You Aren’t Subsidizing Just Bankers

No, you certainly aren’t. You’re also making it possible (and many of you are happy to do it) for the rich to enjoy bounties unheard of even in the waning days of the 19th century.

How are you doing it? A lot of different ways. The first way is the easiest one to identify; by not taxing the ultrarich, you’re 100% certain to pay their share of the tax burden, and then some, by financing interest on debts that never would have been run up if we had the same taxation rates in place now that we had in 1977.

You are, plain and simple, paying MORE of your income in taxes than the average billionaire does, percentage-wise. Let’s see how you’re doing it.

The 400 wealthiest Americans have seen their annual incomes skyrocket over the last two decades while their tax rates have decreased dramatically, according to newly released data from the Internal Revenue Service. In fact, between 1992 to 2007, the annual incomes of this tiny club of über-rich increased seven-fold to a whopping $345 million on average, while their effective tax rate dropped by more than one-third from a 1995 peak of nearly 30%, the data shows.

The new IRS data, which represents further evidence of the growing chasm between the super-wealthy and the rest of taxpayers, was first reported by David Cay Johnston, a tax expert and Pulitzer-Prize winning former reporter for The New York Times, in an article for TaxAnalysts.

“This just-disclosed data shows that government policy is concentrating incomes at the very top and steadily lowering their tax burden, thus shifting it on to Americans who in a lifetime don’t make what these people make in a week,” Johnston told DailyFinance.

Chuck Marr, director of federal tax policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told Bloomberg that the new data highlights “two long-term trends: That income at the very top has exploded and their taxes have been cut dramatically.”

Between 1992 to 2007, the last year included in the data, the income of the 400 richest Americans rose 637% to the average $345 million mark. During that same period, their effective tax rate declined by over one-third, from a peak tax rate of nearly 30% to 16.6%. Meanwhile, their share of all adjusted gross income increased from 0.52% to 1.59% over that same period. In other words, in a nation of over 300 million people, the 400 richest Americans accounted for nearly 1.6% of all income earned in 2007.

Bill Ahern of the Tax Foundation, which pushes for lower taxes, said the 2007 data — taken during the final year of the last boom — doesn’t accurately gauge the situation in 2010, nearly two years into a crippling recession. “In a good year like 2007, it’s not surprising to see that the owners and managers of the nation’s largest firms made a fortune,” Ahern told Bloomberg. “Notice that two-thirds of their 2007 income was in capital gains, which have dropped like a rock since then.”

But Johnston says the new data belie recent reports that the super-rich have become “poorer.” Johnston says their incomes have likely decreased since 2007 thanks to the financial crisis and recession. But he disputes that these people, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, have become “poorer.”

Just 15 years ago, the 400 richest Americans earned an average of just over $50 million and had an effective tax rate of about 30%. So while the incomes of the 400 richest have increased by seven-fold over that period, their effective tax rate has been cut by over one-third.

Johnston said decreasing share of taxes paid by the ultra-rich has been driven by government polices that are concentrating wealth at the very top of the income scale. Dating back to the administration of Bill Clinton, Congress has lowered tax rates on the extremely wealthy several times.

“Bill Clinton cut these people’s tax rates 8% and Bush added another 5.5% decrease,” Johnston said. Most of the income increases for the super-rich came from cuts in the capital gains tax, he said. Prior to the tax cuts put in place by former President George W. Bush, the tax rate for top 400 was about 22%. Since those tax cuts, their rate to 16.6% in 2007.

Capital gains — profits made from investments — represented “66.3% of 2007 income for the top 400, up from 62.8% in 2006 and 36.1% in 1992,” Johnston reported. Since 1992, “the bottom 90% of Americans have seen their incomes rise by 13% in 2009 dollars, compared with an increase of 399% for the top 400.”

“The annual top 400 report was first made public by the Clinton administration, but the George W. Bush administration shut down access to the report,” Johnston wrote. “Its release was resumed a year ago when President Obama took office.”

Isn’t that nice? And the Rushpubliscums all cry about Bubba, after all that he did for THEM.

In all seriousness…. you see the problem here. The “teabagger” idiots with their misspelled signs crying about taxes are guaranteeing themselves even MORE taxes, in an effort to be “fair” to the ultrarich, who have already been riding us till we have saddle sores. This system is insane, unsustainable, and absolutely WILL lead to the disintegration of this country-if not through violence, then through Government implosion. The apologists who talk about how the rich “pay more” in taxes than anyone else never want to talk about percentages, or about the fact that the wealth has all gone to the top, which means about the only people left who actually CAN pay anything in taxes are the rich, who pay more of a pittance every year.

And what have we gotten from that, by the way? Chimpy said the rich would just invest like hell in Uhmuhricuh. Have they? Yeah, you know the answer-they have invested heavily in the sweatshops of Asia, while putting American jobs through a meat grinder. The stupidity of “all wealth to the rich” as an economic policy has been proven over and over again, but damned if humanity isn’t doomed to make the same idiotic mistakes, over and over again. The corporatocracy that exists here now is of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich, and I see very little evidence that the present President actually wants to do anything about it.

Rushpubliscums like to talk about the upcoming collapse of the Social Security system. Do you know WHY the system is going to collapse? Amazingly enough, it isn’t because of that old Rushpubliscum tale about GUBMINT running it into the ground. The truth is an unpleasant one for Rushpubliscums, but someone needs to say it, and not just me. The fact of the matter is that the surpluses run up in Social Security over the last 30 years have been basically stolen by the Federal Government to try to paper over the budgetary holes left by the tax giveaways for the rich. You and I have basically given up our retirements so Paris Hilton can party freer than ever.

Clearly, this country is going to have to return to a tax policy that looked a lot like the one in place when that oft-maligned Jimmy Carter was in office. If we do this now, then maybe foreigners watching our economy will stop dumping our debt, our budgetary situation can stabilize, and we can actually have a future. Or, we can do what a lot of people say they are going to do, and vote more Rushpubliscums back into office, which will guarantee both national collapse and the death of the Social Security system. That really isn’t an option for us anymore, but…. neither is keeping the corporatist dems in office. We are in desperate need of someone, whatever his or her ideological stripe may be, that will approach the budget like a realist, level out the taxation system, and save the country. Such people exist, but of course they’ll be drowned out by the idiots of our right wing and their MSM handmaidens, in spite of the sure collapse of our country.

Why would they do that, knowing from the history of the world that top-heavy societies like ours always collapse? Because greed makes people stupid, and we have a whole lot of stupid people in positions of power in this country. They won’t change until the lynch mob comes for them, because they NEVER change until the torches and pitchforks show up. They have to be forced into change.

THAT would be the kind of “change you can believe in.” Just don’t expect to see it come from above. It will almost have to come from below.

Crossposted at Reconstitution2.0

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Show a Spine-Pick Up Support

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Shoulda Let Ben Go

One of the reasons I shake my head in disgust at the idiotic “teabaggers” is that so many of them are crying about SOCIALISM!!! Every time the Government proposes anything, a gaggle of them are rounded up by Dick Armey and deployed to whatever venue Armey wants them in to cry about the SOCIALIST President and his SOCIALISM agenda.

Here’s the thing, you ignorant fucking cretins; there’s been a very visible socialism practiced in this country for the better part of the last 30 years: socialism for the rich. Government policies, especially under the moronic monkey, have been set up to transfer as much wealth to the rich as the Government can help the rich round up. Thanks to these de facto socialist policies, a few billionaires own most of the damn country-and they’re stealing even MORE of it while you idiots sit around misspelling your signs, waiting for Dick Armey to tell you where to go next.

The poster boy for this socialism is none other then Ben Bernanke, who was basically given carte blanch by BUSH to throw as much taxpayer money as he could get his hands on to the banker/gamblers who’d blown as much depositor money as they could get THEIR hands on. In that regard, Bernanke was highly successful, scaring the Congress with his “too big to fail” tales into allowing him to rifle the American taxpayer’s pockets at will. There is no question, of course, about whether or not Ben did a good job; the fatcat bankers padding their salaries with bonuses they rewarded themselves for being so incompetent is all the proof you need of just how successful Ben has been. Hell, they’ve even got the stones to piss and moan about proposed new regulations of their activities, less than 2 years after they lost everything they laid down at the damn betting window!

I believed then, and I believe now, that bailing out the bankers was a mistake. They aren’t lending any money, the economy is still nosediving, and taxpayers are still going to lose a bundle on the bailouts without getting anything for the economy in return. It would have been better to find a way to insulate depositors while taking the shirts off the backs of these greedy morons, but our Government doesn’t work that way. Instead, as always, we lost OUR shirts.

While Bernanke couldn’t have rigged the game entirely on his own, he is a fitting symbol of everything that’s gone wrong in the finance system, and the President could have made an excellent case for his mantra of “change” by cutting Bernanke loose. What he’s doing instead makes no political sense, and I’m having a hard time with finding any economic sense in it as well. On this one, narrow issue, the teabaggers and I are on common ground. I’m just here based on logic and facts, instead of hysteria.

Ben should have been cut loose. No doubt about it. This is hardly change I can believe in.

President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats scrambled to drum up backing for Bernanke after a Republican won a stunning upset in a Massachusetts Senate race last week, largely because of voter anger about the economy.

Bernanke was in jeopardy of becoming the fall guy, and sudden doubts about his confirmation roiled financial markets. But a push by the White House and Senate allies slowly coaxed undecided senators into the Fed chairman’s column.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid set a vote for Thursday to try to end a procedural roadblock put in place by Bernanke opponents.

Both Democrats and Republicans believe Bernanke now has the 60 votes to needed to overcome the hurdle, which would pave the way for a final confirmation vote, perhaps also on Thursday.

The votes will come with time running out for Bernanke, whose first four-year term as Fed chief expires on Sunday. Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn was poised to take the reins of the central bank if needed.

While the decision to move to a vote suggests Bernanke now has enough support, he looks certain to draw a record number of no votes for a nominee tapped to head the central bank.

A Reuters poll found 47 senators ready to back Bernanke, with 19 standing in opposition. Thirty-four senators were undecided.

Bernanke’s confirmation had seemed assured until the Massachusetts election reshaped the political calculus.

Public ire at the financial bailouts the Fed helped lead even as the unemployment rate was climbing into in double digits has made a potent political brew for senators facing re-election in November and undercut Bernanke’s support.

When the Senate takes up the nomination, there will be an hour of debate before the procedural vote. Clearing that hurdle would pave the way for up to 30 hours of further debate before a final vote.

Bernanke actively sought to salvage his nomination in meetings with senators, but on Tuesday he turned from politics to policy, opening a long-planned two-day meeting of Fed officials to plot interest-rate strategy.

While Bernanke, who was first named to the Fed chairmanship by President George W. Bush, has been credited with capably steering the economy through the worst financial storm in decades, he is under fire for the Fed’s hands-off regulatory and easy money policies that preceded the meltdown.

“Politicians are casting around for a boogeyman that they can point a finger at,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Securities in Stamford, Connecticut.

“The timing of Bernanke’s reappointment vote could not have come at a worse time.”

Now the teabaggers won’t remember it, because they never remember anything they aren’t told to remember. But you and I, we know what the root causes of the Republican Depression of 2008 are, and we know that Ben has his fingerprints all over it. He rightly deserves both condemnation and punishment. Instead, he gets another term.

I’m sorry-this makes no sense at all. Not to me.

Crossposted at Reconstitution 2.0

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‘Tis the Season

Now we’ve been told that “free” trade is just wonderful for everyone. It’s so wonderful, in fact, that Chimpy stuck subsidizing the offshoring of our jobs and R&D facilities right into American tax policy-a policy that the present President has done nothing to reverse.

In the holiday spirit, let’s look at how wonderful “free” trade has been for everybody involved.

-Here in America, we’ve been reduced to third-world status as all of the jobs that paid anything have been offshored-with a generous Chimpy tax subsidy the last few years, meaning Americans paid for the knife being drawn across our collective throats.

-In Mexico, everybody promised that if the political system was “democratized” and NAFTA was passed, the Mexican peasant would benefit handsomely. Well, Mexico did change their political system a lot, and they did ratify NAFTA. How has that worked out for them? First, the Mexican small farmer found himself unable to compete with American corporate conglomerate farms, so he left the farm and trudged up to a Maquiladora plant to take one of those jobs that were being shipped out of America. Unfortunately for the Mexican maqiladora worker/ex farmer, we decided that we should rewarsd Communist China for all of their refusals to liberalize, and we shipped those Mexican jobs right off to China, where the wage scale is even lower than the pittance we were paying the Mexicans. The Mexicans, having received this double-ramming from America, had been running up here to try to survive-till the Rushpubliscums finished destroying our own economy. Now, the Mexican peasant has no place to go, and is caught in the crossfire of a brutal civil war between the Mexican Government and drug traffickers (who are about the only people still hiring.)

-Indian farmers have been committing suicide by the scores, and losing their lands to lenders, because there is no way they can compete with the likes of ADM.

-China, an ancient land with historical and natural treasures that are irreplaceable, is being polluted at a rate the Maoists never envisioned, and its ancient structures and landscapes are being demolished at a rate the Red Guards would have envied. As for Chinese workers, many of them are little better than slaves, often getting underpaid while they are restricted to quarters via company “housing.” If a Chinese worker gets sick, he or she can expect the heave-ho from his or her employer. Chinese industry has largely turned into precisely the sort of oppressive monolith that Marx said had to come before a Communist revolution could take hold. The Chinese worker has been buried under a Great Wall of Pollution and Oppression.

And last but not least, the “profits profits profits” mentality of American conglomerates operating in China (and elsewhere in Asia) has repeatedly resulted in dangerous materials shipped out of factories where safety concerns and quality control are non-existent. Chinese drywall sickens Americans in their homes, melamine-tainted candies have caused people to fall ill all over the world, and every single year a bunch of lead tainted and otherwise dangerous toys are shipped out from Chinese factories to kill, injure, and/or stunt the brains of American and European children.

This year is no different.

Customs agents in Miami have seized several shipments of toys from China considered dangerous by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The toys contained hazardous materials, including lead paint, or had small parts that pose choking hazards for children.

One shipment contained nearly 22,000 toys that had one or both violations. Another contained 444 lighters in the shapes of farm animals, complete with realistic sounds, that children could have mistaken for toys.

The items were headed all over the country, although Customs and Border Patrol would not specify which stores. Spokesman Jose Castellano said some items may have been intended for roadside stands and small businesses.

Other products intercepted this year include black toy guns that could be easily confused for real firearms and yellow toy ducks with lead paint.

This year, the federal government lowered the limits for lead in paint on children’s toys to 90 parts per million, which is among the lowest in the world, and most children’s toys must meet these and other standards, some of which were voluntary.

In 2008, the agency had reports of 19 toy-related deaths and about 172,700 hospital emergency room treated toy-related injuries to children under 15. Almost half affected children younger than 5. Most of the deaths were associated with drowning, motor vehicles or airway obstruction from a small toy or small part of a toy.

Let me make it clear; I don’t blame the Chinese for this. I blame the greedy American conglomerates like Mao-Mart, who have insisted that quality American producers relocate their manufacturing to China so that the Waltons can squeeze every last dime of profits out of products that Chinese factories are under tremendous pressure to produce for next to nothing. I also blame a Government that subsidizes the relocation of American factories overseas, and charges no taxes on profits kept out of the country. This encourages American businesses to keep little more than office space in the US, where they’d have to comply with wage, environment, and safety regulations.

When are we going to recognize that there is no such thing as “free” trade the way we practice it? This is like throwing a 5 year old into a fight with Holyfield and calling it “fair.” Sure, both opponents have 2 arms, but…

Crossposted at Reconstitution.

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A True, Truly Haunting Halloween Report: U.S. 2009 News Potpourri

When placed side by side, Halloween news reports take on a nightmarish quality. Some say that Halloween time is the season when the veil between the “worlds” [this world and the world hereafter] is thin. If we use this season as an opportunity to step back and regard our world from a different perspective, perhaps the subsequent haunting feeling that we experience merits our attention.

~Billie Greenwood

A True, Truly Haunting Halloween Report: U.S. 2009 News Potpourri

One of the spookiest parts of Halloween this year may be the amount people plan to spend on their celebrations. Retailers expect consumers to spend an average of $56.31 on Halloween. That’s down from $66.54 last year, according to a National Retail Federation 2009 Halloween survey. Total spending on the holiday is expected to reach $4.75 billion.

Nearly one in three (29.6%) consumers say the state of the U.S. economy will affect their Halloween spending plans. The largest majority (88.0%) of those who say they’ll change their spending plan to spend less.

Meanwhile, in other news:

Across the developing world, suffering and struggling for survival is a fact of life for poor people. Each day almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes. That’s one child dead every five seconds. And even those children who survive can be permanently affected by childhood malnutrition.

And this from the National Confectioners Association:

Back in the United States, nearly one?in?five adults say that a Halloween celebration without candy would be the spookiest thing of all this October! Savoring the classics, chocolate treats and traditional sweets will dominate trick-or-treaters’ selections.

Finally, from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention:

Tooth decay affects children in the United States more than any other chronic infectious disease, topping asthma and hay fever. More than half of children aged 5-9 have had at least one cavity or filling.

SOURCES:

As Economy Impacts Halloween, Americans Get Creative; Press Release: National Retail Federation 9/29/2009. No copyright restrictions.

World Food Day: Much Done, More To Do; Press Release: Church World Service. 10/15/2009. No copyright restrictions.

Americans Playing Tricks with Treats This Halloween; Press Release: National Confectioners Association. 10/8/2009. No copyright restrictions.

Fact Sheet: Children’s Oral Health; Historical Document: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Updated, 10/4/2004.

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September 7-14, a very big week . . .

It began with Labor Day. To be sure, the week felt markedly like a transitional one.  During the week President Obama spent a great deal of time at the podium, making a number of very significant speeches.  NASA watched over its STS-128 mission and released a number of spectacular images on Wednesday from the newly refurbished Hubble telescope.  On Friday, the anniversary of 9/11/01, the President and First Lady spent time giving service to the community, as did thousands of people across the nation marking a National Day of Service.  The week’s news was full of stories about the politics of health care reform in a Congress now back to work, opinion about the growing divide amongst the electorate, and uneasy reports about the future of the war in Afghanistan, as well as the future of the U.S. space program.

What has changed, if anything? There is a bigger divide between members of the two major parties, evident in the behavior of Republicans during the President’s speech Wednesday evening to a joint session of Congress.  There seems to be growing opposition among many Americans, as well as rank and file  Democrats, to the war in Afghanistan and its climbing casualty figures.  This may have caused President Obama to say in his 9/11 speech at the Pentagon that he does not want Americans to forget the true nature of al-Qaeda, reports Scott Wilson of the Washington Post.

Opposition to health care reform has now grown to the point that organizers were able to stage a 9/12 march on Washington.  Tens of thousands (according to the Washington Post estimate) of a loosely organized coalition of conservative “tea party” protesters marched on the nation’s capitol Saturday.  Jeff Zeleny of the NYT, summarized the tone:

Their anger stretched well beyond the health care legislation moving through Congress, with shouts of support for gun rights, lower taxes and a smaller government. But as they sang verse after verse of patriotic hymns like “God Bless America,” sharp words of profane and political criticism were aimed at Mr. Obama and Congress.

At the same time a crowd of over 10,000 people came to enthusiastically stand and cheer at President Obama’s health care rally at Minneapolis’ Target arena.  The President told the crowd that now is the time for action and warned against the scare tactics being employed by the opposition, reports Reuters.

What has stayed the same? A year later, little has changed on Wall Street, according to  the New York Times‘ Alex Berenson.  Big banks have not really restructured, financial stocks are on the rise, complex derivatives remain in play, few hedge funds have closed and executives are still pulling down huge bonuses.  For instance, “30,000 Goldman Sachs employees will earn an average of $70,000 this year.”  Worst of all the Obama administration’s proposed regulatory changes have gone nowhere in Congress.  And the passage of time decreases the chances of significant crisis-driven reform.

The space shuttle Discovery completed another highly successful mission to resupply the International Space Station Friday, landing safely at Edwards AFB in California after battling bad weather in Florida for a couple of days.  To quote Reuters:

Discovery had carried more than 7.5 tons of food, laboratory equipment, science experiments, spare parts, a new treadmill and crew quarters for the space station. The outpost is a $100 billion project involving 16 nations, which is nearing completion after more than a decade of construction.

NASA is turning over crew transport to the station to Russia, at a cost of about $50 million per seat, as it begins phasing out the shuttle. The space agency is also considering hiring U.S. commercial firms to ferry its astronauts. . . NASA has six flights remaining to finish outfitting the station and then plans to move on with development of a capsule and rocket that could ferry crews to the moon. Barack Obama considers the results of a study that has determined NASA’s lunar ambitions exceed its budget by about $3 billion a year.

What could change – “Humans aren’t going to Mars — or anywhere else — without more money,” is the story from Wired-Science (9/8/09).  Another headline, “Panel’s report threatens NASA’s mission,” comes from The Hill (9/10/09) via Twitter.  The article opens:

A report suggesting that NASA’s space travel goals are too ambitious for its budget is imperiling efforts by Florida and Texas lawmakers to win more money for the agency’s budget.

“The full Final Report is still being prepared and will be released when complete”  is also via Twitter from NASA_HSF, the U.S.  Human Space Flight Committee.  Look for it to be released in early October.

What will not change is the mainstream media’s fascination with conflict, who is winning or losing, with outrageousness and with the mistaken idea that any old lie is merely the other side’s point of view.  The week of September 7-14 saw President Obama seeming to regain his stride and the right-wing crazies more determined than ever to keep him off stride.  The election in Afghanistan remains undecided and more and more war casualties occur.  Nor has the President decided the future of the U.S. space program.  Congress has its hands full with health care reform, and has no time (nor perhaps the stomach) for financial regulatory reform.  Maybe it would be a good idea for everybody to take an occasional day off and catch their breath.

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Labor Day Leftovers:

“Labor Day sales you can’t afford to miss,” is the pitch of U.S. News and World Report.  The lead reads, “In the sluggish economy, retailers lure shoppers with big discounts.”  Reuters‘ Rolfe Winkler writes his own “Labor Day Links,”  mostly focused of financial and economic news bits.  The New York Times presented a slide show titled, “Faces of the Uncounted Unemployed,” which is a study of the people who are too discouraged to continue to look for work.  The Washington Post’s Harold Meyerson posted “Unhappy Labor Day.”  His conclusion, unhappily,  is a viewpoint with which I agree:

The Reaganite ideology of the past 30 years insisted that if Americans were freed from the constraints of government and unions and made responsible for their own economic security, a golden age would come. Sure enough, American businesses have eluded regulation and cast off their unions — but they’ve left their workers in the lurch. If we fail to enact universal health care and laws that truly make it possible for workers to form unions again, each of our Labor Days will be grimmer than the last.

The image illustrating today’s post is from Wordle.net.  I chose it because it reflects how much of the past still influences my feelings about Labor Day and the situation in which we find ourselves today.  I am not in a celebratory mood, nor are many of my friends and news sources in the blogosphere.  Bankers are pulling down big bonuses, unemployment nears double digits, and the body politic is rent with insanity on its right wing and discouragement on its left wing.  The center is soft.

“Happy Labor Day Banana Republic Day. . . There is little to celebrate,” wrote (O)CT(O)PUS at The Reaction.  Presenting the facts, the author suggested we call Labor Day by its real name “National Banana Republic day.”  He had a point.  You would have thought that the lessons learned from the economic downturn would have taught us that the corporatocracy will not take good care of the American people, left on its own.

Another blog friend, Spadoman of Round Circle, wrote a powerful piece that helped me understand some of what has been driving my down mood.  It began and ended,

I don’t really want to rant about it, but the proclamation of labor Day and all it means these days has me depressed somewhat. In the past, when I was in the labor force as a Teamster, Labor day seemed to mean something. Maybe it’s because I’m not working for wages any longer that I don’t see the honor in being a working person. But maybe it’s the way corporate America has taken the life away from so many, as those high on the food chain of American life use the backs of labor to make their millions.

. . . Remember the working class. Use your own definition of who that might be. I know it must vary as to when labor cuts off and management begins. Look at the fast food industry. Get hired as a manager and you have to work all the hours of every shift from time to time to cover the shifts of those that quit and call in, and that means weekends and holidays like Labor Day. In my book, the fast food manager is still labor, with a different moniker, a ploy, no doubt, dreamed up by those who will actually have the day off and profit from the fruits of that labor.

“I sit and look out,” by Walt Whitman, was posted by my friend Betmo earlier this month, presaging Labor Day for me. Whitman’s silent, and so am I.  So I linked to others who can speak better for me.  To quote the poem’s ending:

. . . I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant
persons upon laborers, the poor, and upon negroes,
and the like;
All these–all the meanness and agony without end I sitting
look out upon,
See, hear, and am silent.

(Cross posted at South by Southwest)

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My Labor Day bitchfest, or salute to the working folks.

The base of my post is filched from Robert Reich’s blog post up today. I never miss a post and I read them over and over again. I use his posts to strengthen my arguments when talking to folks that do not see things as I do, or sadly..buy into the rightwing nutjobs fearmongering.

Labor Day 2009. It’s a sad labor day if you go by ‘the numbers’ of those out of work and/or struggling to make ends meet because they are underemployed. From Mr. Reich’s blogpost on the subject:

The latest employment figures (released this morning) show job losses continuing to grow. According to the payroll survey, job losses are increasing more slowly than in previous months. According to the household survey, they’re accelerating — from 9.4 percent of the workforce in July to 9.7 percent in August. Bottom line: almost one out of six Americans who need a full-time job either can’t find one or is working part-time. Meanwhile, wage growth among people who have jobs has just about stopped. The Economic Policy Institute reports that between 2006 and 2008, wages grew at an annualized rate of 4.0%; by contrast, over the past three months annual wage growth has plummeted to just 0.7%. At the same time, furloughs — requiring workers to take unpaid vacations — are on the rise: recent surveys show 17% of companies imposing them. More than 20% of companies have suspended their contributions to 401(k)s and similar pension plans.

Mr. Reich questions why the ‘media’ isn’t jumping all over these newest numbers. I do too as they seem to only report the numbers and then move on to Micheal Jackson’s funeral or some other bullshit storyline. He has an explanation that will not make anyone feel warm and fuzzy who isn’t among the top one to ten percenter’s. It’s frankly very scary to me when he lays it out in plain english..no spin required:

So why isn’t the media screaming? Partly because these job and wage losses are not, for the most part, falling on the segment of our population most visible to the media. They’re falling overwhelmingly on the middle class and the poor. Unemployment among those who have been in the top 10 percent of earnings is closer to 5 percent, and their earnings continue to climb — although, to be sure, much more slowly than before the meltdown. It’s much the same with health-care and pension benefits. Among people under 65 who are in the bottom 20% of incomes, only 21.9% have employer-sponsored health insurance — if they have a job at all. Half of all people nearing retirement age have a 401(k) balance of less than $40,000.(emphasis mine of course)

I would venture to say that our elite MSM looks down their nose at the middle class and the poor. They don’t count because they are just the ‘working classes’. As Robert Reich points out in his blog post, a report states 42 percent of consumer spending before the meltdown came from the top-earning 10 percent of Americans. This information is from a report authored by Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, not Mr. Reich.

But the middle class and the working poor are the laborers in America. They are the people that work to earn their money for the love of pete! The top one-to-ten percenter’s don’t work, they sit back and let their portfolio’s or the businesses they own do the work and/or earning for them.

Perhaps the middle class and working poor do not spend as much as the top dogs on frivolous crap because their wages have stagnated for over a decade. The cost of keeping health care for their families has gone through the roof. Putting kids through college also takes it’s toll on working Americans.

It’s morally wrong and pure bullshit to say the middle and working poor do not contribute to the economy as much as the top one-to-ten percent does. Let me leave you with Robert Reich’s pov on this:

This logic is morally and economically indefensible. If we’ve learned anything from the Great Recession-Mini Depression of the last 18 months, it’s that the skewing of income and wealth to the top has made our economy far less stable. When the majority of middle-class and poor Americans are either losing their jobs or feel threatened by job loss, and when those who still have jobs are experiencing flat or declining wages, there’s simply no way to get the economy back on track. The track we were on — featuring stagnant median wages, widening inequality, and job insecurity — got us into this mess in the first place.

A-friggin-men to Robert Reich. As an economist and left of center human being, he speaks truth to the powerful. He has plenty of bonafides and frankly he isn’t just a talking head that spews the latest line of bullshit. He is currently Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. His wikipedia bio is here and his personally penned bio can be read here on his other website.

Sadly, the powerful don’t always listen to him. But I do..and so should you, m’dear reader. He boils down the rhetoric so that we can all understand it and digest it.

So have a good Labor Day Weekend you hard-working people. You have earned it, more than you know.

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Well this is f’d up…

They might be doing it for publicity, but any way you look at it..destroying new  homes when millions are homeless and/or losing their homes is pretty ugly and ironic as hell. From the LAT:

Curtis Forrester moved into a brand-new house in Victorville last week, but there was little time to enjoy the Jacuzzi and designer kitchen. He was there only to see it destroyed.

Just a few days after his arrival, the two-story residence and three other luxurious model homes were crushed and hauled off for scrap, the latest fallout from Southern California’s real estate crash.

The homes were part of a planned 16-unit project in this community 100 miles north of Los Angeles. The Texas bank that owns the failed development decided to demolish the houses, a cheaper alternative to completing and selling them.

Forrester was hired to keep thieves away and help sell off the fixtures. “All my life I’ve been building things,” said the 59-year-old construction worker. “It’s kind of fun tearing them down.”

The Victorville demolition is one of the most dramatic ends to a bad bet made during the housing boom, but abandoned developments have become an all-too-common sight in California. Nearly 250 residential developments totaling 9,389 homes have been halted across the state, according to one research firm.

I have seen the abandoned projects all up and down Cali, both commercial and residential. San Diego seemed to have the most, or the most obvious ones. Like huge skeletons, they stand in decrepit condition, half finished or almost finished. They just walk away and take the loss I guess. Sad state of affairs in our country. Kern county is overwhelmed by this housing market bitchslap to our economy.

Photo by Christina House for The Times.

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“It is not necessary to hope in order to persevere.”

originally, i thought that i would do a piece on monsanto and genetically modified seeds.  they are, imo, simply evil and lacking any sense of morals or ethics- they force farmers worldwide to use their seeds and buy only their seeds- and the seeds don’t work.  if you don’t go along with them, they basically destroy you.  but then i thought better of it.

because the problem is so very much bigger.  i have been giving some thought as to what american culture is; what the american way of life is; what the ‘american dream’ is- and i really don’t know that we have one that is real.  isn’t that what we all are grappling with- the fact and reality that ‘our way of life’ was one big credit card induced fantasy?  probably so.  but it’s easy to throw out the bad stuff and not as easy to really examine what being american really means.  we are proud- or we were proud- to be americans and i have a feeling that’s really all we know.  americans tend to be an incurious lot as a whole.

but i put a bit of time into my thoughts and opinions and came up with- we are a culture of ideas.  whether they be right ones or wrong ones- we have them.  it has always been our idea that we live in a free democracy and were able to work hard and do better than the previous generation.  our idea was that we were always the land of opportunity and betterment and that we were a safe haven for the world’s beleagured and mistreated.  we were the world’s champion of the underdogs.  of course, then we got fairly prosperous as a whole and stopped having ideas.  we decided to feel rather than think- be hedonistic rather than introspective- and we got lost.  chris rock puts it pretty much in perspective:

“The number one reason people hate America: the number one reason is because of our religion. Americans worship money, we worship money. Separate God from school, separate God from work, separate God from government, but on your money it says in God we trust. All my life I’ve been looking for God, and He’s right in my pocket. Americans worship money, and we all go to the same church, the church of ATM. Everywhere you look there’s a new branch popping up … remind you about how much money you got and how much money you don’t got. And if you got less than twenty dollars, the machine won’t even talk to you. The machine is like, “You better go see a teller.” You ever go to a teller and try to take out eight dollars and fifty cents? Oh, it’s disgusting … oh man, you gotta wait on that long ass line, people doing real transactions in front of you, you get on to the fucking front, you fill out your form, eight fifty. The fucking teller looks at it, she look at you, she looks at the check, she don’t even take the money out of the drawer, she take it out of her pocket, “Here you go, get outta here.” And here’s something, man. Drugs are illegal, but ATM machines are open twenty-four hours a day. Twenty-four hours a day. For who? Who the fuck is it open for? Have you ever taken out three hundred dollars at four o’clock in the morning for something positive? Shit, when you press that machine at four o’clock in the morning, I think a psychiatrist should pop up on the screen and go, “Come on, man, save your money, man. Don’t buy drugs, buy some rims. They spinning, nigga, they spinning, they spinning, nigga, they spinning.” Americans worship money. Shit, you know why banks are closed on Sunday? ‘Cause if they wasn’t, church would be empty.”

i watched bill black on bill moyers and what he said struck me- he said that this whole issue we are having with the economy is- well:

BILL MOYERS: “Yeah, and this week in New York, at this conference, you described this as more than a financial crisis. You called it a moral crisis.

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Yes.

BILL MOYERS: Why?

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Because it is a fundamental lack of integrity. But also because, if you look back at crises, an economist who is also a presidential appointee, as a regulator in the Savings and Loan industry, right here in New York, Larry White, wrote a book about the Savings and Loan crisis. And he said, you know, one of the most interesting questions is why so few people engaged in fraud? Because objectively, you could have gotten away with it. But only about ten percent of the CEOs, engaged in fraud. So, 90 percent of them were restrained by ethics and integrity. So, far more than law or by F.B.I. agents, it’s our integrity that often prevents the greatest abuses. And what we had in this crisis, instead of the Savings and Loan, is the most elite institutions in America engaging or facilitating fraud. ”

and the enormity of that hit me.  our entire system is broken.  every day i read the news and i see corruption oozing out of every facet of our system- drug and food recalls; people dying from shoddy healthcare or no healthcare; bloated education system based solely on testing, etc., and people firmly plugged into that system- with little choice not to be.

i also watched amy goodman and glenn greenwald on bill moyers- the last great journalist, imo- and listening to them i felt the enormity of broken system.  the establishment exists to protect and perpetuate itself:

GLENN GREENWALD: Well, what I think is interesting is to look at what journalists, establishment journalists, who work in the largest corporations in the country, in the media division, say about what their role is. In order to understand how the reporting on Iraq was done. How it’s done on the financial crisis. Last month Howard Fineman, the “Newsweek” reporter, and MSNBC contributor, wrote an article in which a column, in which he said that the establishment is now worried that Barack Obama is not up to the job. And he made clear that he was speaking on behalf of the establishment, as a member of it. And he said that the establishment, to the extent it exists in America, is now comprised of three stools. The financiers on Wall Street, political elites in Washington, and media stars in the New York/Washington corridor. And there’s a “Newsweek” cover story by Evan Thomas, who’s a long time Washington insider reporter. And it’s concerning Paul Krugman’s status as a critic of Obama from the Left. And in this article Evan Thomas, I thought quite revealingly declared himself, as well, like Howard Fineman did, to be a member of the establishment persuasion, as he called it. And what he said was that, by definition, members of the establishment are devoted to preserving the existing order. The prevailing status quo. Keeping things the way they are.

the fact that the politicians and the bankers and the corporates and the media are all working together to perpetuate an unethical, immoral, greed and wealth driven system on the backs of decent people around the globe angers me like nothing else.  and i know that i am not the only one:

chris hedges- resist or become serfs

joe bageant- we have let corporations and the media rob our souls- let’s do something about it

washington post reporters call george will out for lying on climate crisis

this economic disaster did not happen overnight- it was a well planned, system wide looting of our monies into the pockets of the very people who are now pocketing our money again in the form of bailouts.  we got double dipped and that’s for sure.  probably triple and quadruple dipped.

make no mistake, there are many everyday americans who don’t believe as i do- that every human being deserves basic necessities of life- water, food, clothing, shelter, and imo, healthcare.  many folks right now are going about their lives with nary a thought of the suffering going on around the globe- and here in this country- brought on by ‘our way of life.’  but if and when the shit hits the fan for them- they will be the first ones in line for a handout- from neighbor, family, or government.  because we have lived the life of plenty for so long and lost skill sets to help us get through the bad times.

president obama ran on ‘hope and change’- those were the two themes throughout his campaign and i really believe he meant it.  i don’t know that that is what we need.  oh, the change definitely- but the hope is that we will stabilize and folks can go back to their old lives.  our way of life is gone forever.  the houses with the white picket fences and the dog and the 2 kids- well, it was a bit of 1950’s tv schtick.  the thoughts in my head are far too many for me to keep writing in the post- but it is food for thought.

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to read or not to read?

that’s the question. folks around the blogosphere are asking whether or not people are going to be willing to pay for a subscription to a major newspaper online. my answer for myself- hell no. if i didn’t pay for it when it was in print, why would i pay for it going online?

i refuse to pay for propaganda- not when i can get it for free right now anyhoo, here are some links i ran across in my google reader- that i doubt very much that the corporately owned main stream propaganda machines would touch:

senate committee passes landmark credit card bill

drug induced dementia and delirium common in seniors but often undetected

pharmaceuticals found in fish across america

blue gold: have the next resource wars begun?

americans not falling for media’s misleading account of economy

Related articles by Zemanta

• Newspaper groups look to online subscriptions at their own risk (telegraph.co.uk)
• How Not to Fix the New York Times (portfolio.com)

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Friday the 13th

[afternoon of 2/13/09]    Friday, the 13th is President Obama’s lucky day. By all reports the so-called “stimulus package” will be voted out of the Senate late today with the minimum of 60 votes, three of whom will be rebellious Republicans. It will be lucky to pass. Democrats prevailed in the House of Representatives around noon with no Republican votes at all. Luckily the Democrats have a good sized majority in the House. President Obama is not having very good luck with the party of the Loyal Opposition. On this rocky road with this issue, bipartisanship is dead. It was, and probably still is, a lovely fantasy of President Obama’s.

Actually it was probably never a viable option for governing in these times. The economy is too scary to Republicans. At some deep level they privately realize it went south on their watch. They have nothing new to offer to governance. Too many Republicans helped redistribute the nation’s wealth upward, deregulated even more than was begun during the ’90s, lived on corporate welfare from the government, turned a blind eye to greed, cozied up with lobbyists and special interests, and just generally screwed up. This time only three Republican Senators knew how to help out the country by joining with the other party. All the rest refused to help. Bipartisanship to the majority of Republicans means “my way or hit the road.”

For the next four years, governing for Democrats will be a very rocky road. Surrounded by economic and foreign policy crises, second-guessed by the hypercritical mainstream media, rebuffed by Republicans, the Obama administration will be forced to get aid and comfort from the citizenry. Participatory democracy will be what saves the country during these trying times. Officials will have to call on all their considerable intellect, all their good faith, all their respect for the rule of law, and all the luck they can muster. Maybe the fact that this first big bill passed on Friday the 13th is a very good omen for governance by this group of fledgling statesmen and women.

See today’s Behind the Links post — “On a tough road” — for all the pertinent links to news items associated with the stimulus package, the financial stability initiative, and the still empty Cabinet seats.
My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

Technorati tags: news news and politics politics democrats republicans economy congress

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What did we learn this week?

” What we don’t know about Obama“ has diminished just a bit since Jim VandeHei and John Harris’ piece in Politico last week (1/22). The authors posed some questions “still left hanging as the Obama administration begins:” Their answers of a week ago make for very good reading. To quote the queries:

1. Does he really think Afghanistan is winnable?
2. Do deficits matter?
3. How fast is too fast in Iraq?
4. What’s in the files?
5. Do unions wear white hats?
6. Can U.S. power save Darfur?
7. How much does he have to placate the Left?

Today’s post looks for clues in the news of the past few days that shed further light on the above questions. How is our new President leading, using his powers of persuasion and his deft touch? In a way, his task is as delicate as it would be if he were driving on the ice and snow of the states he declared weather disaster zones, Arkansas and Kentucky. How is he doing? What do we know?

1. Afghanistan? President Obama told the wider Muslim world, “The U.S. is not your enemy” in an Al-Arabiya TV interview. One of President Obama’s principles is that we must win the hearts and minds of moderate Muslims, and of Afghans. This will certainly be a good first step.

2. Deficits? Yesterday’s Obama stern lecture to greedy Wall Street executives, calling their $18 B in bonuses “shameful#,” gives a strong clue about how President Obama feels about government waste. He has said repeatedly that the high deficits will be only temporary and that entitlement shortfalls must be addressed next. Time Magazine helpfully explains “how to understand a trillion-dollar deficit#.”

3. Iraq? President Obama has said he will take “conditions on the ground” into consideration when finalizing the plans for Iraq. Tomorrow is the day set for Iraq’s provincial elections. Juan Cole has some thoughts on the implications and possible outcomes of those elections. So we must wait and see what develops.

4. Accountability? There is rather stark contrast between how the new White House plans to deal with official records and how that was done in the Bush White House. ProPublica has published a comprehensive list of the “Missing Memos,” in case you are interested. We have yet to see any movement by the new President to hold wrong-doers accountable. But I have not given up hope.

5. Unions? Though President Obama is reportedly considering Republican Senator Judd Gregg for Secretary of Commerce, today he reversed several of the Bush executive orders that have been considered unfriendly to Labor.

6. Darfur? Presidential appointee, Susan Rice, U.S. Delegate to the United Nations, has had a powerful passion about the situation in Darfur for quite some time. See the Washington Times—”Susan Rice offers Obama promise of ‘cooperation’” regarding Darfur.

7. Left Dems? Women’s groups reportedly were somewhat upset by President Obama’s move to get family planning funds removed from the House stimulus package now in the Senate. CQ Politics is currently saying that a coalition of labor unions and liberal advocacy groups will soon start lobbying for a health care system overhaul that would make the government the “single payer.” Democratic strategist Ed Kilgore makes a good persuasive argument that Obama’s agenda is truly progressive.

Ending on an idealistic note, I want to quote from AlterNet’s — (1/28/09) story, “The Economic Crisis Isn’t All Bad; It’s a Chance for Us and Obama to Reimagine How We Live Our Lives#” It begins, “Capitalism is on its knees and now we have a chance to create higher ideals beyond career climbing and mindless consumerism.” To continue by quoting the opening:

As America, recession mired, enters the hope-inspired age of Barack Obama, a silent but fateful struggle for the soul of capitalism is being waged. Can the market system finally be made to serve us? Or will we continue to serve it? George W. Bush argued that the crisis is “not a failure of the free-market system, and the answer is not to try to reinvent that system.” But while it is going too far to declare that capitalism is dead, George Soros is right when he says that “there is something fundamentally wrong” with the market theory that stands behind the global economy, a “defect” that is “inherent in the system.”

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are “betmo*” and Jon#.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

Technorati tags: news news and politics politics obama leadership

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Transition soon to end –

Obama transition time is now less than a week. There is considerable Inaugural hope, but America is still in shock#. But everyone is moving forward and looks to be mostly on track. For example, Bob Cesca’s Awesome Blog posts “The Official Photo*” (1/14/09), noting,

The official presidential photograph of Barack Obama has been released. It’s the first ever presidential portrait shot with a digital camera.

It’s the Economy, stupid — In his economic speech on January 8, President-elect Obama admits that there is so much work to be done. The nation is fearful that we are fighting off economic depression#. At the very least, as McClatchy headlines, “Recession calls up sacrifice* (1/6/09). As the first part of the new strategy, the Senate voted Thursday, 52-42 to release the second $350 billion of the TARP funds.

Confirmation votes have already begun. To track those nominations and confirmation fights, see “References” below. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted positively Thursday for Secretary of State designate, Hillary Clinton, with only one Republican dissenting, Senator Vitter. There was an interesting related article in The New Republic – The Plank: “They Are All Hillary’s Women Now*” (1/14/09). To quote Michelle Cottle’s conclusion:

Both the history and the temperament of the incoming Secretary of State suggest that she will prove a strong champion of women . . . in such straits. To be sure, Hil will have a lot on her plate. But she has always taken pains to remind us (not to mention an annoyed Chinese government) that women’s rights are human rights.

Confirmation hearings continue — La Vida Locavore headlined, regarding Governor Vilsack’s nomination to be Secretary of Agriculture and his ties to agriculture and biotechnology, “Department of odd omissions*” (1/12/09). Eric Holder’s nomination as Attorney General had much potential for fireworks until this news came through. We learned what Holder said from Yahoo! News: “Holder: Waterboarding is torture#.” There was no equivocation, no mincing words, no shading of his important legal opinion. Pundits were of the opinion that that declaration will seal his successful nomination. CQ Politics says that, “Holder Signals New Era at Justice Department, Vows Independence as Attorney General” (1/15/09). To quote further:

Attorney General-designate Eric H. Holder Jr. outlined positions on detainee treatment and presidential authority that differ starkly from those of the Bush administration during his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing Thursday.

. . . “I agree with you, Mr. Chairman, waterboarding is torture,” Holder said. The statement was an unequivocal departure from the stance of Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey , who refused to make such a statement at his own 2007 confirmation hearing.

The statement has potentially significant implications for government agents who waterboarded suspected terrorists since 2001. And it is symptomatic of the new approach Obama is expected to take to the detention and treatment of suspects in the war on terrorism.

How will the new President govern? McClatchy puts it this way (1/7/09): “Move over, boomer presidents: A new generation takes charge*”. Politico says that there will be “late nights, long hours in Obama White House” (1/14/09). There is also an interesting question posed by Secrecy News (11/6/08): “The Presidential Transition and Secrecy.” The Democratic Strategist takes “Two new looks at Obama” on (1/12/09). To quote:

One, by Mike Tomasky in The Guardian, coins an interesting new phrase for Obama’s approach to the stimulus package: “indirect direction:”

. . . Meanwhile, over at New York magazine, John Heilemann takes everything ever said about Obama’s unique political appeal and ramps it up many notches in a piece that suggests he’s the first “Independent” president.

Running three governments at the same time – is what Politico calls right now, “Obama’s speed and balancing act” (1/14/09). To quote:

First is Obama’s own administration, still being assembled and facing a few rough patches a week before his Inauguration. Next is his ambitious economic recovery bill, approaching $850 billion and fast becoming a second government in its own right. Third is the leftover business of the outgoing Bush White House: what to do with the last $350 billion in a financial markets rescue fund approved a month before Obama’s election.

Finally, maintaining a Democratic Congress could prove to be a big advantage in President-elect Obama’s first full term. If President-elect Obama maintains his bipartisan, pragmatic style of trying to fix problems and get things done, he should be able to avoid a mid-term defeat at the hands of the now mostly discredited Republicans.
Additional References:

• Financial Times: “In depth coverage of the Obama transition“
• CQ Politics: “Track Obama’s Cabinet Nominees“
• ProPublica: “Gitmo Database Details 779 Prisoners’ Cases” (1/15/09)
• McClatchy: If you are thinking of turning your assets into gold heed this 24-karat advice: Beware*. (1/6/09)

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are “betmo*” and Jon#.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

Technorati tags: news news and politics politics presidential transition congress economy

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Tough times

Make for a rocky road — The economic situation seems to get more scary with each passing day. More of us have less money and fewer jobs, the U.S. auto industry is still in trouble, the deficit balloons and the housing industry seems moribund. But we are in for a change; our President-elect has promised that. But he has warned that the economy will get worse before it gets better. Here is my take on why, based on the stories my regular contributors have been sending my way (see Hat Tip Key below).

Just how bad it it? AlterNet says, “This Looks Like the Start of a Second Great Depression#” (1/9/09). I am not sure I would go that far, but I am of an optimistic nature. The Raw Story reports, “US deficit to hit 1.2 trillion dollars: budget office*” (1/7/09). This bothers me a great deal, as I am a saver by nature. And TruthOut ran this story earlier: “December Job Losses at 673,000, Worse Than Thought*” (1/7/09). That’s bad for my kids but not for me, as I am a retiree.

Who gets hurt by all this? BuzzFlash notes that, “Wealth of U.S. millionaires down 30 percent*” (1/6/09). Yahoo! News notes:“Mass. investor saw inside Madoff scam#” (12/19/08). We see by the Washington Post that “Thieves Stole Indentities to Tap Home Equity#” (11/27/08) — about this Jon says, “. . . the downside of all this technology.” From Dandelionsalad: “Rachel Maddow Show: Bailout for Auto Workers Forbids Strikes*;” it was published on (1/10/09). See also, The Raw Story#. Regarding reproductive rights, The Raw Story: reports that “New Bush rule could hit poor, rural women the hardest#” (12/3/08).

What happens to our children? Under the Bush administration college tuition rates soared. Here is another manifestation of the same kind of irresponsible policies. AlterNet exposes, “How colleges are using a cynical ploy to appear more exclusive* (1/6/09). McClatchy gossips, Levi quits oilfield job; Palin denies she helped him get it* (1/5/09). The Boston Globe spins, “Help wanted: Wienermobile drivers – Globe-trotting#” – (12/6/08). There could be worse jobs out there, folks.

Who caused all this pain? Republicans reason and Think Progress reveals, “Limbaugh’s Crazy Conspiracy Theory: Democrats Started the Economic Crisis to Help Elect Obama#” (12/22/08). Yahoo! News/AP IMPACT: “How Freddie Mac halted regulatory drive#” – This was published on 12/7/08).

Are the fixes working? Time Magazine headlined, “Bailout Report Card: How Successful Have the Financial Relief Efforts Been? – The Bailout From A to F#” (1/5/09). This is an extremely valuable overview of how the current administration’s interventions have worked to date. To summarize:

Fannie and Freddie Takeovers: Grade D. Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP): Grade C. Hope For Homeowners: Grade F. Capital Purchase Plan: Grade C. Money Market Fund Insurance: Grade A. The Fed’s Actions to Ease Lending: Grade B.

What about accountability? AlterNet: “Financial Meltdown Provides Final Verdict on Reaganomics*” (1/7/09). A New York Times op-ed piece by one of my favorites, Frank Rich is a very enlightening expose of the impossibility of our situation, or is it? Headlined, “Eight Years of Madoffs#,” (1/11/09), this is a very important opinion with which we should be familiar. Rich concludes,

If Bernie Madoff, at least, can still revive what remains of our deadened capacity for outrage, so can those who pulled off Washington’s Ponzi schemes. The more we learn about where all the bodies and billions were buried on our path to ruin, the easier it may be for our new president to make the case for a bold, whatever-it-takes New Deal.

You might want to save today’s post as a souvenir of the Bush administration. Thank Goodness, it will soon be no more. The people, most of them, will be gone, but the downsides will linger for a long time, I am afraid.

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are “betmo*” and Jon#.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

Technorati tags: news news and politics politics republicans economic crisis

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