In America The Smallest Minority “Rules the Roost”
We are a country of approximately 332,000,000 people. That’s three hundred and thirty two million. Yet, as Americans, we are controlled by the absolutely smallest minority in our country! The top one tenth of one percent!
(1/10 of 1%) They control almost everything that happens in this country.
Money, one of humanity’s worst inventions, has really thrown our country into a state of corruption from the top down. I believe that the American people are fed up and sick of it!
The FPOTUS, one of the rich and powerful, made it much worse with his nearly two TRILLION dollar tax cuts for the rich and reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. His administration added well over 7 trillion to the deficit in just 4 years!!
And to all our Military Veterans, who I have the deepest respect for. Thank you for your service. As for those veterans who voted for Trump, doesn’t it mean anything to you that he has publicly stated that you are all Suckers and Losers? And he has defamed John McCain and General Milley! He has NO respect for our Military or our Veterans! You all took an oath to the Constitution.
In remarks at a farewell ceremony in his honor, outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair General Mark Milley speaks about the chain of command and the military's oath to the Constitution. "We don't take an oath to a king, or queen, or a tyrant, or a dictator. And we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator...We take an oath to the Constitution...and we're willing to die to protect it”.
The Republican Party’s only objective, at the behest of Trump, is to impeach President Biden!
They have done nothing to help the American people!
Average working Americans are making their voices heard. Most recently the United Auto Workers’ strike. And President Biden has their back!
Now that Kevin McCarthy has been removed as Speaker of the House there are rumors that the Republicans will try to replace McCarthy with Trump! Supposedly you don’t have to be a member of the House to be Speaker.
If and when the ADULTS take back control of the country’s leadership in the House of Representatives they, the Senators and the President need to make some serious amendments to the constitution.
Adults. While we're preoccupied by class struggle, our entire economy is undermined by culture wars, racisism, and the same politics that implicates civil war.
Republicans refused to give Biden antitrust authority that could improve everone's borttom line, all classes and cultures: ability to sue price fixers and price gougers like OPEC/Saudi/Russia. This is also a national security issue. And politically, Biden is runnig against Trump/OPEC/Saudi/Putin a/k/a the Republican Party.
We also have to reconcile the fact that 40% of union members supporetd Trump in 2016 and 2022, the same guy who hates the entire concept of collective batgaining, and whose administration was anti-labor.
This is why I fully support Biden running for a second term. He may be old, but he has surrounded himself with competent and intelligent advisors and together they’re making great strides for democracy. Our government is not run by just one person. Why disrupt what is working so well? (relatively speaking)!
Dori--why, indeed, and yet the American people have done this before. Replaced a Democratic president with GOP and we’ve watched our economy and often quality of life hit the skids--go figure.
I completely agree (and Biden was far from my first choice for the office in 2020). If we want to offer some comfort to voters who are worrying about his staying power through a second term, prudence argues for considering a more popular and forceful candidate for Vice President in 2024 (Harris' poll numbers - even with minority voters - are not encouraging). Why is this topic being treated as taboo?
Why is it "treated as taboo"? Because she IS his running mate- why second guess him? Have you listened to one of her speeches lately? She is competent, intelligent, speaks well & will be the most experienced & qualified to run in the 2028 election, mentored by someone with 50 years of experience.
she is also head and shoulders above any current elected repugnant official, house or senate, as well as any current repugnantican candidate, and substantially more intelligent and ethical than the 3 lackeys that drumpf put on supreme court.
I think it's taboo because Biden is firm in his desire to see her through to the presidency. He has most definitely taken her under his wing to get her ready for that. I see that she has most definitely improved her skills and her demeanor is far more solid as VP so we will hope that would transfer over if she ends up needing it as president.
Because Kamala Harris is a good person and very competent. Also, dumping her for another would be perceived as a negative by those the Republicans are keeping away from voting so they wouldn't make the extra effort to vote.
I'm afraid I'm going to have to beg to differ with your assessment VP Harris. I find the kind of prosecutorial misbehavior by Harris while in office in CA that is detailed in the article linked below, was enough to disqualify the candidacy of Amy Klobuchar, and rightly so. IMO Harris' behavior was worse. Her poll numbers and vote counts indicate to me that she was, and will be, unable to get and sustain the strong support of the minority communities that was a major attraction for the party eminence gri's to annoint her in the first place (see Prof. Bob's essay on the question off "Should Biden Run" here on Substack). There are several much better alternative candidates available.
While there might be “better candidates”, the fact remains they aren’t running. Biden has done a fantastic job of surrounding himself with extremely smart and very capable cabinet members. They are well spoken, good administrators, and seem to be good leaders. As long as he can continue to represent the People of the USA as he has to this point, let’s quit belittling him, highlight his strengths and successes, and continue to support and uphold the rule of law and Democracy.
thank you, this is an interesting and disturbing article. I will continue to look for info on this. this is an opinion piece, and as such, facts may be not facts.
Exactly! Republicans & Bots will keep bringing up his age which isn’t really important. What’s important is to not disrupt or delay the momentum of the projects, from infrastructure repair to stand up to climate change, to unions standing up to corporations, to finally breaking the pharma chokehold on overcharging us for medications, we
must keep the momentum going in the right direction.
I agree with your main points. I just wish we could forego talk of his age and just talk about his accomplishments. Drill down on his accomplishments. Elders have some shortcomings, and so do younger people. I love that President Biden has a long historical view; has a brave and compassionate vision for our country (building the country from the bottom up and the middle out); has reassured and strengthened our world-wide alliances; and has picked some of the smartest people in the country for important, impactful positions. While I am at it, I must mention Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson - she is a brilliant jurist and making her mark on the court!
I have a niece who knows media better than just about anybody and here's our advice:
Replicate Taylor Swift. Most people don't get the news the old way. in 2024 40% of the electorate will be young folks. Since 2018 Taylor Swift has been the Number One influencer we have. She represents people who can spread the news more efficiently than MSM, Fox, all conventional means combined.
BTW if Robert replicates Taylor Swift, he can expand his base, also.
Robert and Heather have discussed this a couple of times. The DNC is aware of it also. Here's an article from last year. https://time.com/6227149/demhom Hartmannocrats-tiktok-influencers-midterms-2022/
I've suggested tyhat Robert and others like Thom Hartmann interview these people and work on finding those kids with potential. Unfortunately, the Republicans know it and have been at it also.
But consider that our demographics are changing. According to most sources, young voters can swamp the next election. 70% trend Democratic.
That's why the DNC should eschew their corporate backers and adopt a liberal platform: higher taxes on the wealthy and on corporations, student loan forgiveness, abortion rights, maternity leave, gun control, universal healthcare.
Swamp, landslide, call it what you will, it would reverse the last four decades and give us all something to celebrate on the 250th anniversary of 1776.
Maybe you don’t understand because you don’t understand young people. She speaks to them. Not at them. To them, she is authentic. She floats in and out of relationships. She is full of vim, vinegar, and vitality...and angst. She is them. And she uses herself as a positive influence by making them believe in themselves. They love and critique her and she listens. She gets them.
These union members are listening to right wing radio nut jobs like Mark Levin, who tells them that the "Democrat" Party is their enemy, not the large corporations oppressing them!
Rightwing group behind regressive US state laws to face protest at DC gala
Rights groups to rally outside event, calling on corporations to cut ties with American Legislative Exchange Council
Nina Lakhani
@ninalakhani
Wed 4 Oct 2023 17.05 EDT
A broad coalition of opponents to the rightwing corporate agenda of the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) will hold a rally on Wednesday night outside a glitzy gala event to celebrate the secretive group’s 50th anniversary.
US President Biden speaks on cancelling student debt<br>epa10900015 US President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks on his administration's efforts to cancel student debt and support students and borrowers, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 04 October 2023. President Biden has approved an additional $9 billion in debt relief for an additional 125,000 student loan borrowers. EPA/SHAWN THEW
Biden cancels additional $9bn in student loan debt
Read more
Environmentalists, gun reform campaigners, union leaders and voting rights activists will protest outside the $750-a-ticket event at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, calling on corporations to cut ties with Alec – a tax-exempt group behind a slew of regressive state laws including the stand your ground gun legislation, right-to-work labor policies and so-called critical infrastructure protections that criminalize protest against fossil fuel polluters.
I am right there with you but the reason is that they have never been trained to think. They are the Sheeples just following the lead with no thinking involved.
"Ignorance is Strength" "1984" Orwell. I don't think it is by accident that public schools don't teach students to actually think, analyze and come up with a conclusion by themselves. Just teach them to follow the leader.
Right you are Duane. They were only educating factory workers when the present ( still, believe it or not) system of education was created. No critical thinking skills needed or encouraged.
Duane, I know you're not blaming the teachers. I was thinking that the deficiency should blame the Conservatives. But then, Education has been dumbed down by both sides. The Dem's, unfortunately, don't change what the Rep's put in place. Is that laziness or what?
Valerie just came across this from The Guardian that shows who is in control of our education:
Article by Dharna Noor 10/4/23
At least 20 board members at California public universities have direct ties to the fossil fuel industry, a new analysis has found, sparking criticism from climate advocates on and off campus.
Of the state’s 32 public universities, board members at one-third of them either work or have worked for oil and gas companies, as do two board members at the California State…..
The voice of Corporate America dollar for dollar out spends human citizens on a gigantic scale no wonder such crazy repressive laws are past that are only in the best interest of large corporations, and
"While we're preoccupied by class struggle, our entire economy is undermined by culture wars, racisism, and the same politics that implicates civil war."
That is so very true. Republicans are "dividers" and not "uniters" as they continually claim...just more lies regurgitated over and over hoping the dumbed-down in our midst will believe them...and they generally do!
I couldn't for the life of me figure out why ANY union supported the pretender. Was their Clinton misogyny more important than labor rights in 2016? Perhaps so. The motivator against Biden in 2020? Still haven't figured out this one.
The President and Congress, alone, cannot amend the Constitution. An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress, or, if two-thirds of the States request one, by a convention called for that purpose. The amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths of the State legislatures, or three-fourths of conventions called in each State for ratification.
It's called an Article V Convention and its opponents claim it will overturn the entire Constitution. To that end, I say fish feathers! You'd have to be a pretty darn smooth talker to get 38 states to agree on much of anything. I'd say the max they'd get would be two amendments. Some of the "powers that be" are horrified that the general public has this power and they will do whatever it takes to prevent it.
Your article is alarming. I recently read Robert Ovetz book, "We the Elites: Why the U.S. Constitution Serves the Few" and learned the surviving Koch brother and others want a constitutional convention with his opinion that the "people" aren't ready for it. I also read, Page, Seawright, and Lacombe, "Billionaires and Stealth Politics." I'm guessing that when the Senate was elected by the State legislature instead of "at large," they were likely to be the same political party and the system didn't suffer from the gridlock we have today (that would be an interesting study). The Constitution does need changes, but we don't need more unintended consequences. Someone with the common good in mind, (Robert Reich) could call together an informal group known for promoting the common good to talk about the pros and cons of a constitutional convention and what would be the best way to proceed or not. We don't want to be blindsided. Another book that reveals how that could happen is David Pepper's, "Laboratories of Autocracy: A wakeup call from behind the lines," about what's happening at the state level. Democracy is being threatened from the statehouses. Beware.
An article that purports to be on the side of the people over powerful interests that prefer concentrating more power to “ money” should not suggest apportioning the people’s representation by the number of each states’ electoral votes. Electoral votes are already horribly skewed in favor of small, less populated states—quite often extremely conservative—while the larger population of citizens in the country as a whole is more liberal. Giving gerrymandered states outsized influence at a Constitutional convention is not a way to enhance the ACTUAL voice of the governed in the business of governance.
…and a whole lot more needs doing. I’m not in favor of a full constitutional convention.
I’m happy to see a slate of amendments proposed — we had the first ten presented as a group — with a concertd effortto enact changes, but not putting the whole thing out to chop and carve.
I used to be an officer of the ABA Judicial Division, and our appelate conference morphed into the Brennan Center. If you want detail I can provide it.
The source you cite is right wing bull. I have been following this issue and as far as I am concerned the CATO and Heritage think tanks have become insurrectionist bull. See Gloria's comment above.
There is a huge difference between amending the Constitution, and calling a convention that could throw the whole thing out and start from scratch. Be careful what we wish for — even better, KNOW what we wish for …
My biggest fear about an Article V Convention is that the some of the political crazies, like the MAGA Republicans in the House, will become involved and start throwing bombs, causing the Convention to descend into chaos (like the House of Representatives). If only adults (like Ben Franklin in 1787) are involved, I am all for it.
We do need an Article V convention with a limited call to the convention. The focus should be on a single issue such as removing money from politics. There are three major safeguards: 1) States can "call" the convention but not specify its scope. Congress does that. 2) A convention is for amending not replacing the Constitution (i.e. not a la Koch). 3) The ratification hurdle is quite high with 3/4 of the States.
The last use of a threatened convention was to prod Congress to refer the 17th Amendment for the direct election of Senators. That effort came within one State of calling the convention and then Congress finally acted by proposing the 17th Amendment.
I’ve been convinced this is not a good idea at least not at this time. Common cause and hundreds of democracy supporting organizations are against it. Probably my chief concern would be the inability to set bounds on the focus and hence on outcomes.
The bounds can be set by the text of the call, i.e. "only to enact an amendment with the following language. . ." and the need for a Congressional referral. The history of Article V provides it rather clear that the scaremongering by Common Cause and others is not well founded.
Precisely why Article V is relevant. The states also did not want to appoint Senators prior to the 17th Amendment. The specter of a constitutional convention moved them to action.
Well Dave, this is concerning: “Conservatives are pushing to call an Article V convention to add a balanced-budget amendment and other ideas to the Constitution. All they need is the approval of 34 state legislatures (no governor’s signature needed) to compel Congress to call such a gathering. Right now, 28 states have passed resolutions calling for an Article V convention.That number would be 32 had Common Cause and other groups, such as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, not successfully gotten Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico and Nevada to rescind their resolutions.
Still, once the 34-state hurdle is cleared, despite pledges of a discrete, narrow focus, no one knows what could happen. “Once a convention is convened, they could take up any topic they want to.”
“They actually said something truthful. They said this is intended to reverse 115 years of progressivism and we say, yes, it is.”
“So think about the progressive movement,” Hobert Flynn told me after bringing Meckler’s comment to my attention during the interview. “It’s what reined in corporations with antitrust measures. We’re talking about the women’s suffrage movement. We’re talking about consumer protections. We’re talking about Brown v. Board of Education. We are talking about education, environmental rights, civil rights, voting rights, all of those kinds of things.”
(WaPo, The biggest threat to democracy that nobody is talking about, J.Capeheart, 9/4/18)
Sure, if you have an 80-year plan to make this happen, go for it. The fascists don't even let democrats pick supreme court nominees if the president is black. Democrats lack anything resembling a spine. Poking these two parties and hoping for change isn't working. No, I don't have any ideas. I just know this crap is broken, corrupted and more of a threat to the people than a government of the people.
I donated to purchase postcards for volunteers to send to voters who need encouragement to show up. Life is tough and sometimes knowing people are routing for you matters.
As a full time caregiver to my wife, I am limited in what I can do. I always vote and contribute money to worthy political causes like Robert Reich's Inequality Media Civic Action.
Keith Olson ; and they have to ENFORCE the Constitution's 14th amendment section three Disqualification clause, which is plain enough. tfg should not even be considered for any office, anywhere in government.
On October 30, the first 14th Amendment case will be heard in Colorado. The members of Congress who aided, abetted or gave comfort to the insurrection stand in the same position as Trump. Many who argue for this position are ex-Federalist Society members who can read.
The suit was filed Sept. 6 by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington on behalf of six Colorado voters, who argue Trump is disqualified under a provision of the 14th Amendment that bars certain office-seekers who have engaged in insurrection.
The plaintiffs include former Republican U.S. representative from Rhode Island Claudine (Cmarada) Schneider, who now lives in Colorado; former Colorado House and Senate Majority Leader Norma Anderson, an unaffiliated voter who recently left the Republican party; Denver Post columnist and Republican activist Krista Kafer; Michelle Priola, Kathi Wright, and Christopher Castilian.
They argue Trump, the leading GOP candidate for president in 2024, is disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which says no person who took an oath to support the Constitution then had “engaged in insurrection … or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof” can hold any office in the United States.
The suit says Trump “tried to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election” and incited and “engaged in” the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The defendants are Trump and Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat.
Most of the Friday hearing concerned procedural matters. Trump’s lawyer in the case, Scott Gessler, a former Republican Colorado secretary of state, indicated he intends to try to get the case tossed under a recent Colorado law that protects people who exercise First Amendment rights from the threat of lawsuits — known as an anti-SLAPP law. The allegations against Trump in the case are all “based on his speech,” Gessler said.
“We believe it’s a winner,” Gessler said of the pending motion under anti-SLAPP — or “strategic lawsuits against public participation.”
Gessler had objected to the proposed protective order by arguing that witness tampering and intimidation are already outlawed and that Trump critics had also engaged in objectionable speech. He noted that Griswold has said Trump tried to “steal an election” and labeled the events of Jan. 6 an “insurrection.”
“That is definitely coming from other quarters,” Gessler said of what Grimsley had called “inflammatory” speech.
Absolutely concur with all you have written Keith. It states all my thoughts, and especially as pertaining to veterans. Like you, I am thankful for their service, my late husband was a veteran of Vietnam, but to give alliance to the former POTUS who has called them 'losers' and 'suckers' is beyond my comprehension. He got a pass I believe from 'bone spurs' in his foot so he would never have to serve in the military. I listened to outgoing Gen. Miley's speech as well and not only was he a decorated veteran, he literally saved this country from imminent danger after the 2020 election from the most dangerous presidents ever. We truly owe Gen. Miley. I am so hoping that the majority of the American people will vote to put the adults back in the House so we can have a truly two party system that really cares about doing what's best for the country. And not vote for the disgraced, twice impeached, indicted 91 times former guy who has told us his intentions to try to totally destroy the democracy he wasn't able to do the 1st time. around.
Reich wrote an excellent piece on the further accomplishments of Biden’s administration and important progress being made for a number of unionized workers as well as the activation of antitrust activities of the government. However, with such wealth inequality firmly entrenched, the rise of far-right extremism and the ability of the ultra-conservatives to prevent or at least cripple the government from functioning properly we cannot allow ourselves to rely on these gains alone.
Both the dysfunction of the United States government, and the inequitable distribution of wealth have increased to such an extent that we must at least consider the possibility of the eventual need for a dramatic shift in how we govern ourselves and how we implement an economic system that will distribute wealth equitably. This means a shift from political democracy Economic Democracy. In Economic Democracy large corporations are replaced by locally worker owned cooperatives and the profits and political power start in the local communities and they then cooperate with the other sectors of the larger community. There is no need for workers to strike to be heard, for they are the owners and as the business succeeds, they are rewarded with greater purchasing power.
Most of us are heavily focused on winning the next election and allowing Biden to maintain the good momentum gained in the last four years. But we would be negligent to not look at the long game, and with such wealth disparity for the 1% over everyone else and the unrelenting efforts to erode political democracy funded by that 1%, we must look further down the road. The Ultra-Right has come up with a chilling game plan (2025 plan) should Republicans dominate the next election cycle. (There are many that would aspire to take Trump's place should his legal problems hobble him. We are not out of the danger zone yet.) Should we begin to fall into Right Wing inspired chaos, what would be our ideal solutions? I know some think this is “unthinkable.” But not planning ahead is also unthinkable.
Additionally, we have entered the period of climate inspired catastrophes. 125 people dying in one day by fire on a lush paradise of an island is unthinkable, but it is just occurred. Now New York streets have flooded from an event that is not a hurricane and Canada is burning so badly that it chokes cities with smoke thousands of miles away. The Southwest, where I live, is running out of water and some of our nation’s navigable waterways become unnavigable at times.
In the United States we need a modernized government structure that can govern and serve the people and an economic system that ensures that everyone is guaranteed food, clothing, shelter, free medical care and free education up though University. The wealthiest country on the planet can easily afford this if we had an equitable economic system and a government by the people and for the people. We can do this, but while the right hand fights for a progressive win in the next election cycle, the left hand must plan for a brighter future for the generations to come, that is to say, Economic Democracy.
As Theodore Hetzel put it, “if you will it, it is not a dream.”
Why do you think the useless billionaires are so happy with the "fucking morons," (Rex Tillerson said it best), of the Trumplican party?
They are FAAAARRR too stupid and uneducated to understand that their BIGLIEST enemy OF ALL is actually Dear Leader Bunkerboy! HE is the reason they ARE so poor they cannot afford food or healthcare! HE is the reason they can't afford a hous-well. Czar Poopin is just as guilty of that. HE is the reason they need to buy mega packs of diapers because they wet themselves in fear CONSTANTLY!
Thank God that bigly LOSER only has 10% support. (That's 40% of the 25% registered as Trumplicans.)
Thanks Keith, I agree but, it’s most interesting to me that the folks who are most vocal about their dissatisfaction are those who seem to have no idea that it is 40+ plus years of Republican dominated economic policies that have us where we are. As long as republicans support the lunacy of racism and other single voter issues the worker will be at the back of the line. When you can’t be fair with others why would you expect, particularly big business, to be fair with you.
The relation between laborers and the companies they sweat for has always been out of balance. History will show a reluctant attempt to find some level of equilibrium between the two camps. One side uses labor to gain wealth while the other give their lives in an effort to exist in a world where money and power see them as expendable, the grease that keeps the machines running. The components of capitalism are cruel and unsettling but that's the nature of the beast. Both sides have merits that need nurturing while paying couscous attention to the corruption this system can cause. As it is, one can't exist without the other, that's a given. The end goal is a cooperative relationship that understands the need to elevate the human element in the production process to a level where life in our society becomes enjoyable.
Richard Wolff gives fascinating lectures on the history of the relationships between master-slave, feudal lord-serf, and employer-employee. He claims society is still evolving and the next need change is democracy in the workplace. Organized labor along with OSHA, FLRA, and funded regulatory agencies should protect workers. "Funded" is the key word. I haven't grasped how Wolff's theory would work at the national level although he talks about how successful China's hybrid government has been. (I haven't heard him mention how much U.S. policy makers helped the Chinese by gutting our industry, sending it to China, and accepting cheap Chinese goods to replace our union made goods.)
Gloria--This may sound trivial but it applies. I purchase my socks from a local Meijer outlet. These socks carry a well known brand name but they were made in China. The price point was outrageous, but what can one do. The amount of wear I got from them was less than satisfactory so I though I would look online for something better. I found an outlet that sells "made in America" goods. I ordered 12 pair at a cost of $65. My son just shook his head when I told him of the cost. The best socks I've ever purchased. Made in America.
Your example of the socks made in China vs the US made socks is not trivial. I wondered why Reagan's policy makers so callously gutted our industries with no empathy or plan for the suffering they caused. Thom Hartmann did a two part report earlier this week about where the cruelty began and came up with Ayn Rand and her libertarian ideas of "Adam Smith's invisible hand on steroids" that many Republicans subscribe to. It's well worth reading. Twenty-five years or so ago I decided to only buy "made in America" but couldn't find anything, even at thrift stores and garage sales. So sad. You mentioned the socks had a well known brand name but were made in China. Prisoners in the US assemble gas stoves and other appliances from Chinese parts and are sold with US brand names. Smoke detectors have US brand names and are made in China, 40 per cent of which don't work according to some research. (Ours didn't which is why I did the research.) Find Hartmann's report on Rand and cruel Republican ethics.
Gloria--The problem with the Republican mind set within the Reagan administration was they thought the "gift" of the "Trickle down theory" would sooth the needs of the masses, mentally speaking. The trouble with their position lay in the people's need for a flood not a trickle.
I saw a cartoon about trickle down economics. I forget where now. It consists of tRump, Elon Musk and other wonderful people standing on top of Trump Tower and peeing on the masses. That's the best view of trickle down economics that I have ever seen. it was meant as being funny I'm sure. however that's exactly what Republican trickle down economics and Citizens United is all about.
"Now that Kevin McCarthy has been removed as Speaker of the House there are rumors that the Republicans will try to replace McCarthy with Trump! Supposedly you don’t have to be a member of the House to be Speaker. " That is a misreading of Article 1, Section 2, paragraph 5; "The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment." What those cognitive imbeciles are implying is that since the Constitution doesn't specifically say the Speaker must be a member of the House of Representatives, they can choose anyone. Hogwash. How could they have a Speaker who could neither legislate, sit on a Committee, or vote? Any normally intelligent person will read that Article exactly as the framer's implied.
Keith Olson, I suggest you read what you've written while at the same time comprehending that the republicans and their teasers are committed now, to bringing down the government. If they were to succeed with what they're trying to do you'll be able to look back and see how they did it, beginning from years back and culminating with today, with last weeks news about a senator holding military promotions hostage, and then read your note above and get the big picture. Look toward the next larger frame. We're complaining in fits and starts while they trample through like a wild herd, becoming more emboldened and more reckless with every slight attempt to belittle them. Some of us call their actions absurd and futile. These word have no meaning in the true context. In fact, they help to camouflage the truth.
Congrats on identifying money as the root of all our evils, labeling it the "worst of inventions." I might have to contest that with the internal combustion engine, but what factor has driven that and its many corollaries to devastate the earth? Having something to sell, of course. Remote rainforests, once inaccessible, are now penetrable by fossil-fuel-powered machines. And once there, gas-powered vehicles and chain saws do their damage. Still, the need to "make a living" is the driving force.
Rightwing group behind regressive US state laws to face protest at DC gala
Rights groups to rally outside event, calling on corporations to cut ties with American Legislative Exchange Council
Nina Lakhani
@ninalakhani
Wed 4 Oct 2023 17.05 EDT
A broad coalition of opponents to the rightwing corporate agenda of the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) will hold a rally on Wednesday night outside a glitzy gala event to celebrate the secretive group’s 50th anniversary.
US President Biden speaks on cancelling student debt<br>epa10900015 US President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks on his administration's efforts to cancel student debt and support students and borrowers, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 04 October 2023. President Biden has approved an additional $9 billion in debt relief for an additional 125,000 student loan borrowers. EPA/SHAWN THEW
Biden cancels additional $9bn in student loan debt
Read more
Environmentalists, gun reform campaigners, union leaders and voting rights activists will protest outside the $750-a-ticket event at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, calling on corporations to cut ties with Alec – a tax-exempt group behind a slew of regressive state laws including the stand your ground gun legislation, right-to-work labor policies and so-called critical infrastructure protections that criminalize protest against fossil fuel polluters.
I’m disappointed that even Joe Biden joining a picket line for labor did not generate any in-depth coverage in the prime time news cycle. Moneyed interests owning the media?
How about owning the media and the House of Representatives (Kevin please note)? Last weekend, CNN's Dana Bash interviewed Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett, funded by the Heritage foundation, about his willingness to shut down the government because of the budget deficit. He kept repeating, in a drawling southern monotone, the proposition: “Ma’am, you can’t keep spending 7 trillion dollars a year when you’re only taking in 5 trillion.”
To which Bash's obvious response should have been “Well Congressman, the deficit was created by a $2 trillion gift to the corporations and to wealthy Americans by Donald Trump. You could eliminate the deficit by raising taxes on high earners to their original levels, instead of shutting down the government. Instead of creating chaos, why don’t you just raise taxes on those who can afford to pay, and allow your constituents to sleep at night?”
I believe at the bottom of their web sites, in very small print, there are links to get in touch with them to voice concern.
Also, I think CNN is slowly going over to the dark side...I've seen clips of Maria Bartiromo on Fox News (& Entertainment /s) being tougher on Republicans than Dana Bash has been in recent times. Heck, Anderson Cooper was a major disappointment when he made that "statement" defending CNN for their pathetic "Town Hall" interview with Trump by that weakling "journalist" who is now an anchor, I believe. Stay away from CNN and most MSM...they want the ratings and online "clicks" to boost their advertising fees! The bottom line is what counts the most...not their integrity!
Why not raise taxes on the people at the top income levels AND corporations? Trump dropped corporate
tax rate from 35% to 21%...no wonder we can’t pay our bills! But republicans insist that seniors and low income families bear the brunt of the fiscal consequences. Mainstream media is useless. We wouldn’t be in this mess if they had done their jobs.
AND, if media hadn’t been bought off they would’ve exposed Kavanaugh and Coney-Barratt for what they are--tools of the radical right. They would also have
exposed J. Thomas and his wife as enablers of the insurrection.
Susan: I'm in complete agreement. The economy always does well when taxes on the wealthy, and on the corporations, are high. Conversely, the economy tanks when taxes are cut (c.f., Reagan's first term, Governor Brownback's Kansas, Governor Schwarzenegger's California). There are exceptions to this rule, e.g., Florida, but Florida derives a lot of passive income from spending by retirees, whose Medicare and Social Security is paid by the rest of us through the Federal government.
Adam Smith - you know, the guy who actually founded capitalism - strongly advocated progressive taxation on the wealthy. He realized that capitalism over-rewards, and that if you allow the wealthy to keep all their money, they will use it to distort the market through monopoly, and distort it yet further by buying politicians (sounds familiar?).
Taxes on the capitalist is also useful for important things that the capitalist has little interest in, but which are of tremendous interest to most people: roads, canals, bridges, schools, etc.
One of the greatest con-jobs of the modern era was by that lickspittle economist and liar, Milton Friedman, who stood Smith on his head and pretended that capitalism depended on freeing up the markets by reducing taxes on the wealthy. What rubbish! Quite the opposite.
I’m tired of fighting with the right wing conservatives (who aren’t the least bit “conservative.”) I came across this article yesterday--“The American Economy Is Rigged” by Nobel Prize winner Joseph
Stiglitz-- he served as the chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank from 1997 to 2000. He chaired the Sarkozy commission (2008–2009) and an expert group (2013–2019) at the OECD for devising measures for well-being and sustainability.
In the article he says 1. “Economic inequality is higher in the U.S. than in virtually all other advanced countries”. 2. “The American political system, coupled with high initial inequality, gave the moneyed enough political influence to change laws to benefit themselves, further exacerbating inequality.” 3. “Breaking this feedback loop by curbing the power of money in politics is essential to reducing inequality and restoring hope.”
( Scientific American, Joseph E. Stiglitz, 11/1/18)
You're preaching to the choir...we live in a New Age of Socialism, not socialism for the common man, mind you, but socialism for the wealthy. What else is not paying you taxes but government welfare?
You got it Ben. Moneyed interests own the media. What can be done to get them to report the news again. They have all become yellow page journalism, only reporting the most sensational news, not the news that really affects our lives.
It wasn't reported "IN DEPTH, although it was reported."
You called president Biden visiting the picket lines "a stunt."
Question. What do you think about tfg visiting a picket line of NON-union workers that had been outfitted (illegally?) with union worker shirts/signs as a subterfuge?
The media will not cover such things because 1) they are owned by many of the same corporations or include the same Board members who believe they will be negatively impacted if we reduce the absurd extent to which their wealth is derived from wage suppression, regulatory capture, the elimination of protections against monopolies, and tax policies that were purchased, and 2) part of them fears if we start challenging consolidated power in America, surely the media itself will become a target.
Biden and Dems are chipping away at things, but it's the people who need to get back out there and Occupy the streets, parks and everywhere else to demand an end to the lie behind the immense wealth in this country. At the heart of all of this is the now indisputable fact that America's true engine of wealth creation is dressing up exploitation as innovation.
If we want to level the economic disparity in our current class system, Labor Unions are key.
Biden’s work to rejuvenate legal protections for working and middle class people that improve wages and working conditions is fundamental to restoring equality in our country. But too many Americans don’t understand their economic self interest, having bought into the concept that self reliance is proof of independence , believing Unions rob people of their liberty. A crucial reset in attitudes is unified effort is necessary to effect change when confronted with the divide and conquer strategy employed by corporations .
Ask the average union member if he or she is happy with the money and power union officials have and wield through salaries and investment of pension funds. At some level, both unions and the bosses are big business as well. I'm all for representation, but there's corrections to be made there as well.
Bill McGrath-- Not enough is being said about union administration., IMO.
We make these powerful organizations to safeguard and don’t build in enough protection against corruption.
Any organization that collects these huge amounts of money for dues and pension plans ought to be independently audited yearly and then published where both the workers who contribute and the public can easily view it. This brings confidence and helps prevent malfeasance or infiltrated control from the outside. It’s also great publicity that the union really works to benefit the workers consistently.
And especially since so many states and cities require union workers, thus subsidizing the payment of higher wages with public money, including union dues. If the public has to pay more, it should see more.
The"news"is mostly gossip,junk reporting and protecting multi billionaire idiots with no care or concern about how their reporting harms people or community.
Of course the news system is dominated by a handful of insanely wealthy people,whose only objective is to protect their interests above all else.
We don't hear enough about all the good that President Biden has done,because Trump is buddy- buddy with the wealthy people who own the newspapers,tv stations and cable stations,and they know he will let them continue to lie about what's really going on.So they return the favor, covering his antics, conspiracy theories,and boldface lies and suppressing the actual truth of what's really going on.
And people like Reagan took away the rules that used to govern what our news was,and this is what we have now,wall to wall coverage of a fascist wannabe lying as naturally as breathing and getting a free pass to destroy our democracy.And guess who benefits?Newsflash:it ain't us.
Without people like Prof.Stack we would likely not have any idea what we're up against.I also find that if you watch outlets like BBC News and PBS News you're more likely to find out things that our national news leaves out on purpose.
Be picky about what you read and listen to,and read between the lines.And don't let these billionaires make you believe that only they can be right.
Once more for the Dems in the back, why are you so pitifully slow and unable to hire marketing whizzes who can shout and tout your achievements and address media bias with their own? I mean it's ridiculously sophomoric at this stage. If it was unconscionable for the Church authorities at the time of Galileo to refuse to look thru his 30 power telescope to see the phases of Venus( and thus overturn the Ptolemaic dogma that beyond the moon the heavenly realms were immutable), today it is unconscionable for the Dems' authorities to be unable to see how to create even an eye catching sandwich board! This is not even Galilean astronomical science, let alone rocket science! Will someone explain to me please why the Dems seem unable to toot their own horns.?
The Corporate DNC shut Bernie down. He was winning the primaries and corporate Democrats in including corporate media feared Bernie because he was going after the status quo: Corporate interest controlling government. Bernie was beating Hillary in the polls against Trump. The DNC preferred a President Trump to a President Sanders. Biden would not have won without Bernie's supporters, and he won't win in 2024 without them. To get Bernie's support Biden signed an agreement to go after monopolies. Yes, Biden has made inroads, but he had little history or inclination to move in this direction before Bernie. Imagine how much more could have been accomplished if the only candidate that was not backed by corporate interests had won.
Hillary Bought the DNC with cash 💰 to the people that pull the levers of power internally (legally not ethically)
HRC was a gift to Trumpet 🎺. She made it possible for americas best con man trumpet 🎺 to win his only interest is his own selfish climb to fame political fame and/or Forbes List of the Richest Americans. Fame and monetizing fame are is only interest in life.
IMO Elizabeth, Warren, and Bernie Sanders have much more to offer this country. HRC has the same drive of self promotion ( to be the first female president ) without the fake sincerity that trumpet 🎺 has mastered.
Hopefully his last self promotion will be the richest person to inhabit a federal/State prison. Famous to the end...
Senator Warren DOES have a lot to offer this country. She's whip smart, analytical and has firm grasp on the cause the nation's economic woes. So why did she not even carry her own state when she ran in 2020?
HRC was not a gift to trump in 2016. She won the popular vote but still lost the election, and not because of her political ambition. If one does NOT have political ambition, then they aren't likely to succeed running for office. But a WOMAN with ambition to be President? USA still forbade, with help from Russian interference.
MISOGYNY, Citizen J,. is what happened to both candidates, despite the fact they were both quite qualified.
These actions by the Biden Administration needs to be highlighted by Biden administration. They can get him re-elected instead of the Saudi-Israeli deal and the push by Dermer for the Defense Pact.
Our Capitalistic system is totally immoral and we need to put Morality in it. The system should work for the betterment of Humanity and not just multiplying dollars.
Probably best to keep the Biden’s successes under wraps until the labor movement is strong enough to really make a difference. Why? So that the Republicans don’t pay attention to it until it is too late to screw it up. Frankly, I doubt tRump has a clue what any of the labor portions of government do or who rubs them. But his henchmen do. Fortunately they are a little busy right now trying to buy tRump some wins in the courts and wreaking havoc in Congress.
Mainstream media is part of this evil. They do not want Biden to win. Don’t be fooled. Vote for someone who is working for you and making your life better. You don’t have to like him. He’s not going to invite you over for dinner and he may be old, but he knows what he is doing. The other guy is a maniac.
The voice of Corporate America dollar for dollar out spends human citizens on a gigantic scale no wonder such crazy repressive laws are past that are only in the best interest of large corporations, and
I got this from the Guardian British news source “
Rightwing group behind regressive US state laws to face protest at DC gala
Rights groups to rally outside event, calling on corporations to cut ties with American Legislative Exchange Council
Nina Lakhani
@ninalakhani
Wed 4 Oct 2023 17.05 EDT
A broad coalition of opponents to the rightwing corporate agenda of the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) will hold a rally on Wednesday night outside a glitzy gala event to celebrate the secretive group’s 50th anniversary.
US President Biden speaks on cancelling student debt<br>epa10900015 US President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks on his administration's efforts to cancel student debt and support students and borrowers, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 04 October 2023. President Biden has approved an additional $9 billion in debt relief for an additional 125,000 student loan borrowers. EPA/SHAWN THEW
Biden cancels additional $9bn in student loan debt
Read more
Environmentalists, gun reform campaigners, union leaders and voting rights activists will protest outside the $750-a-ticket event at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, calling on corporations to cut ties with Alec – a tax-exempt group behind a slew of regressive state laws including the stand your ground gun legislation, right-to-work labor policies and so-called critical infrastructure protections that criminalize protest against fossil fuel polluters.
At least now we have an idea of the organization and funding operation being used Legally to keep us down ...
The link between wealth and power over policy is America’s biggest challenge. Reasonable wealth is OK but not power!!
The disappearance of a middle economic class has been the demise of every nation- even Persia. All nations need their resources for schools, child health and health care in general, infrastructure, policy/equality enforcement (FAA,FTC, FCC, etc, ), public safety, and civic education to maintain election involvement and validity. Freedom of press requires Fact Checking!!!!!
And how about the Constitutional update every ten years that was suggested by our founding fathers. Not once yet.
Thanks Bob Reich for keeping it before our ears and eyes!
The voice of Corporate America dollar for dollar out spends human citizens on a gigantic scale no wonder such crazy repressive laws are past that are only in the best interest of large corporations, and
In America The Smallest Minority “Rules the Roost”
We are a country of approximately 332,000,000 people. That’s three hundred and thirty two million. Yet, as Americans, we are controlled by the absolutely smallest minority in our country! The top one tenth of one percent!
(1/10 of 1%) They control almost everything that happens in this country.
Money, one of humanity’s worst inventions, has really thrown our country into a state of corruption from the top down. I believe that the American people are fed up and sick of it!
The FPOTUS, one of the rich and powerful, made it much worse with his nearly two TRILLION dollar tax cuts for the rich and reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. His administration added well over 7 trillion to the deficit in just 4 years!!
And to all our Military Veterans, who I have the deepest respect for. Thank you for your service. As for those veterans who voted for Trump, doesn’t it mean anything to you that he has publicly stated that you are all Suckers and Losers? And he has defamed John McCain and General Milley! He has NO respect for our Military or our Veterans! You all took an oath to the Constitution.
In remarks at a farewell ceremony in his honor, outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair General Mark Milley speaks about the chain of command and the military's oath to the Constitution. "We don't take an oath to a king, or queen, or a tyrant, or a dictator. And we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator...We take an oath to the Constitution...and we're willing to die to protect it”.
The Republican Party’s only objective, at the behest of Trump, is to impeach President Biden!
They have done nothing to help the American people!
Average working Americans are making their voices heard. Most recently the United Auto Workers’ strike. And President Biden has their back!
Now that Kevin McCarthy has been removed as Speaker of the House there are rumors that the Republicans will try to replace McCarthy with Trump! Supposedly you don’t have to be a member of the House to be Speaker.
If and when the ADULTS take back control of the country’s leadership in the House of Representatives they, the Senators and the President need to make some serious amendments to the constitution.
Adults. While we're preoccupied by class struggle, our entire economy is undermined by culture wars, racisism, and the same politics that implicates civil war.
Republicans refused to give Biden antitrust authority that could improve everone's borttom line, all classes and cultures: ability to sue price fixers and price gougers like OPEC/Saudi/Russia. This is also a national security issue. And politically, Biden is runnig against Trump/OPEC/Saudi/Putin a/k/a the Republican Party.
We also have to reconcile the fact that 40% of union members supporetd Trump in 2016 and 2022, the same guy who hates the entire concept of collective batgaining, and whose administration was anti-labor.
This is why I fully support Biden running for a second term. He may be old, but he has surrounded himself with competent and intelligent advisors and together they’re making great strides for democracy. Our government is not run by just one person. Why disrupt what is working so well? (relatively speaking)!
His age is combined with wisdom.
Dori--why, indeed, and yet the American people have done this before. Replaced a Democratic president with GOP and we’ve watched our economy and often quality of life hit the skids--go figure.
I completely agree (and Biden was far from my first choice for the office in 2020). If we want to offer some comfort to voters who are worrying about his staying power through a second term, prudence argues for considering a more popular and forceful candidate for Vice President in 2024 (Harris' poll numbers - even with minority voters - are not encouraging). Why is this topic being treated as taboo?
Why is it "treated as taboo"? Because she IS his running mate- why second guess him? Have you listened to one of her speeches lately? She is competent, intelligent, speaks well & will be the most experienced & qualified to run in the 2028 election, mentored by someone with 50 years of experience.
she is also head and shoulders above any current elected repugnant official, house or senate, as well as any current repugnantican candidate, and substantially more intelligent and ethical than the 3 lackeys that drumpf put on supreme court.
I think it's taboo because Biden is firm in his desire to see her through to the presidency. He has most definitely taken her under his wing to get her ready for that. I see that she has most definitely improved her skills and her demeanor is far more solid as VP so we will hope that would transfer over if she ends up needing it as president.
When we talk about VP's does anyone remember Dan Quayle ????
You mean Mr. Potatoe?
Because Kamala Harris is a good person and very competent. Also, dumping her for another would be perceived as a negative by those the Republicans are keeping away from voting so they wouldn't make the extra effort to vote.
I'm afraid I'm going to have to beg to differ with your assessment VP Harris. I find the kind of prosecutorial misbehavior by Harris while in office in CA that is detailed in the article linked below, was enough to disqualify the candidacy of Amy Klobuchar, and rightly so. IMO Harris' behavior was worse. Her poll numbers and vote counts indicate to me that she was, and will be, unable to get and sustain the strong support of the minority communities that was a major attraction for the party eminence gri's to annoint her in the first place (see Prof. Bob's essay on the question off "Should Biden Run" here on Substack). There are several much better alternative candidates available.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/opinion/kamala-harris-criminal-justice.html?unlocked_article_code=om18KvqL3XJiHwl9XX9pssB8ZhvP-lQdwrgQ8COGbv5Uds_KzkYxV5LMfZESu9s33dZkBOsVjQImTyJ-nBmzCYm28c1c3tVBzEzHoratjMPJ8rdI46xNJSIWNwiYcuy5pCXGwqR-0bmsMvxIgVtotC_oP60GsKCSMbcAG3XWAYybx-wRumqfBqX16R6HIrnocnvlJcXOY-EiT3ttswrWH8a2IzTkHwTqe1tzxr5acpx84QZoIomQv_bAxaUqQtCjuR9UKVDwu2M6R1vWaQV5yKAgfxoeqjForL7D8l42UWMOvMpZiFQfH-xmpdvjs69ViFeXz3C0iQJf2wSksKfUjlTJb3kXv9o&smid=url-share
While there might be “better candidates”, the fact remains they aren’t running. Biden has done a fantastic job of surrounding himself with extremely smart and very capable cabinet members. They are well spoken, good administrators, and seem to be good leaders. As long as he can continue to represent the People of the USA as he has to this point, let’s quit belittling him, highlight his strengths and successes, and continue to support and uphold the rule of law and Democracy.
Oh, and the worst thing of all: she's female.
thank you, this is an interesting and disturbing article. I will continue to look for info on this. this is an opinion piece, and as such, facts may be not facts.
You and I really don't know what all the issues were in that situation, so I have no other comment.
Polls are unreliable,Kamala is a hard working woman and a very good speaker,she could definitely do what needs to be done.
Exactly! Republicans & Bots will keep bringing up his age which isn’t really important. What’s important is to not disrupt or delay the momentum of the projects, from infrastructure repair to stand up to climate change, to unions standing up to corporations, to finally breaking the pharma chokehold on overcharging us for medications, we
must keep the momentum going in the right direction.
I agree with your main points. I just wish we could forego talk of his age and just talk about his accomplishments. Drill down on his accomplishments. Elders have some shortcomings, and so do younger people. I love that President Biden has a long historical view; has a brave and compassionate vision for our country (building the country from the bottom up and the middle out); has reassured and strengthened our world-wide alliances; and has picked some of the smartest people in the country for important, impactful positions. While I am at it, I must mention Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson - she is a brilliant jurist and making her mark on the court!
Daniel Solomon ; Ignorance is not bliss. the media needs to be called out for not reporting important facts, and for pushing culture wars.
I have a niece who knows media better than just about anybody and here's our advice:
Replicate Taylor Swift. Most people don't get the news the old way. in 2024 40% of the electorate will be young folks. Since 2018 Taylor Swift has been the Number One influencer we have. She represents people who can spread the news more efficiently than MSM, Fox, all conventional means combined.
BTW if Robert replicates Taylor Swift, he can expand his base, also.
https://www.npr.org/2023/09/22/1201183160/taylor-swift-instagram-voter-registration
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Swift
I like your idea, but how do you replicate an individual like Taylor Swift, who has a hold over young folks that I frankly don't understand.
There are young kids, even in elementary school, who, like Taylor Swift, will eventually grow up to have a huge following. Check out Youtube, TicToc, etc. https://influencermarketinghub.com/creator-economy-stats/
Robert and Heather have discussed this a couple of times. The DNC is aware of it also. Here's an article from last year. https://time.com/6227149/demhom Hartmannocrats-tiktok-influencers-midterms-2022/
I've suggested tyhat Robert and others like Thom Hartmann interview these people and work on finding those kids with potential. Unfortunately, the Republicans know it and have been at it also.
But consider that our demographics are changing. According to most sources, young voters can swamp the next election. 70% trend Democratic.
That's why the DNC should eschew their corporate backers and adopt a liberal platform: higher taxes on the wealthy and on corporations, student loan forgiveness, abortion rights, maternity leave, gun control, universal healthcare.
Swamp, landslide, call it what you will, it would reverse the last four decades and give us all something to celebrate on the 250th anniversary of 1776.
Maybe you don’t understand because you don’t understand young people. She speaks to them. Not at them. To them, she is authentic. She floats in and out of relationships. She is full of vim, vinegar, and vitality...and angst. She is them. And she uses herself as a positive influence by making them believe in themselves. They love and critique her and she listens. She gets them.
Totally agree
Union members voting for Trump is like chickens voting for Colonel Sanders, completely idiotic.
These union members are listening to right wing radio nut jobs like Mark Levin, who tells them that the "Democrat" Party is their enemy, not the large corporations oppressing them!
Rightwing group behind regressive US state laws to face protest at DC gala
Rights groups to rally outside event, calling on corporations to cut ties with American Legislative Exchange Council
Nina Lakhani
@ninalakhani
Wed 4 Oct 2023 17.05 EDT
A broad coalition of opponents to the rightwing corporate agenda of the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) will hold a rally on Wednesday night outside a glitzy gala event to celebrate the secretive group’s 50th anniversary.
US President Biden speaks on cancelling student debt<br>epa10900015 US President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks on his administration's efforts to cancel student debt and support students and borrowers, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 04 October 2023. President Biden has approved an additional $9 billion in debt relief for an additional 125,000 student loan borrowers. EPA/SHAWN THEW
Biden cancels additional $9bn in student loan debt
Read more
Environmentalists, gun reform campaigners, union leaders and voting rights activists will protest outside the $750-a-ticket event at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, calling on corporations to cut ties with Alec – a tax-exempt group behind a slew of regressive state laws including the stand your ground gun legislation, right-to-work labor policies and so-called critical infrastructure protections that criminalize protest against fossil fuel polluters.
ALEC ( American Legislative Exchange Council)
Thats the brain trust of Corporate Owners Controlling our Congress and State Government .
Repressive anti Union
Anti Tax The Corporate Money ,that has bought all of Washington DC and States Governments.
Corporations are Citizens under the Supreme Courts rulings they I bought them also...
We need to end Citizen's United ruling. What a misnomer.
Citizens United the brainchild of fascists in America.
The Guardian Poltics’s Opinion
Can’t believe the blind spot people have with Trump? Why would workers support him? At least the UAW refused to let him speak at their picket line.
I am right there with you but the reason is that they have never been trained to think. They are the Sheeples just following the lead with no thinking involved.
"Ignorance is Strength" "1984" Orwell. I don't think it is by accident that public schools don't teach students to actually think, analyze and come up with a conclusion by themselves. Just teach them to follow the leader.
Right you are Duane. They were only educating factory workers when the present ( still, believe it or not) system of education was created. No critical thinking skills needed or encouraged.
Yes, critical thinking which is needed but not encouraged. How sad for all.
Duane, I know you're not blaming the teachers. I was thinking that the deficiency should blame the Conservatives. But then, Education has been dumbed down by both sides. The Dem's, unfortunately, don't change what the Rep's put in place. Is that laziness or what?
Valerie just came across this from The Guardian that shows who is in control of our education:
Article by Dharna Noor 10/4/23
At least 20 board members at California public universities have direct ties to the fossil fuel industry, a new analysis has found, sparking criticism from climate advocates on and off campus.
Of the state’s 32 public universities, board members at one-third of them either work or have worked for oil and gas companies, as do two board members at the California State…..
You are correct not the teachers fault. it is the few in charge of the country and they know if people became too educated they would be challenged.
American Legislative Exchange Council
The voice of Corporate America dollar for dollar out spends human citizens on a gigantic scale no wonder such crazy repressive laws are past that are only in the best interest of large corporations, and
The RICH..Owners VS The Human Beings
"While we're preoccupied by class struggle, our entire economy is undermined by culture wars, racisism, and the same politics that implicates civil war."
That is so very true. Republicans are "dividers" and not "uniters" as they continually claim...just more lies regurgitated over and over hoping the dumbed-down in our midst will believe them...and they generally do!
new bumper sticker:
Cut out the middleman - Vote Putin
wouldn't it be fun to put it on every repugnant member of congress car?
I couldn't for the life of me figure out why ANY union supported the pretender. Was their Clinton misogyny more important than labor rights in 2016? Perhaps so. The motivator against Biden in 2020? Still haven't figured out this one.
Don't mourn, organize!
The President and Congress, alone, cannot amend the Constitution. An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress, or, if two-thirds of the States request one, by a convention called for that purpose. The amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths of the State legislatures, or three-fourths of conventions called in each State for ratification.
It's called an Article V Convention and its opponents claim it will overturn the entire Constitution. To that end, I say fish feathers! You'd have to be a pretty darn smooth talker to get 38 states to agree on much of anything. I'd say the max they'd get would be two amendments. Some of the "powers that be" are horrified that the general public has this power and they will do whatever it takes to prevent it.
Beware of the Koch version. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/new-constitutional-convention-good-idea
Your article is alarming. I recently read Robert Ovetz book, "We the Elites: Why the U.S. Constitution Serves the Few" and learned the surviving Koch brother and others want a constitutional convention with his opinion that the "people" aren't ready for it. I also read, Page, Seawright, and Lacombe, "Billionaires and Stealth Politics." I'm guessing that when the Senate was elected by the State legislature instead of "at large," they were likely to be the same political party and the system didn't suffer from the gridlock we have today (that would be an interesting study). The Constitution does need changes, but we don't need more unintended consequences. Someone with the common good in mind, (Robert Reich) could call together an informal group known for promoting the common good to talk about the pros and cons of a constitutional convention and what would be the best way to proceed or not. We don't want to be blindsided. Another book that reveals how that could happen is David Pepper's, "Laboratories of Autocracy: A wakeup call from behind the lines," about what's happening at the state level. Democracy is being threatened from the statehouses. Beware.
An article that purports to be on the side of the people over powerful interests that prefer concentrating more power to “ money” should not suggest apportioning the people’s representation by the number of each states’ electoral votes. Electoral votes are already horribly skewed in favor of small, less populated states—quite often extremely conservative—while the larger population of citizens in the country as a whole is more liberal. Giving gerrymandered states outsized influence at a Constitutional convention is not a way to enhance the ACTUAL voice of the governed in the business of governance.
Before even considering a Constitutional Convention, gerrymandering must be outlawed.
…and a whole lot more needs doing. I’m not in favor of a full constitutional convention.
I’m happy to see a slate of amendments proposed — we had the first ten presented as a group — with a concertd effortto enact changes, but not putting the whole thing out to chop and carve.
No way!
I used to be an officer of the ABA Judicial Division, and our appelate conference morphed into the Brennan Center. If you want detail I can provide it.
The source you cite is right wing bull. I have been following this issue and as far as I am concerned the CATO and Heritage think tanks have become insurrectionist bull. See Gloria's comment above.
There is a huge difference between amending the Constitution, and calling a convention that could throw the whole thing out and start from scratch. Be careful what we wish for — even better, KNOW what we wish for …
My biggest fear about an Article V Convention is that the some of the political crazies, like the MAGA Republicans in the House, will become involved and start throwing bombs, causing the Convention to descend into chaos (like the House of Representatives). If only adults (like Ben Franklin in 1787) are involved, I am all for it.
Ralph Nader said he opposed a Constitutional Convention because we could lose our Bill of Rights.
We do need an Article V convention with a limited call to the convention. The focus should be on a single issue such as removing money from politics. There are three major safeguards: 1) States can "call" the convention but not specify its scope. Congress does that. 2) A convention is for amending not replacing the Constitution (i.e. not a la Koch). 3) The ratification hurdle is quite high with 3/4 of the States.
The last use of a threatened convention was to prod Congress to refer the 17th Amendment for the direct election of Senators. That effort came within one State of calling the convention and then Congress finally acted by proposing the 17th Amendment.
A recent piece on this is at https://nyujlpp.org/quorum/kowal-stop-worrying-love-article-v-convention/
I’ve been convinced this is not a good idea at least not at this time. Common cause and hundreds of democracy supporting organizations are against it. Probably my chief concern would be the inability to set bounds on the focus and hence on outcomes.
The bounds can be set by the text of the call, i.e. "only to enact an amendment with the following language. . ." and the need for a Congressional referral. The history of Article V provides it rather clear that the scaremongering by Common Cause and others is not well founded.
Maybe. I have an open mind. https://hls.harvard.edu/today/states-call-convention-amend-constitution-lessig-debates/
Won't matter much what I think.
I don't believe Republicans in Congress as a whole want to get money out of politics.
Precisely why Article V is relevant. The states also did not want to appoint Senators prior to the 17th Amendment. The specter of a constitutional convention moved them to action.
Sorry. Just not seeing it.
Well Dave, this is concerning: “Conservatives are pushing to call an Article V convention to add a balanced-budget amendment and other ideas to the Constitution. All they need is the approval of 34 state legislatures (no governor’s signature needed) to compel Congress to call such a gathering. Right now, 28 states have passed resolutions calling for an Article V convention.That number would be 32 had Common Cause and other groups, such as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, not successfully gotten Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico and Nevada to rescind their resolutions.
Still, once the 34-state hurdle is cleared, despite pledges of a discrete, narrow focus, no one knows what could happen. “Once a convention is convened, they could take up any topic they want to.”
“They actually said something truthful. They said this is intended to reverse 115 years of progressivism and we say, yes, it is.”
“So think about the progressive movement,” Hobert Flynn told me after bringing Meckler’s comment to my attention during the interview. “It’s what reined in corporations with antitrust measures. We’re talking about the women’s suffrage movement. We’re talking about consumer protections. We’re talking about Brown v. Board of Education. We are talking about education, environmental rights, civil rights, voting rights, all of those kinds of things.”
(WaPo, The biggest threat to democracy that nobody is talking about, J.Capeheart, 9/4/18)
I don’t know...money has a way of changing peoples’
minds.
That is most unfortunate!
Sure, if you have an 80-year plan to make this happen, go for it. The fascists don't even let democrats pick supreme court nominees if the president is black. Democrats lack anything resembling a spine. Poking these two parties and hoping for change isn't working. No, I don't have any ideas. I just know this crap is broken, corrupted and more of a threat to the people than a government of the people.
And just who determines the delegates? Installed power, protecting itself.
I donated to purchase postcards for volunteers to send to voters who need encouragement to show up. Life is tough and sometimes knowing people are routing for you matters.
As a full time caregiver to my wife, I am limited in what I can do. I always vote and contribute money to worthy political causes like Robert Reich's Inequality Media Civic Action.
Janet,you have the spirit of Americana!
Seniorstakingaction.org
Keith Olson ; and they have to ENFORCE the Constitution's 14th amendment section three Disqualification clause, which is plain enough. tfg should not even be considered for any office, anywhere in government.
I posted this on another site yesterday.
On October 30, the first 14th Amendment case will be heard in Colorado. The members of Congress who aided, abetted or gave comfort to the insurrection stand in the same position as Trump. Many who argue for this position are ex-Federalist Society members who can read.
The suit was filed Sept. 6 by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington on behalf of six Colorado voters, who argue Trump is disqualified under a provision of the 14th Amendment that bars certain office-seekers who have engaged in insurrection.
The plaintiffs include former Republican U.S. representative from Rhode Island Claudine (Cmarada) Schneider, who now lives in Colorado; former Colorado House and Senate Majority Leader Norma Anderson, an unaffiliated voter who recently left the Republican party; Denver Post columnist and Republican activist Krista Kafer; Michelle Priola, Kathi Wright, and Christopher Castilian.
They argue Trump, the leading GOP candidate for president in 2024, is disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which says no person who took an oath to support the Constitution then had “engaged in insurrection … or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof” can hold any office in the United States.
The suit says Trump “tried to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election” and incited and “engaged in” the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The defendants are Trump and Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat.
Most of the Friday hearing concerned procedural matters. Trump’s lawyer in the case, Scott Gessler, a former Republican Colorado secretary of state, indicated he intends to try to get the case tossed under a recent Colorado law that protects people who exercise First Amendment rights from the threat of lawsuits — known as an anti-SLAPP law. The allegations against Trump in the case are all “based on his speech,” Gessler said.
“We believe it’s a winner,” Gessler said of the pending motion under anti-SLAPP — or “strategic lawsuits against public participation.”
Gessler had objected to the proposed protective order by arguing that witness tampering and intimidation are already outlawed and that Trump critics had also engaged in objectionable speech. He noted that Griswold has said Trump tried to “steal an election” and labeled the events of Jan. 6 an “insurrection.”
“That is definitely coming from other quarters,” Gessler said of what Grimsley had called “inflammatory” speech.
A five-day trial in the case is scheduled.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-insurrection-14th-amendment-speech-colorado-9626b6ae8479e6a4ce34c3391f207426
Interesting info on Scott Gessler. https://gazette.com/news/former-colorado-secretary-of-state-gessler-paid-his-ethics-fine/article_0ba23a4a-6555-11e9-8639-9bc8c41372c3.html
Could not agree more. The FPOTUS should be trying on Orange Jumpsuits!
They'd look stunning w/ that orange slop he has on his face.
They must remember to fit it for his svelte 215 lb. figure.
The man should be in a strait jacket!
Or at least kept away from his MAGA phone!
Nice
Absolutely concur with all you have written Keith. It states all my thoughts, and especially as pertaining to veterans. Like you, I am thankful for their service, my late husband was a veteran of Vietnam, but to give alliance to the former POTUS who has called them 'losers' and 'suckers' is beyond my comprehension. He got a pass I believe from 'bone spurs' in his foot so he would never have to serve in the military. I listened to outgoing Gen. Miley's speech as well and not only was he a decorated veteran, he literally saved this country from imminent danger after the 2020 election from the most dangerous presidents ever. We truly owe Gen. Miley. I am so hoping that the majority of the American people will vote to put the adults back in the House so we can have a truly two party system that really cares about doing what's best for the country. And not vote for the disgraced, twice impeached, indicted 91 times former guy who has told us his intentions to try to totally destroy the democracy he wasn't able to do the 1st time. around.
Reich wrote an excellent piece on the further accomplishments of Biden’s administration and important progress being made for a number of unionized workers as well as the activation of antitrust activities of the government. However, with such wealth inequality firmly entrenched, the rise of far-right extremism and the ability of the ultra-conservatives to prevent or at least cripple the government from functioning properly we cannot allow ourselves to rely on these gains alone.
Both the dysfunction of the United States government, and the inequitable distribution of wealth have increased to such an extent that we must at least consider the possibility of the eventual need for a dramatic shift in how we govern ourselves and how we implement an economic system that will distribute wealth equitably. This means a shift from political democracy Economic Democracy. In Economic Democracy large corporations are replaced by locally worker owned cooperatives and the profits and political power start in the local communities and they then cooperate with the other sectors of the larger community. There is no need for workers to strike to be heard, for they are the owners and as the business succeeds, they are rewarded with greater purchasing power.
Most of us are heavily focused on winning the next election and allowing Biden to maintain the good momentum gained in the last four years. But we would be negligent to not look at the long game, and with such wealth disparity for the 1% over everyone else and the unrelenting efforts to erode political democracy funded by that 1%, we must look further down the road. The Ultra-Right has come up with a chilling game plan (2025 plan) should Republicans dominate the next election cycle. (There are many that would aspire to take Trump's place should his legal problems hobble him. We are not out of the danger zone yet.) Should we begin to fall into Right Wing inspired chaos, what would be our ideal solutions? I know some think this is “unthinkable.” But not planning ahead is also unthinkable.
Additionally, we have entered the period of climate inspired catastrophes. 125 people dying in one day by fire on a lush paradise of an island is unthinkable, but it is just occurred. Now New York streets have flooded from an event that is not a hurricane and Canada is burning so badly that it chokes cities with smoke thousands of miles away. The Southwest, where I live, is running out of water and some of our nation’s navigable waterways become unnavigable at times.
In the United States we need a modernized government structure that can govern and serve the people and an economic system that ensures that everyone is guaranteed food, clothing, shelter, free medical care and free education up though University. The wealthiest country on the planet can easily afford this if we had an equitable economic system and a government by the people and for the people. We can do this, but while the right hand fights for a progressive win in the next election cycle, the left hand must plan for a brighter future for the generations to come, that is to say, Economic Democracy.
As Theodore Hetzel put it, “if you will it, it is not a dream.”
Why do you think the useless billionaires are so happy with the "fucking morons," (Rex Tillerson said it best), of the Trumplican party?
They are FAAAARRR too stupid and uneducated to understand that their BIGLIEST enemy OF ALL is actually Dear Leader Bunkerboy! HE is the reason they ARE so poor they cannot afford food or healthcare! HE is the reason they can't afford a hous-well. Czar Poopin is just as guilty of that. HE is the reason they need to buy mega packs of diapers because they wet themselves in fear CONSTANTLY!
Thank God that bigly LOSER only has 10% support. (That's 40% of the 25% registered as Trumplicans.)
Thanks Keith, I agree but, it’s most interesting to me that the folks who are most vocal about their dissatisfaction are those who seem to have no idea that it is 40+ plus years of Republican dominated economic policies that have us where we are. As long as republicans support the lunacy of racism and other single voter issues the worker will be at the back of the line. When you can’t be fair with others why would you expect, particularly big business, to be fair with you.
The relation between laborers and the companies they sweat for has always been out of balance. History will show a reluctant attempt to find some level of equilibrium between the two camps. One side uses labor to gain wealth while the other give their lives in an effort to exist in a world where money and power see them as expendable, the grease that keeps the machines running. The components of capitalism are cruel and unsettling but that's the nature of the beast. Both sides have merits that need nurturing while paying couscous attention to the corruption this system can cause. As it is, one can't exist without the other, that's a given. The end goal is a cooperative relationship that understands the need to elevate the human element in the production process to a level where life in our society becomes enjoyable.
Richard Wolff gives fascinating lectures on the history of the relationships between master-slave, feudal lord-serf, and employer-employee. He claims society is still evolving and the next need change is democracy in the workplace. Organized labor along with OSHA, FLRA, and funded regulatory agencies should protect workers. "Funded" is the key word. I haven't grasped how Wolff's theory would work at the national level although he talks about how successful China's hybrid government has been. (I haven't heard him mention how much U.S. policy makers helped the Chinese by gutting our industry, sending it to China, and accepting cheap Chinese goods to replace our union made goods.)
Gloria--This may sound trivial but it applies. I purchase my socks from a local Meijer outlet. These socks carry a well known brand name but they were made in China. The price point was outrageous, but what can one do. The amount of wear I got from them was less than satisfactory so I though I would look online for something better. I found an outlet that sells "made in America" goods. I ordered 12 pair at a cost of $65. My son just shook his head when I told him of the cost. The best socks I've ever purchased. Made in America.
Your example of the socks made in China vs the US made socks is not trivial. I wondered why Reagan's policy makers so callously gutted our industries with no empathy or plan for the suffering they caused. Thom Hartmann did a two part report earlier this week about where the cruelty began and came up with Ayn Rand and her libertarian ideas of "Adam Smith's invisible hand on steroids" that many Republicans subscribe to. It's well worth reading. Twenty-five years or so ago I decided to only buy "made in America" but couldn't find anything, even at thrift stores and garage sales. So sad. You mentioned the socks had a well known brand name but were made in China. Prisoners in the US assemble gas stoves and other appliances from Chinese parts and are sold with US brand names. Smoke detectors have US brand names and are made in China, 40 per cent of which don't work according to some research. (Ours didn't which is why I did the research.) Find Hartmann's report on Rand and cruel Republican ethics.
Gloria--The problem with the Republican mind set within the Reagan administration was they thought the "gift" of the "Trickle down theory" would sooth the needs of the masses, mentally speaking. The trouble with their position lay in the people's need for a flood not a trickle.
I don't believe they ever thought anything was going to trickle down. It was an excuse to break the unions and be greedy.
I saw a cartoon about trickle down economics. I forget where now. It consists of tRump, Elon Musk and other wonderful people standing on top of Trump Tower and peeing on the masses. That's the best view of trickle down economics that I have ever seen. it was meant as being funny I'm sure. however that's exactly what Republican trickle down economics and Citizens United is all about.
"Now that Kevin McCarthy has been removed as Speaker of the House there are rumors that the Republicans will try to replace McCarthy with Trump! Supposedly you don’t have to be a member of the House to be Speaker. " That is a misreading of Article 1, Section 2, paragraph 5; "The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment." What those cognitive imbeciles are implying is that since the Constitution doesn't specifically say the Speaker must be a member of the House of Representatives, they can choose anyone. Hogwash. How could they have a Speaker who could neither legislate, sit on a Committee, or vote? Any normally intelligent person will read that Article exactly as the framer's implied.
Keith Olson, I suggest you read what you've written while at the same time comprehending that the republicans and their teasers are committed now, to bringing down the government. If they were to succeed with what they're trying to do you'll be able to look back and see how they did it, beginning from years back and culminating with today, with last weeks news about a senator holding military promotions hostage, and then read your note above and get the big picture. Look toward the next larger frame. We're complaining in fits and starts while they trample through like a wild herd, becoming more emboldened and more reckless with every slight attempt to belittle them. Some of us call their actions absurd and futile. These word have no meaning in the true context. In fact, they help to camouflage the truth.
Congrats on identifying money as the root of all our evils, labeling it the "worst of inventions." I might have to contest that with the internal combustion engine, but what factor has driven that and its many corollaries to devastate the earth? Having something to sell, of course. Remote rainforests, once inaccessible, are now penetrable by fossil-fuel-powered machines. And once there, gas-powered vehicles and chain saws do their damage. Still, the need to "make a living" is the driving force.
Rightwing group behind regressive US state laws to face protest at DC gala
Rights groups to rally outside event, calling on corporations to cut ties with American Legislative Exchange Council
Nina Lakhani
@ninalakhani
Wed 4 Oct 2023 17.05 EDT
A broad coalition of opponents to the rightwing corporate agenda of the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) will hold a rally on Wednesday night outside a glitzy gala event to celebrate the secretive group’s 50th anniversary.
US President Biden speaks on cancelling student debt<br>epa10900015 US President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks on his administration's efforts to cancel student debt and support students and borrowers, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 04 October 2023. President Biden has approved an additional $9 billion in debt relief for an additional 125,000 student loan borrowers. EPA/SHAWN THEW
Biden cancels additional $9bn in student loan debt
Read more
Environmentalists, gun reform campaigners, union leaders and voting rights activists will protest outside the $750-a-ticket event at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, calling on corporations to cut ties with Alec – a tax-exempt group behind a slew of regressive state laws including the stand your ground gun legislation, right-to-work labor policies and so-called critical infrastructure protections that criminalize protest against fossil fuel polluters.
I’m disappointed that even Joe Biden joining a picket line for labor did not generate any in-depth coverage in the prime time news cycle. Moneyed interests owning the media?
"Moneyed interests owning the media?"
How about owning the media and the House of Representatives (Kevin please note)? Last weekend, CNN's Dana Bash interviewed Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett, funded by the Heritage foundation, about his willingness to shut down the government because of the budget deficit. He kept repeating, in a drawling southern monotone, the proposition: “Ma’am, you can’t keep spending 7 trillion dollars a year when you’re only taking in 5 trillion.”
To which Bash's obvious response should have been “Well Congressman, the deficit was created by a $2 trillion gift to the corporations and to wealthy Americans by Donald Trump. You could eliminate the deficit by raising taxes on high earners to their original levels, instead of shutting down the government. Instead of creating chaos, why don’t you just raise taxes on those who can afford to pay, and allow your constituents to sleep at night?”
But not a peep from Ms. Bash.
Michael Hutchinson ; Ms Bash is working for her masters.
How do citizens GET IN TOUCH WITH THE MEDIA to voice concern?>??
We need NPR to REALLY be a public funded media outlet with the budget to present a prime time cable news program.
If you’re going to impact their bottom line they care, otherwise forget about it.
I believe at the bottom of their web sites, in very small print, there are links to get in touch with them to voice concern.
Also, I think CNN is slowly going over to the dark side...I've seen clips of Maria Bartiromo on Fox News (& Entertainment /s) being tougher on Republicans than Dana Bash has been in recent times. Heck, Anderson Cooper was a major disappointment when he made that "statement" defending CNN for their pathetic "Town Hall" interview with Trump by that weakling "journalist" who is now an anchor, I believe. Stay away from CNN and most MSM...they want the ratings and online "clicks" to boost their advertising fees! The bottom line is what counts the most...not their integrity!
Why not raise taxes on the people at the top income levels AND corporations? Trump dropped corporate
tax rate from 35% to 21%...no wonder we can’t pay our bills! But republicans insist that seniors and low income families bear the brunt of the fiscal consequences. Mainstream media is useless. We wouldn’t be in this mess if they had done their jobs.
AND, if media hadn’t been bought off they would’ve exposed Kavanaugh and Coney-Barratt for what they are--tools of the radical right. They would also have
exposed J. Thomas and his wife as enablers of the insurrection.
Susan: I'm in complete agreement. The economy always does well when taxes on the wealthy, and on the corporations, are high. Conversely, the economy tanks when taxes are cut (c.f., Reagan's first term, Governor Brownback's Kansas, Governor Schwarzenegger's California). There are exceptions to this rule, e.g., Florida, but Florida derives a lot of passive income from spending by retirees, whose Medicare and Social Security is paid by the rest of us through the Federal government.
Adam Smith - you know, the guy who actually founded capitalism - strongly advocated progressive taxation on the wealthy. He realized that capitalism over-rewards, and that if you allow the wealthy to keep all their money, they will use it to distort the market through monopoly, and distort it yet further by buying politicians (sounds familiar?).
Taxes on the capitalist is also useful for important things that the capitalist has little interest in, but which are of tremendous interest to most people: roads, canals, bridges, schools, etc.
One of the greatest con-jobs of the modern era was by that lickspittle economist and liar, Milton Friedman, who stood Smith on his head and pretended that capitalism depended on freeing up the markets by reducing taxes on the wealthy. What rubbish! Quite the opposite.
We see the results today.
I’m tired of fighting with the right wing conservatives (who aren’t the least bit “conservative.”) I came across this article yesterday--“The American Economy Is Rigged” by Nobel Prize winner Joseph
Stiglitz-- he served as the chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank from 1997 to 2000. He chaired the Sarkozy commission (2008–2009) and an expert group (2013–2019) at the OECD for devising measures for well-being and sustainability.
In the article he says 1. “Economic inequality is higher in the U.S. than in virtually all other advanced countries”. 2. “The American political system, coupled with high initial inequality, gave the moneyed enough political influence to change laws to benefit themselves, further exacerbating inequality.” 3. “Breaking this feedback loop by curbing the power of money in politics is essential to reducing inequality and restoring hope.”
( Scientific American, Joseph E. Stiglitz, 11/1/18)
You're preaching to the choir...we live in a New Age of Socialism, not socialism for the common man, mind you, but socialism for the wealthy. What else is not paying you taxes but government welfare?
Jeff Bezos is one of the new Welfare Queens.
Yep!
You got it Ben. Moneyed interests own the media. What can be done to get them to report the news again. They have all become yellow page journalism, only reporting the most sensational news, not the news that really affects our lives.
It sounds more like it all the time
It wasn't reported "IN DEPTH, although it was reported."
You called president Biden visiting the picket lines "a stunt."
Question. What do you think about tfg visiting a picket line of NON-union workers that had been outfitted (illegally?) with union worker shirts/signs as a subterfuge?
Now THAT is what I call "a stunt."
Why don't we hear much from the MSM about Biden's war on monopolistic big business?
Answer: Look who owns them.
In 2024, vote blue across the board; give Biden a second term and two houses of Congress to carry out his policies.
Yes! Yes! Yes! I always vote blue but if everyone did we would finally see our country righted!!!
The media will not cover such things because 1) they are owned by many of the same corporations or include the same Board members who believe they will be negatively impacted if we reduce the absurd extent to which their wealth is derived from wage suppression, regulatory capture, the elimination of protections against monopolies, and tax policies that were purchased, and 2) part of them fears if we start challenging consolidated power in America, surely the media itself will become a target.
Biden and Dems are chipping away at things, but it's the people who need to get back out there and Occupy the streets, parks and everywhere else to demand an end to the lie behind the immense wealth in this country. At the heart of all of this is the now indisputable fact that America's true engine of wealth creation is dressing up exploitation as innovation.
Yes. I have been saying this for sometime now.
Everyone who cares get out on the street!
Isn't that precisely what the January 6ers call for?
I'm not sure if you're familiar with the context or the words Good and evil. Put that into your equation, please.
Not sure I understand. Sounds a bit like situation ethics to me.
Good point.
Don't forget to give them credit for "innovative financial instruments."
If we want to level the economic disparity in our current class system, Labor Unions are key.
Biden’s work to rejuvenate legal protections for working and middle class people that improve wages and working conditions is fundamental to restoring equality in our country. But too many Americans don’t understand their economic self interest, having bought into the concept that self reliance is proof of independence , believing Unions rob people of their liberty. A crucial reset in attitudes is unified effort is necessary to effect change when confronted with the divide and conquer strategy employed by corporations .
Ask the average union member if he or she is happy with the money and power union officials have and wield through salaries and investment of pension funds. At some level, both unions and the bosses are big business as well. I'm all for representation, but there's corrections to be made there as well.
Bill McGrath-- Not enough is being said about union administration., IMO.
We make these powerful organizations to safeguard and don’t build in enough protection against corruption.
Any organization that collects these huge amounts of money for dues and pension plans ought to be independently audited yearly and then published where both the workers who contribute and the public can easily view it. This brings confidence and helps prevent malfeasance or infiltrated control from the outside. It’s also great publicity that the union really works to benefit the workers consistently.
And especially since so many states and cities require union workers, thus subsidizing the payment of higher wages with public money, including union dues. If the public has to pay more, it should see more.
The"news"is mostly gossip,junk reporting and protecting multi billionaire idiots with no care or concern about how their reporting harms people or community.
Of course the news system is dominated by a handful of insanely wealthy people,whose only objective is to protect their interests above all else.
We don't hear enough about all the good that President Biden has done,because Trump is buddy- buddy with the wealthy people who own the newspapers,tv stations and cable stations,and they know he will let them continue to lie about what's really going on.So they return the favor, covering his antics, conspiracy theories,and boldface lies and suppressing the actual truth of what's really going on.
And people like Reagan took away the rules that used to govern what our news was,and this is what we have now,wall to wall coverage of a fascist wannabe lying as naturally as breathing and getting a free pass to destroy our democracy.And guess who benefits?Newsflash:it ain't us.
Without people like Prof.Stack we would likely not have any idea what we're up against.I also find that if you watch outlets like BBC News and PBS News you're more likely to find out things that our national news leaves out on purpose.
Be picky about what you read and listen to,and read between the lines.And don't let these billionaires make you believe that only they can be right.
Once more for the Dems in the back, why are you so pitifully slow and unable to hire marketing whizzes who can shout and tout your achievements and address media bias with their own? I mean it's ridiculously sophomoric at this stage. If it was unconscionable for the Church authorities at the time of Galileo to refuse to look thru his 30 power telescope to see the phases of Venus( and thus overturn the Ptolemaic dogma that beyond the moon the heavenly realms were immutable), today it is unconscionable for the Dems' authorities to be unable to see how to create even an eye catching sandwich board! This is not even Galilean astronomical science, let alone rocket science! Will someone explain to me please why the Dems seem unable to toot their own horns.?
I say again: replicate Taylor Swift!!!!!
If that "One Day Wonder" can generate duh a following after frivolity, whoa that the Dems can't even get it up to save the Republic.
She's been at it on behalf of Democrats since 2018. Not exactly a one day wonder.
The Corporate DNC shut Bernie down. He was winning the primaries and corporate Democrats in including corporate media feared Bernie because he was going after the status quo: Corporate interest controlling government. Bernie was beating Hillary in the polls against Trump. The DNC preferred a President Trump to a President Sanders. Biden would not have won without Bernie's supporters, and he won't win in 2024 without them. To get Bernie's support Biden signed an agreement to go after monopolies. Yes, Biden has made inroads, but he had little history or inclination to move in this direction before Bernie. Imagine how much more could have been accomplished if the only candidate that was not backed by corporate interests had won.
Hillary Bought the DNC with cash 💰 to the people that pull the levers of power internally (legally not ethically)
HRC was a gift to Trumpet 🎺. She made it possible for americas best con man trumpet 🎺 to win his only interest is his own selfish climb to fame political fame and/or Forbes List of the Richest Americans. Fame and monetizing fame are is only interest in life.
IMO Elizabeth, Warren, and Bernie Sanders have much more to offer this country. HRC has the same drive of self promotion ( to be the first female president ) without the fake sincerity that trumpet 🎺 has mastered.
Hopefully his last self promotion will be the richest person to inhabit a federal/State prison. Famous to the end...
Senator Warren DOES have a lot to offer this country. She's whip smart, analytical and has firm grasp on the cause the nation's economic woes. So why did she not even carry her own state when she ran in 2020?
HRC was not a gift to trump in 2016. She won the popular vote but still lost the election, and not because of her political ambition. If one does NOT have political ambition, then they aren't likely to succeed running for office. But a WOMAN with ambition to be President? USA still forbade, with help from Russian interference.
MISOGYNY, Citizen J,. is what happened to both candidates, despite the fact they were both quite qualified.
Again, Mr. Reich speaks truth to power!
In addition, breaking up
monopolies helps small businesses which make up 50% of the private sector employment.
These actions by the Biden Administration needs to be highlighted by Biden administration. They can get him re-elected instead of the Saudi-Israeli deal and the push by Dermer for the Defense Pact.
Our Capitalistic system is totally immoral and we need to put Morality in it. The system should work for the betterment of Humanity and not just multiplying dollars.
Here here. So very well said, thank you.
Probably best to keep the Biden’s successes under wraps until the labor movement is strong enough to really make a difference. Why? So that the Republicans don’t pay attention to it until it is too late to screw it up. Frankly, I doubt tRump has a clue what any of the labor portions of government do or who rubs them. But his henchmen do. Fortunately they are a little busy right now trying to buy tRump some wins in the courts and wreaking havoc in Congress.
Mainstream media is part of this evil. They do not want Biden to win. Don’t be fooled. Vote for someone who is working for you and making your life better. You don’t have to like him. He’s not going to invite you over for dinner and he may be old, but he knows what he is doing. The other guy is a maniac.
VOTE!
DUMP TREASONOUS, TERRORIST, AND CON REPUBLICONS EVERYWHERE, AND JAIL CRIMINAL RTRUMP AND CRONIES
jim king ; Or , at least keep them out of office!
Wonder why the 14th Amendment remedy is not tried on each of them, especially those who asked Trump for a pardon?
Let's get the moving on that one. I totally agree with what you propose Daniel.
American Legislative Exchange Council
The voice of Corporate America dollar for dollar out spends human citizens on a gigantic scale no wonder such crazy repressive laws are past that are only in the best interest of large corporations, and
The RICH..Owners VS The Human Beings
I got this from the Guardian British news source “
Rightwing group behind regressive US state laws to face protest at DC gala
Rights groups to rally outside event, calling on corporations to cut ties with American Legislative Exchange Council
Nina Lakhani
@ninalakhani
Wed 4 Oct 2023 17.05 EDT
A broad coalition of opponents to the rightwing corporate agenda of the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) will hold a rally on Wednesday night outside a glitzy gala event to celebrate the secretive group’s 50th anniversary.
US President Biden speaks on cancelling student debt<br>epa10900015 US President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks on his administration's efforts to cancel student debt and support students and borrowers, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 04 October 2023. President Biden has approved an additional $9 billion in debt relief for an additional 125,000 student loan borrowers. EPA/SHAWN THEW
Biden cancels additional $9bn in student loan debt
Read more
Environmentalists, gun reform campaigners, union leaders and voting rights activists will protest outside the $750-a-ticket event at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, calling on corporations to cut ties with Alec – a tax-exempt group behind a slew of regressive state laws including the stand your ground gun legislation, right-to-work labor policies and so-called critical infrastructure protections that criminalize protest against fossil fuel polluters.
At least now we have an idea of the organization and funding operation being used Legally to keep us down ...
The link between wealth and power over policy is America’s biggest challenge. Reasonable wealth is OK but not power!!
The disappearance of a middle economic class has been the demise of every nation- even Persia. All nations need their resources for schools, child health and health care in general, infrastructure, policy/equality enforcement (FAA,FTC, FCC, etc, ), public safety, and civic education to maintain election involvement and validity. Freedom of press requires Fact Checking!!!!!
And how about the Constitutional update every ten years that was suggested by our founding fathers. Not once yet.
Thanks Bob Reich for keeping it before our ears and eyes!
John Livingstone
American Legislative Exchange Council
The voice of Corporate America dollar for dollar out spends human citizens on a gigantic scale no wonder such crazy repressive laws are past that are only in the best interest of large corporations, and
The RICH..Owners VS The Human Beings