Episode 187: The Vultures Gather; The Coming State Budget Apocalypse Support the Working Life Network here: www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePodcast and at ActBlue: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/working-life-1 Episode 187: Private equity vultures love a great economic crisis. Circling above their wounded corporate prey, they wait until a company is too weak to survive, and, then, swoop in to pick up the pieces at a bargain price—which usually involves cutting thousands of jobs, too. And, now, a new rule will allow private equity firms to put their grubby hands on everyone’s 401(k) plans. Eileen Appelbaum, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the nation’s leading expert on the carnage wrought by private equity pirates, exposes the looming attack on our savings in a riveting chat. Then, while millions of people are trying to get a job or an unemployment check, not to mention just stay safe, states are facing what even The Economist magazine calls “The Calamity Ahead”—a brutal shortfall in revenue because of the economic collapse. Politicians of both parties would rather cut peoples’ jobs and cut services rather than raise taxes on the rich and send a large bundle of money to every state. I chat with Jacque Simon, the government affairs director of the American Federation of Government Employees, about the threat to federal and state workers. -- Jonathan Tasini Support the Working Life Network here: www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePodcast and at ActBlue: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/working-life-1 Follow me on Twitter @jonathantasini Sign up for The Working Life Podcast at: www.workinglife.org Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.tasini.3
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