Eric Cantor puts foot in mouth again, claims that Labor Day celebrates celebration of entrepreneurs and business owners

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) on Monday mistakenly described Labor Day as a celebration of entrepreneurs and business owners, rather than workers.

“Today, we celebrate those who have taken a risk, worked hard, built a business and earned their own success,” the conservative congressman said in a statement. “I am committed to keeping taxes low and reducing red tape to make it easier for Virginia’s small business owners to start hiring again, create more jobs and ensure a thriving economy for the future so more people can achieve the American dream.”

However, Labor Day actually celebrates the victories of trade and labor organizations in the United States, who fought for 8-hour work days and other standards that most Americans take for granted.

The Raw Story (no, it's really not The Onion)

Rep. Eric Cantor: Labor Day celebrates business owners
Eric W. Dolan

China only went to the five day work week in 1995.

Why Aren't The 13 Million Unemployed a Political Force?

Unions are still grappling with how to organize the unemployed, including their own ex-members, into a political force.

...Department of Labor figures for December showed 13.1 million unemployed and actively looking for work, almost half of them for more than six months. Another 8.1 million were working part-time involuntarily, and 2.5 million were too discouraged to look for work....

...Jobs with Justice chapters have been experimenting with organizing the unemployed, but at a recent conference activists expressed frustration. The model of “unemployed” as an identity group (like race or sex) hasn’t worked, many said.

“How do you organize the unemployed when people don’t want to identify themselves as unemployed?” asked Susan Hurley, executive director of JwJ in Chicago.

Read it all at AlterNet
13 Million Unemployed; Why Aren't They a Political Force to be Reckoned With?
by Jenny Brown