December 17, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
One year after Mohammed al-Bouazizi lit himself on fire in protest against mistreatment by police, sparking a movement that has toppled regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, a global wave of popular protest continues, from the Arabic-speaking world to Europe, India, Chile, the United States and Russia. Today, democracy advocates protest unlawful detention, arbitrary power and socio-economic injustice across the world.
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November 22, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
The spreading Occupy movement has seen one after another sit-in, protest camp or march brutally and inexcusably assaulted by paramilitary police actions, using chemical agents and other weapons of war, against unarmed, nonviolent citizens exercising their basic constitutional rights. The result has been a rash of unfettered violence across the world against pro-democracy advocates.
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November 22, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
Robert Reich explains how big money is taking over the privileges of democratic rights, to the exclusion of ordinary people, and to the detriment of citizens who seek to exercise their basic civil liberties. The violence of police against unarmed civilians is absolutely inexcusable, and it is motivated in part by a systemic disregard for [...]
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October 28, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
The city of Oakland is experiencing a deep crisis of conscience, amid what appears to be the moral confusion of its administration. The mayor, who had marched with the Occupy Oakland demonstrators, has now ordered not one but two paramilitary strikes against nonviolent protesters, in which tear gas, “flash-bang” grenades, rubber bullets and powerful sonic [...]
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October 25, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
We need a system of cooperative public-private infrastructure financing, a national infrastructure bank. But we also need to use that fabric of cooperative investment and output to foster specific areas of major improvement to our national economy. The model could be replicated across the world, but the US is uniquely positioned to deploy this solution [...]
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October 25, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
The Occupy Wall Street movement—now being called “the American Autumn”, after the Arab Spring, or the September 17th movement, after the day it got started in lower Manhattan—is now completing four weeks on the scene. Yet we can still be astounded to hear so many incredulous “experts” unable to understand how a grassroots movement, infused [...]
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October 20, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
With gasoline prices at record highs in 2008, 2009 and 2010, 2011 has looked like a microcosm of the longer oil-market trend: consistent increases in pricing, fuel costs hurting small business and the middle class, slowing the pace of economic growth in the US, and—maybe most strangely of all—no national policy to motivate a rapid, [...]
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October 2, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
The above video shows the altercations leading up to the unprovoked macing of two women by an NYPD detective inspector, identified by online activists as Anthony Bologna, a finding confirmed by the NYPD itself. The incident has raised serious questions about what the planned response to the protests was, and whether there were orders in place for officers to intervene to halt the peaceful demonstrations. In the video, there are numerous incidents where individual officers, apparently acting in a disorganized and spontaneous fashion, physically strike, tackle, drag or pepper-spray unarmed civilians on a public street.
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September 20, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Today, the 20th of September, 2011, the discriminatory US military policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, which required thousands of gay personnel to serve their country while keeping their private life secret. Honorable people were discharged only because someone else found out they were not heterosexual. In some cases, the ideal military officer for a highly skilled, difficult-to-fill position were discharged despite being the most qualified person for operationally vital positions.
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September 13, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
Saturation means more of a given ingredient cannot be added to a given volume or fabric of activity, without spilling over, and being wasted. The fossil fuels market is saturated, in the sense that it cannot effectively capitalize on major new production investment without major new construction of productive facilities. The industry has effectively pushed prices higher and cannot reduce them without seeing a dropoff in profits. Most people can no longer afford the fuel they used to consume.
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September 11, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
9/11 should, after this 10th anniversary, and in the aftermath of the deviation from and restoration of core values that we have undergone, become a national day of solemn recognition, collaborative restoration, and an affirmation of our civic space, in which citizenship is a sacred trust and human interest in the principal goal of our activity. It should be a day of national reflection and of the reaffirmation of the value of an open, democratic and voluntary civic space.
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August 27, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Across the eastern seaboard of the United States, from South Carolina to Maine, there is an intense and well-ordered preparation underway to brace against and limit the fallout from Hurricane Irene. In North Carolina, 300,000 people have been ordered to evacuate the Outer Banks and low-lying coastal areas. The mayor of New York City, Michael [...]
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August 19, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Pres. Barack Obama, who with Sec. of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has managed a complex array of shifting diplomatic relations throughout the developing democratic awakening across the Arabic-speaking world, yesterday demanded that Syria’s authoritarian leader Bashar al-Assad relinquish power. Assad has engaged in five months of full-scale military attacks on unarmed pro-democracy demonstrators.
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August 19, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
En una reunión de científicos europeos, en Estocolmo, el hombre que inventó el término ‘antropoceno’ para describir una nueva época geológica—en la que la influencia humana domina los proceso naturales—ha anunciado que el término ahora se está aplicando desde múltiples campos de estudio. La importancia real del término es que la información ecológica es cada vez más imprescindible para poder llevar a cabo las ambiciones humanas de una forma responsable y sostenible.
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August 18, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
As I go back and look over what was being written about the economy, and the federal budget, the lost Clinton surpluses, falling wages, and the property bubble, throughout George W. Bush’s second term in office, it is clear the signs were there throughout that a major financial collapse was coming. Many observers, some more astute than others, predicted a correction was in the offing, without having to depend on very complex analysis.
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August 13, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
Today, three-term Texas governor Rick Perry announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, promising to foster innovation and enterprise. The speech offered no specifics, but Perry called for simplifying the tax code and promoting private business interests. In what may be the most striking and unusual phrasing of the speech, Perry promised, with passion: “I’ll work every day to make Washington, DC, as inconsequential in your lives as I can.”
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August 13, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
The debt crisis is attributable to “structural” causes, meaning the way the nation’s financing is structured over the next several decades, but also to political and economic causes, meaning the way we make policy and the way our marketplace for trade, credit and consumer purchases plays out. We need to implement policies that make serious, sustainable corrections on all three fronts.
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August 12, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
Most of the Republican candidates for their party’s presidential nomination debated last night in Iowa, two days ahead of the crucial Ames Straw Poll, thought to be a leading indicator of which candidates are credible and which are less likely to win in January. Rick Perry, who has not yet announced his candidacy, was not in attendance, and Fred Karger—who met all the criteria for attendance—was not allowed to participate, some say because he is openly gay.
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August 12, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
On Monday, the first day of trading after a credit downgrade of US Treasury bonds from Standard and Poors, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 624 points. On Tuesday, it gained 429 points. On Wednesday, it dropped by 509. And on Thursday, it gained 414. It is the first time in its history that the DJIA saw swings of 400 points or more for four consecutive days, swings that far out-strip some of the worst one-day declines in its history.
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August 9, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Wisconsin is holding six recall elections tonight in response to popular petition to unseat Republican state senators who supported Gov. Walker’s plan to strip public servants of their collective bargaining rights. Each of the six Republican incumbents occupy senate seats representing districts drawn by Republicans to ensure Republican victories, so any victory represents a significant shift in party preference.
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August 9, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is being sued for allegedly formulating policies that led to the torture of multiple American citizens, at the hands of American military personnel in Iraq. Now, for the second time this month, in two distinct cases, a federal court has found that Mr. Rumsfeld does not enjoy any immunity for actions occurring either during his service as Secretary of Defense or in a war zone.
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August 8, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
It has become a standard of political and economic commentary that the stock market is a “reflection” of the general economic mood or of wider economic health and wellbeing. It is not. The stock market is not a mood ring and it was not designed to be. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow/DJIA) was not designed to stand alone as an economic indicator, but rather as part of a fabric of tools and analyses that would, taken together, give a more insightful, more complete picture of generalized economic balance.
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August 8, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
With the objectivity and commitment to fact of S&P now seriously in question, and allegations now revived that it and other rating agencies were paid to give AAA ratings to junk securities derivatives, it is clear that we need a 100% not-for-profit (NFP) cooperative bond rating agency. The independent NFP agency could be one of several, staffed by top economists, stakeholders and public servants, and standing somewhere between the public and the private sectors.
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August 7, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
To build a future of vibrant open democracy and robust and sustainable economic prosperity, it is necessary to privilege creative activities and constructive solutions to the challenges we face. Addressing major challenges in constructive, innovative ways, is the single most significant driver, historically, of sustained economic booms. In short, we need to move deliberately and swiftly toward a creative prosperity agenda.
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August 7, 2011 :: Eva Scherson :: No Comment Yet
There is dispute as to whether attendance at Gov. Perry’s prayer rally was 30,000, as organizers claim, or 15,000, as other news sources have estimated. Observers have expressed concern that the event featured radicals whose views oppose the constitutional order of the American political system, and who have called for the establishment of an absolutist theocratic regime.
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August 6, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: 4 Comments
What’s wrong with the stock market, particularly the New York Stock Exchange and the Dow Jones Industrial Average? The most significant problem facing the stock market is really a confluence of two problems: 1) we have too little middle class wealth, and so too little consumer demand, and 2) we face an urgent need to accelerate the transition to a new economy, but we are focused on trying to revive an old economy.
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August 6, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
The United States government, until Friday, had more than twice the AAA debt outstanding as any other category of AAA debt. According to Nomura, while the US had $11.2 trillion in AAA debt oustanding, agency mortgage backed securities account for over $5 trillion, and Germany and France follow with less than $2 trillion. Standard and Poors has now downgraded the credit worthiness of the United States government, though there was no default and no indication the government was in any way likely to default.
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August 6, 2011 :: Eva Scherson :: One Comment
Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX), who is reportedly contemplating a run for the presidency, will be attending an evangelical prayer service on Saturday, labeled “The Response”. Perry has been heavily criticized for his participation, both by critics who say the event violates his constitutional oath to treat all Texans equally and by groups like the Anti-Defamation League, which is concerned about the hate-based policies of some of the event’s backers.
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August 4, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: 2 Comments
Texas, the most energy-rich populous state in the country, with more oil, more wind, more sun, and a more developed energy sector, than any other state, is now undergoing rolling blackouts, in part because Gov. Rick Perry’s budget policy is bankrupting the state, ending incentives and cutting off supply. Under Perry, the state has run up a $28 billion deficit, and Chinese firms have been buying up major wind energy projects.
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August 3, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
Allegations that the so-called Tea Party caucus has degenerated into little more than a lobby for the wealthy interests that back them gain credibility when they support tax hikes on the vulnerable, and which will have a direct negative impact on the middle class. It should be well understood by all: the House Tea Party Republicans have pushed for and supported—the anti-student provisions in the failed Republican-only House bills were far worse—tax hikes that will make college more expensive and eat way at middle class wealth.
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August 3, 2011 :: Eva Scherson :: No Comment Yet
In a stunning move, the American Conservative Union (ACU), which runs the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), has barred one of its former sponsors, a conservative gay rights group called GOProud. The ban comes just as moderate Republicans are calling on the party to embrace same-sex marriage and gay rights, put the culture wars behind them, and focus on conservative principles more in line with Constitutional freedoms and market economics, as their platform.
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August 2, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Two public opinion surveys released today are raising eyebrows among political analysts, as they show the sharp disapproval the American people feel toward the hardline elements in Congress that nearly drove the nation into default. A CNN/ORC poll found that 77% of those polled believe members of Congress involved in the debt negotiations behaved like [...]
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August 2, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Pres. Barack Obama today addressed the nation from the White House Rose Garden, explaining how the grand compromise on debt and deficits will play out, as negotiations on new debt reduction continue. He spoke after the United States Senate passed the controversial debt deal, with the second significantly bipartisan vote in two days. Obama said [...]
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August 2, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
The composition of the national debt is a complex history of policy decisions, governmental priorities and Congressional authorizations. Republican opponents of Pres. Obama have suggested that debt and deficits have “exploded” since he took office. They have sought to paint the president as a “tax and spend liberal”, because that accusation fits their standard campaign [...]
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August 2, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
In a triumphant and surprise return to the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords received a 10-minute standing ovation from her colleagues, before casting her first vote since surviving an assassination attempt in January. Giffords voted for the debt-ceiling deal, effectively making her return to the House a show of leadership and a commitment to [...]
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August 1, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Tonight, Pres. Barack Obama announced to the nation and the world that he and the leaders of both parties, in both houses of Congress, have reached agreement on a plan to raise the nation’s debt ceiling through the 2012 election and into 2013. The deal immediately cuts $1 trillion, then relies on “triggers” to guarantee [...]
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August 1, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
The Republican House leadership today again reiterated the false claim that Democratic leaders and the president have been pushing for “job-killing tax increases”. It is obviously a deliberate rhetorical exaggeration, designed to make a case for tax cuts, in a mode of campaigning and fundraising. But it is also a lie: not one politician in either party has ever called for “job-killing tax increases”.
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July 31, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
The following is a complete transcript of Pres. Obama’s remarks to the nation, announcing a bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling, agreed to today by the leadership of both parties… Good evening. There are still some very important votes to be taken by members of Congress, but I want to announce that the leaders [...]
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July 31, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
The Tea Party movement was a grassroots rebellion of discontented, disenfranchised, fiscally conservative working people. It was wage earners and small-town conservatives who wanted reason and rationality in government. It ballooned into a pro-Republican juggernaut, financed by billionaire partisans, and managed to maneuver itself into a position of seemingly dictatorial control over the Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
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July 30, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
List of Legislative Riders on H.R.2584, The Interior & Environment Approps bill for FY12 39 provisions in the bill specifically eliminate environmental protections in service of big polluters and GOP campaign donors *In order as they appear in the bill, with section numbers cited. Blocks Endangered Species Act Designations [Language on page 8]: Prohibits funding for [...]
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July 30, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
Speaker of the House John Boehner has insisted on enforcing a strategy whereby his party dictates all federal budget policy, no matter the law, no matter the makeup of Congress, no matter the risks to the future of the United States of America. Now, after a wasted week of partisan isolationism and refusal to negotiate, he has passed a radical one-sided plan that will hurt most Americans, while doing little to solve the debt crisis or stave off a credit downgrade.
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July 29, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Less than two hours after the passage of House Republicans passed a hobbled version of “cut, cap and balance”, the Senate rejected the so-called Boehner plan. This now opens the field of negotiation for a weekend of heated, anxious, uncomfortable compromise debt plan negotiations, in both houses, as leaders attempt to cobble together broad bipartisan coalitions in both houses.
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July 29, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
After nearly two months of intense, relentless, high-pressure negotiations over whether and how to raise the ceiling for government borrowing, Speaker John Boehner’s debt-reduction plan passed the House of Representatives, with 218 Republican votes in favor, and 22 Republicans voting with all of the Democrats to oppose it. The measure is expected to fail, this [...]
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July 29, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
The Republican party’s demand that any deal to raise the debt ceiling—normally achieved by passage of a single line of legislative text—include a balanced budget amendment is a complex tangle of distractions, rooted in campaign rhetoric and a desire to frustrate the process of economic recovery. The last constitutional amendment to pass, the 27th, was [...]
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July 29, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Around 10:52 am, the news emerged from Capitol Hill that Republicans were planning to change the controversial Boehner spending-cut bill, and call a floor vote some time today. There was speculation that House leaders were planning to cut funding for Pell Grants—needed financial aid for college students—in order to win the support of Tea Party [...]
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July 28, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
Speaker of the House John Boehner appears to have made an astonishing miscalculation in his legislative strategy, designing proposed legislation to be viable only in a 100% party-line vote, even though as many as 120 of his own members have vowed not to support raising the debt ceiling. Speaker Boehner would need to round up [...]
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July 28, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Speaker of the House John Boehner has an admittedly difficult task, trying to corral rogue Republicans who have vowed to oppose raising the debt ceiling, even with the threat their actions could plunge the nation into an economic depression. But today, his speakership inched closer to calamity, as his push to pass a limited package [...]
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July 27, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
Bruce Bartlett, former deputy budget director for Pres. George H.W. Bush and aide to Pres. Reagan, says the Bush tax cuts have added at least $3 trillion to the debt, and other Bush policies led to an increase of $4 trillion in the debt. When Bush took office, budget projections showed a $6 trillion surplus, [...]
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July 27, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) today addressed the Senate, calling for reasoned cooperation between the two parties and the two chambers, to craft a serious budget deal that can avoid a credit downgrade. He admonished hardline Republicans in the House to recognize that the Constitution they have sworn allegiance to institutes checks and balances, that no [...]
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July 27, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Wisconsin’s governor Scott Walker has signed into a law a controversial requirement that voters present photo ID in order to exercise their right to vote. Now, he has announced plans to close as many as 16 motor vehicle offices, every one of them in districts that favor Democrats. What’s more, Walker’s plan includes expanding hours [...]
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