Change we can believe in ?

Indeed, Obamaland is changing. Unfortunately, it's not always the change we were looking for.

The general mood in Obamaland seems good - at least in the Washington DC metro area, a relatively rich region whose economy has traditionally been less volatile than other regions thanks to its abundance of government jobs. Despite the automatic spending cuts from budget sequestration, the Washington metro area's $450 billion economy is doing well, the housing market has recovered, and home values are growing again. The Wall Street Journal even claims “Washington Enjoys Boom As Gilded Age Takes Root." George Mason economists expect the area’s annual GDP growth to accelerate to 3.2% by 2017, outpacing the rest of the country’s projected 2.9% annual growth rate.

The new growth engines of the region include many small to medium-sized enterprises started by former government employees or contractors in defense, intelligence and data management. “They’ve propelled the D.C.region as a leader in the cybersecurity and data sectors, as well as in educational products and health-care data management.” (Wall Street Journal, May/June 2013) Federal government spending may have provided the seed money for a strong, globally operating Washington economy, but “thanks to an economy that has steadily broadened beyond the government,”….”the region has shown surprising resilience” to the severe spending cuts. 

D.C. Living Wage Law

The solid economic performance of the DC metro area may explain the confidence of DC lawmakers to pick a fight with Wal-Mart, a globally operating retailer known for its rock-bottom wages with plans to open several stores in the District. On July 10, 2013, a day after Wal-Mart warned city legislators not to jeopardize its plans in the city, DC lawmakers gave final approval to a bill requiring large retailers to pay their employees a 50 % premium over the city’s minimum wage, currently at $8.25 an hour (see the Washington Post, “D.C. Council approves ‘living wage’ bill over Wal-Mart ultimatum”). Commenting on Wal-Mart’s threat to abandon its investment plans in the District, Vincent B. Orange (Democrat) said: “We’re at a point where we don’t need retailers. Retailers need us.” I wish, some of our German/European lawmakers had the same courage 

Under the Large Retailer Accountability Act, any new retail outlet affiliated with a parent company having yearly revenues of $1 billion or more would be subject to the wage requirement, regardless of the size of the store. The D.C. council committee's draft report stated: “The committee finds that large retailers can afford to pay its employees a living wage with decent benefits” (see the Washington Post of May 30, 2013. See also the comments in the German press: “Politikopfer des Tages: Walmart”).

Strike for higher wages at McDonald’s and Wendy’s

Also in July, thousands of fast-food workers mobilized to strike for higher wages in New York City, Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, Milwaukee, Kansas City and Flint, Michigan, calling for a wage increase to $15 an hour (from the minimum wage of $7.25) and the right to join a union without retaliation. (See this article and this chart, depicting the demographics of the 21 million U.S. workers who earn between the minimum wage and $10 an hour). In contrast to the common perception that low-wage workers include only the unskilled and the young, a significant number of the low-wagers are college-educated people with children !

In Washington, hundreds of low-wage employees working for federal contractors walked out and picketed along Pennsylvania Avenue, demanding President Obama make good on his promise to “deliver on behalf of those people that are still struggling”….by raising the minimum wage, investing in green jobs and focusing on education and training" (speech at Knox college in Galesburg, Illinois in late July 2013).

Of course the Republicans, just as European conservatives, claim that wage increases destroy jobs and discourage employers from creating new ones - the old fairy tale. In fact, those arguments are just ‘catering to the rich’-politics as usual. Common economic sense, my own research and recent studies by H. Shierholz and others suggest the contrary: wage increases paid to low- and middle-income people CREATE JOBS as these income groups tend to spend the additional income, thus boosting aggregate demand and economic growth.

STASI in Obamaland ?

While the economy is improving, freedom, privacy, and US constitutional rights seem to be going down the tube. Rather than protecting whistleblowers as Obama promised to do, the Obama administration threatens to implement trade sanctions against any nation that will grant asylum to Edward Snowden and encourages government employees to snoop and spy on their own colleagues !!!

Shame on you, Mr. Obama ! Next thing we know, the Obama administration will build a wall to prevent US citizens from leaving the country... oh wait, it already exists to keep illegal Mexicans from entering the United States. Might as well prevent movements in the other direction as well, to keep American assholes out of Mexico and other useful purposes....

It’s high time for a woman president in the United States, a woman with the cojones, pardon: the courage to stand firm against the US military, security and bankster lobbies - a woman like Elisabeth Warren, outspoken advocate of consumer protection against Wall Street banksters, or Sheila Bair, author of "Bull by the Horns: Fighting to save Main Street from Wall Street and Wall Street from Itself."