Renewing America's 'Contract with the Middle Class'

Excellent commentary... and true. Leo Hindery Jr. writing for the LA Times:

In the last 25 years, what is good for America and what is good for much of corporate America have gotten way out of sync.

Not all that long ago, America's prominent business and government leaders widely believed that our nation's prosperity depended on a strong middle class growing from the bottom up. Workers were rewarded for their hard work with fair wages, benefits and advancement opportunities -- and our economy and our national security were much stronger for it.

Henry Ford certainly knew this, and often said that his company would prosper only if his workers earned enough to buy the Fords they produced. And in 1953, when General Motors' president told the Senate that "what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa," he was simply stating the then-commonly held belief that success for American corporations generally meant success for America and American workers.

However, over the last 25 years -- especially over the last decade -- what is good for America and what is good for much of corporate America have gotten way out of sync. Our current business culture too often emphasizes only short-term corporate profits and shareholder returns -- however and wherever they are generated -- and in the process, what is good for America is being pushed aside.

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