Labor and Employment Policies in the US Election 2008 and the Upcoming Legislative Agenda

Published October 2008 in Korean: "Mi taeson hubodul-ui nodong chongch’aek mit’ koyong chongch’aek pigyo," Kukche nodong burip, International Labor Review; Han’guk nodong Yonguwon, The Korea Labor Institute (KLI) Vol.6, No 11, 2008 pp.41-53. Available in Korean at: http://www.kli.re.kr/Revised January 2009The focus of the 2008 Presidential Election in the United States turned from foreign policy to domestic economic policy in response to the global financial crisis and its mounting effects on the US financial, housing, and labor markets. In recent elections, labor policy has not explicitly been at the forefront of campaign issues or political debate. Indeed, parsing out the policy positions of the 2008 presidential candidates, Senator Barack Obama (Democrat, Illinois) and Senator John McCain (Republican, Arizona), required delving into an array of issue areas and proposed legislation that often fell under headings loosely related to what is generally understood as "labor policy" by academics and labor and industrial relations professionals. Neither Senator Obama nor Senator McCain listed labor policy or employment policy as major issue areas on their candidate websites. However, Senator Obama and Senator McCain held opposing positions on specific employment and labor policies which reflected both their individual policy orientations toward labor and employment policy and the historic oppositional positions of the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States. The opposing positions of the US presidential candidates on labor policy reflected different perspectives on the role of government in economic security and the regulation of the employment relationship. The Democratic Party has historically supported a pro-worker agenda including legal and regulatory support for labor organizing and collective bargaining, income security through job protection, minimum wages, workplace-based health and retirement benefits for workers, and the regulation and/or prohibition of discriminatory practices in hiring, promotion, compensation, and firing (particularly related to race and gender and more recently inclusive of sexual orientation and immigration status). In contrast, the Republican Party has eschewed a regulatory approach to the labor market and privileged a "laissez-faire" approach to the employment relationship. In general, the Republican Party has opposed labor organizing and collective bargaining, arguing that they are coercive, and instead emphasized the right of each worker to agree on an individual employment contract with his employer. Similarly, the Republican Party has viewed workplace benefits (including health insurance and retirement plans) through a lens of employer flexibility, individual choice, and a preference for privatization. The Republican Party argues that regulatory requirements to provide workers with health and retirement benefits force US-based firms into an uncompetitive position in a global economy. And Clark, School of Public Policy 2 Georgia Institute of Technology finally, the Republican Party views questions of employment discrimination narrowly and proposes that policies are best adjudicated through private mediation. The labor and employment policies of the 2008 presidential candidates reflected the opposing ideological orientation of their respective parties. The specific policy positions of the candidates were found under a number of functional policy headings rather than as a comprehensive labor policy position. For example, the array of policies which support the participation of women in the labor force (including subsidized child-care, job protections and income support for primary care givers who take family leave, prohibitions against workplace discrimination, and flexible work arrangements) fell under the heading of "Work/Family Balance" in the Obama campaign’s policy materials. In the McCain campaign, the similar issue area, support and protections for women and families in the labor force, fell under the dual headings of "Workplace Flexibility in a Changing Economy" and "Workplace Flexibility and Choice." Neither candidate explicitly categorized these policies as "labor policies." This article describes the labor and employment debates likely to emerge in 2009 and during the Obama administration as well as the positions of the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates on policy issues related to labor policy, employment regulation, and economic security for workers stated during the 2008 campaign. There are two major pieces of legislation, the extension of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) and the pending Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) which directly address the areas at the heart of national labor policy: 1) terms and conditions or employment and, 2) workplace wages and benefits. In addition, there are several secondary pieces of legislation pending. These acts are primarily constructed as a response to recent anti-labor judicial decisions during the Bush Administration. Secondly, this article outlines policy initiatives beyond the pending legislation which have been significantly affected by the recent global financial crisis: retirement security, pensions, and social security. And finally, this article discusses pending legislation regarding the regulation of workplace discrimination

Marine Metallic Mineral Resources of the Pacific Basin

In the 1970s and 1980s, the ocean became a focus of attention for mineral producers and consumers. This paper surveys that trend with particular emphasis on several specific metals and types of resource deposit. In particular, the known and speculative details of manganese nodules, cobalt-rich manganese crusts, and polymetallie massive sulfides are discussed and analyzed in an economic context.Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Farming, Finance and the Global Marketplace: a summary of the 2010 agricultural symposium

In 2008, surging commodity prices triggered promises of a new golden era for agriculture. While prospects dimmed during the recession, the recovery is rekindling hopes with rising commodity prices. On June 8 and 9, more than 180 agricultural business and finance leaders examined agriculture’s potential at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s symposium, “Farming, Finance and the Global Marketplace.” Participants discussed how changes in the global marketplace are likely to affect the profitability and structure of agriculture.

Signature of microRNA dysregulation in spitzoid melanocytic lesions.

Background: Expression of microRNA has been found to be dysregulated among breast, hepatocellular, papillary thyroid, gastric, and colon carcinomas, as well as many other cancers. Several studies have used microRNA signatures as biomarkers to determine the diagnosis and prognosis of patient tumors. Although several studies have identified dysregulated microRNAs in malignant melanoma, dysregulated microRNAs in spitzoid melanocytic lesions have yet to be investigated. The purpose of this study is to develop a microRNA signature to be used in determining the diagnoses and prognoses of spitzoid melanocytic lesions. Methods: A literature review was conducted to collate a list of microRNAs that were found to have significant dysregulation in primary malignant melanomas. The expression of the microRNAs was quantified by qPCR in benign nevi (n=10), benign Spitz tumors (n=8), atypical Spitz tumors (n=12), and spitzoid melanomas (n=4) tissue samples, using RNU48 (housekeeping snRNA) as an internal control. Results: Nine microRNAs were found to be differentially expressed between the tissue types. For example, let 7a, miR 22, miR 125b, and miR 148b were found to be dysregulated in spitzoid melanomas when compared to benign Spitz tumors. The expression of let 7a, miR 125b, miR 148b, and miR 211 exhibited general trends across the tissue types as the architectural and cytological characteristics of malignancy increased. Conclusion: These results may develop a specific microRNA signature that could distinguish one tissue type from another tissue type in a patient sample. Future studies will also include applying the signature to patient samples, verifying it with previously established histopathological methods, and following individual patient outcomes.The Carson LabNo embarg

How Should Congress Respond to McDonnell?

Discussion of question of whether McDonnell was essentially right or wrong. Should Congress act to change the McDonnell rule? Should the Supreme Court reconsider it? What would be an alternative or a better way, if there is one, to approach the question of public corruption prosecution

Encouraging New Hires to Save for Retirement

This project examines the impact of employer-provided financial education for newly hired workers on contributions to voluntary retirement savings plans. Using administrative data from five large employers, the researchers assess the impact of information and delivery methods on the choice to participate in the plans and the deferral amount selected. The researchers collected additional data from one employer-partner covering the two years before and after their automatic enrollment policy was implemented. Average participation rates increased sharply, while the same fraction of workers took advantage of the full employer match once eligible. The researchers also conducted a survey of newly hired workers. The survey measured employees’ understanding of their company’s voluntary retirement savings plan, their assessment of the employer-provided information, and their reasons for limited or non-participation. Nonparticipants demonstrated lower overall financial literacy relative to participants, and many respondents felt that the information provided by their employers was not sufficient. Finally, the largest employer-partner, BB&T, implemented a field experiment where an on-line mailing was sent to a random subset of non-participating newly hired workers. Younger workers receiving the flyer were significantly more likely to enroll in the 401(k) plan, while older workers actually had lower initiation rates relative to their control group. The research presented provides insights into the efficacy and importance of financial education provided by employers to newly hired workers and how it impacts their retirement saving decisions.

Transitions of social-ecological subsistence systems in the Arctic

Transitions of social-ecological systems (SES) expose governance systems to new challenges. This is particularly so in the Arctic where resource systems are increasingly subjected to global warming, industrial development and globalization which subsequently alter the local SES dynamics. Based on common-pool resource theory, we developed a dynamic conceptual model explaining how exogenous drivers might alter a traditional subsistence system from a provisioning to an appropriation actions situation. In a provisioning action situation the resource users do not control the resource level but adapt to the fluctuating availability of resources, and the collective challenge revolve around securing the subsistence in the community. An increased harvest pressure enabled by exogenous drivers could transform the SES to an appropriation action situation where the collective challenge has changed to avoid overuse of a common-pool resource. The model was used as a focal lens to investigate the premises for broad-scale transitions of subsistence-oriented SESs in Arctic Alaska, Canada and Greenland. We synthesized data from documents, official statistics and grey and scientific literature to explore the different components of our model. Our synthesis suggests that the traditional Arctic subsistence SESs mostly comply with a provisioning action situation. Despite population growth and available technology; urbanization, increased wage labor and importation of food have reduced the resource demand, and we find no evidence for a broad-scale transition to an appropriation action situation throughout the Western Arctic. However, appropriation challenges have emerged in some cases either as a consequence of commercialization of the resource or by severely reduced resource stocks due to various exogenous drivers. Future transitions of SESs could be triggered by the emergence of commercial local food markets and Arctic warming. In particular, Arctic warming is an intensifying exogenous driver that is threatening many important Arctic wildlife resources inflicting increased appropriation challenges to the governance of local harvest.Ye

Outfitted for the Unknown: Explorer Titian Peale’s Clothing and Scientific Equipment

Titian Peale—son of the famous Charles Willson Peale and brother of noted artist Rembrandt Peale—was an ethnographer and artist in his own right. Stephen Long hired him as an artist and scientist to be part of the Yellowstone Expedition traveling from St. Louis in 1819. His paintings, artifacts, and words give a first-hand glimpse at the expedition and Peale’s role in it

Enzyme kinetics : 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/2,6-bisphosphatase.

Altered energy metabolism is an established hallmark of cancer cells. Fructose-2,6-bisphosphate is an allosteric activator of glycolysis and its concentration in a cell is dictated by the 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatases (PFKFB1-4) family of bifunctional enzymes. The PFKFB family of enzymes are characterized by their different kinase: bisphosphatase activities and were originally determined to be tissue-specific. More recent data however suggest that multiple isoforms are co-expressed in both normal and neoplastic tissues. PFKFB4 is highly expressed in human cancer, strongly induced by hypoxia, and required for the survival of cancer cells. However, it remains unclear whether the kinase or phosphatase activity of human PFKFB4 dominates. In this study, we developed a method of synthesizing and purifying human recombinant PFKFB4 and, using this purified protein, found that PFKFB4 has a kinase to phosphatase ratio of 4.1:1. We found that a novel small molecule inhibitor of PFKFB4 (5MPN) inhibited the kinase activity of PFKFB4 and further that the known PFKFB3 inhibitors (PFK15 and PFK158) inhibited PFKFB4 less efficiently than 5MPN. We conclude that PFKFB4 functions mainly as a kinase and that, given the co-expression of PFKFB3 and PFKFB4, targeting both PFKFB3 and PFKFB4 isoforms using PFK158 and 5MPN may be a useful treatment option in cancer

The Effects Of Creativity On Mood Enhancement Caused By Laughter Therapy

This study was conducted to examine the mood-enhancing benefits of Judy Young’s Laughter Therapy and the facilitative effects of high levels of creativity on changes in mood. This program aims to teach participants purposeful laughter so that they may ‘turn on’ genuine laughter at will. Two hour exposure to Laughter Therapy revealed increases in Positive Affect (PA) and decreases in Negative Affect (NA). The full three-week program was conducted with a control group with consenting employees at a school district. The control group included beneficial components of the Laughter Therapy program (i.e. light cardiovascular exercise, diaphragmatic breathing, and social interaction) in order to isolate the effects of the purposeful laughter taught during the sessions in the Laughter Therapy condition. Creativity levels did not influence the degree of mood changes in participants. T-tests did not indicate significant changes in PA or NA when the Laughter Therapy was compared with the control group in the three-week data collection. However, correlations revealed a small change in PA and NA in the anticipated directions for the Laughter Therapy condition. These results may have been influenced by an inadequate amount of participants in the three-week data collection. While Laughter Therapy may be useful for enhancing mood, more research is needed to determine the therapeutic benefits of this approach