John de Graaf

Though it was far from front-page news, the Obama administration’s Labor Department action this month on overtime pay may be one of the most significant of his entire presidency. 

Prior to the new rules change, employees earning more than $23,500 a year (a salary close to the poverty level) could be re-classified as managers, allowing their employers to avoid paying them the time-and-a-half overtime premium, or even paying them...

Inequality isn’t just bad for people.  It also affects our companion animals.   In the modern American economy, some workers have become money-rich and time-poor.  Others, who lost jobs or were downsized during the recent recession, became time richer but money poor.  And many Americans, forced to work multiple jobs to make ends meet are poor in both time and money.  In each case, pets are affected. 

In the first case,...