USW Blog

  • Put Some Made in America Spring in Your Step This Easter and Passover
    Whether you celebrate Easter or Passover or just enjoy the fun traditions that originate from these holidays, we’re sharing our favorite Made in America items for spring’s religious holidays from our archives. EASTER Easter is a traditional religious holiday in the Christian faith celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But it's also a holiday that includes a bit of fun — and much of that fun starts with Easter Eggs.  Eco eggs are a great option for those who want to include treats in their eggs during Easter egg hunts. Not only are they Made in the USA, they also are eco-friendly, manufactured from 100 percent renewable content and are fully compostable. The eggs — made from non-toxic, durable, plant-based plastic — are available in two sizes and come in five assorted colors (pink, yellow, green, blue and purple). The company also manufactures eco grass to help fill out that Easter basket. Eco grass is made from 100 percent post recycled paper and is 100 percent recyclable after use, so you can easily dispose of it in your paper recycle bin.  But if you are looking for a more formal egg, be sure to check out the selection offered by the White House Historical Association for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. The 2019 White House Easter Egg collection is available now; you can buy a single egg or the entire set of five colors -- all Made in the United States. In 2017, Wells Wood Turning & Finishing of Maine supplied eggs for the White House's iconic event.  Looking to dye your eggs? Check out Doc Hinkle Easter Egg Dye. Unlike ordinary dyes that must be diluted, Doc Hinkle's paint-on kit helps egg decorators create "beautiful, bright colors and patterns instead of dull single-colored eggs." Colors included in the kit include red, blue, yellow and purple, which can be combined to create new hues.   You are going to need a place to put all those eggs, and Peterboro Basket Co. and Charleston Sweetgrass offer a variety of sizes, shapes and colors. — Apr 18
  • Amazon – and 56 Other Corporations – Took Your Tax Dollars
    Yeah, yeah, yeah, Bernie Sanders, castigator of the one percent, is a millionaire now. So are Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren. Big whoop. There’s a crucial difference between these candidates seeking the Democratic presidential nomination and the super wealthy – particularly 60 gigantic, massively profitable U.S. corporations. The candidates faithfully pay federal taxes. The corporations don’t. That’s right. Sixty profitable corporations paid no federal taxes in 2018, twice the number that typically paid nothing in the years before the 2017 tax breaks took effect. In fact, it’s worse than that. Fifty-seven of these corporations demanded rebates from the government – which means taxpayers like you and me paid them to exist. These are corporations on the dole. They claim to hate socialism if it means Medicare for All, but they sure as hell love socialism when it’s welfare for them. Sanders, Harris, Warren and other candidates seeking the Democratic nomination paid their taxes because they are patriots. Most working Americans pay a fair share to support their country. True citizens pay so that their nation can thrive. They pay so that the United States can afford to educate its citizens, pave its roads, operate its courts, care for its vulnerable and sustain its military. They pay because they understand they have a duty to the country that nurtured them, that protects them and that they love. But too many U.S. corporations, which the U.S. Supreme Court has anointed with human rights, refuse to acknowledge their concomitant obligations. Corporations and the super wealthy pushed hard for the tax breaks Republicans bestowed on them in 2017. Fat cats paid untold tens of millions to dark money groups that served as cash cows for GOP candidates who, once elected, shepherded those tax breaks. — Apr 18
  • Trump’s Trade Deal with China Might Not Tackle Industrial Subsidies
    We’ve been closely monitoring trade talks between the United States and China, and we’ve gone on record to note that there are a couple of ways things could go. The two countries will either reach a historic deal that requires China to play by the rules of global competition — or the agreement will be a dud, making a few superficial changes but mostly maintaining the status quo. Well, score one for the status quo. Reuters reports that “U.S. negotiators have tempered demands that China curb industrial subsidies as a condition for a trade deal after strong resistance from Beijing.” Instead, negotiators are focusing on issues they see as more achievable, including ending forced technology transfers, strengthening protection of intellectual property and opening up China’s markets. Look, addressing technology transfers and intellectual property is vital, and U.S. negotiators are right to focus on them. Ditto for further opening up China’s market. But by abandoning the issue of industrial subsidies in these talks, the United States is giving a green light to China to continue to cheat the global trading system and put countries and companies that play by the rules at a disadvantage. Case in point: Steel. President Trump put a 25% tariff on steel imports in April 2018 in response to surging foreign imports. Now, you’ve probably heard about those "Section 232" tariffs — they’ve garnered a lot of criticism from the Acela Corridor set — but what is often missing from the conversation is that despite Trump’s bluster, there was a very legitimate reason why he issued those tariffs. — Apr 18
  • Patriotic Millionaires Have Simple Message: Tax the Rich
    Dozens of activists, organizers, elected officials, and ultra-wealthy individuals came together in Washington, D.C. last week around a simple theme: it’s time to tax rich people. The gathering was put together by the Patriotic Millionaires, a group of proud “traitors to their class,” committed to breaking up the concentration of wealth and power in the United States. The conference featured many of these millionaires sharing notes on a similar theme. They had made their money through a combination of hard work and public institutions that helped them every step of the way. Now, they want to make sure these institutions, like the debt-free higher education that many consider pivotal to their success, will be available to future generations – and are rightly concerned that they won’t be. The solution, they all agree, is to restore historically high taxes on people like themselves. Patriotic Millionaires board chair Morris Pearl wanted the crowd to know he wasn’t there out of altruism. “I’m a greedy millionaire” he said. “But I’m greedy for the country I grew up in. Social mobility. Debt free college. A place where you could be born to a family without a lot of money and get ahead.” Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) echoed these sentiments, sharing his own story of humble beginnings in a middle-class family led by his father who worked as a mechanic. They were able to live comfortably on a single income from a person who did not have a college degree. That life would nearly impossible today, he said. Inequality.org co-editors Chuck Collins and Sarah Anderson were on hand to explain just exactly how we might go about taxing the very rich. Sarah presented on “taxing the gap,” a proposal to levy taxes on companies that they their executives exorbitant sums compared to their average workers. McDonalds, she shared, paid their CEO 5,000 times more than they paid their average worker. — Apr 17
  • On Capitol Hill: A Clueless Big-Bank Top Executive
    As CEO of banking giant JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon has ultimate budget responsibility for a mega-billion-dollar enterprise. But last week, testifying before Congress, Dimon declined to take any responsibility for — or show much interest in — the budget challenges JPMorgan workers face. Rep. Katie Porter of California asked Dimon what advice he’d give an entry-level JPMorgan employee with a child who lives in a one-bedroom in her district that rents for a monthly $1,600. After food, child care, and other basic expenses, the $2,425 the worker takes home monthly from JPMorgan leaves her $567 in the red. Dimon at first quipped that the entry-level worker just “may have my job one day.” Maybe, replied Porter, but right now she’s doesn’t have “your $31 million” to spend. Porter went on to press for a helpful budgeting suggestion. Replied Dimon: “I don’t know. I’d have to think about that.”  *** — Apr 17