Eliminate EPA

The EPA has become the favorite target of Republicans with Mitt Romney saying that he would abolish the agency on day one.  There is this mantra about how the EPA has job killing regulation.  While not nonsense the real job killers are OSHA.  Look at what they make employers do.  They make construction workers put up fall protection and in some cases where a harness.  This adds to cost and the workers don't want to do it anyway.  OSHA wants you to monitor your employees exposure to solvents.  These are airborne contaminates that might cause illness (like how global climate change might be caused by people) and you can't see them anyway.  There are just way too many rules governing worker safety.  If a company starts killing its workers don't you think that the remaining ones would seek out new employment?  Let the market work.  For those maimed or left with chronic illness, well I feel bad for them but in this era of austerity I don't see how the US taxpayers can be expected to foot the bill.  It's not like these workers won't go down as heros for they are contributing to the greater good by creating wealth for the 1% and products for the rest of them.  Some day post OSHA there will a great monument built in the memory of these individuals who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that a corporation could have greater profit.

Wausau Labor Day

It seems that labor in Wausau is trying to get back to the roots of labor day by not allowing Republicans to march. As the labor representative said, why should we have people who talk about supporting labor one day a year but try to undermine labor the other 364 days?. Now the Mayor has said that labor needs to pay for the parade. And why not, labor is going to make a statement here and I think that it is great.

Scott Walker for President

Back before the Governor made his plan to effectively eliminate public employee unions I had said that if he could successfully get the teachers and other employees he would be a shoe in for president.  Today I heard Thom Hartmann make a similar claim except he thinks 2016.  Scott would be the one to eliminate the 40 hour work week and the minimum wage.

Undoing Regulation and the Cost of Labor

The new governor wants to be the gate keeper of an over reaching legislative body on job killing regulation.  This isn't that he wants to make use of the Wisconsin Governor's extensive veto power, no he wants to be able to undue any regulation, past or present.  With this much power the question that everyone should be asking is why do we need a legislative body?  If you want to cut the budget get rid of the legislature.

Will cutting the job killing regulations bring jobs to Wisconsin when these jobs have gone to places without any job killing regulations or the even greater job killing wages?  If we undue all environmental regulations it would be a start.  But, in the end wages are going to be a problem.  We are competing with countries whose wage rates are 5 or more times less than ours.  Yet you have the Federal Reserve chair stating that he doesn't see deflationary pressure.  He must be blind.  It is all around.  We have lost jobs to low wage countries and workers in this country have taken pay cuts.  The price of products has not declined, so sales are off because wages are down.  At some point the price of products needs to come in line with the new cost of labor.  When that happens we will enter a deflationary economy.