"Golden Age for Corporate Profits" As Workers Get Whacked | Common Dreams
"As across-the-board federal budget cuts go into effect and the "real pain" predicted by economists and policy experts begins to creep into the lives of everyday people—namely US workers—investors on Wall Street are saying: "bring it on"."
March 4, 2013
Democratic Minnesota Governor Gives GOP Minority Veto Power Over Voting Rights Legislation
Democratic Minnesota Governor Gives GOP Minority Veto Power Over Voting Rights Legislation: Last November, Minnesota voters replaced Republican majorities in the state Senate and House of Representatives with new majorities from the Democratic Farm Labor Party (DFL), Minnesota’s Democratic Party. But as the popularly elected Democratic majority prepares important legislation to make it easier for Minnesotans to vote, Gov. Mark Dayton (DFL) has decided to give the [...]/p
Corporate Profits Have Risen Almost 20 Times Faster Than Workers’ Incomes Since 2008
Corporate Profits Have Risen Almost 20 Times Faster Than Workers’ Incomes Since 2008: Corporate profits hit record highs in the second half of 2012, but that prosperity hasn’t led to the creation of jobs, since America’s biggest firms are sitting on stocks of cash instead of investing them back into the economy. At the same time, wages hit record lows, and corporate earnings are rising nearly 20 times [...]/p
March 3, 2013
Even Republicans Want Progressive Economic Policies | Alternet
Even Republicans Want Progressive Economic Policies | Alternet
"Business Insider magazine recently polled a group of registered voters, asking them for their preferences on three different Congressional plans that have been floated to help the nation avoid damage from the looming sequester.
"Business Insider magazine recently polled a group of registered voters, asking them for their preferences on three different Congressional plans that have been floated to help the nation avoid damage from the looming sequester.
The poll found that when the voters didn't know which plan was whose, the policies that most voters preferred were those offered up by the Progressives Caucus in the House of Representatives."
How Corporations Score Big Profits By Limiting Access To Publicly Funded Academic Research
How Corporations Score Big Profits By Limiting Access To Publicly Funded Academic Research: Here’s how the academic publishing industry works: Academics do research (frequently supported by public funds) and submit that research to journals, often paying “$600-$2,000 to either the publisher or the academic society that owns the journal” for the privilege of publication. Then journals send the research back out to other academics to be reviewed (typically [...]/p
Who Are the Billionaires Trying to Defeat Steve Zimmer? | Common Dreams
Who Are the Billionaires Trying to Defeat Steve Zimmer? | Common Dreams
"Some of America's most powerful corporate plutocrats -- including Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, Eli Broad, and the Walton family (heirs to the Walmart fortune) -- want to take over the Los Angeles school system and Steve Zimmer, a former teacher and feisty school board member, is in their way. So they've hired Kate Anderson to get rid of him. No, she's not a hired assassin like the kind on The Sopranos. She's a lawyer and school parent who the billionaires picked to run against Zimmer. As a result, the race for the District 4 seat -- which stretches from the Westside to the West San Fernando Valley -- is ground zero in this battle over the corporate take-over of public education."
"Some of America's most powerful corporate plutocrats -- including Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, Eli Broad, and the Walton family (heirs to the Walmart fortune) -- want to take over the Los Angeles school system and Steve Zimmer, a former teacher and feisty school board member, is in their way. So they've hired Kate Anderson to get rid of him. No, she's not a hired assassin like the kind on The Sopranos. She's a lawyer and school parent who the billionaires picked to run against Zimmer. As a result, the race for the District 4 seat -- which stretches from the Westside to the West San Fernando Valley -- is ground zero in this battle over the corporate take-over of public education."
Boehner Pretends He's Not Sure if Sequester Will Cause Economic Damage
Boehner Pretends He's Not Sure if Sequester Will Cause Economic Damage
"After previously giving dire warnings about the sequester in a recent op-ed he penned for The Wall Street Journal, House Speaker John Boehner did an about face and told Meet the Press' David Gregory that he wasn't sure if it was going to hurt the economy or not and he told Gregory “I don't think anyone quite understands how it gets resolved." If he really wants to get the country out of this self-inflicted mess, there's a pretty simple way, which is to pass the bill introduced by Rep. John Conyers this week, entitled the Cancel the Sequester Act of 2013."
"After previously giving dire warnings about the sequester in a recent op-ed he penned for The Wall Street Journal, House Speaker John Boehner did an about face and told Meet the Press' David Gregory that he wasn't sure if it was going to hurt the economy or not and he told Gregory “I don't think anyone quite understands how it gets resolved." If he really wants to get the country out of this self-inflicted mess, there's a pretty simple way, which is to pass the bill introduced by Rep. John Conyers this week, entitled the Cancel the Sequester Act of 2013."
GOP’s Largest Campaign Contributor Admits To Bribing Foreign Officials
GOP’s Largest Campaign Contributor Admits To Bribing Foreign Officials: Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who spent as much as $150 million on independent expenditures to bolster Republicans in the 2012 election, has informed the Securities and Exchange Commission that his Las Vegas Sands Corporation “likely violated a federal law against bribing foreign officials.” “[T]here were likely violations of the books and records and internal controls [...]/p
Atmospheric Warming Altering Ocean Salinity And The Water Cycle
Atmospheric Warming Altering Ocean Salinity And The Water Cycle: Taking the opportunity I'm in the hospital to clear out some old unpublished posts -- JR.] Lawrence Livermore Lab News Release A clear change in salinity has been detected in the world’s oceans, signaling shifts and acceleration in the global rainfall and evaporation cycle tied directly to climate change. In a paper published … in [...]/p
Return of the Wild: Will Humans Make Way for the Greatest Conservation Experiment in Centuries? | Common Dreams
Return of the Wild: Will Humans Make Way for the Greatest Conservation Experiment in Centuries? | Common Dreams
"Making ecosystems whole. That is the aim of rewilding. The science is there: We now know that even parts of the East, once written off as untenable sites for reintroduction, are capable of supporting wolves and cougars. If given the opportunity, there is little doubt that they would continue to expand their range. The question is whether humans will allow for their return."
"Making ecosystems whole. That is the aim of rewilding. The science is there: We now know that even parts of the East, once written off as untenable sites for reintroduction, are capable of supporting wolves and cougars. If given the opportunity, there is little doubt that they would continue to expand their range. The question is whether humans will allow for their return."
Masked Cops Raid Home of Terminally Ill Medical Marijuana Patient | Alternet
Masked Cops Raid Home of Terminally Ill Medical Marijuana Patient | Alternet
"What happened to Cathy Jordan is a reminder that we need to reform our medical marijuana policies, and fast."
"What happened to Cathy Jordan is a reminder that we need to reform our medical marijuana policies, and fast."
Sorting Out Sequestration Victims
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10 Stunning Things You Should Know About the Environmental Movement -- 'A Fierce Green Fire' Film Inspires | Alternet
10 Stunning Things You Should Know About the Environmental Movement -- 'A Fierce Green Fire' Film Inspires | Alternet
"With runaway global warming threatening to annihilate climate stability and perhaps life on Earth as we know it, there's no bigger issue on humanity's crowded docket and no better time to catch up on the history of the environmental movement. So let's give thanks that writer, producer and director Mark Kitchell's A Fierce Green Fire has arrived to exhaustively school us all. Especially since the Obama administration has gone long on rhetoric but short on activism, and practically begged to be pushed into action by the American people."
"With runaway global warming threatening to annihilate climate stability and perhaps life on Earth as we know it, there's no bigger issue on humanity's crowded docket and no better time to catch up on the history of the environmental movement. So let's give thanks that writer, producer and director Mark Kitchell's A Fierce Green Fire has arrived to exhaustively school us all. Especially since the Obama administration has gone long on rhetoric but short on activism, and practically begged to be pushed into action by the American people."
March 2, 2013
How to Know When to Tax and When to Spend
How to Know When to Tax and When to Spend
"Republicans want us to cut government spending in the middle of a business cycle downturn. Or, to use the person-with-a-job analogy again, Republicans want us to move out onto the street, become homeless, and stop eating food after we lose a job, rather than use our credit cards to help us survive and get by.
"Republicans want us to cut government spending in the middle of a business cycle downturn. Or, to use the person-with-a-job analogy again, Republicans want us to move out onto the street, become homeless, and stop eating food after we lose a job, rather than use our credit cards to help us survive and get by.
Ever since Reagan, and his "government can't solve problems" mentality, Republicans have either forgotten or just ignored these common-sense Econ 101 principles that have guided our nation for hundreds of years.
It's time to return to economic sanity and basic Econ 101 principles, and make sure that this Hoover-Reagan nonsense is debunked once and for all."
The 32 Dumbest And Most Devastating Sequester Cuts
The 32 Dumbest And Most Devastating Sequester Cuts: With Congress unable to reach a deal to avert the indiscriminate spending cuts put in place in the Budget Control Act of 2011, President Obama on Friday signed an order authorizing the government to begin canceling $85 billion from federal accounts for this fiscal year. As Obama said during a press conference yesterday, “This is [...]/p
Exclusive Talk With Economist Richard Wolff: Sequester Cuts Inch Us Closer to An 'Explosion That Will Take People By Surprise'
Exclusive Talk With Economist Richard Wolff: Sequester Cuts Inch Us Closer to An 'Explosion That Will Take People By Surprise'
"Economist Dr. Richard Wolff warns of the encroaching economic tipping point, past which Americans will not be pushed and answers questions on the potential results of civil unrest. He also breaks down the latest in economic propaganda, details the immense power of the 1% to control the debate, and offers potential solutions to increase economic stability and personal freedom at the same time."
"Economist Dr. Richard Wolff warns of the encroaching economic tipping point, past which Americans will not be pushed and answers questions on the potential results of civil unrest. He also breaks down the latest in economic propaganda, details the immense power of the 1% to control the debate, and offers potential solutions to increase economic stability and personal freedom at the same time."
Private Jet as Security Write-Off? 10 Most Insane Tax Loopholes | Alternet
Private Jet as Security Write-Off? 10 Most Insane Tax Loopholes | Alternet
"For corporations and the 1 percent, tax season offers plenty of ways to dodge Uncle Sam."
"For corporations and the 1 percent, tax season offers plenty of ways to dodge Uncle Sam."
March 1, 2013
Hawkish Senators Ready Backdoor To War With Iran
Hawkish Senators Ready Backdoor To War With Iran: Two hawkish Senators want to set U.S. policy in favor of prematurely pulling the “military option” trigger against Iran, pledging American backing of absolutely any strike by Israel against Iran and its nuclear program. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in the coming days plan to unveil a new joint resolution to “strongly [...]/p
PERRspectives: Bipartisan Resolution Calls for U.S. to Support Israeli Strike on Iran
PERRspectives: Bipartisan Resolution Calls for U.S. to Support Israeli Strike on Iran
"Among the ideas most thoroughly discredited by the U.S. invasion of Iraq was the notion of "preventive war" to avert supposed future threats. Now, as the nation approaches the 10th anniversary of that disaster, abipartisan group of legislators isn't just seeking to commit the United States to another preventive war, this time against Iran. Their non-binding resolution advocates giving Israel the power to make that decision."
"Among the ideas most thoroughly discredited by the U.S. invasion of Iraq was the notion of "preventive war" to avert supposed future threats. Now, as the nation approaches the 10th anniversary of that disaster, abipartisan group of legislators isn't just seeking to commit the United States to another preventive war, this time against Iran. Their non-binding resolution advocates giving Israel the power to make that decision."
Senator Ron Johnson Puts His Inner Pig on Public Display
Senator Ron Johnson Puts His Inner Pig on Public Display
"This is the whole video, but if you go to about the 16 minute mark you'll get treated to the full version of Senator Ron Johnson's inner loathing for women, poor women in particular."
"This is the whole video, but if you go to about the 16 minute mark you'll get treated to the full version of Senator Ron Johnson's inner loathing for women, poor women in particular."
How An Anti-Choice Group Is Trying To Buy Virginia’s Governor’s Mansion
How An Anti-Choice Group Is Trying To Buy Virginia’s Governor’s Mansion: Virginia’s gubernatorial election, is eight months away, but a leading anti-choice group is already spending big money to buy the governor’s mansion for Tea Party Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R-VA). Susan B. Anthony List — an anti-abortion group that launched a program early this year to teach Republican candidates how to talk about rape without [...]/p
GOP Leaders Cling To Absurd Position That The Debate On Taxes ‘Is Over’
GOP Leaders Cling To Absurd Position That The Debate On Taxes ‘Is Over’: Congressional leaders went to the White House on Friday in a last-ditch effort to avert the automatic “sequester” budget cuts that will soon go into effect. After the meeting, Republican leaders Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and John Boehner (R-OH) emerged to reemphasize that the GOP will not consider any new revenues in a deal to avert [...]/p
USDA Considers Reintroducing Horse Slaughter to US | Common Dreams
USDA Considers Reintroducing Horse Slaughter to US | Common Dreams
"Animal rights advocates are voicing outrage over attempts to push the US Department of Agriculture to expand the slaughtering of horses within the United States. "
"Animal rights advocates are voicing outrage over attempts to push the US Department of Agriculture to expand the slaughtering of horses within the United States. "
Bradley Manning: Public Has Right To Know About War Crimes
Bradley Manning: Public Has Right To Know About War Crimes
"Michael Ratner, American attorney for Julian Assange, reports he was in the courtroom and witnessed Manning speak with confidence and intelligence as he detailed the outrages that drove him to upload the documents to Wikileaks"
"Michael Ratner, American attorney for Julian Assange, reports he was in the courtroom and witnessed Manning speak with confidence and intelligence as he detailed the outrages that drove him to upload the documents to Wikileaks"
The Federal Government Robbed 19 Million Meals From Senior Citizens | Alternet
The Federal Government Robbed 19 Million Meals From Senior Citizens | Alternet
"Across-the-board budget cuts scheduled to kick in today will eliminate 19 million meals for low-income seniors, according to the Meals on Wheels Association of America. In other words, the federal government’s incompetence will come at the cost of senior citizens nutritional wellbeing."
"Across-the-board budget cuts scheduled to kick in today will eliminate 19 million meals for low-income seniors, according to the Meals on Wheels Association of America. In other words, the federal government’s incompetence will come at the cost of senior citizens nutritional wellbeing."
In A Bucket of Hurt: The Pain Doctors And Gov. Rick Perry
In A Bucket of Hurt: The Pain Doctors And Gov. Rick Perry
"Here’s how the story goes:
"Here’s how the story goes:
There’s two brothers named Kemel and Mark Cereceda who run a pain clinic in Hialeah, Florida. They wanted to influence legislation to keep their chiropractic pain relief clinic in the business of making a boatload of money."
4 Ways the Sequester Worsens the Inequality that Is Killing the Economy | Alternet
4 Ways the Sequester Worsens the Inequality that Is Killing the Economy | Alternet
"Welcome to the vast inane. Today the “sequester” -- mindless, across-the-board cuts of military and domestic spending designed to be abhorrent -- will go into effect. Republicans claimed a “big victory” as House Speaker John Boehner shut down any negotiations and sent the House home. The cuts will cost jobs and add to the headwinds facing the economy. The sequester will be followed by operatic melodrama over keeping the government open after the end of March and keeping the government from defaulting on its debt beginning in the middle of May.
"Welcome to the vast inane. Today the “sequester” -- mindless, across-the-board cuts of military and domestic spending designed to be abhorrent -- will go into effect. Republicans claimed a “big victory” as House Speaker John Boehner shut down any negotiations and sent the House home. The cuts will cost jobs and add to the headwinds facing the economy. The sequester will be followed by operatic melodrama over keeping the government open after the end of March and keeping the government from defaulting on its debt beginning in the middle of May.
The deficit is falling faster than any time since the demobilization after World War II, Americans are afflicted with mass unemployment and falling wages, but Washington will be traveling into the vast inane for the foreseeable future."
Contrary To GOP Rhetoric, Low-Tax States Have Worse Economic Growth
Contrary To GOP Rhetoric, Low-Tax States Have Worse Economic Growth: Republicans love to claim that low-tax states such as Texas enjoy a disproportionate amount of economic success, while higher-tax states like California are economic basket cases. Republican governors in several states are using that rationale to propose gutting their state income taxes (and, in many instances, replacing them with regressive sales taxes). But a new [...]/p
ALEC Sham Chemical Disclosure Model Tucked Into Illinois Fracking Bill | Common Dreams
ALEC Sham Chemical Disclosure Model Tucked Into Illinois Fracking Bill | Common Dreams
"Illinois is the next state on the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)'s target list for putting the oil industry's interests ahead of the public interest."
"Illinois is the next state on the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)'s target list for putting the oil industry's interests ahead of the public interest."
Bradley Manning: The Face of Heroism | Common Dreams
Bradley Manning: The Face of Heroism | Common Dreams
"Heroism is a slippery and ambiguous concept. But whatever it means, it is embodied by Bradley Manning and the acts which he unflinchingly acknowledged today he chose to undertake. The combination of extreme government secrecy, a supine media (see the prior two columns), and a disgracefully subservient judiciary means that the only way we really learn about what our government does is when the Daniel Ellsbergs - and Bradley Mannings - of the world risk their own personal interest and liberty to alert us. Daniel Ellberg is now widely viewed as heroic and noble, and Bradley Manning (as Ellsberg himself hasrepeatedly said) merits that praise and gratitude every bit as much."
"Heroism is a slippery and ambiguous concept. But whatever it means, it is embodied by Bradley Manning and the acts which he unflinchingly acknowledged today he chose to undertake. The combination of extreme government secrecy, a supine media (see the prior two columns), and a disgracefully subservient judiciary means that the only way we really learn about what our government does is when the Daniel Ellsbergs - and Bradley Mannings - of the world risk their own personal interest and liberty to alert us. Daniel Ellberg is now widely viewed as heroic and noble, and Bradley Manning (as Ellsberg himself hasrepeatedly said) merits that praise and gratitude every bit as much."
History Will Damn the Persecutors of Bradley Manning | Common Dreams
History Will Damn the Persecutors of Bradley Manning | Common Dreams
"History will damn the persecutors of Bradley Manning. Big powers who hide crimes away from their own people – while claiming to act in their name, of course – fear few more than those determined to hold them to account."
"History will damn the persecutors of Bradley Manning. Big powers who hide crimes away from their own people – while claiming to act in their name, of course – fear few more than those determined to hold them to account."
All Aboard: Why Now Is The Time For Federal Investment In Railroads
All Aboard: Why Now Is The Time For Federal Investment In Railroads: Amtrak served a record 31.2 million customers in 2012, a 55 percent increase since 1997 that makes it America’s fastest-growing method of transportation, according to a new study from the Brookings-Rockefeller Project on State and Metropolitan Innovation. Nearly all of the growth took place on Amtrak’s shorter routes, especially in the Northeast Corridor that connects [...]/p
Happy 100th Birthday, Big Oil Tax Breaks
Happy 100th Birthday, Big Oil Tax Breaks: Automatic across-the-board budget cuts will take hold on Friday, affecting job growth, state education programs, environmental agencies, and women’s health programs. The sequester actually shares an important anniversary — with Big Oil tax breaks. It is not as well-known a date, but one type of deduction, the percentage depletion allowance, celebrates its 100-year anniversary today. [...]/p
VIDEO: How The GOP Constantly Pretends Spending Cuts Haven’t Happened
VIDEO: How The GOP Constantly Pretends Spending Cuts Haven’t Happened: Barring a miracle of bipartisan cooperation over the next 12 hours, the sequester — a series of across-the-board spending cuts — will kick in tonight. Part of the Budget Control Act of 2011, the sequester will likely shave 700,000 jobs and 0.6 percent worth of growth off the economy. Its cuts were designed to be [...]/p
How the Economic Quacks Promoting Austerity Will Increase the Deficit | Alternet
How the Economic Quacks Promoting Austerity Will Increase the Deficit | Alternet
"There isn’t, in fact, a “long-term deficit problem.” So long as interest rates stay below the growth rate, as they are, debt-to-GDP levels eventually stabilize and even decline. But if we start reintroducing cutbacks just as the US economy is beginning to show faltering signs of recovery, all of the recent gains on the budget deficit will go by the wayside. Why? Because fiscal austerity deflates economic activity, causing tax revenues to plunge and social welfare payments – unemployment insurance, welfare, food stamps – to explode. The perverse impact, then, is that deficits get larger – precisely the opposite of what the “austerian” brigade desires, but which is happening in earnest in places like Greece and Spain."
"There isn’t, in fact, a “long-term deficit problem.” So long as interest rates stay below the growth rate, as they are, debt-to-GDP levels eventually stabilize and even decline. But if we start reintroducing cutbacks just as the US economy is beginning to show faltering signs of recovery, all of the recent gains on the budget deficit will go by the wayside. Why? Because fiscal austerity deflates economic activity, causing tax revenues to plunge and social welfare payments – unemployment insurance, welfare, food stamps – to explode. The perverse impact, then, is that deficits get larger – precisely the opposite of what the “austerian” brigade desires, but which is happening in earnest in places like Greece and Spain."
The Sequester and the Tea Party Plot | Common Dreams
The Sequester and the Tea Party Plot | Common Dreams
"Imagine a plot to undermine the government of the United States, to destroy much of its capacity to do the public’s business, and to sow distrust among the population. Imagine further that the plotters infiltrate Congress and state governments, reshape their districts to give them disproportionate influence in Washington, and use the media to spread big lies about the government."
"Imagine a plot to undermine the government of the United States, to destroy much of its capacity to do the public’s business, and to sow distrust among the population. Imagine further that the plotters infiltrate Congress and state governments, reshape their districts to give them disproportionate influence in Washington, and use the media to spread big lies about the government."
Media Fails, Tea Party Wins as "Sequestration" Begins | Common Dreams
Media Fails, Tea Party Wins as "Sequestration" Begins | Common Dreams
"Not reserving their ire for politicians alone, critics put much of the blame for the current state of affairs squarely at the door of the media, who busily made work of the "blame game" in Washington but generally failed to recognize the larger context within which the sequestration battle was occurring."
"Not reserving their ire for politicians alone, critics put much of the blame for the current state of affairs squarely at the door of the media, who busily made work of the "blame game" in Washington but generally failed to recognize the larger context within which the sequestration battle was occurring."
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