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Does Amazon Have to Pay Workers for Going Through Its Security Lines? The Supreme Court Is About to Decide

by KarmaG62lyzhfxl Posted on October 7, 2014

Mother Jones

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Here’s the newest front in the war to pay low-wage workers even less:

The latest battle, which goes before the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, was launched by former warehouse workers for Amazon.com, who argue they should have been paid for the time they spent waiting in security lines after their shifts….Those security lines could take more than half an hour, the workers said, and that was time when they should have been getting paid.

….Amazon said it would not comment due to the pending litigation, but a spokesperson said the “data shows that employees walk through post shift security screening with little or no wait.”

Well now. If employees truly walk though security screenings with “little or no wait,” then it wouldn’t cost Amazon anything to pay them for that time. So why are they fighting this? Perhaps it’s because Amazon is lying. Sometimes the wait really is substantial, and Amazon doesn’t want to (a) pay more security guards to speed up the lines or (b) pay workers for the time spent in slowpoke lines.

So this really does seem like a simple case. If Amazon is telling the truth, they should have no objection to paying employees for time spent in line. If they’re lying, then they should be given an incentive to speed up the security process—and the best incentive I can think of is to pay employees for time spent in line. Either way, the answer is the same: pay employees for time spent in security lines.

Needless to say, the Supreme Court will figure out a way to spend a hundred pages making this more complicated so that they can justify a different ruling. After all, it wouldn’t do to allow workers to get above their stations, would it?

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Does Amazon Have to Pay Workers for Going Through Its Security Lines? The Supreme Court Is About to Decide

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Spending During a Recession Is an Even Better Idea Than We Thought

by CyrilRuddell Posted on October 7, 2014

Mother Jones

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Matt O’Brien points today to a new paper that tries to estimate the value of the fiscal multiplier during recessions. The multiplier is a number that tells us how effective government spending is. For example, if the government spends a dollar on donuts, and then the baker uses part of that dollar to buy sugar, and then the sugar distributor uses part of that to pay her truckers, then the original dollar of government spending might spur total spending of more than a dollar.

On the other hand, if government spending simply takes a dollar out of the pockets of taxpayers, the net effect might be zero. Total spending might not change at all.

The value of the multiplier during the Great Recession has been a subject of considerable dispute over the past few years, but a new trio of researchers has produced an estimate higher than most previous ones:

Riera-Crichton, Vegh, and Vuletin took this analysis a step further. They focused squarely on countries that, between 1986 and 2008, had both been in a recession and increased spending. This last point is critical. Stimulus, remember, is supposed to be countercyclical: the government spends more when the economy shrinks. But historically-speaking, countries have actually cut spending about half the time that they’ve been in a slump. So counting all that austerity as “stimulus,” as most do, gives us a misleadingly low estimate of the multiplier, something like 1.3. But it turns out, based on this new better sample, that the multiplier is really around 2.3 during a garden-variety recession, and 3.1 during a severe one.

Hmmm. I can’t say that I understand this. Every estimate of the fiscal multiplier I’ve seen acknowledges that it’s different during recessions. And why would previous research have included countries that cut spending during a recession? This is a bit of a mystery. Nonetheless, if this new paper really does do a better job of estimating the multiplier, then it makes a very strong case that stimulus spending during a recession—especially a severe one—is critical to recovery. America’s obsession with austerity starting in 2011 is probably a big reason our recovery was so weak, and cutting spending now, as the eurozone is doing even as its economy decays yet again, is the worst thing they could do.

More infrastructure spending, please. After all, why not do it now when it’s practically a free lunch?

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Spending During a Recession Is an Even Better Idea Than We Thought

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The Washington Post Wants Google to Invent a “Secure Golden Key”

by MaryannCqk Posted on October 4, 2014

Mother Jones

A couple of weeks ago Google announced that Android phones would soon have their contents encrypted by default. The encryption key would be set by the user and Google wouldn’t keep a copy. This means that if police get a warrant to search a cell phone, they can’t get the encryption key from Google. The owner of the phone will have to cough it up.

This is how search warrants work in every other walk of life, but law enforcement agencies were nonetheless frustrated over Google’s new policy. The Washington Post sympathizes with their frustration, and yesterday they mounted a fairly standard defense of the law enforcement position. But then they ended with this:

How to resolve this? A police “back door” for all smartphones is undesirable — a back door can and will be exploited by bad guys, too. However, with all their wizardry, perhaps Apple and Google could invent a kind of secure golden key they would retain and use only when a court has approved a search warrant. Ultimately, Congress could act and force the issue, but we’d rather see it resolved in law enforcement collaboration with the manufacturers and in a way that protects all three of the forces at work: technology, privacy and rule of law.

A “secure golden key”? Seriously? Did they bother talking to anyone more technically savvy than their publisher’s nine-year-old grandkid about this?

If you’re going to opine about this stuff, you owe it to your readers to do at least a minimal amount of reporting and research about what’s possible and what’s not. Otherwise you sound like an idiot.

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The Washington Post Wants Google to Invent a “Secure Golden Key”

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Yet More Crackpotism From the Tea Party Darling in Iowa

by KandiNPVzfidna Posted on October 3, 2014

Mother Jones

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TPM’s Daniel Strauss provides us with the latest intel on tea party darling Joni Ernst, currently favored to win a Senate seat in Iowa. Here are her answers to a survey from the Campaign for Liberty in 2012, when she was running for the state legislature:

Strauss naturally focuses on Question 5, in which Ernst happily agrees that Iowa should allow state troopers and local sheriffs to toss federal officials in the slammer if they try to implement Obamacare in their state. This is complete lunacy, but of course no one will take any notice. For some reason, conservative Republicans are allowed to get away with this kind of stuff. There’s a sort of tacit understanding in the press that they don’t really mean it when they say things like this. It’s just a harmless way of showing their tribal affiliation.

However, I’m also intrigued by Question 1. I assume this was prompted by police use of drones, which was starting to make the news back in 2012, but does it also include things like red light cameras and automated radar installations on highways? Does Ernst really oppose this stuff? She might! And maybe it’s a big deal in Iowa. I’m just curious.

UPDATE: And as long as we’re on the subject of Iowa, Senate seats, and the press, maybe you should check out Eric Boehlert’s fully justified bafflement over the national media’s infatuation with a crude Republican smear campaign based on transparent lies about Democratic candidate Bruce Braley and his neighbor’s chickens. Click here for more.

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Yet More Crackpotism From the Tea Party Darling in Iowa

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Happy 90th Birthday, Jimmy Carter

by iscciaglewstrone123 Posted on October 1, 2014

Mother Jones

President Jimmy Carter celebrates his 90th birthday today, October 1. On the occasion of the 39th President’s birthday, let’s take a look back at his Presidency (and Governorship) with a handful of photos.

Jimmy Carter, touring a display of American-made cars in Detroit is presented with a birthday cake from the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local #900, 1980. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library/National Archives

Graduation of Jimmy Carter from U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, Rosalynn Carter and Lillian Carter Pinning on Ensign Bars, 1946. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library/National Archives

Then Georgia State Sen. Jimmy Carter hugs his wife, Rosalynn, at his Atlanta campaign headquarters in 1966 after making a strong showing in the Democratic primary election for governor of Georgia. AP

Jimmy Carter gets applause and victory signs at his Atlanta campaign headquarters as his mother Lillian Carter looks on, 1970. Carter faced former Governor Carl Sanders in a runoff for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. John Storey/AP

Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, right, and Delaware Governor Sherman Tribbitt say hello to Atlanta Braves Hank Aaron, left, following a rain canceled game with the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 27, 1973 in Atlanta. The cancellation slowed Aaron’s opportunity to tie or break Babe Ruth’s home run record. AP

Jimmy Carter, the Democratic nominee for President of the United States, left, visits with John Denver aboard Carter’s plane en-route to Los Angeles, 1976. AP

Jimmy Carter and Sen. Hubert Humphrey at the Democratic National Convention, New York City. Library of Congress

President-elect Jimmy Carter with Rosalynn and Amy Carter on Inauguration Day. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library/National Archives

President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter dancing at the Inaugural Ball. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library/National Archives

Jimmy Carter and Tim Kraft, the President’s Appointments Secretary, shortly after Carter’s inauguration. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library/National Archives

Jimmy Carter and his mother Miss Lillian Carter, 1977. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library/National Archives

President Carter on television during his first fireside chat at the White House. Library of Congress

Amy Carter and Jimmy Carter participate in a speed reading course at the White House, 1977. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library/National Archives

President Jimmy Carter greets Mohammed Ali at a White House dinner celebrating the signing of the Panama Canal Treaty. Library of Congress

Jimmy Carter at bat during a softball game in Plains, GA, 1977. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library/National Archives

Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, 1977. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library/National Archives

Jimmy Carter with grandson Jason Carter at the White House Easter Egg Roll. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library/National Archives

Jimmy Carter with Andy Warhol during a reception for inaugural portfolio artists. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library/National Archives

President Jimmy Carter and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat surrounded by the media at the White House. Marion S. Trikosko/White House/Library of Congress

President Jimmy Carter and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat have refreshments in the garden of the White House. Marion S. Trikosko/White House/Library of Congress

Anwar Sadat, Jimmy Carter and Menahem Begin examine a canon during a trip to the Gettysburg National Military Park. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library/National Archives

Reporters take notes while watching President Jimmy Carter on television making an announcement about the aborted attempt to rescue U.S. hostages in Iran. Marion S. Trikosko/White House/Library of Congress

Contact sheet of negatives showing meeting with President Jimmy Carter and Ralph Nader. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library/National Archives

Photograph of four Presidents (Ford, Reagan, Carter, Nixon) in the Blue Room prior to leaving for Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s Funeral, 1981. National Archives

For those keeping track, Gerald Ford was the longest living president. He lived to be 93 years, 163 days old. Ronald Reagan was just 45 days shy of Ford. George H.W. Bush is the oldest living president. He was born on June 12, 1924, just a few months before Carter.

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Happy 90th Birthday, Jimmy Carter

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It only took 28 years to get solar panels back on the White House roof!

by GemmaHornung Posted on May 9, 2014

It only took 28 years to get solar panels back on the White House roof!

By

Daniel Zimmerman

Today, Jimmy Carter gets to enjoy a gleeful chuckle while Ronald Reagan rolls over in his grave. Today is a good day.

After four years of repeated grumblings of “we’re going to do this, we promise,” the Obama administration has plunked some solar panels on the White House roof. And like all great things, they’re American-made, American-installed, and run off of good ol’ American sunlight!

A little bit of backstory: Back in 1979, Carter was ahead of the curve in installing solar panels at the presidential residence. At their dedication, he provided an apt analysis of what they symbolized at the time: “A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people—harnessing the power of the sun to enrich our lives as we move away from our crippling dependence on foreign oil.”

Reagan honored that sentiment with a resounding “SIKE NAW” when he removed the panels in 1986.

And nearly 30 years later, here we are again! Time is a flat circle, after all.

During a speech today in California, President Obama unveiled new plans to promote the use of solar energy by businesses, households, and the government, plus a $2 billion initiative to make federal buildings more energy efficient by 2017.

“Every four minutes, another American home or business goes solar, and every panel is pounded into place by a worker whose job cannot be overseas,” Obama said.

What better place to continue that trend than his own house?

“Being at the White House, we do have some security concerns, and we can’t cover the entire roof,” says White House Usher James Doherty in an official video (watch below) showing the installation of the panels. “Although that would be good from an energy saving standpoint,” he adds with an uncomfortable giggle.

Hopefully, these solar panels will enjoy a slightly longer life than Carter’s.

Eve Andrews is a Grist fellow and new Seattle transplant via the mean streets of Chicago, Poughkeepsie, and Pittsburgh, respectively and in order of meanness. Follow her on Twitter.

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It only took 28 years to get solar panels back on the White House roof!

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