Talk Income Security, Keep Chickens at Bay

It may be the Dog Days of August, but it’s the chickens that have taken center stage by coming home to roost at the carnival we call the Democratic Party.

The big news of August’s waning days was the mea culpa emanating from the mouths of a cavalcade of capitalists, and its potential impact on the yet-to-be refined presidential message of the Democrats. An Aug. 19 New York Times article by David Gelles and David Yaffe-Bellamy reported that nearly 200 members of the Business Roundtable “issued a statement on ‘the purpose of a corporation,’ arguing that companies should no longer advance only the interests of shareholders. Instead, the group said, they must also invest in their employees, protect the environment and deal fairly and ethically with their suppliers … The shift comes at a moment of increasing distress in corporate America, as big companies face mounting global discontent over income inequality, harmful products and poor working conditions.”