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Next Year’s Budget Debate May Be Total Mess by Stan Collender, OurFuture.org | November 6, 2012
Originally published at Capital Gains and Games. read more »Romneyism by Robert B. Reich, robertreich.org | November 5, 2012
By now, in these last remaining days before the election of 2012, we have learned enough about the beliefs of the Republican presidential candidate to see them as a worldview all its own – a kind of creed that explains Mitt Romney. Those who say he has no principles are selling him short. Despite its contradictions and ellipses, Romneyism has an internal coherence. It is different from conservatism, because it does not intend to conserve or protect any particular institutions or values. It is also distinct from Republicanism, in that it is not rooted in traditional small-town American values, nationalism, or states’ rights. The ten guiding principles of Romneyism are. read more »Notes for a Manifesto by Robert Kuttner, Huffington Post | November 5, 2012
The enormity of last week's super-storm is just beginning to sink into political consciousness. Hurricane Sandy should transform what Americans expect from their government, and give the party of government activism new force. As soon as the election is behind us, the country faces a major struggle over what the super-storm portends and requires. But that struggle will be as much within the Democratic Party as between Democrats and the right, because of the deadweight of austerity politics. read more »Vote in the Corporate Hall of Shame by Philip Palij, OurFuture.org | November 2, 2012
The Hall is an annual online ballot spotlighting and calling to account the year’s most abusive corporations. Let your voice be heard — vote on your choice for the worst corporation of 2012! read more »Hurricane Sandy's Silver Lining: A Reaffirmation of Progressive Principles by Daniel Marans, OurFuture.org | November 1, 2012
At a time when the country is still reeling from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the storm has reaffirmed progressive principles that have been under attack in recent years. Sandy has, in fact, brought together a trifecta of progressive policy vindications: the dangers of climate silence, the importance of a strong and responsive federal government, and the necessity of collective bargaining rights for workers. read more »Arbitraging Catastrophe: We're All in Danger - And It Could Get a Lot Worse by Richard (RJ) Eskow, OurFuture.org | November 1, 2012
It's a sign of our shadowy times that the latest regulatory "reform" bill hasn't been laughed out of Washington. Same goes for the latest bankers' complaint, this time about being asked to cover their own bets. And if you think it's bad now, wait and see what happens if Romney takes over. Think "global catastrophe." While bank-friendly politicians offer insipid legislation, the world economy is still at risk. And it could get worse. read more »Bringing the Fight to the Billionaires by The Nation, The Nation | November 1, 2012
At a moment when political minds are fixed anxiously on Washington, it’s useful to remember where the real power resides. In this election, wealthy corporations and individuals have shown yet again how they can purchase politicians and pervert the democratic process. Progressives have no choice but to try to counter these forces through massive ground operations at election time, but that doesn’t always work—and even when it does, the rigged game always begins anew the day after, with corporate lobbyists working their magic on many of the same officials progressives just knocked themselves out to elect. So why not take the fight to the businesses and billionaires who are pulling the strings? read more »‘Too Big to Fail’ Remains Very Real by Simon Johnson, economix.blogs.nytimes.com | November 1, 2012
Prominent voices within the financial sector are increasingly insisting on one point: We have ended “too big to fail.” The idea is simple: through a combination of legislation (the Dodd-Frank legislation of 2010) and supportive regulation (particularly regarding how big banks would be handled in the event of “liquidation”), very large financial institutions are no longer perceived by investors to be too big to fail. Unfortunately, while tempting, this idea is completely at odds with the facts. The market perception that some financial institutions are “too big to fail” is alive and well. If you want to remove that perception, you need to break up our biggest banks. read more »Is The Budget 'Crisis' History? by Dean Baker, OurFuture.org | October 31, 2012
Originally published at TruthOut. One of the major growth industries in Washington is the promotion of budget hysteria. Well-funded groups have weekly, if not daily, events designed to hype the country’s budget situation. Much of the national media, most importantly the Washington Post, have enlisted in this effort, devoting both their opinion and news sections toward this goal. Unfortunately for the deficit-crisis industry, the facts may stubbornly refuse to cooperate. Any discussion of the deficit requires separating out the short-term and the long-term story. The short-term story is very simple. The economy collapsed in 2008 when the housing bubble burst. That is the story of the large budget deficits that we have seen in the last five years: full stop. read more »God's Stimulus? It'll Take More Than Just Money to Recover From Sandy by Richard (RJ) Eskow, OurFuture.org | October 31, 2012
Hurricane Sandy was the stimulus nobody wanted. It took a terrible toll in lives, homes, and dreams. For the families who lost loved ones the tragedy will never end. And yet, in a bitter irony, this terrible storm will spur the kind of spending we should have been seeing all along. There will be jobs, at least for a while -- in construction, road work, repair, and other lines of work. read more »
The Latest
Occupy Protest: Vacant Homes Take Over To Protect Dispossessed Americans, alternet.org | December 8, 2011
In a supposedly capitalist society with the notion of efficient distribution of goods and services through hard work and free market forces there is something exquisitely poetic in wasted US human capital occupying wasted US material capital to achieve those more »
Massive Fraud: Watchdog critical of SEC hedge fund probe, Marketwatch | December 1, 2011
OK America, your legal system has been trashed. Your constitution has been trashed. Whats next?
"WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Securities and Exchange Commission’s watchdog released a report Wednesday examining an anonymous tip explaining that agency staffers discovered a “massive fraud” by a hedge fund manager and never pursued it. "
Occupy Wall Street: you can't evict an idea whose time has come, The Guardian | November 15, 2011
Now is the time.... Right Now....
At 2.43am, the New York Observer reported that photographers with credentials were barred from Liberty Square. Seconds later the director of editorial operations at Gawker reported that a CBS news chopper were ordered out of the sky by the NYPD. New York Times journalist Jarid Malsin went to jail in zipties.
Occupy Oakland throng closes down port, sfgate.com | November 3, 2011
Thousands of people jammed into downtown Oakland on Wednesday for a general strike called by Occupy Oakland to protest economic inequity and corporate greed - then marched en masse to the Port of Oakland and shut it down. more »
Church Of England Opens Doors and Dialogue With Occupy Protestors , The Guardian | November 1, 2011
The Church Of England is an institution with global reach and it has concluded that far from closing its doors and evicting London's occupy protestors it should open its doors and listen to them. more »Regulators Investigating MF Global for Missing Money, dealbook.nytimes.com | November 1, 2011
By BEN PROTESS, MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED and SUSANNE CRAIG more »
1% Get The Dream 99% Get The Nightmare, Huffington Post | November 1, 2011
Torture: Private Prosecution against George W. Bush On Canadian Arrival, globalresearch.ca | October 25, 2011
Should crimes committed in the Bush II era in our name be quietly forgotten?No, and here is why: more »
Occupy Wall Street protesters march against police brutality, The Guardian | October 1, 2011
Watching someone get pepper sprayed for lawfully expressing their opinion brings the nature of the beast into full view. I hope the victim's eyes recovered OK, paradoxically the sheer arrogant brutality was the eye opener. more »
'Occupy Wall Street' Fighting Bankster Greed and the Surveillance State, alternet.org | September 29, 2011
The crackdown on the Wall Street protesters this weekend seems to have backfired. The campsite-cum-experiment in radical democracy is still there, holding general assemblies just shouting distance from Goldman Sachs and the Wall Street bull. more »
