Saturday, May 30, 2015

Is Senator Bernie Sanders really a Radical Extremist?

Which Presidential candidate said this? Was it Bernie Sanders? Or was It Rand Paul?

"We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace—business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob. Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred."

Bernie Sanders takes heat for a 43-year-old "sexual" essay

Cable news has now picked up the latest story about Senator Bernie Sanders' controversial "essay" on sexual fantasies. VOX published the essay's full text (so make of it what you will.)

The Media and Cable Monopolies (Cont.)

“Whoever controls the media controls the mind.” ~ Jim Morrison, who passed away in 1971. (Via University of Wisconsin)

Most people of my generation probably knows the comedian George Carlin (who passed away in 2008) and heard him speak of the American Dream (and who really controls America). Here's the video at YouTube (with over 5 million hits to date). Here are excerpts from the transcript:

Friday, May 29, 2015

Recent News, Links and Quotes

Breaking News

Ex-House Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert [R- Illinois)] was charged with evading currency rules and lying to FBI (He represented Illinois's 14th congressional district for twenty years from 1987 to 2007)

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Is the Corporate Media Rigging Elections?

The media no longer just "endorses" a political candidate that they prefer; or just sees to it that they get a lot of media exposure; or that they only report favorable things about their preferred candidate. These days the major media actively attacks those they oppose and outright LIES about political opponents.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

As the Nation goes, so goes Sears

Sears -1940

  • Sears, Roebuck & Company (aka Sears) was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in 1886 as a mail order catalog company.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Memorial Day Remembered (2015)

June 6, 1944: The total death count for Allied soldiers on D-Day (which included America, Britain, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Poland) was estimated to be at least 4,390 — of which 2,499 were Americans.

By contrast, a little over 4,493 U.S. soldiers were killed in combat during the entire war in Iraq.

Robert Reich: The "Free" Market is Rigged

(*From the blog of the former Secretary of Labor under Clinton: Whatever Happened to Antitrust? on May 24, 2015)

Last week’s settlement between the Justice Department and five giant banks reveals the appalling weakness of modern antitrust. The banks had engaged in the biggest price-fixing conspiracy in modern history.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

TPP makes Obama a Dino

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce (a business lobbying group) claims they are "the world's largest business organization representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions. Our members range from mom-and-pop shops and local chambers to leading industry associations and large corporations. They all share one thing in common — they count on the Chamber to be their voice in Washington, D.C."

But in reality,

Saturday, May 23, 2015

The Savings Glut (Hoarded Wealth), Wages and Productivity

CNBC (May 20,2015) Why the US economy can’t shake Great Recession:

Former Treasury Secretary and White House economic advisor Larry Summers, in late 2013, advanced the argument that the unspectacular recovery from the Great Recession in the U.S. is due to "secular stagnation" ...

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Capital Gains, Income Inequality and Fast Food Wages

First, some excerpts from a post at Medium titled The Importance of Taxing Capital [Income]: A proposal to slow down the wealth accumulation of the super-rich (by James Kwak on May 19, 2015)

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Wages, Business and Taxes

The Revolt of Small Business Republicans (Robert Reich - May 18, 2015)

In case you hadn’t noticed, big corporations have extended their dominance over large swaths of the economy. They’ve expanded their intellectual property, merged with or acquired other companies, and gained control over networks and platforms that have become industry standards...

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Fast Food Workers Ain't Lovin It

Connie Bennett (a grandmother) has worked at McDonald’s for eight years. During that time she says she has received only one pay raise, and still makes just a nickel per hour over the minimum wage.

Over-Saturated job Market Depresses Wages

If humanity had as much access to oil as they do to all the seawater in the oceans, oil itself would be next to worthless. Whereas an extremely rare commodity or a work of art could be considered priceless by some measure. If we have an abundance of something that can't be used for any meaningful purpose, it's devalued.

The Clinton Legacy Continued?

We're all well aware that Bill Clinton lowered the capital gains tax rate from 28% to 20% for the super-rich, had signed horrible trade agreements that lost millions of American jobs, and had deregulated the banks that led to the Great Recession (for which we're still feeling the terrible aftermath 6 years later after the recession officially ended in June 2009.)

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Why does Congress Ignored our Trade Deficits?

In 1975, U.S. exports had exceeded foreign imports by $12.4 billion — but that would be the last trade surplus the United States would ever see again in the 20th century — and possibly, forever. And our leaders were warned 16 years ago that, unless something was done, it was only going to get worse. Then something was done — they passed bad trade deals to make it much worse.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Elizabeth Warren Strikes Again, Hits another Home Run

The YouTube video below is a 14-minute speech given by Senator Elizabeth Warren during a livestream event called "Rewriting the Rules" that was hosted by the Roosevelt Institute in Washington D.C. on May 12, 2015.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Study Exposes Reshoring Myth

First, you may want to acquaint yourself with this recent "feel-good" piece at Market Watch from May 1, 2015: "Record number of manufacturing jobs returning to America". This is what Obama likes to quote while pushing for the TPP trade agreement.

But then we've just learned that this reshoring myth has been exposed...

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Saturday, May 9, 2015

67,161 less U.S. factories since 1997

  • At the end of 1997 we had 406,567 manufacturing establishments of all sizes.

Friday, May 8, 2015

Nike to Reshore Jobs? Connect the Dots . . .

First read a few of the latest headlines, stitch the information together, and then read Robert Reich's lasted post about Obama's visit to Nike today — then connect the dots . . .

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Banks

The Nation: "Whatever her populist pitch may be in the 2016 campaign, in all these years Hillary Clinton has not publicly condemned Wall Street or any individual Wall Street leader ...

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Multi-millionaire Bill O'Reilly thinks the Rich are too Poor

Or most likely, he just believes that the uber-rich are not rich enough, and therefore, need more tax breaks, not less...

Monday, May 4, 2015

A Vote for Bernie is a Vote for Liz

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) almost EXACTLY mirrors and supports the same "progressive" issues and causes as Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) — and just as passionately. The only difference is, Bernie has been advocating for these issues and causes much longer than Warren.

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Gov. Chris Christie: The Only Innocent One

David Wildstein, Governor Chris Christie's confident and political ally, recently pled guilty to two counts of conspiracy regarding the illegal lane closings of the George Washington Bridge.

At the moment the photo below of David Wildstein and Chris Christie were together, the lanes on the bridge had already been closed for three days and making national news — and Wildstein knew all about it, but he said absolutely NOTHING to his old high school "acquaintance" — Chris Christie. Yeah, right!

The Beat-Down Continues...

A new report from Sarah Anderson of the Institute for Policy Studies shows that the Wall Street bonus pool for last year is roughly double the total earnings of all Americans who work full time at the federal minimum wage.

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Rep. Alan Grayson on TPP Trade Agreement

In Rep. Alan Grayson’s (D-Florida) excellent 9 minute “Hollywood-produced” video he explains how we have "fake trade" and not "free trade" agreements.

"We're creating tens of millions of jobs in other countries with our purchasing power, while were losing millions of jobs here in America, because people in other other countries are buying THEIR own goods and services rather than ours. They’re not creating jobs in America, but they’re buying our assets — our stocks, our bonds, our mortgages, our homes, our farms, our coast lands, our big businesses and our small businesses."

He goes on to say that our debt to foreigners totals $35,000 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. — and that foreigners already own 7% of America's assets. (Last year deals worth at least $1 billion in the U.S. merger-and-acquisitions market saw the number rise 43% from the year before.)

Rep. Alan Grayson's petition:
http://tradetreachery.com/

Maybe he could be Bernie Sanders' VP ;)