“Inside Job” Wins The Oscar

Director Charles Ferguson pointed out in his acceptance speech last night that three years after the stock market crash the guilty parties are still walking free.  Who’s running the government?

It’s The Inequality, Stupid

This article will tell you just about all you need to know about inequality in the American economy.  For example: 2007-2009,   Wall Street profits were up 720%, unemployment was up 102%, home equity was down 35%.   Great graphs.

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph

Ever Hear Of The BPA?

BND stands for the Bank of North Dakota, the state-owned bank that is the main reason the state of North Dakota is sailing along without a deficit and a bank credit crisis.  When you bank with Bank of America, your money leaves the state and some banksters in Wall Street make a pretty penny.   Several other states are considering such a move (Washington state has bills in the legislature).  Why not BPA – the Bank of Pennsylvania?

http://beavercountyblue.org/2011/02/01/why-not-public-banks-of-our-own-the-north-dakota-model/

Something’s Rotten At The Justice Department

The Justice Department has put out a list of malefactors from our recent economic unpleasantness.  So far so good.  But some of those named were picked up long before Holder took office, and glaringly absent from the list are the bigshots who ran – and run – the giant banks.  Nobody’s touching them.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-09/wall-street-s-worst-at-least-can-do-the-math-commentary-by-jonathan-weil.html

The Problems Was The Banksters

Galbraith says Obama’s failure was in turning over economic policy to bank-friendly people – Geithner, Summers, Bernanke – who had no interest in Main Street.  So the big banks called all the shots and took home some very nice bonuses.  Sounds about right to us. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-k-galbraith/obamas-probelm-simply-def_b_779711.html

Obama: Get Tough!

There are plenty of things Obama can do in the next two years to advance the progressive agenda and get this country going again, and they don’t need congressional help or votes or blessings.  The first thing to do is clean house.  Get rid of people like Tim Geithner who are more concerned with Wall Street than Main Street.  Then use the regulatory powers you already have.  Enforce the new rules for banks.  Make sure the new health law gets going to help sick people. Crack down on oil and coal companies that are wrecking our environment.  Get all the old government agencies ticking again – FEC, FTC, FCC, ICC, EPA .  Be the Commander-in-chief who gets our troops and our treasure out of Iraq and Afghanistan and a thousand bases around the world.  In other words, act more  like the head of the executive branch and less like a prime minister.  Yes you can.

85% Say “Don’t Cut Social Security”

Our thanks to Beaver County PDA for sending along this article.  Their Congressman, like most Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats, wants to cut the program.  As always, to understand the thinking of those people, look for the money.  Privatizing Social Security would be good for the retirement insurance industry and the Wall Street establishment that owns it.  There is no other reason to privatize.

http://beavercountyblue.org/2010/08/11/cut-social-security-public-says-no-cong-altmire-says-mumble-mumble-mumble/

Wall Street Wants To “Fix” Social Security

Those wonderful people who brought you credit default swaps, Lehman Brothers, and Bernie Madoff want to get their hands on Social Security.  Why?  They claim it is contributing to the deficit.  Wrong.  SS will be solvent just as it is until the 2040′s.  And if it needs more money?  You know the $106,000 annual income cap on SS taxes?  Why not do away with that?    Let wealthier Americans pay the same SS tax rate on all their income as the majority of us.  No problem.

http://beavercountyblue.org/2010/05/27/blue-dog-democrats-and-republicans-are-out-to-kill-social-security-and-medicare/