Labor Day 2026

 

By Anton Refregier, late of the S.E.I.U./Martin Luther King Center on West 43rd.

 
Brent Neiman in a New York Times op-ed: “Workers are earning a smaller and smaller share of the economy’s income. Their cut — referred to by economists as “the labor share” — has been falling for decades. And it’s getting worse. During the past few years, it declined at a rapid clip and is now at its lowest level on record — about 53 percent of income, down from about 65 percent after World War II. Many policymakers blame industry consolidation and corporate greed for keeping a lid on workers’ compensation.... [But] it’s not rising market power, but new technology — A.I. being the latest example — that is probably the most important force reducing the labor share.... Stronger policies that cushion job losses and speed up retraining will be essential. We will also need to reduce the bias toward capital income in the tax code.... The overall scale of the social safety net could be indexed to trends in the labor share — expanding the net as labor share falls.” The link is a gift link.

We're past 25th Amendment territory now. Trump needs to be put in a nice rubber room. He really is insane. ~~~ 

~~~ David Gilmour of Mediaite: “... Donald Trump continued his map posting spree Monday, sharing more images of the state of New Mexico renamed to 'New America' and then sharing a further image appearing to depict the entire North American continent – including Canada and Greenland as well as Mexico and the Caribbean islands – all as United States territory. The AI-generated map, shared by Trump on Truth Social without explanation, comes just one day after he ignited fury from New Mexico Democrats who fumed that his meme about renaming their state 'isn’t up for debate.'” ~~~

~~~ Beneath the Dignity of the Office. Tom Durante of Mediaite: “... Donald Trump dedicated a Labor Day social media post to fuming at 'Radical Left Lunatics, Communists, and Dumocrats' for their role in 'destroying our country.' Posting on Truth Social just before 11 a.m. ET on Monday, the president took the time to shred opponents on the other side of the political aisle. 'Happy Labor Day to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics, Communists, and Dumocrats who will do anything possible to destroy our Country,' he wrote. 'These Deranged People, after fighting for 10 years, should finally acknowledge that your Favorite President (ME!), knows how to WIN!'” ~~~

~~~ David Gilmour of Mediaite: “... Donald Trump flooded Truth Social with dozens of bizarre AI-generated images over Labor Day weekend, triggering a wave of ridicule and alarm from political opponents and commentators, including one prominent critic demanding '25th Amendment NOW!' Trump unleashed over 37 posts over several hours on Sunday, many featuring AI depictions of the president alongside historical figures, in outer space, or inhabiting the bodies of pop culture characters. Several posts centered on George Washington. One showed Trump on horseback towering over the first president, while another placed Washington alongside Trump in the Oval Office under the caption, 'President Washington visits President Trump.'”

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Luke Broadwater & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times look at Donald Trump's outrageous Washington, D.C. desecration/building program more-or-less from his point of view. See, "he was enraged when his name was pulled down from residential buildings in New York City in protest after his first divisive political campaign in 2016," and now that he's been told (by whom, it's not clear) he can do whatever he wants, he "appears determined to erect edifices that cannot be torn down after he is gone." The link is a gift link. MB: I am happy to tell him that what goes up, can come down.

Daniel Borunda of the El Paso Times: "... Donald Trump — whose approval ratings continue lagging — posted a social media image suggesting renaming the state of New Mexico as 'New America.' The White House reposted Trump's 'New America' image depicting a map of New Mexico with an 'X' over 'Mexico' and replaced by 'America' on Sunday, Sept. 6, during the Labor Day holiday weekend.... The "New America" map was previously posted on Sept. 1 on the parody account Daily Noud, which posted a fake image falsely claiming Trump had signed an executive order renaming New Mexico. Daily Noud account on X states, 'These are fake stories.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

                                          There once was a crazy old man,
                                          Who said with his Sharpie in hand, 
                                          “Today there’s no doubt,*
                                          “New Mexico’s out.
                                          “Now, time to dispose of Greenland.”

                                          * Not many people know there's a "b" in "doubt." 

     ~~~ Elected Democrats are not amused. 

One thing about criminals, they are quite open to expediency: ~~~ 

~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: “On a radio show last month..., [Donald] Trump welcomed Michael D. Cohen, the former fixer he once denounced as a 'rat' for testifying against him, back into the fold. 'I respect the fact that you recanted everything you said,' Mr. Trump said. He went on to use the word 'recant' three more times. In case anyone missed it, the president posted a message on social media on Friday claiming that Mr. Cohen, a key witness against Mr. Trump in criminal and civil trials, 'has just fully RECANTED his testimony.' Mr. Trump demanded 'that any remnant of those Politically Weaponized Cases against me be immediately terminated and dismissed.' Except that Mr. Cohen has not, in fact, recanted his testimony. He has not taken any of it back.

“And so this unlikeliest of rapprochements between two men who helped get each other convicted of crimes is built not on an emotional outpouring of forgiveness but on what looks like a pretty straightforward bargain, spoken or unspoken.... Mr. Trump is trying to use his former lawyer’s desire for absolution to rewrite history as he presses his effort to overturn his conviction. Mr. Cohen gets to position himself as an insider once again and possibly obtain a presidential pardon to wipe out his own felony record.” The link is a gift link. 

Abbie Van Sickle of the New York Times: “The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court yet again on Sunday to allow its plans to restrict mail-in voting before the midterms, setting up what will likely be the final legal showdown for the president’s push to impose limits on mail voting in the weeks before the midterm election. In an emergency application, lawyers for the administration urged the justices to clear the way for new U.S. Postal Service rules to go into effect, changing the way the agency handles mail-in ballots. Each day that passes makes it less likely that the Trump administration can clear the legal and logistical hurdles it would need to put the new rules in place by the midterms. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who handles emergency applications from the region of the country where the case originated, set a schedule that signaled the court would handle it on a swift, but not immediate, timeline.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What? You mean Justice Jackson might be using a stall tactic? Who would do that? Oh, Trump. That's why he's not sitting in jail right now.

Peter Eavis & Jenny Gross of the New York Times: “After more than six months of war, analysts said the [Strait of Hormuz] remained in a lethal stalemate. 'The strait is neither fully closed nor fully opened,' said Eugene Gholz ... of ... the University of Notre Dame.... 'Iran can’t close it completely, and the U.S. can’t open it completely.' The U.S. tanker protection effort, which involves intercepting Iranian drones and missiles before they hit ships, has helped get millions of barrels of oil out of the Persian Gulf each day and provided a measure of relief to oil markets. But attacks from Iran have continued to deter many tankers from operating in the strait.... Iran has managed to keep hitting vessels. Iran struck 12 ships in August, up slightly from 11 in July.... The amount of oil going through the waterway is still significantly lower than it was before the war, analysts said.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

This is the sort of thing Trump called "small potatoes" last week: ~~~ 

~~~ Alex Horton & Joyce Lee of the Washington Post: “The Pentagon is investigating the high likelihood that an explosion in southern Iran that destroyed a home hosting a wedding celebration was caused by a U.S. bomb that missed a nearby target, a person familiar with the operation said. U.S. forces launched an airstrike in the coastal town of Kuhestak that targeted a communications complex, a U.S. official said. The complex, which included a small building at its base, sat in a civilian area but was believed to be utilized in part by Iranian forces to conduct operations, the person familiar said. Six bombs dropped by U.S. Navy jets traveled on a tight pathway toward the tower and all struck the site except for one, which appeared to go astray, said the person.... An explosion tore into the roof of the home approximately 440 feet from the tower, according to visuals verified by The Washington Post.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Another Consequence of "Small Potatoes." Sophia Yan of the Telegraph, republished by Yahoo! News: "The families of US soldiers who have died in the US-Israeli war against Iran are battling to ensure they receive appropriate pay and benefits for their loved ones. Libby Klinner, a widow, wrote on social media that the US air force had deemed her ineligible for additional benefits following the death of Major Alex Klinner, her 33-year-old husband, because Congress had not officially declared war. He was one of six crew members of a KC-135 refuelling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq in March while supporting US strikes against Iran.... US officials ... acknowledged that they had initially provided inaccurate information, and that her husband's last pay cheque had included – but incorrectly itemised – 'combat pay', which amounts to $225 a month, and was not conditioned on a formal war declaration."

Energy Secretary Admits Likely Trump Fail. Nicholas Kerr of ABC News: "Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that a nuclear agreement with Iran, long sought by ... Donald Trump, may not come to fruition after months of war with the country. 'There may not be a nuclear agreement. It may be simply destroying their capabilities to do it. An agreement may await a next administration in Iran. We simply don't know that,' Wright told ABC News' 'This Week' co-anchor Martha Raddatz when asked about signs of a possible nuclear deal."

David French of the New York Times: “... [Donald] Trump ... is making our nation more vulnerable than it has been at any time since the cloudiest days of the Cold War.... From the top down, Trump is replacing the highly imperfect meritocracy of American public service with an idiocracy, and his corrupt idiocrats are creating profound short-, medium- and long-term harms to American national security. The short-term damage is serious enough. Even just to achieve what is at best a stalemate in the Persian Gulf, the administration has created a critical shortage in interceptors that can shoot down missiles and drones and in other precision munitions.... At the same time, to maintain the stalemate against Iran, the United States is drawing resources from other, more dangerous theaters of potential conflict.... All of this is taking place against the backdrop of terrible self-imposed wounds to America’s alliances.... Our allies learned an important lesson from Trump’s second election. It’s not just that Trump is mercurial and unreliable, it’s that the American electorate is mercurial and unreliable.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.

Marco Welcomes Young Nazi to His Staff. Andrea Fuller, et al., of the New York Times: “In 2023 [Nate Hochman], a young speechwriter for the presidential campaign of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida..., [promoted] a pro-DeSantis video that flashed an image embraced by white supremacists[.] Public outcry grew, and he was among a group of staff members fired by the campaign.... Within a year, he was making videos with America 2100, a right-wing advocacy group with ties to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Then came a stint working for a Republican senator [-- Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) --] on Capitol Hill. This year, Mr. Hochman ... joined the State Department under Mr. Rubio and now works as deputy director of the agency’s policy planning office. According to Mr. Hochman’s email signature, he is also Mr. Rubio’s chief speechwriter.... Mr. Hochman ... has joined the growing ranks of those who have found that a public controversy — even one associated with a high-profile dismissal — is not disqualifying for entry into the top ranks of the Trump administration.” The link is a gift link. MB: Now take a look at the stories about the German elections linked below and see if you think we're in trouble. 

     ~~~ Marie: Unless a serial killer runs for president in 2028, Little Marco will be the scariest candidate in the race, mostly because he's smarter, slicker and more experienced than JayDee.

We Did This. Frances Robles of the New York Times: “Dozens of deportees are arriving in the Haitian city of Cap Haitien weekly as the Trump administration pushes to remove Haitians who lack legal immigration status in the United States, and some are now marooned in an unfamiliar place. More than 80 people were returned last week, often with only the U.S. government-issued sweatpants and T-shirts, and with immigration court documents stuffed in their pockets. Many returned broke, saying their valuables had disappeared during the trip and they now lacked the cash to get home. The road out of Cap Haitien, on Haiti’s northern coast, is controlled by gangs that extract tolls from drivers and kidnap travelers. Five police officers who tried the trip by bus recently were murdered.” The link is a gift link. MB: You did this, Markwayne. You did this, John Roberts. You did this, Donald Trump.

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Florida. The New York Times is liveblogging developments following a cargo plane crash at Miami International Airport. From the pinned item: “A cargo plane overran a runway at Miami International Airport on Sunday afternoon, killing at least five people, injuring at least five others and causing the airport to shut down all runways for a few hours in the midst of the busy Labor Day weekend. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in a social media post, said that travelers moving through the area should 'expect significant delays and potential cancellations.' The plane appeared to have overshot the end of the runway and crashed into a number of vehicles. The Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue chief, Raied Jadallah, said at a news conference that several people were trapped in their vehicles. It was unclear, as of early Sunday evening, if the dead and injured were on the plane or had been on the ground. Mr. Jadallah said that three of the injured were in critical condition and taken to a trauma center.” The link is a gift link.

Ohio. Bayliss Wagner & Jessica Contrera of the New York Times: “An armed man was arrested Sunday after forcing his way through a crowd toward Dr. Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee for Ohio governor, the authorities said. Dr. Acton was giving a speech at the Mahoning County Democratic Party tent at a fair in Canfield, in the northeastern part of the state, when a man pushed through the crowd, knocking over two elderly audience members, according to the county sheriff, Jerry Greene, and two witnesses. The man did not draw his weapons, according to Sheriff Greene and the witnesses. Dr. Acton was not injured. Two officers of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, part of Dr. Acton’s security detail, detained and handcuffed the man, according to Dr. Acton’s campaign and the sheriff. The man was found to be carrying two pistols and a Taser in the shape of brass knuckles after he was detained, according to the sheriff and the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Ohio law allows residents to possess and carry concealed firearms without a permit.” The link is a gift link.

~~~ Pennsylvania. A Washington Post story, by Kyle Melnick , is here. 

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Germany. The Nazis Are Back. Mark Landler of the New York Times: “When a far-right party won a landslide victory on Sunday in a small state in eastern Germany, its reverberations could be felt from Downing Street in London to the Élysée Palace in Paris. Rarely has the result of a regional election been viewed with such portent for the fate of democracy in Europe. This wasn’t just any European country; it was Germany, a country that has relentlessly isolated far-right political parties since the calamity of Nazism. And it wasn’t just a strange outlier, but rather the latest step in a steady, decade-long march that has brought the far right ever closer to the fulcrum of power in Europe.

“With elections scheduled across Europe next year, the striking success of the party, Alternative for Germany, could be a harbinger of further far-right victories, according to analysts, as well as a template for how they can be engineered. Its populist, anti-immigrant message echoes those of nationalist leaders in Britain, France, Italy and Spain, all countries where voters harbor many of the same grievances as those in Germany.... Because the AfD appeared to fall just short of an outright majority, according to near-final results, it may not end up governing Saxony-Anhalt, the state where the election was held. Rival parties have vowed that they would not form a coalition government with the AfD, whose leaders have used Nazi slogans and minimized the Holocaust.” The link is a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ John Henley of the Guardian: “The reaction was not limited to Europe. Elon Musk congratulated the far-right party on its election victory with a 'Well done!' on his social media platform X, prompting Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD’s lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, to thank the nativist US tech billionaire for his support.... Donald Trump, whose White House has made no secret of its support for Europe’s nationalist far-right parties, posted a screenshot of the projected election result on his Truth Social platform without any comment.” ~~~

     ~~~ Paul Krugman: “Neo-Nazis ... just won big in the rough equivalent of a state-level election in Germany. America’s leading neo-Nazi ... congratulated the AfD (in German) on the result, and in return received 'thanks for your support' from the AfD’s lead candidate.... So, about America: Make America Great Again meant different things to different people — racism, of course, being a key component. But in Donald Trump’s mind it also clearly meant trying to bring back 'manly' jobs. He would do this by imposing tariffs to eliminate trade deficits, which, in his garbled version of economics, would end huge U.S. 'giveaways' to surplus nations. And this would, in turn, lead to a huge revival of U.S. manufacturing employment.... In terms of both trade balances and manufacturing Germany is, in effect, the anti-America. Where we do indeed run large trade deficits, Germany runs huge surpluses. And ... it remains a more industrial nation than the U.S. has been since the 1980s.... And none of this appears to make a bit of difference to the resentment that underlies right-wing extremism on both sides of the Atlantic.... Crude economic factors don’t explain the fascist shift in Germany. And Trumponomics, even if it worked (which it doesn’t) wouldn’t end the resentment feeding our own authoritarian movement.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm just guessing here, but I think the "manly" culture -- one that rather counterintuitively values both violent acting-out and stoicism -- lies at the heart of U.S./German fascism. Saxony-Anhalt is in the part of Germany that for decades suffered under the deprivations and constraints of the East German communist state. A German friend of ours took us around East Germany just before the wall came down, and it was dismal. The people were dressed like beggars, the only cars were little two-cycle engine Trabis, and the only food on the shelves of the "super markets" were lard and battered cans of Russian tomatoes, which the gray women in their babushkas waited in line for hours to purchase. After the wall came down, the East Germans took advantage of West German largesse, but the East Germans resented it. They continued to hate the West. They still want to get back at "us": the wanton liberals who partied on. So does MAGA. That includes even billionaires who got rich beyond my imagination but whose rotten little psyches eschew gratitude and resent our refusal to admire them and obey their "rules." The Nazi ethos is a twisted mashup of bully (where the victims are women and minorities and anyone else who can be kicked into submission) and supplicant (to some weird, "elite" cadre of "betters").