Friday, October 14, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
PRIORITY.
An ongoing discussion/Moment of Clarity.
Words.
"So let’s see: The solution to large-scale abuses of the financial system, a breakdown of the private sector, extreme economic inequality and the failure of companies and individuals to invest and create jobs is — well, to give even more money and power to very wealthy people, to disable government and to trust those who got us into the mess to get us out of it.
That’s a brief summary of the news from the Republican Party this week. It’s what Republican candidates said during the Post-Bloomberg debate Tuesday night, and it’s the signal Senate Republicans sent in voting as a bloc against President Obama’s jobs bill. Don’t just do something, stand there.
Those who have plenty of capital to invest are holding back because consumers don’t have enough cash. But let’s not give potential middle-class buyers jobs and money to spend. No, let’s heap yet more resources onto investors. And if sharp guys made fortunes writing abusive mortgages, let’s repeal all the rules we just passed to prevent them from doing the same thing again.
Better yet, don’t blame the people who got the windfalls. Blame poor people.
...In any other democracy, we would say that Obama’s jobs bill passed its first test in the Senate because 51 out of 100 senators supported moving it along. But not in America, where we now require 60 votes to get a bill out of the Senate — even though our Constitution, supposedly so revered by conservative “strict constructionists,” says absolutely nothing about a Senate supermajority.
The jobs bill is a pretty simple mix of tax cuts and spending on popular items such as schools and roads. Its core idea accords with what the vast majority of economists (and a lot of businesspeople) think needs to be done: In the absence of private-sector investment and job creation, the federal government should be the investor of last resort to get the economy moving. This should be an urgent priority with unemployment stuck at more than 9 percent.
But no, “don’t do something, stand there” is the order of the day. Every Republican senator present voted to block the jobs bill. Government is to be powerless because the country’s most energetic ideological minority has declared that it must be powerless..."
THE WASHINGTON POST: The GOP ties itself up in knots
SEE ALSO:
THE NEW YORK TIMES: No Jobs Bill, and No Ideas
Words.
"So let’s see: The solution to large-scale abuses of the financial system, a breakdown of the private sector, extreme economic inequality and the failure of companies and individuals to invest and create jobs is — well, to give even more money and power to very wealthy people, to disable government and to trust those who got us into the mess to get us out of it.
Those who have plenty of capital to invest are holding back because consumers don’t have enough cash. But let’s not give potential middle-class buyers jobs and money to spend. No, let’s heap yet more resources onto investors. And if sharp guys made fortunes writing abusive mortgages, let’s repeal all the rules we just passed to prevent them from doing the same thing again.
Better yet, don’t blame the people who got the windfalls. Blame poor people.
...In any other democracy, we would say that Obama’s jobs bill passed its first test in the Senate because 51 out of 100 senators supported moving it along. But not in America, where we now require 60 votes to get a bill out of the Senate — even though our Constitution, supposedly so revered by conservative “strict constructionists,” says absolutely nothing about a Senate supermajority.
The jobs bill is a pretty simple mix of tax cuts and spending on popular items such as schools and roads. Its core idea accords with what the vast majority of economists (and a lot of businesspeople) think needs to be done: In the absence of private-sector investment and job creation, the federal government should be the investor of last resort to get the economy moving. This should be an urgent priority with unemployment stuck at more than 9 percent.
But no, “don’t do something, stand there” is the order of the day. Every Republican senator present voted to block the jobs bill. Government is to be powerless because the country’s most energetic ideological minority has declared that it must be powerless..."
THE WASHINGTON POST: The GOP ties itself up in knots
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
One Pure Thought.
An ongoing discussion/Moment of Clarity.
Words.
"...if ever there were a time for outrage, this is it. And in stark contrast to those of us who came of age in the ‘60s and ‘70s — before the decline of American economic hegemony — today’s youth have a frighteningly more difficult future. But it’s not just young people, as the We Are the 99 Percent tumblr reveals. These are the stories, writes Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein, of “people who played by the rules, did what they were told, and now have nothing to show for it.” How many Americans fall into that category, and how many more are on the precipice?
The occupation of Wall Street may end with the first extended cold rain. But the renewed understanding that collective struggle is a key component in meaningful change — inspired by things as diverse as the Tea Party and a Tunisian fruit vendor — could not be more important. A movement that questions everything — from food justice to economic justice — is a fine start, and if Occupy Wall Street can push the Democrats as the Tea Party has pushed the Republicans … well, hooray."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Welcome Activism On Wall Street
Words.
"...if ever there were a time for outrage, this is it. And in stark contrast to those of us who came of age in the ‘60s and ‘70s — before the decline of American economic hegemony — today’s youth have a frighteningly more difficult future. But it’s not just young people, as the We Are the 99 Percent tumblr reveals. These are the stories, writes Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein, of “people who played by the rules, did what they were told, and now have nothing to show for it.” How many Americans fall into that category, and how many more are on the precipice?
The occupation of Wall Street may end with the first extended cold rain. But the renewed understanding that collective struggle is a key component in meaningful change — inspired by things as diverse as the Tea Party and a Tunisian fruit vendor — could not be more important. A movement that questions everything — from food justice to economic justice — is a fine start, and if Occupy Wall Street can push the Democrats as the Tea Party has pushed the Republicans … well, hooray."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Welcome Activism On Wall Street
For Your Consideration.
Karen O.
Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.
PITCHFORK: Karen O Covers Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings for Chipotle
Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.
PITCHFORK: Karen O Covers Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings for Chipotle
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
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