Corporate Profits Highest On Record - But Here Come The Public Sector Layoffs

[Hannah Bell]

"The nation’s workers may be struggling, but American companies just had their best quarter ever.

American businesses earned profits at an annual rate of $1.659 trillion in the third quarter, according to a Commerce Department report released Tuesday. That is the highest figure recorded since the government began keeping track over 60 years ago, at least in nominal or noninflation-adjusted terms."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/business/economy/24econ.html


Best quarter ever for the corporations - but Cuomo and Christie and Bloomberg and the rest of the corporate shills are crying poverty and calling for budget cuts, layoffs and benefit erosion.

How is it that corporate America could be doing so well while everybody else is scared they're going to lose their jobs, their health care, their pensions or 401(K)'s, and their Social Security?

The best emblem of corporate America I can think of today - Cathie "Lay 'Em Off With A Smile" Black - is coming into the NYC school system to lay off 8,000 teachers, change the salary structure from steps to bonus-based, and rid the system of as many veteran salaries and benefits as she can.

This is the kind of stuff that has been happening in the private sector ever since Reagan and that is the largest reason why corporate America just had its best quarter ever and everybody else is struggling.

They're squeezing costs and squeezing labor.

Now corporate America is bringing these "corporate values" to the public sector.

And rather than fight this stuff and call them out on it, the unions say "Well, what can you do? We have to save as many jobs as we can, so we'll take the paycuts and benefit cuts."

No wonder they own us like serfs.

No one is fighting them.

http://perdidostreetschool.blogspot.com/2010/11/corporate-profits-highest-on-record-but.html

[leftstreet]

1. The Serfs have absolutely no representation, no mass movement, no leadership

None

"No one is fighting them."

No shit.

You'd think there was never a Left in this country

K&R

[Poboy]

2. 'No one is fighting them.'

They own everything, including our alleged representatives. No hyperbole.

The game is just about over. We are ignored. Its going to get much worse. It is inevitable.
Speaking of inevitable -"Those who may peaceful revolution impossible..."

[louis-t]

3. So, where are the jobs?

For 25 years we've been hearing that if we just give all the money to the rich corporations, they will magically create jobs. I plan on using this every time a right-wing nutcase tries to have a 'discussion' with me. "OK, the corporations have all of the money, now where are the jobs?"

[Hannah Bell]

6. 5-6 more years like this, the fed says. that will make it nearly a decade of historically high un-

employment, enough to drain most people/families of all their savings & wealth, either directly or because they need to help family/friends.

public sector layoffs coming.

social security/medicare attack coming.

the ruling class = murderers.

[Catherina]

43. Outsourced?

:shrug:

[dkf]

4. Yet if corporations use their profits to perhaps modernize things maybe that will spur new jobs.

The health and production of our private sector is what will determine our economic future. Yes they have cut to the bone when perhaps they could have weathered things through instead, but we need healthy companies instead of dying Indebted stagnant ones if we want our country to do well.

A company that is constantly struggling to survive won't lead us out of this downturn. We should hope that the health of these companies leads to a better recovery and more jobs and hiring coming our way.

[leftstreet]

9. LOL Sometimes on DU it's hard to determine when people are being funny

I can't tell if you're using a satirical tone to make fun of the tired RW defense of corporations, or if you're actually serious.

In any case, the OP isn't talking about any company 'constantly struggling to survive.' Record profits would indicate they're not struggling at all

[Gabi Hayes]

10. that person is almost always funny, but never intentionally so

but...maybe we need MORE corporate apologists here

don't we?

?

[Gabi Hayes]

12. MORE unfettered trickle down!!! MORE Chicago boys running everything!!!!

you may not think it works, but it really does

for whom is the question

[dkf]

19. Not an apologist but a realist.

Government doesn't produce goods and services that we can sell to the world. We wonder why the Chinese are doing so well...maybe it's because we buy all their stuff. What is our government producing that China wants to buy from us? Nothing but debt.

[MattBaggins]

39. So we have to work 16 hours a day

Live in company housing and eat our meals there?

We could always put tariffs back in place.

[Hannah Bell]

42. "the chinese" = international capita. almost 100% of chinese electronic exports = wholly owned by

non-chinese capital.

[dkf]

16. Record profits means they are in a better position to hire and expand.

Jeez it's like no one here has a job with a corporation and we just want them all to go down in flames as enemies of the people.

[leftstreet]

22. So rich people are just hoarding their money because they're uninformed?

They don't yet realize they're in a better position to hire and expand?

:eyes:

Capitalism is the enemy of the people

[hollowdweller]

41. I think they are waiting Obama and the dems out.

Of course we all think Obama is too business friendly, but he's done a lot of things around the edges as far as enabling federal agencies to enforce regs already on the books.

Under the GOP we basically didn't ask big business to even obey exsisting laws. They got used to having it all. Doing whatever the hell they wanted workers or public health be damned. Obama has changed that and they are pissed.

I think they are holding off expanding and riding on the cash they have to make Obama look bad so the GOP can take the house and presidency and they can go back to polluting communities, exploiting workers and misrepresenting their products and services to consumers.

[Starry Messenger]

18. (dead serious) n/t

[maryf]

32. wrong place

though I like this post!

[JackRiddler]

45. I think irony and sociopathy are related.

Not that irony is sociopathic, but that a related perceptory mechanism is required to detect either. Sociopathy relies on the same blind spot that makes people fail to see irony.

[maryf]

5. time to stop being owned...

time to do like the Europeans...join in the International movement...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk69e1Vcmvg

[bobbolink]

13. yes, maryf, that is a good idea.... HOWEVER, when that "international movement" can't recognize *me*

and the thousands like me, what is it again that I am supposed to give up to "join"?

When I can't even get a simple concept across like "we non-workers deserve support, too", then how am I supposed to feel like I am other than once again on the outside looking in?

When all in that "movement" are truly able to come together, then something will happen.

[maryf]

23. yep

we need all 98% of the owned...

[bobbolink]

25. And that won't happen until we are ALL recognized, rather than just those who are working.

[maryf]

30. With a perpetual unemployment rate and millions of disabled and discounted

we have to recognize all, especially the most marginalized...

[Hannah Bell]

15. what happened to the mass greek & french protests?

my guess; the orgs that initially mobilized a lot of those people stepped down -- for whatever reason.

doesn't bode well for the international movement.

[maryf]

24. the British, Irish, Spanish, and Portugese as well...

just the first round...I'd not give up on them yet...

[Hannah Bell]

26. general strike coming in portugal with the next round of cuts.

[maryf]

29. I saw that...

hey, if nothing else, we should be thorns, not make it so easy!

[Starry Messenger]

31. +1000

[AllyCat]

7. Whenever someone asks me why nothing changed with Dem control I reply,

because we do not live in a democracy. The corporations run EVERYTHING.

[OHdem10]

8. Businesses are profitting from their overseas business.

[Hannah Bell]

11. yeah, because the economy "overseas" is doing so much better.

bullshit.

corporations are rigging their books, massively.

[OlympicBrian]

21. Cheap labor, tax loopholes, plus growing markets...

Those offshore/overseas profits are real.

Top three areas to offshore: China, India, and Brazil.

India is the top area for white collar jobs.

Brazil pays employees 26 cents compared to the dollar in wages, which roughly corresponds to $1.89 per hour.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ichcc.t01.htm

China pays about employees about $1.82 an hour. More for white collar.
India pays about employees about $1.71 an hour. More for white collar.

http://www.sdcexec.com/web/online/Global-Focus-News/Indias-Manufacturing-Labor-Costs-Top-China-in-2010/50$12946

In addition, foreign affiliates of US multinationals utilize subcontractors, for even cheaper labor. Their numbers are huge.

There are at least three loopholes which allow offshore/overseas profits to explode:
1) Plant closures in the US are written off as the new plants are built offshore.
2) You can leave your overseas earnings offshore, and hence, are untaxed indefinitely.
3) Using offshore holding companies, your tax rate can be effectively reduced to nothing.

Further...China, India, and Brazil are seen as fast-growing markets, so why not relocate offshore? Then, hire and sell from the same location?

Oh, yes. As far as places to do business with. Germany is doing quite well, and selling products made by "American" foreign offshore affiliates to the EU and back to the US is another trade route.

We have known about all this for decades for blue collar jobs, it got some discussion during the early 2000s, but Congress never really did anything to keep jobs here in the US. They look the other way.

[Hannah Bell]

28. the fact that labor is cheaper in some countries overseas doesn't make the economy better there.

[OlympicBrian]

33. Well those three countries have...

As far as China, India, or Brazil...

1) Good and improving demographics--after all, if we ship our plants and jobs to China, India, or Brazil, there is a "spread the wealth" effect (people paid at foreign affiliates spend money in the local economies.) And there is good demand in India and China for our products, particularly for things like Caterpillar heavy equipment.

India in particular has an emerging lower-middle, middle and upper-middle class, though these groups don't earn nearly as much as their western counterparts--but it's cheaper to live there. Ratio is about (10-60)/100 comparing costs in India to New York City And the Indian median age is only 25.9, as compared to 36.8 for the US. India is number two in world population, it's projected to move to the number one spot. And their are supposed to be a billion middle class by the year 2030 in India alone.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2177.html
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings.jsp
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats8.htm

2) The governments of China, India, and Brazil, unlike ours, do everything they can to bring in offshore business--and they even lobby our US Congress. On the other hand, we have the US Chamber of Commerce who lobbies *against* keeping jobs here in the US. And we give tax breaks for giving our jobs away. This problem has been recognized since the early 2000s, at least, and Congress has made no moves to fix it.

So ya, our policies nurture China, India, and Brazil by building up their local economies--even while we have up to 17-20 million real unemployed in the US.

[Hannah Bell]

35. ...yeah, the economy's great in those places.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Focus/GH19Dh01.html

[OlympicBrian]

36. There's wide disparity in incomes in these place, like the US

Certainly those photos of poverty could be taken from many countries across the world. But they are overall, poorer (though their cost of living is less.)

Fortunately in the US, we have support programs, "There are 239 counties in the United States where at least a quarter of the population receives food stamps, according to an analysis of local data collected by The New York Times."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/us/29foodstamps.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Nevertheless...here's some downtown pictures of China'a major cities--they are rich and beautiful:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China_by_population

And India:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_populous_cities_in_India

And Brazil:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_cities_in_Brazil

Bottom line though is China has a long-standing GDP growth of around 10 percent. And when we build US facilities over there, we enrich their economy (and GDP), and hurt ours.

[Hannah Bell]

40. china, brazil and india are even more unequal than the us. "growth" is

one measure of "how the economy is doing".

cancer is growth as well, but it ain't healthy.

[SoCalNative]

14. And wait until SCOTUS rules

that Corporate person-hood extends to privacy concerns. Then we're ALL screwed.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/28/supreme-court-takes-on-co_n_742567.html

[OlympicBrian]

17. Hannah, weren't you against taxes in Washington State...?

If so, then I'm sure you realize less revenue means federal and state job cuts.

I'm curious, what is your position on taxing corporations more aggressively?

Hannah, I'm pretty sure you disagree with me on I-1098. I saw it as a rare chance at progressive taxation and you claimed the state was going to pull a fast one, right?

[Hannah Bell]

27. no, i was not "against taxes". & i voted for 1098 -- but with misgiving,

for the many reasons i listed to explain why it went down to defeat with more than 60% voting "no".

and because i don't trust a damn thing that bill gates supports.

[OlympicBrian]

34. Ok, I see your viewpoint , thanks nt

[Starry Messenger]

20. recommend.

[MattBaggins]

37. We have been brainwashed

People will actually look at you with a confused look if you suggest that corporate charters can be revoked.

Businesses want to use threats to get their way because they know we are stupid and that it's a one way street.

[McCamy Taylor]

38. Good post as usual, Hannah Bell. K&R

[bobthedrummer]

44. In fact, some have put "prices" on human beings-and segmented the "market". Kick n/t