By Michael Moline | Editor in Chief
“Take rest. A field that has rested gives a bountiful crop." — Ovid
A youngster holds up a pro-union sign at Laborfest in Milwaukee on Labor Day, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner)
“For America’s unionized workforce,” labor history professor Robert Forrant writes for The Conversation, “the overall state of the economy is bleak. Threats from AI and robotics abound. Pledges by U.S. and international corporations to invest in new plants remain largely pledges. The roughly 400,000 federal job cuts during President Donald Trump’s second term have disrupted lives. Many of these jobs were previously represented by labor unions.” He believes “weariness and wariness will accompany blue-collar voters to the polls in November. As such, the candidates who have practical ideas for turning the economy around and exhibit empathy for Americans worried about how to pay their bills could receive the bulk of the union vote.”
The number of mistakes Florida has been making in determining eligibility for SNAP food benefits has increased — but that might be a good thing, at least in the short run. These mistakes comprised Florida’s “error rate,” and language in the One Big Beautiful Bill requires states with high rates to pay penalties — in Florida’s case, around $1 billion. But the law also gives a break to states with error rates as high as Florida’s — they won’t be required to contribute to the costs of the program until FFY 2029.
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