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It is really terrific to see retailers here giving critical attention to the Demos study. As a former business owner in the health services industry, I do realize that these problems are more than just abstract theory. That's one of the reasons why Demos and I thought it would be useful to evaluate the possibilities for adopting this business model across the retail sector, especially as the importance of retail to the US economy continues to grow.

Only a few days into the Doha climate negotiations and the prospects for meaningful action seem dim. Russia, Japan, New Zealand, and Canada have already expressed their resistance to extending the Kyoto Protocol, the only legally binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Without an extension, Kyoto will expire at the end of this year.

At least one form of rampant speculation has been closed down. Mary Schapiro will step down from the Chairmanship of the SEC by the end of the year. One of her fellow Democratic Commissioners, Elise Walter will take over, leaving a vacancy on the five-member Commission and an even split between Democrats and Republicans. Commissioner Walter is extremely close to Schapiro, virtually an alter ego.

Exit polls taken on election day leave little doubt that Americans care much more fixing the economy than lowering the defict. Nearly 60 percent of voters said the economy was the most important issue facing the country; just 15 percent named the deficit. 

As Americans across the country head out en masse to malls and shopping centers to kickoff the holiday spending season today, it's important to remember that too many of the retail workers bringing us those deals earn meager wages.

The ranks of America's retail workforce have surged to more than 4.5 million workers, making it one of the nation's largest job categories. Their numbers swell further during the holiday crush, as stores take on additional seasonal employees. The U.S. is expected to add another 740,000 of retail jobs by 2020.

With Thanksgiving come and gone, we are now officially in the thick of the holiday shopping season, which means a good chunk of the country will be driving down to Walmart, Target, and other giant discounters to pick up gifts for friends and family. When they do, they'll be rewarding some of the largest companies in America for paying many of their front line workers poverty wages.  

This Black Friday the lives of low-wage retail workers were thrust into the spot light as employees of a variety of stores weent to work on Thanksgiving Day and strikersdescended on Walmart stores in 100 cities.

Thousands of Walmart workers around the country are planning to strike on Black Friday, hoping to end retaliation they claim the massive retail chain’s workers receive when they speak out for better working conditions.

Top Democrats and leading progressives are arguing that Social Security shouldn't be part of negotiations over the fiscal cliff. As Senator Richard Durbin plans to say in a speech later this morning:

Social Security doesn't add a penny to the debt and should not be part of any deficit reduction talks. We can and must do what we can to ensure its solvency for another 75 years, but that is another topic for another time.