just wanting a fair day's pay for a fair day's work is enough to make you Enemy #1 in Bush's America.

Happy Labor Day

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If you went to today's Labor Day Parade in Pittsburgh and wondered at the lack of overt electioneering, wonder no more. Governor Ed Rendell called off planned activities for his campaign there in honor of the passing of Mayor Bob O'Connor. Ed's a classy guy.
P.S. Ed's there, but no volunteers passing put bumper stickers, lit, etc.