Thoughts on politics and culture
"Neither spending more nor taxing less will help the country pay its bills. What it can and must do is radically simplify its tax, health-care, retirement and financial systems, each of which is a complete mess. But this is the good news. It means they can each be redesigned to achieve their legitimate purposes at much lower cost and, in the process, revitalize the economy."
U.S. Is Bankrupt and We Don’t Even Know It by Laurence Kotlikoff (Bloomberg)
economic reforms "hostage;" meanwhile, the oligarchs dictate the outcome of the legislative process, and the two parties get to go back to the electorate every couple of years with the same unresolved set of issues (we forget that the GOP agitates its base with "lesser of two evils" rhetoric familiar to us from Democratic propaganda).
CNN Money says North Dakota is number one! The chilly state leads the states in economic growth.
The rest of the story:
State economic growth slowed in 2011 by Tami Luhby (CNNMoney)
@ggreenwald: Yay! We killed "Al Qaeda's number 2" for the 83rd time. More bombing and onto 84! #WarOnTerrorForever
Noting that, within its collection of "Component Agencies" to "protect the homeland," the Department of Homeland Security includes "The Directorate for National Protection and Programs," "The Directorate for Science and Technology" and "The Directorate for Management," you wonder if the agency's minions are tone-deaf or if someone, perhaps in the Directorate of Nomenclature, who was reading Orwell and Huxley at the moment of the agency's christening, has a terrific sense of humor.
The Dept. of Homeland Security was forced to release the list by a privacy watchdog group that filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act. Although DHS claims it only employs the list to detect legitimate security risks, "[t]he words are included in the department's 2011 'Analyst's Desktop Binder'* used by workers at their National Operations Center which instructs workers to identify 'media reports that reflect adversely on DHS and response activities'." In a capitalist economy, the true job creators are consumers, the middle class. And taxing the rich to make investments that grow the middle class, is the single smartest thing we can do for the middle class, the poor and the rich.A transcript of Hanauer's speech is available here.
Marsha Feinland of the Peace & Freedom Party would fill this role perfectly: she is articulate, personable, dedicated, and right (that is to say, Left) on the issues. It would be illuminating if, before she heads back to Washington to act in our name, our senior senator was required to explain her positions on such matters as international trade, military adventurism, immigration, homeland security and the bankster crime wave (she's for aggressively prosecuting Julian Assange for espionage, for example, but much less enthusiastic about putting financial crooks in jail), to say nothing of addressing unresolved allegations of corruption stemming from her days on a military appropriations subcommittee.With Democrats and Republicans divvying up the primary ballots, it might not take very high numbers to grab second place; it would certainly make for a livelier debate in the general election to have a representative of the 99% sharing the stage with Sen. Feinstein rather than another one-percenter like herself from the GOP."Let it be understood that we cannot go outside of this alternative: Liberty, inequality, survival of the fittest; not-liberty, equality, survival of the unfittest. The former carries society forward and favors all its best members; the latter carries society downwards and favors all its worst members." -- Professor William Graham Sumner ("What Social Classes Owe to Each Other," 1883).
1540. (11-0067) Legislature Expansion. Legislative Process. Initiative Constitutional AmendmentI've proposed elsewhere that the federal legislature be reduced to one house and that the resultant unicameral congress be reconstituted with 30,000 members. Research has shown that beyond about 10,000 voters, districts are too big for citizens effectively to know their representatives. Given the reach of digital technology, participants in a 30K-member body would be able to remain in their district most of the time, meeting with other representatives virtually and conducting the people's business within the grasp of their constituents.
Increases size of Legislature almost 100-fold by dividing current Assembly and Senate districts into neighborhood districts such that each Assemblymember represents about 5,000 persons and each Senator represents about 10,000 persons. Provides for neighborhood district representatives to elect working committees the size of the current Assembly and Senate, 80 Assemblymembers and 40 Senators. Gives working committees the legislative power generally, and sole power to amend bills, but requires approval by appropriate vote of the full membership in each house for passage of any non-urgency bill. Reduces legislators' pay and expenditures. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Decreased state spending on the Legislature of over $180 million annually. Increased county election costs, potentially in the range of tens of millions of dollars initially and lower amounts annually thereafter.
companies in Indiana were 16 percent higher than in nonunion plants. One study concluded that the decline in unionization since the 1970s is responsible for one-fifth to one-third of the growth in inequality in this country. Voters, unionized or not, should recognize the new "right to work" push for what it is: bad economics and cynical politics. -- New York Times editorial (2012-01-07).Collective bargaining…has played a major role in America’s economic miracle. Unions represent some of the freest institutions in this land. There are few finer examples of participatory democracy to be found anywhere. Too often, discussion about the labor movement concentrates on disputes, corruption and strikes. But while these things are headlines, there are thousands of good agreements reached and put into practice every year without a hitch. -- Ronald Reagan (New York Times 1981-09-04)quoted in It's Scott Walker's Party: How anti-union zealotry defines GOP race by John Nichols (Nation of Change 2012-01-09).
candidate Mitt Romney demagogues the security issue by advocating more “full-spectrum dominance,” or candidate Rick Santorum waxes bellicose about doing more to stop Iran’s nuclear program; Barack Obama is forced to maintain his own cred by dubious if popular ventures like high-tech extra-judicial assassinations.As we build toward a hot war with Iran, it is worth examining how our attitude toward nuclear arms is animated by the same cultural biases.
“Our” nuclear weapons are justified by our need for security, while “theirs” indicate an unacceptable aggressiveness.Parenthetically, will there be a peace candidate -- will someone stand against militarism and empire -- in November?
instant runoff voting to select from ten strong Best Picture contenders, including The Wizard of Oz, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and Of Mice and Men.
Gone with the Wind was the consensus choice.
Rob Richie wrote this article for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions. Rob is the executive director of FairVote, a non-profit organization that researches and advocates election reforms that increase voter turnout, accountable governance, and fair representation.
teaching and background materials on employee ownership. The Institute's Curriculum Library on Employee Ownership (CLEO) includes books, articles, case studies and teaching materials. The Aspen Institute’s Center for Business Education hosts CLEO with support from the Foundation for Enterprise Development and the Employee Ownership Foundation.
