Over at Washington Monthly, the editors asked a few Famous Names to describe the book they think President Obama should read. But they did not ask the rest of us.
So I’d like to submit a suggestion. In fact, I’ll go easy on the new president and offer up a report rather than an entire book.
Consultants, Lawyers and the "Union Free" Movement in the USA since the 1970s, by British economist John Logan, analyzes the emergence of professional "union-busters," providing case studies of each of the main groups comprising the industry: law firms, consultants, industry psychologists and strike management firms.
At 18 pages, it’s an easy read for a president who holds his books right-side-up. But the information is crucial for an understanding of why the nation needs passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Big Business lobbyists are all over the new administration and Congress trying to convince lawmakers that corporations are even-handed and open-minded—and therefore no change is needed to current labor laws because the laws are so fair now. NOT.
As Logan makes clear, corporations in this country have declared war on workers and their efforts to join unions:
During the past three decades, militant employer opposition to unionization in the U.S. has effectively turned organizing campaigns into "war," a war in which unions have frequently been on the losing side and one in which anti-union consultants and law firms have often played a central role.
The report details the extent to which anti-unionism is institutionally entrenched in this country—philosophically and structurally—making it clear the situation will not change unless labor laws are updated. That is, the corporate war on workers will continue unless the Employee Free Choice Act is passed. As the worker advocacy group American Rights at Work points out, some 82 percent of employers hire high-priced union-busting consultants.
Passage of the Employee Free Choice Act isn’t just about unions: It would give workers the power to bargain for better pay, better benefits and job security—all crucial to restoring a fair economy that works for everyone and rebuilding our middle class.
Let’s face it: Opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act aren’t spending $200 million to defeat the bill because it’s not needed.
So, what’s your suggestion for Obama’s reading list?
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Just in case he might not have read it, The Jungle might be a good read (or re-read in case he read it years ago and it didn’t make an impact on him – although it is difficult to believe anyone can read this book and not have it make an impact.)
“The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight” by Thom Hartman, with a side order of James Howard Kunstler.
You took the title right out of my mouth! I would recommend The Jungle be sent to all members of the FDA and to all companies associated with food & drug. They are there to protect the American public, not the corporations.
Not labor related but I would say Jane Mayer’s The Dark Side.
Shock Doctrine – Naomi Klein; Hegemony or Survival – Noam Chomsky; Free Lunch – David Johnston
I would also recommend a little known book: The Cyanide Canary by Joseph Hilldorfer (2004). It puts a human face on why environmental law needs to be ENFORCED by the courts.
Probably not the first book to read, but it’s a good one. He’s probably already read all the John Dean books.
Made In USA labels from clothing manufactured in Saipan should be outlawed. Put made in Saipan on them. The Book is Lying Liars by Al Franken.
Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America by Mitchell Gold and Mindy Drucker
I have read it three times now. No one can read this book and still believe that religious-based bigotry isn’t harming our American children.
I like your recommendation, too, Tula. Seeing many pro-EFCA ads and pro-universal-health-care ads on my teevee, but they lack an action item. Am I to call my Congresscritter? My Senator? My President?
oh, Cyanide Canary is worker related, if that is the criteria:
Where we should go from here:
Van Jones’ The Green Collar Economy.
Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben.
The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken.
How we got here:
The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein.
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins.
I simply cannot bring myself to read it. Slaughter makes an unpleasant read.
9/11 Contradictions: An Open Letter to Congress and the Press
reviews:
“David Ray Griffin, writing specifically for members of Congress and the media, has presented the often incredible but true details of 25 major contradictions in the Bush administration’s accounts of 9/11. This book, based on careful research but written in a fast-moving, readable style, blows apart the notion that The 9/11 Commission Report presents an accurate account of what happened on September 11. It makes crystal clear the need for a new investigation.” — Bill Christison, former senior CIA official
“So who cares that the 9/11 Commission chose to believe that Dick Cheney did not enter the White House bunker until “shortly before 10:00, perhaps at 9:58,” twenty minutes after the strike on the Pentagon. Surely the vice president would not fib, so the Commission threw out the testimony of several eyewitnesses, including Norman Mineta, the transportation secretary. Mineta must have been making it all up when he testified that he joined Cheney in the bunker at about 9:20 and heard Cheney reaffirm an apparent stand-down order just before the Pentagon was struck. Such conflicting testimony is typical of the many serious “9/11 Contradictions” documented in David Ray Griffin’s highly readable book. We need a truly independent investigation to put Cheney and Mineta under oath, along with the still unidentified “young man” who, Mineta reported, kept coming into the bunker and, after telling Cheney “the plane is ten miles out,” asked Cheney whether “the orders still stand”—-about 12 minutes before 125 people in the Pentagon were killed. What were those orders?” — Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and presidential briefer
“When the smoke finally cleared from the pile of rubble on September 11, 2001, we were left with a host of burning questions. The 9/11 Commission did not provide the answers, despite their extensive mandate. 9/11 Contradictions is a work that needed to be written. With characteristic clarity and focus, David Ray Griffin masterfully lays out the most critical of these questions. Now the challenge is to finally get real answers.” — Lorie Van Auken, widow of Kenneth Van Auken, killed at WTC 1 on 9/11/01, and member of the Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Commission
“According to St. Timothy, ‘God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.’ In 9/11 Contradictions, David Ray Griffin, demonstrating once again what a fearless spirit and powerful mind can do, shows the official account of 9/11 to be so riddled with contradictions as to be essentially worthless.” — Catherine Austin Fitts, assistant secretary of housing in the George H. W. Bush administration
“Because the 9/11 attacks became the excuse for myriad disastrous changes in U.S. foreign and domestic policy, unraveling the true history of those events is the paramount exigency of our times. By virtue of pointing out an astonishing number of irreconcilable contradictions in the official story of 9/11, David Ray Griffin’s 9/11 Contradictions is a must read, not only for the Congress and the press, but also for any American concerned about the truth, because those contradictions suggest that we have not yet been told the truth about 9/11.” — David L. Griscom, research physicist, Fellow of the American Physical Society, retired from the Naval Research Laboratory
“David Ray Griffin is America’s bulldog on 9/11. His demand that the amazing contradictions in the story be explained resonates with millions of people.” — Paul Craig Roberts, former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal and assistant secretary of the US Treasury during the Reagan administration
“No matter how you feel about who is responsible for the 9/11 attack, at least we need a through independent, unbiased investigation. In this book, Griffin provides 25 useful questions—-contradictions worthy of honest answers.” — Jim Hightower, author of Swim against the Current and editor of The Hightower Lowdown
“The Congress and the press may not pay attention, but this scholarly yet accessible analysis is must reading for Americans concerned about good government and effective democracy. Every reader will reach the only logical conclusion: 9/11 truth is not yet known.” — Joel S. Hirschhorn, former official at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment and author of Delusional Democracy: Fixing the Republic Without Overthrowing the Government
“This book describes in very straightforward and non-technical terms some major inconsistencies in the government’s official story about the events on September 11, 2001. It points out many attempts in the 9/11 Commission’s report to cover up evidence . . . . As an engineer, I am especially troubled by the cover-up of evidence relevant to the collapse of the three major World Trade Center buildings. I hope that Congress and the public will heed this call for a full and impartial investigation to determine what really did happen on that fateful day.” — Jack Keller, Emeritus Professor of Engineering at Utah State University and member of the National Academy of Engineering
Also!
Plunder and Blunder: The Rise and Fall of the Bubble Economy by Dean Baker. In case President Obama hasn’t read this book and doesn’t have time, he could drop by this coming Sunday’s Book Salon at 5pm eastern.
The Trillion Dollar Meldown, Then The Art of War why because I want Obama to realize the real price of the war Bush left him.
Then I want him to read the part in The Art of War that says No nation has ever benefited from a long protracted war!
Its the Economy or Ossama unless we dry up Ossama’s cash make every American car go over 40 MPG and then drive the price of oil down.
Oil rich Arabs fund Ossama less cash equals less terror.
More American hybrid cars more Union Jobs. Less money spent on oil THE MORE MONEY SPENT IN OUR ECONOMY!? Naw more regular people see me here:)
Nelson Algren’s Somebody in Boots.
Depression-era America, viewed from the bottom.
Just so we remember what we’re trying to avoid.
The book
is an easy read.
James Galbraith’s THE PREDATOR STATE: HOW CONSERVATIVES ABANDONED THE FREE MARKET AND WHY LIBERALS SHOULD TOO(2008)
As it stands we are reliving it Microsoft is cutting 5,000 jobs.
Add that to the Boeing cuts and Seattle’s housing market should drop like a stone.
I haven’t read Baker’s book but I think it is important for Obama to get a primer on where we are in terms of the financial meltdown and how we got there. I also like the suggestions of Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine. Even if he doesn’t read it, just taking in the idea and how it plays out over and over is integral to understanding the Bush years and what we need to get past them.
The March of Folly (From Troy to Vietnam), by Barbara W. Tichman (1984)
Discusses mistakes in decision-making by leaders, their inability to adapt to new information, and especially what she calls “Wooden-headedness”. Sound familiar?
He should probably also have a copy of the DSM-IV handy as a reference when dealing with Bushies…
Nancy Folbre,
. If he needs reasons and rhetoric to defend his agenda, this is the one. It is an absolutely spectacular piece of good economics, readable yet deep, like Steven Jay Gould’s books were. For something meatier — which he wouldn’t have the time to go through, her
would be the one for his staff to read. These are path-breaking pieces, and they create just the vocabulary we need to fight the libertarians.
o/t Kit Bond getting his crazy on, saying if we lefties in SF want gitmo close we can re open Alcatraz!!! bwahahahaa!
Yes!!!!!! Yes!!!!!!! That book is near and dear to me.
How about sending that report to every congress person and Senator? They will be the one to vote on it….. I am pretty sure that Obama would sign it when it hits his desk….. So tired of hearing all the spew of lies from the Republicans……
“The Working Poor: Invisible in America” by David K. Shipler.
you’re kidding. (then again, taht’s what i said when told that Bush was getting booed and seranaded at the inuaguration) you aren’t kidding, are you?
Obama likes to play poker I heard I hope he knows or learns Chess and Go.
How you play is insightful to the character. Learning to play helps the mind learn new ways of getting what you want and forces the mind to grow.
The New American Militarism: How Americans are Seduced by War by Andrew Bacevich
Limits of Power by Andrew Bacevich
You Can’t Be President: The Outrageous Barriers to Democracy in America by John MacArthur
War is a RacketWar is a Racket by Major General Smedley D. Butler
I’d like somebody in power to finally start to objectively analyze and get serious about what our military is for, or at least be honest about what it is.
The Social Life of Information by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid.
It’s a few years old, but it has an important take on information sharing and empowerment through unrestricted communication. Technology isn’t the panacea, it’s how people use information.
Considering how far behind the curve government is, it’s probably just about the right time for this book.
Bam is a baller. David Zirin. “A People’s History of Sports in the United States.” Dynammite Book Salon the other night.
Whenever anyone mentions Bacevich, I trot out this quote:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/jour…..ript1.html
Straight out labor book- Wobblies! A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World.
In a format even W could comprehend, the struggles of early American labor movement are presented.
I’m having a brain fart and cannot remember the book but it was about someone traveling around the country trying to live on minimum wage jobs in various parts of the country. I think it was even made into a play……. somebody help me out
I want him to read 1984 by George Orwell, and not in the way that the Bush Administration did (as a guide) but as a prescient warning of what could happen (and almost did to America).
Nickel and Dimed: (not) getting by in America
FunnyD
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America by Barbara Ehrenreich.
After a loooong day and so late to the gathering…. Down and out and Living in Paris and London, George Orwell. A book I have given to many a young person during a change in their lives.
Being gone all day I do not know if anyone mentioned that Helen Thomas has been reinstated in the human race.
by Barbara Ehrenreich
Hi, Nomolos.
Hope it hasn’t been a bad day for ya.
Hadn’t heard yet about (Grande) Dame Helen Thomas. I take it she has her seat in the WH press-room back?
FunnyD
My Pet Goat. It’ll keep us safe.
Thank you both FunnyD & darkine01…..boy do I hate that…… not being able to recall things…..
don’t sweat it, hon. You’ve got so much on your mind and in your body right now! This is what your Pups are here for!
FunnyD
OT: Wow…did you just hear what Tweety asked Jay Rockefeller and what Rockefeller just answered????
Tweety asked Rockefeller about the spying claims by Tice (that was on Olbermann last night), and he asked Rockefeller if he thought they spied on journalists…Rockefeller said they spied on “everybody”, including me! Tweety kind of backed up on his heels a bit and said, you mean they spied on you? And, Rockefeller said that they did and that they sent him no letters…(National Security Letters I’m assuming he meant). It will be on again later on the repeat Hardball.
Wow.
So what will Jello Jay do about it? Because at Blair’s confirmation hearings today for DNI, there were a couple of tirades by Republicans but also Whitehouse about the need to prosecute “leaks” and when they talked about this it was pretty clear they were talking about whistleblowers.
Spying on US Senators that has to be an impeachable type crime! What kind of time does it carry? The Senate is a big bunch of Spineless Wonders if they don’t go after Bush for this!
What part of the hour was this segment cause please don’t force me to watch ALL of softball
Oh, I agree. He won’t do diddlysquat about it, but at least he finally came right out and admitted something of what he’s known for years but wouldn’t talk about..
Leaks? Were they talking about Plame type leaks or just any leaks?
Some leaks are worth leaking, some aren’t.
Maybe CSPAN will air the hearing…I missed it.
I’m guessing about 10-15 minutes into the show.
I’m not sure Tweety even realized the implications of what Rockefeller was saying……that they were spying on Congress for example.
Oh no, I am not kidding. Kit Bond accusing everyone of Bush Derangement Syndrome, etc. really really pissy. anotehr guy, david rivkin?, bushie official also saying it’s a bad idea to close Gitmo. both of them saying “at least have a plan” etc. they really sound stupid.
Tweety did a half way decent job saying hey, we have murderers and other dangerous people in our jails, what gives with you guys?
Kit bond doing his best to make it sound like there is an organized army of presumed guilty serial killers in gitmo. “enemy combatants” are the magic words. must keep lying to american people about the GWOT.
I’m guessing that Congress members have skeletons they are afraid of…it certainly explains the rubberstamping and the caving of the Dems…
I hope someone caught it on TIVO.
Ding.
Anatomy of Deceit by a really smart lady whose name I can’t quite remember at the moment … *g*
Lord of the Flies … with my footnotes and questions, like “Do you want this to happen again ?”
The Senator is a big player I’m hoping he is foreshadowing something.
Shock Doctrine.
I hope so too. He’s pretty frikkin’ pissed….you could hear it as an undertone in his voice…
I believe I remember Jello Jay handwriting letters to the WH because he was afraid of someone gaining information. It was regarding his objections to what he found out at a WH briefing.
Yeah, one to the VP and a copy or in a “safe” place.
“The Wordy Shipmates” by Sarah Vowell — an interesting look at the Puritan roots of American Exceptionalism — and how exceptionalism really doesn’t square with heartfelt notions of equality.
As with all of Sarah Vowell’s books, it is also a very entertaining read.
I think you brought out that quote the last time I mentioned Bacevich :-)
I really enjoy his writing and lectures. Very well cited, and very well constructed.
Rush and Hannity shall refer to it as the Sunshine Law.
(JEB! always hated that law. He knows how to do what he wants to do and he doesn’t want or need any help from anybody.)
Eli upstairs On Hacktacular Howie.
Yeah but Jello Jay did not get his nickname for nothing. One does wonder just what information the bushies held over him to get his vote.
Gotta second (or third) The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. It’s happening in broad daylight.
I am reading it right now, well actually my wife “stole” it from me before I had finished but Ms Vowell is one of my favourites. The Assassination Vacation was hilarious.
The Creature from Jekyll Island.
He should not be reading any books until he reads and understands the constituion, his duty and the oath he took, expressly the part of the constitution about ALL being equal under the law and ceases his attempts to place BushCo above it. As it stands now he is on the brink of aiding and abetting confessed war criminals. How does his talk about a new era of “responsibility” look when he starts out abdicating his responsility to up hold the law and hold BushCo “responsible” for it’s actions? Where is the integrity? Or is the US just going settle for comforting speeches? Did you not just have 8yrs of a govt that picked and choose the laws they liked and ignored the ones that were not of their liking?
The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord.
The Culture of Terrorism by Noam Chomsky
The Gulf War Did Not Take Place by Jean Beaudrillard
The Recognitions by William Gaddis
and of course Proust.
The Science of Fear by Daniel Garnder
I have never read a book that so thoroughly exposed how simple human reactions can build up to poor policy decisions.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
Just so that he understands what it means when someone eating a grapefruit calls him a lizard.
Um…dude was a professor of Constitutional law, wasn’t he?
With all these delusional republicans out there I would say anything by Phillip K. Dick.
…also a feminist analysis of terrorism or war would be a good start…such as The Demon Lover: The Roots of Terrorism by Robin Morgan.
“The Decline And Fall Of Practically Everybody” By Will Cuppy, sadly out of print alas.
The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban by Sarah Chayes
Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid
Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming by Paul Hawken
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
My sister interviewed for a position at Tyson in Arkansas for Human Resources. They wanted her because she is near fluent in Spanish.
They didn’t get her because she saw the position as a union busting job. Her job would have been to do everything she could to discourage unions.
To win the hearts and minds of others, it would be hard beat the example set in “Three Cups of Tea”, by Greg Mortenson.
http://www.gregmortenson.com
I’ve read “The Wordy Shipmates” once but plan to revisit it soon. Maybe more than once.
“Assassination Vacation” is a classic. Worth another visit, as well.
“Johnny Got His Gun” by Dalton Trumbo.
the jungle is a great choice. i’m sure he’s read “common sense” so i’d add “ethics for the new millennium”
No More Throw-Away People… Edgar Cahn
Cradle to Cradle… McDonough and Braungart
In the Absence of the Sacred… Mander
Dwellers in the Land… Kirkpatrick Sale
Small is Beautiful… EF Schumacher
The Unsettling of America… Wendell Berry
Walden two… BF Skinner
Timeless Way of Building + Pattern Language… Alexander, etc.
Money… Greco
Yeah. I know you said one book. But heck, why not give him a choice of titles?
:)
I suspect the President already reads gobs of serious stuff.
I would suggest reading “Misty of Chincoteague” to Sasha, but then he might have to figure out where to house a new presidential pony. ;->
Serious response: ANYTHING HE WANTS TO!
Absolutely. Before the Bible.
Journey of the Jihadist
http://books.google.com/books?…..lt#PPA9,M1
Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy
By John Bowe
Bowe has been on CSPAN
JR, by William Gaddis, and if he’s read it before he should read it again to appreciate the prophetic voice of fiction