ARTS & FARCES internet

Jonathan Tasini, former president of the National Writers Union, current executive director of Labor Research Association, and named plaintiff in New York Times Co. v. Tasini—which set the bar for the electronic media rights of print freelance writers—has written a new book, The Audacity of Greed: Free Markets, Corporate Thieves and the Looting of America. The title speaks for itself and Tasini offers seven sound proposals to get America back on track:

1. Raise the minimum wage to US$10; to US$20 by 2014.
2. Enact single-payer, universal coverage healthcare by passing H.R. 676.
3. Create a mandatory, universal pension plan (pdf; 696KB) backed by the government
4. Raise the top income tax rate to 40%-45% and add a new bracket of 50% for those with incomes of more than US$1 million. Tax investment income at the same rate as ordinary income.
5. Pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
6. Mandate publicly-financed elections.
7. Mandate a proportional pay cut on executives who cut workers’ pay.

As to order of implementation, it’s painfully obvious after the healthcare reform debacle in the US Senate Finance Committee that none of this gets done without starting with number six.