If you talked about major news items with your friends or co-workers this week, it's likely you only hit on one of a few topics - the State of The Union, or the upcoming Super Bowl this weekend, or maybe the polar blast that caused a massive mess throughout the South.
Chances are also good that you talked about President Obama's executive action to raise the minimum wage for all new federal contracts. The President wasn't kidding when he said that if Congress - especially the Republicans - aren't going to take action, he'd take some actions himself, and encourage businesses and states to take similar actions. On the issue of increasing the minimum wage, the White House has already been pushing this kind of action for much of the last year - and thirteen states started 2014 doing just that: Raising their own minimum wage.
Everyone from the President, to us, to Will Saletan, has highlighted this week what poll after poll has shown. What Americans really want, more than almost anything else, isn't just a few more pennies in their paychecks. What Americans want is to know that their hard-working labor, of any kind, is going to be rewarded honestly, through a combination of wages, benefits, safety protections, and working conditions.
In other words, the argument against economic inequality in America shouldn't be simply that no American should end up chained to a corporation or institution. Rather, the argument in favor of economic justice should start with the opportunity for everyone to earn a living wage, and grow from there. Economic justice isn't solely about money.
With that fact firmly in mind, we hope you saw a story pointed out to us by sports reporter for The Nation, Dave Zirin. This week, quarterback Kain Coulter and his fellow football players at Northwestern University became the first team in the history of college athletics to begin the process to form a union.
Frankly, we think action like this is long overdue - and we're not the only ones.
Recent Alabama graduate and former quarterback AJ McCarron feels the same - and laid out the basic argument for paying student athletes to Fox Sports this week, in a clear and convincing fashion.
McCarron said, "When I was at Alabama in ’09, I think revenue when we won the national championship that year was like $62 million. And when we won it in New Orleans (in 2011), it was like $78 million. Then when we beat Notre Dame in 2012, it was like $92 million. I mean that’s absurd money. And with players’ jerseys being sold and them not seeing any of that, and then [player's likenesses] being used for video games, I think eventually something’s gotta give and players end up being paid."
As Kain Coulter told ESPN, and as Dave Zirin noted, it's not just about the money.
College players of all kinds today realize that - much like their counterparts in professional sports - they're damaging their bodies, some severely. Meanwhile, colleges and universities rake in millions from the performances of those athletes, while many of those players will be buried in medical bills and student debt for the rest of their lives.
This weekend, our staff members will be watching the Super Bowl, and likely some other great college sports. Those athletes, coaches, and trainers will have invested years, tears, sweat, and blood into performances that will have millions on their feet, and put millions more into the pockets of NFL team owners, advertisers, colleges, and universities.
So many college athletes today are effectively indentured servants who will never see a dime of those millions, chained to their sport in return for a partial payment of their education, at best. That fact should make any American who believes in hard work and just rewards think twice about jeering Kain Coulter and his teammates for joining the union.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Gridiron Gridlock Strategies
While we've said many times over the years that politics is not sports, and it should not be considered sports, forgive us if we break that cardinal rule today in our thorough evaluation of President Obama's 2014 State Of The Union address.
Chalk it up to our personal connections with football, or the relatively close nature of the words "gridlock" and "gridiron." You could even chalk it up to the Super Bowl happening this weekend, if that makes you feel better. The fact remains, as we evaluated the President's address from Tuesday night, and the GOP reactions to it over the last day or so, we began to see some similarities that looked an awful lot like football strategies.
With the kinds of thugs and bullies like GOP Rep. Michael Grimm from New York on their "team," you might think Congressional Republicans had an edge in this mythical "Stupid Bowl". After all, for a team that's rigged the "game" of politics from Richard Nixon through the 2000 presidential election right through the gerrymandering of 2010, Republicans have a long and well-known history of trick plays, illegal formations, and roughing up anyone who might get in their way - including the referees, the American voters.
When it comes to the pastime of actually governing, though, we think the strategies President Obama outlined in this year's State Of The Union are the kinds of head down, three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust philosophies that the American people would much rather see carried out.
Even while lamenting the non-traditional nature of the strategy, Ryan Cooper of The Plum Line seemed to agree with our analysis of President Obama's multi-faceted strategy. That is, that Obama might be able to break the gridlockracy that's had Washington politics more impassable than Atlanta's highways.
We also agreed with William Saletan's strategy breakdown that pointed out how Obama's new approach also has an added benefit: Highlighting how America's current economic rules are actually failing to reward honest hard work.
President Obama even seems to have avoided the kind of over-exuberance displayed by Richard Sherman two weeks ago, by not tweaking Republicans too hard in the State Of The Union. That lack of smack-talk and refusal to bring up certain subjects initially frustrated many of Obama's supporters Tuesday night. As Jonathan Bernstein noted though, no matter what Americans say, they actually care more about substance and results - and President Obama's 'do what he can without Congress' strategy looks like he may be able to really get some serious results this year, on his own.
As for Republicans and their fractured responses, the only real strategy we can see coming from their actions is an old strategy known as the "prevent defense" - a method of preventing your opponent from scoring points that only works in situations where the team on offense must go for the big play. As anyone familiar with team sports strategies knows, the prevent defense - even if it's successful - can only work for so long.
In the "game" of politics at the national level, we think President Obama's new strategies could really win out for him this year.
For the Republicans, we think it's clear their playbook is empty - and their time may very well be running out.
Chalk it up to our personal connections with football, or the relatively close nature of the words "gridlock" and "gridiron." You could even chalk it up to the Super Bowl happening this weekend, if that makes you feel better. The fact remains, as we evaluated the President's address from Tuesday night, and the GOP reactions to it over the last day or so, we began to see some similarities that looked an awful lot like football strategies.
With the kinds of thugs and bullies like GOP Rep. Michael Grimm from New York on their "team," you might think Congressional Republicans had an edge in this mythical "Stupid Bowl". After all, for a team that's rigged the "game" of politics from Richard Nixon through the 2000 presidential election right through the gerrymandering of 2010, Republicans have a long and well-known history of trick plays, illegal formations, and roughing up anyone who might get in their way - including the referees, the American voters.
When it comes to the pastime of actually governing, though, we think the strategies President Obama outlined in this year's State Of The Union are the kinds of head down, three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust philosophies that the American people would much rather see carried out.
Even while lamenting the non-traditional nature of the strategy, Ryan Cooper of The Plum Line seemed to agree with our analysis of President Obama's multi-faceted strategy. That is, that Obama might be able to break the gridlockracy that's had Washington politics more impassable than Atlanta's highways.
We also agreed with William Saletan's strategy breakdown that pointed out how Obama's new approach also has an added benefit: Highlighting how America's current economic rules are actually failing to reward honest hard work.
President Obama even seems to have avoided the kind of over-exuberance displayed by Richard Sherman two weeks ago, by not tweaking Republicans too hard in the State Of The Union. That lack of smack-talk and refusal to bring up certain subjects initially frustrated many of Obama's supporters Tuesday night. As Jonathan Bernstein noted though, no matter what Americans say, they actually care more about substance and results - and President Obama's 'do what he can without Congress' strategy looks like he may be able to really get some serious results this year, on his own.
As for Republicans and their fractured responses, the only real strategy we can see coming from their actions is an old strategy known as the "prevent defense" - a method of preventing your opponent from scoring points that only works in situations where the team on offense must go for the big play. As anyone familiar with team sports strategies knows, the prevent defense - even if it's successful - can only work for so long.
In the "game" of politics at the national level, we think President Obama's new strategies could really win out for him this year.
For the Republicans, we think it's clear their playbook is empty - and their time may very well be running out.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Time For Action
While we're delaying our full evaluation of the President's State of The Union address - at least until tomorrow - in the spirit of the President's multiple calls to action Tuesday night, we wanted to act today to get out our initial brief evaluation of his annual address. For most of our staff, that meant staying up a bit later than usual, and staying inside where the heat is cranked up against the latest polar vortex that's blasted virtually every state in the lower 48, that sits east of the Rocky Mountains.
With the bitter cold rattling just outside our own windows, we tended to agree with Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast - our political hearts weren't exactly warmed by the President's address. There were positive moments during the address, for example when the President was standing up for the working poor and for equal pay for women. We also loved it when he stood up for campaign finance reform, saying, "It should be the power of our votes, not the size of our bank accounts that drives our democracy."
We also thought it was bold and correct of the President to call out the anti-science climate change deniers last night. He solidly knocked them back when he stated clearly, "The debate is settled — Climate change is a FACT." As the President confirmed, and as we've long agreed with, the questions on the issue have long since moved from the existence of climate change to the effects of climate change.
That's been obvious in the Midwest and Eastern half of our nation this winter, where one of those effects of rapid climate change has been a massive increase in the use of fuel to heat our homes and businesses. With multiple arctic blasts hitting repeatedly over the past few weeks, there's been a significantly increased demand for fuel to keep us warm, like propane and natural gas. That high demand has turned into a real monster for the pocketbooks of many.
Thanks to the President taking action a few years ago though, with his "All Of The Above" energy strategy, America has more fuel than we once did - and that likely held prices down further than we realize.
That point - that Americans are tired of pointless actions coming from Washington, DC - came through loud and clear when President Obama slammed the Republicans in Congress for wasting more than 40 sessions voting against Obamacare.
In fact, while there are many more things we would have liked to have heard from President Obama, that he's finally ready to act whenever and wherever he can - even if Congress won't get off their fat collective ass - was probably the single best reminder of how much he's already done without their help.
The President pushing Congress to pass Obamacare was a major action during his tenure so far, one that's proving more successful every day. Efforts like the 'Race to the Top' program have been action. The "All of the Above" energy strategy that President Obama has championed for years now? That's been action too. The President even hammered home the fact that he'll act without Congress by announcing before the State of The Union address, that he'll raise the base minimum wage for all future federal contract employees.
Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers' official GOP response - one of four responses from the highly divided Republican Party - was filled with vague promises of plans and standard GOP platitudes, with no specific solutions for action.
The message the President delivered last night was clear: If Congress doesn't act, he will. We just hope he goes all the way this time. We know Congress - especially Republicans in Congress - are going to continue to act like monsters and bullies for any American they disagree with, unless we dump most of them from office this fall.
As we've said for many long years, and as the President echoed our mantra last night, "Nothing in life that's worth anything is easy." As the President noted, this is no longer time for debate.
It's time Americans acted, to do the hard thing, and elect a Congress this fall that's actually willing to do their jobs for us, the American people.
With the bitter cold rattling just outside our own windows, we tended to agree with Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast - our political hearts weren't exactly warmed by the President's address. There were positive moments during the address, for example when the President was standing up for the working poor and for equal pay for women. We also loved it when he stood up for campaign finance reform, saying, "It should be the power of our votes, not the size of our bank accounts that drives our democracy."
We also thought it was bold and correct of the President to call out the anti-science climate change deniers last night. He solidly knocked them back when he stated clearly, "The debate is settled — Climate change is a FACT." As the President confirmed, and as we've long agreed with, the questions on the issue have long since moved from the existence of climate change to the effects of climate change.
That's been obvious in the Midwest and Eastern half of our nation this winter, where one of those effects of rapid climate change has been a massive increase in the use of fuel to heat our homes and businesses. With multiple arctic blasts hitting repeatedly over the past few weeks, there's been a significantly increased demand for fuel to keep us warm, like propane and natural gas. That high demand has turned into a real monster for the pocketbooks of many.
Thanks to the President taking action a few years ago though, with his "All Of The Above" energy strategy, America has more fuel than we once did - and that likely held prices down further than we realize.
That point - that Americans are tired of pointless actions coming from Washington, DC - came through loud and clear when President Obama slammed the Republicans in Congress for wasting more than 40 sessions voting against Obamacare.
In fact, while there are many more things we would have liked to have heard from President Obama, that he's finally ready to act whenever and wherever he can - even if Congress won't get off their fat collective ass - was probably the single best reminder of how much he's already done without their help.
The President pushing Congress to pass Obamacare was a major action during his tenure so far, one that's proving more successful every day. Efforts like the 'Race to the Top' program have been action. The "All of the Above" energy strategy that President Obama has championed for years now? That's been action too. The President even hammered home the fact that he'll act without Congress by announcing before the State of The Union address, that he'll raise the base minimum wage for all future federal contract employees.
Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers' official GOP response - one of four responses from the highly divided Republican Party - was filled with vague promises of plans and standard GOP platitudes, with no specific solutions for action.
The message the President delivered last night was clear: If Congress doesn't act, he will. We just hope he goes all the way this time. We know Congress - especially Republicans in Congress - are going to continue to act like monsters and bullies for any American they disagree with, unless we dump most of them from office this fall.
As we've said for many long years, and as the President echoed our mantra last night, "Nothing in life that's worth anything is easy." As the President noted, this is no longer time for debate.
It's time Americans acted, to do the hard thing, and elect a Congress this fall that's actually willing to do their jobs for us, the American people.
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