Archive
Another Trade Scam - "Duty Evasion"
"Duty evasion" is when foreign competitors undermine American producers using fraudulent schemes to avoid paying the duties they owe. The foreign companies get a competitive advantage from lower prices that come from avoiding duties imposed for "dumping" by selling...
"So Be It" Sequesteration: Austerity By Another Name
Reports of austerity's demise are greatly exaggerated. Yes, austerity has been on the ropes recently, since it was revealed the whole thing was based on a sloppy spreadsheet by a couple of academic austerians. Before that the IMF denounced and even apologized for...
Ending Too Big to Fail
Last week, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and David Vitter (R-LA) introduced the first bipartisan legislation aimed directly at putting an end to "too big to fail" financial institutions and preventing future bailouts of America’s behemoth banks.
Earth to Washington: Repeal the Sequester
Economic forecasters exist to make astrologers look good. Most had forecast growth of at least 3 percent (on an annualized basis) in the first quarter. But we learned this Monday morning (in the Commerce Department’s report) it grew only 2.5 percent. That’s better...
Deficit Under Control. Cuts Hurt Economy And Jobs. Republicans Demand More Cuts Anyway.
All of the original justifications for budget cuts have gone away. The sequester is hurting the economy and keeping unemployment high. But instead Republicans plan to double down on cuts. Apparently their real game is to force high unemployment and desperation for 99%...
West Blast Obliterates Safety Lie
You are not safe. Not at work. Not at home in your bed. The biggest threat is not terrorism. It’s corporate negligence leading to a blast or collapse or release of toxic chemicals. Terrorism killed 3,000 Americans on 9-11. But in the dozen years since then, terrorists...
Political Corruption and the "Free Trade" Racket
In polite circles in the United States' support for free trade is a bit like proper bathing habits. It is taken for granted. Only the hopelessly crude and unwashed would not support free trade. There is some ground for this attitude. Certainly the United States has...
From a Sloppy Spreadsheet, an Eternal Truth
If we let wealth continue to concentrate — and corrupt every element of our contemporary societies — we'll all end up crying ‘96 tears.’ Aging baby boomers may remember, from way back in 1966, a one-hit-wonder rock band that sported an all-time great of a name. That...
Progressive Breakfast
Sequester Nation For All (Except Air Travelers) Sequester slashes CA jobless aid. KGO-TV: "Federal unemployment benefits will be cut by 18 percent due to the federal sequester spending cuts that Congress allowed to automatically kick in to reduce the deficit ... The...
Sequester Closes Cancer Clinic Doors, Congress Does Nothing
Affluent business flyers inconvenienced by delays = national emergency that Congress immediately fixes. Cancer clinics closing = Congress does squat, goes home. This is just one more story of our corrupt times. A continuing seriesRead the full series Last week the...
