BRAVE NEW FILMS – In The Media

By Margaret Sullivan for the New York Times

THE lead-up to the war in Iraq in 2003 was not The Times’s finest hour. Some of the news reporting was flawed, driven by outside agendas and lacking in needed skepticism. Many Op-Ed columns promoted the idea of a war that turned out to be both unfounded and disastrous.

By Bradford Betz for KPFK

Low-wage workers outside L.A. City Hall gather with local lawmakers and advocates in support of a crackdown on so-called ‘wage theft.’

According to researchers at UCLA, every week, low-wage workers in Los Angeles lose over $26 million of their income to wage theft. The theft can happen in a variety of ways, but often it’s as simple as workers not being paid for hours that they work, or for overtime.

By Dennis Romero for LA Weekly

Two L.A. City Council members say local employers are ripping off local workers, essentially skimming money from their pay at alarming rates. Gilbert Cedillo and Paul Koretz proposed a law yesterday that would, if approved, "criminalize the practice of wage theft in the City of Los Angeles," says Cedillo's office.

By Alice Walton for KPCC 

Two Los Angeles city councilmen want employers to face criminal penalties when they withhold wages owed to their employees. Councilmen Paul Koretz and Gil Cedillo introduced a motion Tuesday that asks the City Attorney's Office and the LAPD to work with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and UCLA Downtown Labor Center to craft a city law against "wage theft." Organizers describe"wage theft" as  violating minimum wage and overtime laws and forcing employees to work off the clock. 

By Howard Fine for LA Business Journal

Two Los Angeles city councilmen on Tuesday called for a crackdown on employers who do not pay their workers the proper amount of wages. The motion put forward by Councilmen Gilbert Cedillo and Paul Koretz would criminalize penalties for employers found guilty of cheating workers out of pay, commonly referred to as wage theft.

By Ross Frasier for Press TV

Los Angeles is known as the wage theft capital of America. A study from the University of California at Los Angeles shows that employers steal more from workers in Los Angeles than in New York or Chicago. And each year, more employers decide to take advantage of workers, most of whom are immigrants. There are an estimated 750,000 low wage workers in Los Angeles.

By Emily Alpert Reyes for the Los Angeles Times

Two Los Angeles City Council members began a push Tuesday for a new city ordinance that would crack down on businesses that cheat workers of their pay.

"If you steal from a store, you go to jail," said Councilman Paul Koretz, who was joined by Councilman Gil Cedillo in moving to draft a proposal. "But employers who cheat their workers out of their hard-earned wages usually get away with it."

By Carl Hulse for the New York Times 

WICHITA, Kan. — In national politics, playing in Charles Koch’s arena can mean saturation advertising against vulnerable Democrats, calls for tax cuts, demands to roll back government regulation and bitter clashes over climate change.

By Clyde Weiss for AFSCME

Billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch, whose vast wealth as head of Koch Industries enabled them to finance the tea party, are now documentary film stars, and this film is one we encourage you to watch.

Jerry Ryberg for the Galesburg Register

Editor, Register-Mail: Our screening of Brave New Films’ “Koch Brothers Exposed: 2014 Edition” Tuesday evening upstairs at the Galesburg Public Library, drew 21 people. That was more than I expected. I’m sure that none of them knew the full extent of how and how fast Charles and David Koch are taking us to a complete oligarchy. “Gasps of dismay” were heard during the screening.