Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 42 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 12/2/16

Tea Leaf Reading Forecasts A Coming Assault On Working People

By       (Page 1 of 3 pages)   1 comment
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Dave Johnson
Become a Fan
  (12 fans)

From Our Future

livable wages
livable wages
(Image by turningablindeye.wordpress.com)
  Details   DMCA

This is the tea-leaf administration. So far President-elect Donald Trump doesn't hold press conferences, because apparently it is too much a bother to explain the incoming government's plans to We the People. Everyone understands that Trump "conned" voters and the things Trump said he would do during the campaign bear no relationship whatsoever to what his administration actually will do. And no one -- even the Trump people -- know what they actually will do.

The press is left perching across the street from Trump Tower, spying on who is going in and out to try to figure out who might be in the incoming administration and what they might or might not do. Everyone is left reading tea leaves to try to discern what is coming.

And the tea leaves tell us that working people are in for a hard time.

In 2015 President-"Elect" Donald Trump insisted that American workers' wages are "too high." Now Trump and the entire Republican apparatus are getting ready to use their newly-gained power to do something about it.

Tea-leaf-readers are warning that what we are already seeing and hearing from the Trump crowd should, as Senator Bernie Sanders put it in a Washington Post op-ed titled "Carrier just showed corporations how to beat Donald Trump," should send a shock wave of fear through all workers across the country." Sanders explains, "who would pay for the high cost for tax cuts that go to the richest businessmen in America? The working class of America."

The First Volley: Kill Overtime Rule

Last week a Texas-based federal judge overturned an upcoming Labor Department rule raising the threshold for receiving overtime pay from $23,660 to $47,476. (Like Republican FBI Director Comey, this judge was appointed by President Obama. He was recommended for the bench by Republican Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.) This rule would have raised the pay of millions of American workers, as well as increasing hiring. Reversing this rule is an outrage. (And why did Obama wait seven years to push this rule through? It would have taken effect too late to help workers before the 2016 election.)

This reversal -- killing hopes for a raise for 4.2 million workers -- is only the opening volley of the coming attack on working people.

A Cabinet Full Of Anti-Worker Oligarchs

Other tea leaf signs of a coming anti-worker rampage include Trump's cabinet appointments. The Washington Post notes the oligarchical nature of his appointments, in Donald Trump is assembling the richest administration in modern American history, in which just one of his nominees has 10 times the wealth of "W" Bush's entire cabinet...

"When George W. Bush assembled his first Cabinet in 2001, news reports dubbed them a team of millionaires, and government watchdogs questioned whether they were out of touch with most Americans' problems. Combined, that group had an inflation-adjusted net worth of about $250 million -- which is roughly one-tenth the wealth of Donald Trump's nominee for commerce secretary alone.

"... His announced nominees for top positions include several multimillionaires, an heir to a family mega-fortune and two Forbes-certified billionaires, one of whose family is worth as much as industrial tycoon Andrew Mellon was when he served as treasury secretary nearly a century ago. Rumored candidates for other positions suggest Trump could add more ultra-rich appointees soon."

Business profits are at all-time highs, but businesses claim they can't afford to pay workers more. Business leaders are fighting raising the minimum wage, fighting efforts to restore employee status to workers misclassified as contractors, and fighting Obama's new rule requiring companies to pay overtime for workers who work ... overtime. And Trump is appointing this crowd to run things.

Trump's Treasury Secretary nominee, Steve Mnuchin, is known for running a "foreclosure machine," forcing working people out of their homes. In one case he even tried to take a 90-year-old woman's house because of a 27-cent payment error. No, really, the woman was 27 cents short on a payment so his bank used that as an excuse to try to grab her house. No, really.

Progressive Congress (an inside-outside strategy organization that works closely with the Congressional Progressive Caucus) issued a statement saying that Trump's Treasury Secretary nominee "is a slap in the face to workers everywhere." The statement concludes...

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 1   Valuable 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Dave Johnson Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Dave has more than 20 years of technology industry experience. His earlier career included technical positions, including video game design at Atari and Imagic. He was a pioneer in design and development of productivity and educational (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Three Charts To Email To Your Right-Wing Brother-In-Law

Upcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership Looks Like Corporate Takeover

Actually, "the Rich" Don't "Create Jobs," We Do

Now We Know Why Huge TPP Trade Deal Is Kept Secret From The Public

Does Clinton Really Oppose TPP? There Is A Test For That

Will TPP Kill The Post Office?

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend