Archive
Verizons Fee And Attacks On Workers Are Cut From Same Cloth Of Corporate Greed
You may have heard that Verizon is going to charge customers a $2 "convenience fee" to pay their bills online. You may not have heard that Verizon is asking its workers to take cuts in their pensions, sick pay, health insurance, even disability for employees injured...
War Is Over Ending and Paying For the Iraq War
I heard one of my favorite holiday songs on the radio yesterday — John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." I've always loved it, but this year it holds special meaning for me — especially the children of the Harlem Community Choir singing "War is over, if you want...
Washington Post Joins Wall Street Sneak Attack On Social Security
At the end of the year the Washington Post published as "news" a story, "Support grows for tackling nation's debt" that pushed the idea of "a special commission to make the tough decisions that will be required to dig the nation out of debt" and "rein in skyrocketing...
Another Washington Post Social Security Mistake
See if you can spot the big mistake (giving them the benefit of the doubt) in this Washington Post story: Payroll tax cut raises worries about Social Security’s future funding: This year, the Social Security system projects that it will pay out $46 billion more in...
Happy New Year 2001 (this is not a typo)
As New Year's Day approaches, here's wishing you a Happy New Year 2001! That's right, 2001. With wages stuck at 2001 levels, it's been a lost decade for working families.
Its Boxing Day
For a ten-year stretch in my life I was fortunate to spend every Christmas in Jamaica. In Jamaica, Christmas is a far more modest affair than it is here in the US. For sure, during the days leading up to “the Christmas,” the markets are packed with shoppers and the...
China Currency Manipulation - From Enough Is Enough to Not Enough To Certify
In November President Obama said, "enough is enough" to China's currency manipulations. Today the Treasury Department said it hasn't seen enough to call China a currency manipulator. This is happening because certain powerful interests are benefiting tremendously and...
Notable Death of the Year RIP Austerity Economics 1921-2011
"Smokestack Lightnin'," with Hubert Sumlin backing Howlin' Wolf in 1964 This is the time of year when we're reminded of all the famous people who died over the last twelve months, a list which includes two of my favorite guitar players (Hubert Sumlin and Cornell...
Republicans Try to Convert America into Pottersville
In the iconic Christmas film, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” an angel offers the beleaguered main character, George Bailey, the stark choice between a hometown named for a cruel banker or one created by and for the middle class. The banker’s town, Pottersville, is filled...
What Next In The Fight Over Who Our Economy Is For
Who is our economy for, anyway? In the United States We, the People are supposedly in charge and our country and economy are supposed to be managed for the public good. But that isn't how things have been working out, is it? Let's take a quick look at America over the...
