THE AUDACITY OF HOKUM - PART II: Mr Obama Explains it All

FOLLOWING is my detailed analysis of the first portion of President Obama's 2011 State of the Union Address [click for transcript]. Bold italics are directly from the speech. The remainder is my paraphrase and commentary.

Mr. Obama Explains it All

After his opening remarks, President Obama used the flames of debate manufactured by media and elected officials over the acts of a lone crazy man to pitch the "One Nation, One Family/Era of Cooperation" idea.

“We are part of the American family. We believe that in a country where every race and faith and point of view can be found, we are still bound together as one people…”; that all our children’s dreams “…deserve the chance to be fulfilled.

“That, too, is what sets us apart as a nation.

“Now, by itself, this simple recognition [One Nation/One Family – and our mutual commitment to the children’s dream-fulfillment] won't usher in a new era of cooperation [except in common dedication to children’s dreams]. What comes of this moment is up to us. What comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow.”

Speaking to our elected officials, he urged unity.

• New laws. 
• Move forward. 
• No substance. 

Best line thus far: “We will move forward together, or not at all – for the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than politics.” 

Churchillian!

“…At stake is whether new jobs and industries take root in this country, or somewhere else. It's whether the hard work and industry of our people is rewarded…” [or NOT…see last Wednesday’s post] as opposed to “…whether we sustain the leadership that has made America not just a place on a map, but a light to the world.”

We have led the world into moving vital national industries (textiles, automotive, manufacturing) first to Mexico, then halfway around the world. Homeland Security warns of the vulnerability of our supply lines and data. 

Who loses? American workers, families and consumers.

Who gains? Follow the money.

“We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again.”

So-called “profits” which have been achieved by sacrificing American jobs, are false profits.

“We measure progress by the success of our people.”  Which "our": the top 2% and their cronies, or the rest of us?

Mr. Obama then tosses out possible – but not promised – bones to the masses:

• Jobs.
• Quality of life from jobs.
• Dreams come true (Prospect of small business owner who dreams [with children’s help, no doubt] a good idea into a thriving enterprise).
• Possible better life passed on to our children.

And to our representatives he avers: “That's the project the American people want us to work on. Together.”

He touted past Republicrat cooperative triumphs:

• Tax cuts = bigger paychecks [for the top 2%]
• Investment tax credit [for those who still have money – and many investments are offshore]

Then divined the future results:

• grow the economy [= Wall Street, India, China and Korea]
• add more jobs [in India, China and Korea – maybe Wall Street]

Mr. Obama pep-talked the legislators. Summary:

• More work to do. 
• Hard work. 

He then switches gears and speaks directly to Outsourced America:

“Many people watching tonight can probably remember a time when finding a good job meant showing up at a nearby factory or a business downtown…” Then he conjectures a bit and snaps us back to reality. “That world has changed.” 

A sad litany ensues. The plight of the downtrodden thumbnailed:

• Painful change for many
• Shuttered windows
• Factories once booming
• Vacant storefronts
• Main Streets silent
• Americans frustrated
• Paychecks dwindling
• Jobs disappearing

These Outsourced Americans are “– proud men and women who feel like the rules have been changed in the middle of the game.”

“They're right. The rules have changed.”

Culprits are introduced:

• Revolutions in technology
• Internet access to cheap labor worldwide

Those who have been most affected by the various international treaties, agreements, memoranda of understanding, etc., were never consulted as Presidents Clinton thru Obama each wielded their fast-track deal-making powers on the backs of American workers they are sworn to protect. 

Who are the real culprits that have facilitated this fiasco? 

Follow the money. (HINT: See who presently scratches the backs and fattens the wallets of our former Presidents and retired politicians responsible for passage of these treaties.)

Economic heroes and role models are introduced and praised as worthy examples for us to emulate:

“Meanwhile, nations like China and India realized that with some changes of their own, they could compete in this new world.” Not only does their labor cost a fraction of an American’s, “…they started educating their children earlier and longer, with greater emphasis on math and science.” Other wonders of these hotbeds of profit production:

• Investment  in research and new technologies.
• World's largest private solar research facility (China).
• World's fastest computer (China).

"So yes, the world has changed. The competition for jobs is real. But this shouldn't discourage us." Helpful reminders to Outsourced of America’s inherent strengths:

• Largest, most prosperous economy in the world (Wall Street, and the Military-Industrial-Entertainment Complex).
• Most productive workers (Willing to work for free to keep their jobs).
• More successful companies (exploiting labor here and abroad).
• More grants (to favorite NGO's).
• More patents to inventors and entrepreneurs (really?).
• World's best colleges and universities (for the top 2%, maybe)

Mr. Obama tells us the secret of America's success:

“What's more, we are the first nation to be founded for the sake of an idea – the idea that each of us deserves the chance to shape our own destiny.” 

Then the pep-talk to the jobless continues with mention of past and present destiny-shapers:

• pioneers and
• immigrants

Because they risked everything to come here, it somehow follows that “…our students don't just memorize equations, but answer questions like ‘What do you think of that idea? What would you change about the world? What do you want to be when you grow up?’” Impressive. 

More helpful aphorisms follow:

• The future is ours to win.
• To get there, we can't just stand still.
• "The future is not a gift. It is an achievement." – Robert Kennedy
• Sustaining the American Dream is not about standing pat.
• [Sustaining the American Dream] requires each generation to sacrifice, and struggle, and meet the demands of a new age.

By these final remarks, Mr. Obama sets the stage for his grand plan to solve our present societal ills.

NEXT WEEK: Part III: The Candy Man Delivers

THE MYTH OF THE MISSING MONEY

We Americans are gullible people. Trusting that no public official would lie to us, we accept Official Pronouncements. from talking heads. We the People are flat broke and must tighten our belts.

Except those of us holding all the cash.

The real culprits are the scammers who have been squeezing American labor with undocumented workers and offshore sweatshops. Both groups are willing to perform a multitude of tasks at a fraction of the wages needed by American workers to maintain their present standard of living.

The captains of industry promulgate pastries for the masses. Employees are easily axed, giving an immediate boost to the bottom line. Stock prices elevate.

Under NAFTA and GATT, multi-national and US corporations are free to exploit all manner of sub-US-living-wage workers to bolster their profits. Their fellow citizens be damned, as far as these guys are concerned. They are not our friends, nor do their shills in most Government slots represent us. We the People have a handful of faithful legislators working on our behalf.

While squandering $Trillions in fruitless land wars in Asia, the Government tells us that there is no money to ease the economic deprivations of Americans resultant from these globalist policies.

Those crossing the border illegally have been deprived of their own livelihoods via the influx of cheap US ag products and new megafarm plantations in their homelands. They seek a better life. Families are ripped apart. As many as a dozen laborers live crammed into spaces designed for single occupancy. Local zoning and law enforcement look the other way, because cheap labor fuels the upper crust economy.

Misplaced anger at the offshore workers and undocumented in our midst is fanned by popular media. Pitting US born against immigrants results in a misdirection of public ire at the pawns rather than the perps of these outrages.

Regulate Wall Street and bring those boys to account!

And all you hoarders of wealth -- it's time to kick enough down to the rest of us to get our economy going again...

CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE

Nobody speaks of how Pharaoh is wallowing in gold, yet feels slighted if he can't get something for nothing from his poorest slave. His gold is better spent on enlightened financial speculation in markets (regal gambling) - in order to support the lifestyles of his wealthy sycophants. Perhaps acquisition of new and flashy (or old and distressed) mercantile concerns he knows not how to run. Never to be paid to unseen workers who will only clamor for more. He still expects his slaves to gather their own straw to make their bricks with no complaints, and kiss his feet in gratitude, feeling lucky that they have jobs.

Welcome to the Kingdom of Wall Street-run Title Insurance Companies!

Per State of California Insurance Code Section 12360:

“An insurer which anywhere in the United States transacts any class of insurance other than title insurance is not eligible for the issuance of a certificate of authority to transact title insurance in this State nor for the renewal thereof.”

When the Insurance Code was drafted, nobody imagined that multi-lines insurers would so easily circumvent this fundamental law governing the business of title insurance in California. Through the miracle of corporate Venn diagrams and legal non-imputation, huge multi-national Wall Street insurance holding companies such as The First American Corporation (“TFAC”), have created wholly-owned subsidiaries to do their title insurance and escrow bidding here in California.

One egregious result of Wall Street-directed management of California title and escrow companies has been the manipulation of profit and loss statements by omission of countless hours of unpaid wages (regular and overtime) – plus taxes and penalties – put in by its employees.

Consider: which form of economic system is based on the free labor of its workers?

In Orange County Case No. 06CC00197 GRUENDER VS FIRST AMERICAN TITLE COMPANY filed September 26, 2006, the dysfunctional state of affairs here in California is briefly revealed. The case represents the tip of the iceberg of wage and hour violations by First American Title Company (FATCo), a wholly-owned and controlled subsidiary of TFAC.

While admitting no wrongdoing, FATCo apparently shelled out $11M to be divvied up between attorneys (who received 25%) and a class of 315 its title officers. Plaintiffs contended that employees were not paid for OT hours worked beyond 8/day 40/week (plus missed breaks and lunches), etc.

FATCo employees not included as members of the class receive nothing under the settlement. Those unpaid wages and taxes are already in the pockets of TFAC.

California workers have a constitutional right to be paid which can only be waived by written agreement. Under California labor law, the vast majority of title and escrow officers cannot be classified as “exempt” employees. An employer cannot legally refuse to pay them for overtime hours worked based upon such an erroneous job classification. Yet the practice is ubiquitous.

Unfortunately, since the advent of Wall Street ownership and management of California title and escrow companies, it has been commonplace for employees to work off the clock and unpaid. Why?

Understaffed operations + impossible deadlines + plus management “no OT” directives + free labor by responsible employees to close transactions = huge liability for unpaid wages and taxes.

Employees cannot legally donate their time to a for-profit corporation in California, but you can bet these companies pay no taxes on the “donated” labor!

According to the California Department of Industrial Relations (“DIR”), in order to collect unpaid wages (four year lookback) once he/she becomes aware of the fact the affected party simply needs to file a claim with the DIR. No lawsuit is needed. The DIR will investigate, and the employee will eventually get his/her back pay.

Yet, California’s title or escrow company employees almost never do so. Why? The reasons I’ve heard are numerous, but boil down to five categories:

1. Fear of retribution and/or blackballing within the industry
2. Ignorance of rights under the law
3. Misplaced loyalty
4. Unwillingness to be compensated while their coworkers are not
5. Employer prevarication: “you’re not entitled to OT in your position” - or - “you’ll have to donate one day labor per month or we’ll all lose our jobs”

Regarding #4: under its present operational procedures, the DIR will not investigate reports of widespread workplace Labor Code violations, unless all the affected employees notify them. So, even if one person is brave enough to speak up about labor abuse in the workplace, the State of California will do nothing to enforce its own laws. Just like with Wal-Mart and the other Big Box stores.

Employees have been left with the cumbersome class-action litigation process to collect a portion of an agreed settlement fund or wait for jury to rule in their favor down the road. Those who are not lucky enough to be certified as members of the class can expect no justice. Nor a penny. Their employer will hopefully emend its labor practices to pay employees what they are owed on a “go-forward” basis to avoid future litigation, but “having admitted no wrongdoing” there is no impetus to do so. And forget any back wages.

With the acquisition of most title and escrow companies (and various affiliated service companies) in California by a few Wall Street holding companies, the pool of unpaid wages of these cheated employees is never retained in the front-line California corporations that bring home the bacon. The money instantly finds its way into the hands of its Wall Street parent. Whence it passes from there is veiled in corporate mystery.

That means that if enough employees dun their company for back wages, they can bankrupt their employer while the money is safe in the coffers of the parent! Call it Two-Card Monty. Employees and taxing authorities always lose.

"Right to Work" laws and “At-Will” employment (including all the "protections" of our correspondingly rewritten Labor Code) was sold to Californians as a safe alternative to a union contract – with none of the corruption and politics of unions. Due to non-enforcement, California labor law has almost no teeth at present. Add in Wall Street greed to the mix, and you have a perfect storm of wholesale abuse which continues unchecked across all industries here.

Follow the money.

WHAT CAN THE AVERAGE PERSON DO?

Regardless of what type of business you are employed by, be aware of your Constitutional right to wages in California – and all the implications that follow. An “exempt” classification applies here in far fewer instances than most people realize and differs from the broader Federal exemptions which Wall Streeters try and hide behind. “We didn’t know the law in California was different” said the Corporate Compliance Officer back East. Right.

If you are working under conditions that force you to work off the clock, and/or if you experience other workplace labor code violations – you need to contact and then file a claim with the DIR.

If you are not in California, check with your State labor board and with the U.S. Department of Labor.

DON’T BOTHER with your company’s internal reporting mechanisms. They are often designed to isolate and eliminate anyone who illuminates illegal practices, not to rectify them. Make the government agencies do their jobs!

CONTACT YOUR STATE AND FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVES.

Even though there are already laws on the books to remedy these abuses, frequently the intervention of an elected official is necessary to get a government agency to do its job. Or open public hearings to determine why the law is not being enforced. The greater the public outcry, the greater the likelihood of action to correct these violations.

Working Off the Clock = Part-Time Slavery.

--------- PREVIEW OF UPCOMING BLOG ENTRY ------

Just as the DIR has been ignoring rampant wage and hour violations in white-collar businesses of this type, the offshoring of title insurance functions (contrary to California Insurance Code Section 12389 et seq.) has been unopposed by present and former Insurance Commissioners in California. Perhaps because Wall Street pockets run deep at campaign contribution time? Californians – employees and consumers alike – have suffered the negative and damaging consequences of offshoring of various industries, and this is no different.