24 Dec 2009
Senate passes health care reform bill

Charles Johnson over at The Freeman sums this travesty up nicely:

What we have had is a system where pervasive government regulation, subsidy, and mandated captive markets corral workers into an industry driven by sky-high costs, managed by bureaucratic pencil-pushing and corporate economizing (often at the expense of innocent people’s health or lives), and owned by a handful of uncompetitive, well-entrenched incumbent corporations. No mainstream “reform” proposal will change anything about that. The proposals mainly concerned themselves with introducing new government subsidies and new captive-market mandates to force yet more workers and money into the broken system.

The Senate passed an $871 billion health care reform plan this morning, giving President Obama a victory on his top domestic priority.

(link) [CNN.com]

08:58 /Politics | 2 comments | permanent link

Arrow Trucking: Is this any way to lay off workers?

A sordid tale indeed - except for the actions of their fellow drivers, noted below.

Layoffs are a fact of life in this economy, but there are humane ways to do it. Then there's the Arrow Trucking method. The Tulsa, Okla., trucking company stopped payment on the gas cards of its drivers, leaving some of them stranded Tuesday around the United States, miles from home. No explanation on the website. No one at the company answering phones.

(link) [Christian Science Monitor ]

Drivers band together to help those dumped by Arrow

Mutual aid in action ... the labor movement may be dead or dying, labor itself is not.

The Owner-Operated Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) put together a Facebook page where truckers have been posting their routes in case they can pick up stranded Arrow drivers along the way. OOIDA has helped half a dozen truckers get home so far, wrote spokeswoman Norita Taylor in an e-mail. Truckers from Michigan to Alabama chimed in with their phone numbers and upcoming routes, offering free rides, laundry at their homes, and hot meals.

(link) [Christian Science Monitor ]

08:55 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link