Ouch!

Took the jeep in for servicing yesterday.  I knew it wasn't going to be pretty...my brakes have been shuddering for some months (they told me last fall I would need a brake job this spring) and last Friday I developed a short of some sort in the electrical system which resulted in a variety of disconcerting experiences including windows that would not open, displays that would not display and the loss of a headlight.  I was still hoping to keep the bill around a thousand dollars, however, so was nonplussed when I received a phone call from the maintenance guy explaining that there was more...  The good news - my jeep is now fully functioning.  The bad news, I am over $2100 poorer today than yesterday.  I need to do some cyphering and economizing to keep my fall vacation plans on track...

In other news - Happy Birthday Aunt Emilie who is 86 years young today.  Mandatory roast beef supper at mom's tonight.

And more news on the Republican political front.  John Huntsman has tossed his hat into the ring.  I do not know much about him; but what little I know leads me to suspect he is far too moderate for the red meat Republican crowd.  Still, he seems like an interesting person...

I also note that Ms. Bachmann has now formally announced her candidacy.  Plenty of red meat there...  She strikes me as truly scary...  Still, there is the entertainment value.

A couple of days ago I read a very good article in the Washington Post, "With Executive Pay Rich Pull Away for Rest of America."  The article is chock-a-block full of interesting factoids; but even more interesting is the case study of Dean Foods and the discussion of the culture of amorality among today's chief executives.

Over the period from the ’70s until today, while pay for Dean Foods chief executives was rising 10 times over, wages for the unionized workers actually declined slightly. The hourly wage rate for the people who process, pasteurize and package the milk at the company’s dairies declined by 9 percent in real terms, according to union contract records. It is now about $23 an hour.

...
According to the CIA’s World Factbook, which uses the so-called “Gini coefficient,” a common economic indicator of inequality, the United States ranks as far more unequal than the European Union and the United Kingdom. The United States is in the company of developing countries — just behind Cameroon and Ivory Coast and just ahead of Uganda and Jamaica.

This is the true legacy of Ronald Reagan's conservative vision.  And as the trend continues the outline of the Republican's vision of the future becomes clearer by the month - an America that more and more resembles Latin America during much of the past century. 

Still, I do accept at face value the Republican's claim that they have a jobs agenda.  Indeed, I believe a glimpse of this agenda is now in place in Georgia as described in this week's Economist in a story "Agriculture and Immigration Policy - A Hard Row to Hoe."

On July 1st a new law in Georgia, modeled roughly on the recent Arizona immigration law, will crack-down on undocumented workers.

Precise figures are hard to come by, but according to Erik Nocholson, national vice-president for the United Farm Workers' union, as many as 70% of American agricultural workers may be undocumented.  According to the Pew Hispanic Centre, in 2010 Georgia had around 425,000 such immigrants, putting it seventh among American states.

It may now have fewer:  46% of respondents to a recent survey conducted by the Georgia Agribusiness Council said they had too few workers.  Some reported that workers had left or were planning to leave for other states by July 1st.  And though that may be welcome news for politicians such as Mr. Ransey [the bill's sponsor], it could portend disaster for farmers.

...
Nathan Deal, Georgia's governor, who signed the immigration bill into law, came up with a novel solution on Tuesday; give the jobs - of which there are around 11,000, according to farmers who responded to a survey by Georgia's agriculture department - to unemployed probationers.

Brilliant!  But why stop there?  With so many long-term unemployed available, why not coerce them to work in the fields? 

In the meantime American capital continues to create jobs at a fast clip - in China, Brazil, and India to name just a few locales.  American "private equity" has been particularly fond of Brazil this year.  And while I am, generally speaking, in favor of free trade; I confess it irks me that the rich of this nation continue to pour their tax cut bonuses into foreign lands while America continues to crumble.