News & Comment
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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
How 12 Multinational Corporations Avoid Paying Taxes, alternet.org | April 20, 2011
By Julianne Escobedo Shepherd, Alternet
Over the past month, General Electric has been held up as the pinnacle of corporate vampirism –– the world’s largest corporation in the world’s lowest tax bracke more »
Buying Government: Congressional Mergers and Acquisitions, Huffington Post | April 17, 2011
WSJ: Banks Hit for Credit Union Ills , The Wall Street Journal | March 23, 2011
In one of the broadest accusations that Wall Street helped cripple financial institutions during the crisis, the National Credit Union Administration, or NCUA, has threatened to sue several investment banks unless they refund over $50 billion of mortgage-backed securities sold to the five institutions, called wholesale credit unions.
Not Paying Tax: How Corporations Have Mastered the Art, alternet.org | February 23, 2011
Those official and theoretical tax obligations have been used to support conservatives' claims that corporations pay half or more of their profits to federal, state and local levels of government combined. However, because of loopholes, the truth is very different. more »
Barclays: £11.6bn profit, 1% tax, The Guardian | February 19, 2011
Learning To Walk: Fear, Shame And Your Underwater Mortgage, Huffington Post | February 4, 2011
Crisis Panel: Wall Street Appears To Have Violated Federal Securities Law, Huffington Post | January 28, 2011
JP Morgan Boss - Dimon - remarked recently at Davos it was time to "stop denigrating banks".
I disagree.
Were he illegally thrown out of his home by a ruthless immoral bank and communicating this wisdom while living under a plastic sheet in America's growing third world style shanty towns he and people like him might have a shred of credibility. more »
Rudolf Elmer to hand over rich and famous offshore banking secrets, The Guardian | January 16, 2011
Rudolf Elms wants to educate us with the help of Wikileaks.
Now assuming he makes it to the Frontline Club in London with the damning CDs in his sweaty palms we are going to have a ring side seat at some serious scrutiny of the mega-rich. Corruption, tax evasion, general gratuitous abuse of civilised business norms. Who knows what the coming weeks will bring.
Will he make it?
Robert Borosage is quoted in The Washington Post on Wall Street's Influence in the White House, The Washington Post | January 6, 2011
Wall Street ties complicate the politically touchy search for economic adviser
By Peter Wallsten and Perry Bacon Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, January 2, 2011; 7:32 PMPresident Obama is expected to name a new chief economic adviser as early as this week, but the months-long search process has proven difficult and politically touchy...... more »
Roger Hickey quoted in USA Today, USA Today | January 6, 2011
