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Still Seething by Leslie Boyd, lettersfromtheleft.com | September 20, 2012
The more I think about it, the madder I get. There’s my friend, Lynn, who worked in human services all her life for low pay. She’s on Medicare now and she gets Social Security. She’s not on the dole and she’s not looking for a handout. Then there’s my friend, Mike, who was injured in service to his country, and the woman he would love to marry. She has diabetes and would lose her health care if she married him. These are some of the people Mitt Romney isn’t interested in. All three of these people are better Americans than Mitt will ever be. Then there’s my son, Mike. He worked hard and paid taxes until he got sick. My son was not a bum. He was not lazy. He was terminally ill and still couldn’t get what he needed, even though he had paid into the system for 15 years. read more »Still Seething by Leslie Boyd, | September 20, 2012
The more I think about it, the madder I get. There’s my friend, Lynn, who worked in human services all her life for low pay. She’s on Medicare now and she gets Social Security. She’s not on the dole and she’s not looking for a handout. Then there’s my friend, Mike, who was injured in service to his country, and the woman he would love to marry. She has diabetes and would lose her health care if she married him. These are some of the people Mitt Romney isn’t interested in. All three of these people are better Americans than Mitt will ever be. Then there’s my son, Mike. He worked hard and paid taxes until he got sick. He didn’t have health coverage because a birth defect is a pre-existing condition, and because of that, he couldn’t get the screening tests he needed. read more »What Romney Left Behind by Paul Waldman, prospect.org | September 18, 2012
One of the common misconceptions about the presidential candidate version of Mitt Romney is that he disavowed his greatest achievement in public office, health care reform, in an attempt to appeal to his party's base. The truth is that he never actually disavowed it or said it was a failure or a mistake. What he did was tell primary voters that Romneycare was really nothing at all like Obamacare, and anyway Romneycare shouldn't be tried in any other state. His comments were utterly unconvincing, but since they were always accompanied by a thunderous denunciation of Obamacare, Republican voters were assuaged enough to let it slide. Which means that had he wanted to, Romney probably could have entered the general election making a positive case on health care beyond "Repeal Obamacare!" Instead, his entire case for competence is that he got really rich in private equity, and his entire case for compassion is that his wife seems nice. read more »Thank You, Paul Ryan by Robert Kuttner, Huffington Post | September 17, 2012
Two years ago, the Democrats handed the Republicans their two crown jewels -- Social Security and Medicare. By targeting Medicare for budget "savings" that could be used to finance what the Republicans called Obamacare, the White House gave the GOP ammunition to contend that the Democrats were taking benefits away from seniors. Now, however, Republicans have given Social Security and Medicare back to the Democrats (where they belong.) Polls show that Medicare is no longer a winner for the Republicans, and the Democrats have embraced the term, "Obamacare" as positive label. The reason, of course, is Paul Ryan. read more »Progressive Breakfast by Isaiah J. Poole, OurFuture.org | September 14, 2012
On the menu this morning MORNING MESSAGE: So Who Is It That Cares About The Deficit Anyway? Fed's Economic Booster Shot The Middle-Class Struggle For Survival Chicago Teacher Strike Update Breakfast Sides read more »Progressive Breakfast by Isaiah J. Poole, OurFuture.org | September 12, 2012
MORNING MESSAGE: When It Comes to the DoJ and Wall Street, Don't Call It "Justice" read more »No There There by James Kwak, baselinescenario.com | September 11, 2012
On the one hand, over in Romney headquarters, they can take heart from the fact that the economy continues to sputter, as evidenced by the latest jobs report. On the other hand, as the election draws near, people will only ask more questions about what President Romney would actually do. For months now, the campaign has whispered one thing to the base (e.g., “severely conservative”) while being purposefully vague to everyone else, hoping that independents will assume he is still the moderate who introduced universal health care to Massachusetts. Now that strategy is breaking down. Exhibit A is Sunday’s comical back-and-forth-and-forth-and-back on the Affordable Care Act. But the more important Exhibit B is the Romney “tax plan.” read more »Progressive Breakfast by Terrance Heath, OurFuture.org | September 11, 2012
On the menu this morning: MORNING MESSAGE: Deficit Rorschach Test: The Presidents, the Editors, and the Truth More Romney Tax Problems Dithering on Obamacare Chicago Teachers Strike GOP Polling Panic Breakfast Sides read more »Progressive Breakfast by Isaiah J. Poole, OurFuture.org | September 7, 2012
On the menu this morning MORNING MESSAGE: Obama's Claim For A New Mandate The Message And The Movement Unemployment Report Signals Reclaim The Solar Power Investment Mandate read more »Bill Clinton: Wonk-In-Chief by Ezra Klein, The Washington Post | September 6, 2012
“People ask me all the time how we delivered four surplus budgets,” former President Bill Clinton said on Wednesday night. “What new ideas did we bring? I always give a one-word answer: arithmetic.” That’s also the one-word answer to what Clinton brought to his convention speech. To a degree unusual in political rhetoric, this was a 48-minute speech about arithmetic. About math. About budgets. In that way, Clinton’s speech fit neatly into the emergent Democratic strategy to be, in this election, the party of policy. To be sure, they don’t have much of a choice. The difference between the Democratic and Republican tickets right now is the Democrats are stuck with thousands of pages of policy while the Republicans have made a strategic decision to avoid having much policy at all. read more »
The Latest
Monsanto Threatens to Sue Vermont over GMO Labelling, alternet.org | April 15, 2012
After reading Richard Eskow's article about Goldman Sachs getting a 'pat on the wrist' after committing offences that in the past could have shut them down I couldn't help but draw a link with this article about the influence Monsanto wields over the law more »
Report: Worldwide Opposition to Monsanto Growing, commondreams.org | April 5, 2012
(photo: Alexis Baden-Mayer / Millions Against Monsanto)La Via Campesina, Friends of the Earth International, and Combat Monsanto, the groups who issued more »New Study Finds Skyrocketing Increase in Autism, commondreams.org | March 30, 2012
A just released report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that children diagnosed with Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) had a skyrocketing increase of 78% compared to results from a decade ago. more »The GM Debate The US Is Not Having, publicserviceeurope.com | November 13, 2011
The submission by successive US administrations and congress to the GM Lobby, illustrated by silence and suppression of arguments against GM proliferation, is gradually being mirrored in Europe. There is life in the old democracy dog yet, but for how much longer? The EU Commission is trying to dispense with the rule of law. Something the US administration did years ago. more »
Transgenic Cotton Harbours Hidden Dangers, ipsnews.net | October 24, 2011
A disturbing report from Mexico about the out of control spread of Geneticaly Modified species into the food chain. There will be no chances left soon to take a hold of this brewing biological disaster. more »
Health Care: Another One Bites The Dust, Huffington Post | October 15, 2011
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration Friday pulled the plug on a major program in the president's signature health overhaul law – a long-term care insurance plan dogged from the beginning by doubts over its financial solvency. more »Monsanto Herbicide: Why Is Damning Evidence ignored, alternet.org | May 14, 2011
Dr. more »
Lawsuit seeks to invalidate Monsanto’s GMO patents, globalresearch.ca | April 18, 2011
At last a challenge to the Monsanto madness, its been a long time coming.....
“A new invention to poison people … is not a patentable invention.” Lowell v. Lewis, 1817
more »Argentina's Roundup Human Tragedy, i-sis.org.uk | February 5, 2011
According to the US EPA, Monsanto's weedkiller Roundup is “relatively low in toxicity, and without carcinogenic or teratogenic effects.”.
In Argentina science has proven this wrong, and a tragedy has occurred. This is especially important because of the USDA's approval of GM Roundup Ready (RR) Alfalfa for unregulated introduction to the US food chain. more »
TARP expected to cost U.S. only $25 billion, CBO says, The Washington Post | November 30, 2010
The Troubled Assets Relief Program, which was widely reviled as a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street titans, is now expected to cost the federal government a mere $25 billion - the equivalent of less than six months of emergency jobless benefits. more »
