The Militant (logo)  
   Vol. 69/No. 47           December 5, 2005  
 
 
The Great Society
 
You love New Orleans landlords—Court dockets have been flooded with eviction hearings for some of the estimated 8,000 to 10,000 absent tenants. After an eviction notice is posted, tenants have 24 hours to remove their belongings. While some tenants' rights groups have called the process unfair to those with no means of returning home, the benefits to landlords can be great. Few apartments and thousands seeking shelter mean higher rents.

Capitalism, the big easy—“In 1980, the average CEO earned about 42 times the pay of the average worker, but now CEOs earn about 431 times what the average worker does, according to the AFL-CIO. And the pay is rising at a rapid clip. The average CEO took home a 91 percent raise in 2004 according to the Corporate Library, even as workers got raises amounting to less than 4 percent on average."—Los Angeles Times

Would GM swindle you?—“General Motors said that it planned to restate its earnings from 2001 because an accounting error led the company to overstate its earnings by up to 35 percent. GM disclosed the error after the markets closed. Earlier in the day, Fitch Ratings lowered GM's debt deeper into ‘junk’ status. The automaker’s shares fell to a 13-year low.”—Associated Press.

P.S.—“DETROIT—Continuing bad news for General Motors rattled Wall Street, dragging down shares industrywide and fueling further speculation that the company could file for bankruptcy protection, fire its CEO, or both.”—USA Today.

The can-do society—Several weeks ago, a steadfast reader sent us a clipping from the Arizona Sun. It provided an article from Tombstone, a dot on the map. The lone high school was built in 1922. This past summer a spanking new high school for 350 students was built at a cost of $7 million. The new school sits atop a hillside 75 miles from a highway. About a month or so ago, there was no way to get the students and teachers to make it to the school from the highway.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home