The Wind Beneath the New Deal's Wings
She was born on April 10, 1880 in Boston, but her ancestral roots were in Maine, where she spent much of her downtime and was laid to rest (in Newcastle) in 1965. Her strict parents wanted her to be a teacher and live at home, but Frances Perkins had other plans. Bearing witness to how badly the employed and unemployed alike were treated, she made it her life's mission to do something about it. Her smarts and tenacity led her to the position where, with the full backing of her boss, she stitched together the American social safety net we have today:
When, in February, 1933, President-elect Roosevelt asked Frances Perkins to serve in his cabinet as Secretary of Labor, she outlined for him a set of policy priorities she would pursue: a 40-hour work week; a minimum wage; unemployment compensation; worker’s compensation; abolition of child labor; direct federal aid to the states for unemployment relief; Social Security; a revitalized federal employment service; and universal health insurance.
Continued...
She made it clear to Roosevelt that his agreement with these priorities was a condition of her joining his cabinet. Roosevelt said he endorsed them all, and Frances Perkins became the first woman in the nation to serve in a Presidential cabinet. […]
Within a month of Roosevelt’s inauguration, Congress enacted legislation establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps, which Roosevelt asked Perkins to implement. …
Before Roosevelt presented his final One Hundred Days legislation to the Congress, the National Industrial Recovery Act, Perkins convinced him to allocate $3.3 billion for public works from the moneys appropriated. Serving as a member of the Special Board for Public Works, Perkins helped to ensure that money was spent on socially useful projects: schools, roads, highway, housing projects and post offices. Public works construction employed a many as 1.5 – 2 million people in 1934.
In 1934, Roosevelt appointed Frances Perkins to head a Committee on Economic Security, where she forged the blueprint of legislation finally enacted as the Social Security Act. Signed into law by the President on August 14, 1935, the Act included a system of old age pensions, unemployment compensation, workers’ compensation and aid to the needy and disabled. … In 1938, Congress enacted the Fair Labor Standards Act, also crafted with the support of Perkins, establishing a minimum wage and maximum work hours and banning child labor. [...]
In1944, a piece portraying Frances Perkins in Collier’s magazine described her accomplishments over the previous twelve years as “not so much the Roosevelt New Deal, as … the Perkins New Deal.”
Today the Labor Department HQ in Washington is called the Frances Perkins Building. And in a sign of just how popular and durable her Social Security idea has become, President Joe Biden got safety net-hating Republicans to pledge, openly and publicly on national TV during his 2023 and 2024 State of the Union address, not to touch it during budget negotiations. So this morning we say Happy Birthday #144 to Frances Perkins, the champion of workers' rights and retirees whose policies gave body to the Democratic party's soul. And many blessings on your camels.
And now, our feature presentation...
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Cheers and Jeers for Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Note: PolitiFact rates this note False. In response, this note rates PolitiFact’s rating Pants-On-Fire. Up next: the brawl of the century no one saw coming.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til the start of Passover: 12
Days 'til the Vidalia Onion Festival in Georgia: 15
Length of the current U.S. job creation streak: 39 months
Winning bid at auction for Superman comic #1: $6 million
Previous record for a comic sold at auction ("Amazing Fantasy No. 15," featuring the debut of Spider-Man): $3.6 million
Age of Stephen King's Carrie as of last week: 50
Number of seconds after which this message will self-destruct: 5
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Mid-week Rapture Index: 188 (including 5 earthquakes and 1 big dope). Soul Protection Factor 12 lotion is recommended if you’ll be walking amongst the heathen today.
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Puppy Pic of the Day: A handy two-minute timer…
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CHEERS and JEERS to schlepping through the hallowed marble halls again. Here's a fun fact: 99.8 percent of Americans had no idea that Congress had adjourned for an extended Easter break. And here's another fun fact: 99.9 percent of Americans have no idea that Congress is now back in session.
Yes, under the secret deep state leadership of John C. Calhoun in a Mike Johnson mask in the House and John Kennedy Jr. in a Chuck Schumer mask in the Senate, the dueling chambers are once again drafting drafts, gaveling gavels, shouting shouts and, depending on the circumstances, either flocking to or fleeing from the press with their "note pads" and "flash bulbs." The good news: President Biden's judicial nominees are expected to continue enjoying an easy path to confirmation. The bad news: with Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema still tragically consuming oxygen and fluids, President Biden's legislative agenda is expected to continue going through this rigorous process:
Thankfully, the Affordable Care Act that Biden helped pass a dozen years ago includes coverage for chiropractic services. He’s gonna need ‘em.
CHEERS to inching toward a real democracy. Winning a majority of votes in a presidential contest, but failing to win the actual election, is—pardon my French—bullpucky. But that's what can easily happen when the electoral college steps in to snatch a minority win (Bush II in 2000, Trump in 2016) from the jaws of defeat. Enter the National Popular Vote compact, whose admittedly long-term goal is ensuring that the majority rules. It may have a new member soon...
A bill that would direct Maine to pledge its Electoral College votes based on the national popular vote for president was enacted by the state Senate on Wednesday and is on its way to Gov. Janet Mills.
The governor has yet to say if she supports the measure, which joins Maine with a compact in which each state agrees to assign its Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote—even if the popular vote in one of those states is for another candidate.
The National Popular Vote compact won't be activated until the joining states have enough electoral votes to effectively elect the president—270. So far the states joining the compact have a combined 205 electoral votes.
Maine's a small potato in a large bowl of clam chowder—only four electoral votes. But entire elections have been won or lost by that margin. So you might say, "As goes Maine, so goes the nation." And you really should get that phrase trademarked—it's good!
CHEERS to landmark legislation. One week after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., President Johnson signed a companion bill into law 56 years ago this week called the Civil Rights Act of 1968, aka the Fair Housing Act. The following housing issues became no-no's:
1) Refusal to sell or rent a dwelling to any person because of his race, color, religion or national origin.
2) Discrimination against a person in the terms, conditions or privilege of the sale or rental of a dwelling.
3) Advertising the sale or rental of a dwelling indicating preference of discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin.
The law was expanded in 1988 to include disability and family status, and again in 1993 to prohibit the throwing of lawn darts at the Re/Max blimp.
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BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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END BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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JEERS to non-refundable tickets. On April 10, 1912, the unsinkable RMS Titanic set off for New York from Southampton, England. That cruise, of course, turned out to be a disaster. The caviar was much too salty.
JEERS to looking ahead. Let's take a reluctant but necessary peek into our crystal ball to see what we're in for in this country as spring continues to unfold. All I can tell you is it's going to be insufferable. Insufferable and loud. Insufferable and loud and chaotic and maddening and, if we're not careful, highly damaging to our great land as the two sides go at it with robotic, take-no-prisoners ferocity:
Trillions of periodical cicadas will emerge from the ground this spring, bringing with them their loud buzzing and molted exoskeletons. […] For most of their lives, cicadas live underground and then emerge once the soil reaches 64 degrees. They are expected to arrive in mid-May.
This year, both the 13-year and the 17-year cicadas will emerge, arriving in numbers that have not been seen in generations.
And I hear the 2024 election season is gonna get intense, too.
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Ten years ago in C&J: April 10, 2014
CHEERS to a new way of escaping this dog-eat-dog world. If you live in London, please pardon us across the pond for feeling a little jealous. After all, you get to kick back in a café with cats. A "catfe," if you will:
Feline company is exactly what one of London’s newest cafes is offering – and stressed-out city-dwellers are lapping it up. “People do want to have pets and in tiny flats, you can’t,” said cafe owner Lauren Pears, who opened Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium last month in an area east of the city’s financial district.
“There’s not many places in London you can just curl up with a book and chill out with a cat or two on your lap,” she said Friday.
The U.S., behind the curve as usual, will get its first cat emporiums later this year in San Francisco. Meanwhile the first attempt at opening a Florida python coffee shop appears to be delayed, as no one seems to be able to locate the owners.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to the most important meal of the day. There's an entire culture of habits and traditions and expectations (not to mention smells and tastes and textures) over breakfast time. And, you won’t be surprised to know, there's an entire breakfast industry feverishly working to get you to start your day with their products. It's perfect grist for the Hollywood mill, and Jerry Seinfeld is tackling the 1960s Kellogg's vs. Post battle for the hearts and minds of the morning crowd. It’s a “tale of ambition, betrayal, sugar, and menacing milkmen,” and the trailer is full of snap, crackle, and pop…not to mention a helluva cast:
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Opens May 3rd. I hope it brings home the bacon.
Have a happy humpday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial
How's Cheers and Jeers Doing? Bill in Portland Maine Says Great! That's It, That's The Joke
—Wonkette
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