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Digging Holes at CPAC by Terrance Heath, OurFuture.org | February 9, 2012
I knew it was going to be a good day when the first thing I saw at CPAC was Herman Cain's bus. read more »America’s Pro-Choice Majority Speaks Out by Amy Goodman, truthdig.com | February 9, 2012
The leadership of the Catholic Church has launched what amounts to a holy war against President Barack Obama. Archbishop Timothy Dolan appealed to church members, “Let your elected leaders know that you want religious liberty and rights of conscience restored and that you want the administration’s contraceptive mandate rescinded,” he said. Obama is now under pressure to reverse a health-care regulation that requires Catholic hospitals and universities, like all employers, to provide contraception to insured women covered by their health plans. Bill Donohue of the Catholic League said, “This is going to be fought out with lawsuits, with court decisions, and, dare I say it, maybe even in the streets.” In the wake of the successful pushback against the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure’s decision to defund Planned Parenthood, the Obama administration should listen to the majority of Americans: The United States, including Catholics, is strongly pro-choice. read more »Moving To A Post-Racial Objectivism by David Atkins, digbysblog.blogspot.com | February 9, 2012
It's a well-documented fact of history that for the past half-century at least, conservatives have used race resentment as a way of cutting the safety net in order to further enrich the already well-to-do. It's been a remarkably successful tactic, and one that is still being used with frequency to this day. One of the keys to the race-baiting attack has been to take the social malaise that develops in economically depressed communities and attribute that malaise to some in-born defect of the people of the communities themselves. But that program is now becoming a victim of its own success. As economic libertarianism has dragged down middle-class wages and benefits, suddenly the social malaise that has long gripped minority communities is starting to make itself felt across the entirety of America, including among working-class whites. read more »The GOP’s New Push To Defang The CFPB by Suzy Khimm, The Washington Post | February 9, 2012
Republicans couldn’t stop President Obama from installing Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But they hope they can rein the bureau in by passing legislation. The House GOP is now moving forward with bills that would remove the CFPB director from overseeing the Federal Deposit Insurance Company and allow Congress to directly control its funding every year. The bills are DOA in the Democrat-controlled Senate. But the GOP’s new bills provide a clear guide to what is likely to happen to the CFPB if Republicans take full control of Congress and/or the White House. read more »Santorum’s Backwardness by Matthew Rothschild, The Progressive | February 9, 2012
What a weird Tuesday it was, with Rick Santorum winning three contests on the same day that California’s Prop 8 was overturned. Santorum’s politics are yesterday. Gay marriage is today and tomorrow. But don’t tell the Republicans that. Santorum now seems to be the last hope of the anti-Romney crowd, and what an unlikely candidate he is. After all, he got trounced when he ran for reelection as a Pennsylvania Senator back in 2006. And for years, he’s been an object of ridicule for his primitive beliefs on sex and privacy. If Republicans want to lurch this far to the right, they can have him, but I’ve got to believe that a majority of voters will reject Santorum’s backwardness. read more »Sam Brownback's Anti-Poor Agenda by Abby Rapoport, prospect.org | February 9, 2012
The GOP presidential primary has offered some odd debates on who cares about the "very poor" and whether there should be a "safety net" or a "trampoline" to help people get out of poverty. Meanwhile, in Kansas, it seems Governor Sam Brownback is hoping to dig a bigger hole for the poor fall into. Between his tax plans and his approaches to school funding, Brownback's agenda overtly boosts the wealthy and makes things harder for the poor. While many liberals speculate this to be a secret goal, Brownback is hardly making a secret of his agenda. read more »Wisconsin Stars at CPAC by Matthew Rothschild, The Progressive | February 9, 2012
This week, conservatives will be gathering in Washington, D.C., to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Dubbed “Mardi Gras for the Right” by one rightwing reporter, the three-day festival “celebrates everything conservatives hold dear, including free-market capitalism.” Conservatives hold Wisconsin dear, as two Republican Badgers are giving keynote speeches. Representative Paul Ryan from Janesville takes the stage Thursday night, while Governor Scott Walker addresses the crowd on Friday night. read more »Put A Ring On It: The Economics of Equality by Terrance Heath, OurFuture.org | February 9, 2012
In my previous post, I wrote that I'm likely to hear an old favorite conservative talking point repeated over and over again while I'm at CPAC: Married cures poverty, economic inequality, and just about any other economic complaint you can name — especially for black folks. The 9th circuit court's ruling that California's Proposition 8 — which prohibited same-sex marriage in the state — is unconstitutional guarantees I'll hear a lot about same-sex marriage while I'm at CPAC. What I won't hear at CPAC, besides any specific plans for job creation, is how declining marriage rates are not to blame for economic decline, but economic decline is really to blame for declining marriage rates. I won't hear that the best way to increase marriage rates is improve Americans' economic prospects by growing the economy and putting people back to work. I probably also won't hear that marriage would actually improve the economic standings of one group of Americans: gay couples. read more »Put A Ring On It: The Economics of Marriage by Terrance Heath, OurFuture.org | February 8, 2012
"You gotta have a J-O-B, if you wanna be with me." - Gwen Guthrie, "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But The Rent" I'm off to cover CPAC tomorrow, where — in light of a federal court ruling California's Proposition 8 unconstitutional — I'm likely to hear a favorite conservative talking point repeated: Marriage cures poverty, unemployment, and another economic problem. Ask any conservative, and they'll tell you as much — even though that particular talking point has no basis in reality. read more »Shellacked, Mitt Fights Back by Terrance Heath, OurFuture.org | February 8, 2012
Funny how things change. When Herman Cain and Rick Perry imploded in one week last November, Jon Stewart called Mitt Romney "the luckiest motherfudger on Earth." That was before last night's "shellacking," when Rick Santorum trounced Romney in Minnessota, Missouri, and Colorado — three states that Romney won in 2008. Whupped by the same guy who snatched away his Iowa caucus victory, it safe to say Romney is no longer "the luckiest motherfudger on Earth." That title may pass to another 2012 presidential candidate. To his credit, Romney isn't taking this latest humiliation lying down. He's hitting Santorum with the "Washington Insider" label — and it's likely to stick. read more »
The Latest
On the Trail of Mortgage Fraud, The New York Times | January 17, 2012
Summary:When is a crime not a crime?
When criminality subverts the system, challenges the system, becomes the system. From the Kleptocrats' point of view it is the systematic breakdown of each and every law which gets in their way; preventing the ascent to power of their enhanced moral values.
The Kleptocrats are really America's third political party.
When is a crime not a crime?
When criminality subverts the system, challenges the system, becomes the system. From the Kleptocrats' point of view it is the systematic breakdown of each and every law which gets in their way; preventing the ascent to power of their enhanced moral values.
The Kleptocrats are really America's third political party.
Massive Fraud: Watchdog critical of SEC hedge fund probe, Marketwatch | December 1, 2011
Summary:OK America, your legal system has been trashed. Your constitution has been trashed. Whats next?
"WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Securities and Exchange Commission’s watchdog released a report Wednesday examining an anonymous tip explaining that agency staffers discovered a “massive fraud” by a hedge fund manager and never pursued it. "
OK America, your legal system has been trashed. Your constitution has been trashed. Whats next?
"WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Securities and Exchange Commission’s watchdog released a report Wednesday examining an anonymous tip explaining that agency staffers discovered a “massive fraud” by a hedge fund manager and never pursued it. "
The GM Debate The US Is Not Having, publicserviceeurope.com | November 13, 2011
Summary:The contamination of Honey by Genetically Modified material without legal authorisation is a case study in the dysfunctional, undemocratic disaster EU Governance has become.
In this article from Public Service Europe you see the fracture between the European Commission and the rule of law. It is nothing laess than the breakdown of democratic con
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 »
Regulators Investigating MF Global for Missing Money, dealbook.nytimes.com | November 1, 2011
Summary:By BEN PROTESS, MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED and SUSANNE CRAIG
Federal regulators have discovered that hundreds of millions of dollars in customer money has gone missing from MF Global in recent days, prompting an investigation into the brokerage firm, which is run by Jon S. Corzine, the former New Jersey governor, several people briefed on the matter
By BEN PROTESS, MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED and SUSANNE CRAIG more »
GM crops promote superweeds, food insecurity and pesticides, say NGOs, The Guardian | October 19, 2011
Summary:The so-called miracle crops, which were first sold in the US about 20 years ago and which are now grown in 29 countries on about 1.5bn hectares (3.7bn acres) of land, have been billed as potential solutions to food crises, climate change and soil erosion, but the assessment finds that they have not lived up to their promises.
The so-called miracle crops, which were first sold in the US about 20 years ago and which are now grown in 29 countries on about 1.5bn hectares (3.7bn acres) of land, have been billed as potential solutions to food crises, climate change and soil erosion, but the assessment finds that they have not lived up to their promises.
Health Care: Another One Bites The Dust, Huffington Post | October 15, 2011
Summary:
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.
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 »Frank Lindh: America's barbaric treatment of my son John Walker Lindh, The Guardian | July 10, 2011
Whistleblower Blew the Lid Off Wachovia-Drug Cartel Money Laundering , alternet.org | June 12, 2011
Summary:It wasn't long after taking the job that he discovered that his own employer, one of America's leading banks, was a major player in aiding the "bloodthirsty" Mexico drug cartels to launder billions of dollars in drug money through Wachovia banks. Woods traced and identified a "number of suspicious transactions" related to Mexico-based Casa de Camb
Source URL:From the Wall St hall of assholes...
Apart from Goldman Sachs "Doing the Work Of God" by creating bad financial products then betting against them nothing epitomises the sickening unaccountable nature of the US banks AND the negligent ineffective US government than this hideous truth. It is a relationship abusive to its own citizens and a betrayal of them. more »
Bankers Blowing Bubbles in Basel: Vampires Lobby Congress and World, The Guardian | June 6, 2011
Summary:The Volcker rule, named for its leading proponent, former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, is intended to limit big banks’ speculative trading in proprietary derivatives and stocks. But investment banks continue to lobby hard against its effective implementation.
The Volcker rule, named for its leading proponent, former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, is intended to limit big banks’ speculative trading in proprietary derivatives and stocks. But investment banks continue to lobby hard against its effective implementation.
Buying and Operating Cost Of 2,443 F35s is estimated to be $1.3 trillion, nextbigfuture.com | May 21, 2011
Summary:The words Millions and Billions and Trillions are bandied around by office bound politicians and media commentators with such an abstract detachment the sheer scale and meaning of what they say is easily lost on ordinairy people who budget in the tens and hundreds from day to day.
Just how many unnecessary war machines, how much corruption
The words Millions and Billions and Trillions are bandied around by office bound politicians and media commentators with such an abstract detachment the sheer scale and meaning of what they say is easily lost on ordinary people who budget in more »
