Archive
Will The Supreme Court Repeal The Gay Tax?
I was chatting with my neighbor this weekend, as we watched our children playing together, she brought up the subject of the Supreme Court hearing oral arguments for and against marriage equality today. We discussed the odds that the court will ultimately overturn the...
Cyprus Has the Global Money Elite's Fingerprints All Over It
The debacle in Cyprus is far from over, but it's already taught us some very important lessons. We've seen, for example, that the world's financial leaders insist on clinging to the principles of austerity economics even after they've failed over and over again. They...
Senate Kicks the "Chained CPI" to the Curb (But Leaves the Back Door Open)
Last week the Senate passed the Sanders-Harkin-Hirono Amendment which opposed the Social Security cut and tax increase known as the “chained CPI.” That's a smart move, and a victory for the public. It's also very timely, since the "chained CPI" has repeatedly been...
JPMorgan Gets an Award for London Whale Fiasco; Will Schneiderman Harpoon the Corruption?
A JPMorgan Chase employee stepped onstage at a black-tie gala on Wall Street last week to accept a “best crisis management” award given by an investor relations magazine. The bank, which was recently the subject of a U.S. Senate investigative hearing and an ongoing...
The Democratic Party’s Anti-Democratic Education Policy
This post is republished from the Education Opportunity Network, a new online publication edited by Jeff Bryant. Chicago, the city famous for "big shoulders," has a big mouth, too. Spurred by an alarming level of school building closures – 61 in all – mandated by...
Bank on Being Bilked
It’s hard to believe considering what happened in 2008 on Wall Street and in Washington, but banking is built on trust. A worker hands his hard-earned dollars to a teller and trusts the money will be deposited and available for withdrawal when needed. Despite the...
Reagan Already Did The "Grand Bargain" (And No One Cared)
Today, The Week published my essay "Why Obama's Legacy Doesn't Need a Grand Bargain." While austerity ideologues like Alan Simpson are insisting that President needs a "grand bargain" -- swapping entitlement reform for tax reform -- to have a great historical legacy,...
Will The Sequester Doom Obama's Agenda?
With apologies to Victor Hugo, apparently nothing in Washington is as powerful as a bad idea whose time has come — or at least, a bad idea no one in Washington has the political will or ability to stop. The sequester is one such idea. Born from the ashes of the...
Lesson From Cyprus: Watch Your Bank
There is a lesson from the Cyprus situation: If you are a large depositor you need to watch your bank. You can’t just assume someone will bail out the banks — and you. The big banks have been able to keep governments from reigning them in, while getting governments to bail them out. That game is over.
Some Bailouts Seldom Ever Get Noticed
All across Corporate America, top execs are feathering their own nests at the expense of their workers. The French seem to have a better idea.
