Truthout
Economy & Labor

On the News With Thom Hartmann: For the First Time in 17 Years, Our Government Is Officially Shut Down, and More
For the first time in 17 years, our government is officially shut down.

Matt Taibbi on How Wall Street Hedge Funds Are Looting the Pension Funds of Public Workers
In his latest article for Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi reports that Wall Street firms are now making millions in profits off of public pension funds nationwide.

Federal Contractors Employ More Low-Wage Workers Than Walmart and McDonald’s Combined, While Paying Top Execs. $24 Billion
Workers and legislators demand President Obama sign an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal contractor employees.

Federal Contractor Executives Get $24 Billion Per Year, While Low Wage Workers Fight for More Than $8.25/Hour
Hundreds of federally-contracted workers protest against the largest low wage job creator, the federal government.

Economic Update: Economic Downturns
Richard D. Wolff gives an economic update, including the meaning and economic impact on US of Washington struggles over the debt ceiling, and responds to listeners in this segment.

On the News With Thom Hartmann: Sen. Ted Cruz Takes Senate Floor to Launch a Phony Filibuster, and More
On Tuesday, Senator Ted Cruz took the floor of the Senate to launch an all-night phony filibuster, and more.

The F Word: Domestic Workers Aren’t Members of the Family
The Obama administration announced it will finally extend minimum wage and overtime protections to domestic workers, a change labor and community groups have pushed for.

Depreciation of the Rupee Points to India’s Need to Build Capital Controls, Participate in International Financial Rule-Making
The rupee plunged by 3.7 percent on the day in its biggest single-day percentage fall in more than two decades.

On Reinventing the Meaning of Politics and What Needs to Be Done
A global war to resurrect a sense of

On the News With Thom Hartmann: Even Business Lobbyists Oppose a Government Shutdown, and More
In today's On the News segment: The Chamber of Commerce knows that a government shutdown will hurt families and corporations alike; Typhoon Man-yi forced Japan's Fukushimaoperators to release more …