Minimum Wage Increase Favours Business

The right wing traditionally argues that minimum wages hurt business but then again they support tax cuts because it puts more money in folks pockets to spend. So does a minimum wage increase.

Democrats, set to take control of both chambers of Congress, have vowed to make a hike in the minimum wage a top priority come January.
And analysts say a boost, while likely to be fought by business groups and some retail-industry lobbyists, would benefit some value-oriented stores.That's because many minimum-wage earners are struggling to make ends meet, so any extra dollars in their pockets are likely to be spent rather than saved.

"And where are they going to spend it? Wal-Mart" said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of retail consulting and investment-banking firm Davidowitz & Associates.

After all, it was Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart, who made headlines last year when he declared that the world's largest retailer -- itself a frequent target of labor and anti-poverty critics -- favored a raise in the minimum wage.

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China Fuels US Inflation

There is irony in this. For further explanation of Chinas investment policies and the US foreign debt crisis see;New Asian Dragon; East Asia's Dollars


China Raises Red Flag On Dollar

Americans may be spending their dollars with merry abandon as the Christmas shopping season begins this Black Friday, and that might be a good short-term strategy: the greenback slid on the foreign exchange markets after a Chinese central banker expressed fears about depreciation of the U.S. currency.

“The exchange rate of the U.S. dollar, which is the major reserve currency, is going lower, increasing the depreciation risk for East Asian reserve assets," wrote Wu Xiaoling, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, in an academic paper. Wu is ranked by Forbes as the 35th-most-powerful woman in the world

Wu’s comments marked the second time this month that a Chinese central banker had made dollar-wary comments. On Nov. 9, the central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, was quoted as saying that China has plans to diversify its assets into “many instruments,” presumably moving away from the dollar.

China has never revealed the exact composition of its foreign currency reserves, but market speculation suggests at least 70% is in dollars. With Chinese reserves having recently topped $1 trillion, a move away from the dollar could have significant implications.

For months China has been soaking up U.S. Treasury bonds, using dollars from its huge trade surplus with the United States. Wu noted that East Asian investors not only face a currency depreciation risk from holding dollar-denominated assets but also falling interest rates on long-term bonds. There is some perhaps unintentional irony in that comment because China’s seemingly insatiable appetite for Treasuries seems to be a major cause of the falling interest rates.

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China

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Chinese Social Security Scandal

Just like any other government the Chinese new market orientated bueracracy lines its own pockets at the peoples expense. While the people suffer increased poverty despite the market boom in China, those who rely upon China's bare bones social safety net find that the bueracrats have looted the treasury. Not unlike attempts in the West to loot pensions and social security to invest in the market. China is truly becoming a capitalist economy. And gosh it's just like that other One Party State; Alberta .

State auditors find 7.1 billion yuan misappropriated in social security funds

The National Audit Office has found that 7.1 billion yuan of China's 2 trillion yuan in social security funds had been misappropriated.

The money was siphoned off for "overseas investment, commercial loans to companies, construction of government buildings and other purposes", according to a report released by the state agency. Of the total, 2.347 billion yuan was stolen before 1999 and 4.788 billion yuan after that.

The agency started the investigation in September on pension, unemployment and health insurance funds across the country and it discovered corruption and inconsistent management.

The agency's report insisted that the social security funds, except for sums paid to beneficiaries, "must be deposited in banks or used to purchase state treasury bonds". It said the funds were a "high-voltage power line", which meant that no one was allowed to illegally tamper with them.

China's social security funds have been recently hit with scandals - in particular the Shanghai scandal wich involved 3.2 billion yuan of city funds - prompting the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to say that it would keep a closer watch on the funds. The Shanghai scandal which broke out in September brought down Chen Liangyu, secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, and other senior officials and business leaders.

Xinhua reported that China has carried out five nationwide audits of social security funds since 1998. Embezzlement of the funds was found in 16 of the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in 2004, while 1.7 billion yuan was misappropriated in 2005 alone.

The National Audit Office's report also revealed that the director and financial chief of a health insurance fund management centre in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, in northwestern China, transferred 31.9 million yuan (about four million U.S. dollars) of medical insurance premiums to the personal bank accounts of their friends and relatives. In Xinmi, Henan province, in central China, 6.4 million yuan of pension insurance funds were deposited in a credit cooperative, a kind of informal bank. The credit cooperative stopped operation in 2002 and the money could not be recovered.

China provided pensions to 43.67 million retired people last year and granted living subsidies to 3.62 million laid-off people. The value of the social security funds in China has more than doubled since 2000.

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China

Poverty

Capitalism


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Alberta PC's Make Volpe Look Good

Days before the big vote for the Man Who Will Replace Ralph the Auditor General of Alberta reveals that a massive scam involving fraud and theft of funds from a government department may have ended up funding at least one of the candidates campaign. But because there are no financial reporting requirments for the leadership candidates campaigns, he can't say for sure.

An Alberta PC blogger, Ken Chapman finds the controversial conclusions in the AG report, something most of the MSM miss.AADAC Funds Allegedly Funneled into a PC Leadership Campaign Good for Ken.

Then Calgary Sun columnist Rick Bell adds his own spin to Kens story.

As well, a blog alleges money from these contracts may have been funnelled through tobacco control lobbyists to Tory leadership contenders. Two others say Carr wanted to move up the government food chain to bigger and better positions.

Dunn asks Carr and checks the man's records. Dunn questions Alberta Lung and Kilburn. He can't find anything.

Except, Dunn does point out "unlike some jurisdictions, contribution records for leadership campaigns in Alberta are not required to be publicly available." And Dunn can't look at the books of the men who would be premier. In fact, Alberta law specifically excludes delving into dough from leadership bids.

The best the financial watchdog can do is lay out all the names and hope the Tory candidates do the right thing.

Anything more, says Dunn's findings, "is a matter for the Legislative Assembly to consider." That is, the politicians.

Dunn maintains if the contributions were open to the public "it would be very easy to trace."

Nothing in Alberta is ever easy to trace, whether it's government pork, insider influence or ballot-box stuffing. All this yarn gets is quick expressions of regret from the Tories and outrage from the opposition.

It will all blow over, as usual.

Yesterday morning, Dunn's department also talks to the province about the possible running up of expenses on a government credit card in 2004 by the executive assistant to former economic development minister Mark Norris, who is now running for Tory leader.

Dunn's department is "quite surprised" they hadn't heard of the allegations and asks government officials why auditors were not told. The answer? They didn't think there was anything to be concerned about. Situation normal.

AADAC funds the Anti-Tobbacco lobby who have been lobbying PC candidates with money from the government.

And the Conservatives, provincial and federal have the gall to call the federal Liberals corrupt. Ha. Welcome to the One Party State where corruption is just business as ususal for the Alberta Tories.

See:

Conservative Leadership Race

Smoking Bans Hurt Business

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Calling A Spade A Shovel

Why don't we call it what it is? The American war and occupation in Iraq has led to 'ethnic cleansing'. Gee just like what happened in the Balkans when Germany and the EU decided to recognise Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia. Enough with the monicker 'sectarian violence'. It is ethnic cleansing pure and simple, courtesy of the White House.

More than 1,000 Iraqis a day are being displaced by the sectarian violence that began on Feb. 22 with the bombing of the Shiite Askariya shrine in Samarra, according to a report released this week by the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration, a U.N.-associated group.

See:

Iraq





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Dinning Morton Tied

Stunning. But not unexpected. The anybody but Dinning camp and the social conservative political lobby is mobilizing behind Republican Ted Morton in the race to replace Ralph. Leaving Oberg in third place with all the other runner-ups. It's Calgary Corporate Interests versus the Right Wing Reform Republicans. Of course neither really represents Alberta or Albertans.

Dinning, Morton virtually tied in Tory race

A second ballot is almost certain in Alberta's Tory leadership race, a new poll of party members suggests, with Jim Dinning and Ted Morton in a statistical dead heat and four hopefuls battling for third spot.

The poll by Leger Marketing of 801 card-carrying Alberta Progressive Conservative members found Dinning, the province's former treasurer, garnered the support of 21 per cent of those surveyed. Calgary-area MLA Morton appears to have emerged as his most serious challenger -- snaring 18 per cent support.

Fellow candidates Lyle Oberg, Ed Stelmach, Mark Norris and Dave Hancock all have a legitimate shot at finishing third in Saturday's vote, according to the poll conducted for the Herald, with support ranging between 11 per cent for Oberg and six per cent for Hancock.

See:

Conservative Leadership Race

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Won't Happen

Flaherty wants to eliminate net debt by 2021

This won't happen if we are stuck in Afghanistan till 2021.




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Canada Forces Palestinans Into Poverty

One of the first acts of the Harper Government was to refuse to send economic support to the Palestinian Authority . They used the pretext that the democratically elected government which included Hamas was defined as having been taken over by a terrorist organization by their definition and thus not suitable for promised economic aid. The result of their actions along with similar boycotts by the United States, EU and Israel has created mass poverty in the region.

This is economic war on the Palestinian people. It benefits Israel in eliminating another of their regional economic competitors.

Canadians should be ashamed of our Government directly contributing to the economic poverty and oppression of the Palestians in the occupied territories, while the same Government praises Israel unconditionally. While lecturing China on human rights violations, the Harpocrites remain silent on the economic and military war the Israeli State is conducting against the Palestinians in Gaza.The Harpocrites have failed to criticize the Isreali State for its continuing war against civilians in Gaza.They are as guilty as the Israeli State for the continuing plight of the people of Palestine.

When you have no hope, then you become hopeless, and the actions of hopelessness are self sacrifice. The result is suicide bombers.


UN Reports Unprecedented Decline in Palestinian Economy

The report from the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, known as UNRWA, says there has been a 64 percent increase in the number of Palestinians living in what the U.N. describes as deep poverty or on about $2 a day since 2005. According to the report more than one million Palestinians live in deep poverty.

The report also says there has been an overall household decline in income of more than $300 million in the past year, accelerating a trend which began in 2000 when the second Palestinian intifada began. About 30 percent of Palestinians are unemployed - a figure that has also more than doubled since 2000.

A U.S. economist who compiled the report for UNRWA, Salem Ajluni, says the rise in so-called deep poverty and a sharp drop in manufacturing, have been especially noticeable in the Gaza Strip.

"When you reduce household incomes from the public sector alone by about $330 million you are going to get an increase in deep poverty, there is a result there. It is always the case that there is a disproportionate impact on the Gazan economy," he said. "If the public sector takes a hit they get it magnified there. If there are movement restrictions it affects them more."

The U.N. report says the current economic crisis in the Palestinian territories has largely been induced by a cutoff of customs and tax revenue that Israel turns over to the Palestinian Authority, and a suspension of donor aid from the international community, especially from the United States and the European Union. The revenues were suspended months ago after the militant group Hamas took control of the Palestinian government and refused to modify its stance of not recognizing Israel, renouncing terrorism, or recognizing previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

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Israel

Palestine

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China's Trickle Down Economy

A critique of capitalism in China from the voice of Capitalism; The Wall Street Journal. The irony being is that they denounce their favorite argument for unbridled capitalism, the trickle down theory of economics. Their argument could equally apply to America.

In China, Growth at Whose Cost?
Nation's Poorest Seem to Be Getting Left Behind,
Raising Sticky Questions for Communist Party

As long as the country's newfound wealth eventually trickled down to everyone, the reasoning went, the benefits outweighed the problems.

But now, as the Chinese government worries about social stability and amid questions about the social costs of China's rapid growth, new figures suggest the poorest of the country's 1.3 billion people are getting even poorer.

From 2001 to 2003, as China's economy expanded nearly 10% a year, average income for the poorest 10% of the country's households fell 2.5%, according to an analysis by the World Bank that has been presented to the Chinese government. Those roughly 130 million Chinese earn $1 a day or less, the World Bank's global benchmark for poverty.

Meanwhile, the nation's total income rose sharply, and other income groups saw gains, suggesting that the rich are getting richer at the expense of the poorest.

Latest Data on Poverty in America

In this period of 'great economic growth', according to the delusional Bush administration, these recently released facts by the Census Bureau are quite telling of the real America:

-In 2003, 2004, and 2005, the percentage of the poor living in deep poverty stood at 42-43 percent, higher than in any prior years on record.

-The percentage of the poor who are below half the poverty line has risen steadily over the last two and half decades: from 34 percent in 1980 to 39 percent in 1990 to 43 percent this year.

-The actual percent of the population who lived in deep poverty in 2005 rose to 5.4 percent!

-The poverty rate is higher in the fourth year of an economic recovery (2005) at 12.6 percent, than it was in the previous height of recession (2001), when it stood at 11.7 percent.

-The median income for non-elderly households was $2,000 lower in 2005 than in the 2001 recession year.

These developments in a so-called 'economic recovery' are unprecedented in economic recoveries (with data going back to the 1960s). They are bad news for the poor, indeed.

It is the shame of the republic!

On Congress’ responsibility for poor Americans:

What does it mean to be poor in America?

For many of the 37 million Americans trapped in economic bondage, it means work, often backbreaking work, for little pay. Illness, car trouble, a rent increase — any of these can spell disaster, sending a family into economic meltdown.

For seniors struggling to live on a fixed income, an increase in a power bill or at the gas pump can send a monthly budget crashing. More seniors are now relying on their adult children for financial help. And for the 13 million children living in families with incomes below the poverty level, it sometimes can come down to challenges as basic as having enough food.

Recently, Congress has done less and less to help Americans hanging onto the ledge of the nation’s prosperity. That should change.

... Congress could fix the broken reform effort by doing more to give families a way up and out of poverty. Congress cut $55 billion from programs that help the most vulnerable, including food stamps, employment training and child care. Putting this money back would ensure the best chance of success. An increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit also would help families climb out of poverty. ...

— Daytona (Fla.) Beach News-Journal

See:

China

Poverty

Capitalism




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Our Republican Finance Minister

When Finance Minister Jim Flaherty talked about paying down Canada's net debt he included using the budget surplus from the Canada Pension Plan. Shades of the USA. Thats excatly what the US Congress does and look at the mess it has gotten them into. This is a net gain zero idea. One that would in the long run lay the basis for the privatization of Social Security in Canada. Now what kind of government would do such a thing? Why the Republican Lite Reform/Alliance/Conservatives of course. The old Reform party raised the idea years ago.

Flaherty's promise raises eyebrows

Bill Robson, president of the C.D. Howe Institute, said the net debt figure isn't really a true indication of public debt because the Canada and Quebec pension plans also have major liabilities in the future when Canadians retire. "You can't start adding the Canadian Pension Plan money into the overall debt figure," Robson said. "There is a big liability out there for the Canadian Pension Plan to pay those pensions. That's what that money is for. It's not available for other uses."

See:

Harmonizing the GST

Social Insecurity The Phony Pension Crisis

Retirement Reverse Discrimination

CPP


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