Changing Our Behavior Reduces Accidents

Process Or Worker Eliminating Risk

(Phone numbers: Cobra: 1883; Power: 1924)

Local 608-712 web site: www.usw-608.com)

INFORMER

RETURN TO INFORMER PAGE

IS HISTORY
REPEATING ITSELF?

      In the 1930's British economist John Maynard Keynes began advocating a more active role for governments in their countries' economies, particularly increased spending, during economic downturns. His thinking was a departure from classical economists such as Adam Smith who believed economies could correct themselves without governmental intervention. 

      In his struggle with the Great Depression, FDR followed the Keynesian model. His programs, now referred to as the New Deal, increased the federal government's share of GDP from 7% to 14%, costing the county an estimated 500 billion in inflation-adjusted 2008 dollars. To pay this debt, he raised the top marginal tax rate to 79% and later to 90%. You'll recall when former President Reagan took office in 1980, the top rate was still quite high at 70%.

      Did increased governmental involvement in our economy lift us out of the Great Depression or prolong it? That has been the subject of much debate over the years. However, there are a few undisputed facts: For example, unemployment topped out at 25%, but never returned to single digits until we entered WWII and the DOW never returned to its 1929 high until 1954.

      At the end of FDR's second term, Secretary of Treasurer Henry Morgenthau attempted to sum up his experience with Keynesian economic theory, "We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work...I say after eight years of this Administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started... and an enormous debt to boot."

      What lessons can we learn from the 1930's? Faced with our own economic downturn, we seem to be giving

the Keynesian theory another try. Will increased federal spending lead to a better result for us than it apparently did for Secretary Morgenthau's generation? Will we raise taxes to pay for our spending as FDR did for his? Will the Dow take 25 years to return to its 2007 high of 14,164?

            from "New Deal or Raw Deal? How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America" by
Professor Burton Folsom, Jr., Hillsdale College

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

      Ever wonder why the Great Depression lasted so long? Two UCLA economics professors, Harold Cole, PhD, and Lee Ohanian, PhD, believe they've found the answer. Their studies show it was FDR's New Deal policies causing unnaturally high wages and prices during a period of high unemployment that short-circuited the market's self-correcting forces and, thus, prolonged the depression by seven years.

      Their findings are ironic in that most people give FDR high praise for intervening and finally bringing the depression to an end. In fact, Time Magazine readers selected FDR and Gandhi as the runners-up to their choice for the most influential person of the 20th century,

Albert Einstein.

            Although the Great Depression lasted nearly 15 years, generations of economists have assumed it would have been worse without governmental intervention. However, the professors' research suggests another look at that assumption.

      And what about today? Could our generation experience its own long, drawn-out slump? "Not likely," said Dr. Ohanian, "unless lawmakers gum up the recovery with ill-conceived stimulus policies."

BIOMASS COMPETITION

      The U.S. Forest Products Industry is the leading producer and user of renewable biomass energy. The industry generates more power from biomass than is generated from all U.S. solar, wind and geothermal operations, combined.

      Because a National Renewable Energy Standard (RES) could increase demand for biomass energy, creating competition between power generators and the Forest Products Industry for raw materials, policies should be enacted to increase its supply from our national forests.

      A national RES could help create more "green" jobs and increase our energy security, but, if policies are not carefully considered for their unintended impacts, our industry's competiveness could be damaged.

      "The Right Choices for Renewable Energy Standards"

by Donna Harman, American Forests Products Assoc. and Michael Draper, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, 4/13/09

PUBLIC OPTION

      The nonpartisan healthcare consulting firm The Lewin Group estimates that 88 million employees would lose their private employer plans and be shifted into the public option if it is included in a healthcare reform law.

      The AFL-CIO endorses the public option. Howard Dean, former Democratic candidate for President and former DNC Chairman, is on record as saying "healthcare reform without the public option is not worth pursuing."

      from "How Obama Miscalculated on Health Care," Nina Easton, CNNMoney, 8/20/09

MARKET-BASED SOLUTIONS

GREEN JOBS CZAR

      In March 2009, President Obama appointed Van Jones, a board member of the Apollo Alliance, as his Special Advisor for Green Jobs at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, more commonly referred to as the Green Jobs Czar.

      The Alliance was formed just after 9/11/01 by leaders of labor, environmental, business and community organizations who are "trying to start a clean energy revolution that will create millions of high-quality jobs."    According to the American Spectator, 8/7/09, the Apollo Alliance helped write significant portions of the stimulus and the cap-and-trade bills.

      The United Steelworkers are heavily involved in the Apollo Alliance. President Leo Gerard serves on the Board of Directors and, according to donor information on the Alliance's web site, apolloalliance.org, the Steelworkers have contributed over $100,000.

      Update:  Van Jones resigned his position on September 5th as more and more of his controversial past statements and actions came to light.

MEDICAL COSTS

      Medical coverage is not a free employer-provided benefit. The cost to employees for receiving this benefit is lower wages. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, healthcare-provided benefits reduced U.S. wages by an average of almost 8% in 2008.

      from "The Push for Health Care Reform" by Froma Harrop, 5/7/09

DID YOU KNOW?

               In 2008, the average insured family paid $3,350 in premiums, copays, deductibles, and coinsurance. In 1998 the average family paid half that amount.

            from "Eight Ways to Cut Your Doctor's Bill," David Whelan, Forbes, 7/21/09

TOP INSTITUTIONAL HOLDERS

               As of the end of June, the top 10 institutional holders of Clearwater Paper stock collectively owned 43.8% of all outstanding shares. The top 10 list is headed by T. Rowe Price and includes Barclays Global; Loomis, Sayles; Vanguard Group; Columbia Management; Keeley Asset Management; U.S. Steel & Carnegie Pension Fund; Kestrel Investment Management; AXA and Stelliam Investment Management.