washingtonpost.com Nation building in Afghanistan? That’s Afghans’ job. By Eugene Robinson Friday, June 25, 2010 The good news? Nobody has to pretend anymore that Gen. Stanley McChrystal knew how to fix Afghanistan within a year. The bad news? Now we’re supposed to pretend that Gen. David Petraeus does. President Obama was absolutely right to sack [...]
Archive for June, 2010
24 Jun
Abolish Unfair Tax Break For Investment Managers
boston.com LETTING WEALTHY investors game the tax code does not promote a dynamic economy. Yet Massachusetts Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown have both accepted the dubious premise that future growth will suffer if managers of investment partnerships, including hedge funds, private equity, and venture-capital firms, have to pay taxes at the same rates as [...]
22 Jun
Profiling 10 of the Deeply Troubled Individuals Leading the Right-Wing, Government-Hating Crusade
AlterNet In the last year and a half, militias and the larger antigovernment “Patriot” movement have exploded, accompanied by the rapid expansion of other sectors of the radical right. This spectacular growth (see timeline) is the result of several factors, including anger over major political, demographic and economic changes in America, along with the popularization [...]
21 Jun
BP And Its Apologists
thinkprogress.org OIL SPILL BP And Its Apologists Last month, BP CEO Tony Hayward lamented the continuing Gulf oil spill crisis was preventing a return to his privileged life of skiing and sailing. “There’s no one who wants this over more than I do,” said Hayward. “I would like my life back.” While Hayward, who is [...]
18 Jun
In U.S., 15 Percent Lack Health Insurance: Survey
REUTERS Victoria Will (L) has her blood pressure checked by nurse practitioner Sapana Patel during a routine physical in New York in this March 22, 2010 file photo. Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson (Reuters) – More than 15 percent of Americans lacked health insurance in 2009, a slight but insignificant rise from 2008, according to U.S. government [...]
18 Jun
15 Mind-Blowing Facts About Wealth And Inequality In America
6/16 Real average earnings have not increased in 50 years Tags: Economy, Wealthy, Poor, Taxes, Features
15 Jun
Dave Obey Slows War Funding – David Rogers
WarIsACrime.org House Appropriations Chairman Dave Obey said he will hold off on new Afghanistan war funding until there is some resolution of a long-delayed economic relief bill extending aid to states and the jobless as well as tax breaks for individuals and business. With a July 4th Pentagon deadline looming, the chairman’s new posture is [...]
15 Jun
Fix The Real Problem: End America’s Energy Vulnerability
A Framework for Responding to the Gulf Coast Oil Crisis SOURCE: AP/Patrick Semansky By Bracken Hendricks, Kate Gordon , Tom Kenworthy | June 15, 2010 The ongoing oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has taken an enormous toll on the region’s economy. BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig gushes as much oil every five to 10 [...]
15 Jun
The Vat May Resolve Debt Crisis
Washingtonpost.com David Ignatius – The Vat May Resolve Debt Crisis, But For Politicians It’s Too Soon To Be Right Charles Peters, the editor of the Washington Monthly, the lovable but financially challenged magazine where I got my start, had a slogan that he used in direct-mail solicitations: “If you’re not afraid of being right too [...]
15 Jun
Lawmakers accuse BP of ‘shortcuts’
By Steven Mufson and Anne E. Kornblut Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, June 15, 2010 To save time and drilling costs, BP took “shortcuts” that may have led to the oil rig explosion and the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a letter released Monday by two House Democrats leading an investigation of [...]
14 Jun
The Gulf Disaster: Whose Asses Need Kicking?
Time/CNN Brown Pelicans covered with oil from the BP oil spill in a holding pen at Fort Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center waiting to be cleaned. Eric Grigorian / Polaris I. The Impact: On the Oily Coast Terry Vargas is living with the oil. Nearly three weeks ago, the third-generation shrimper pulled into port in [...]
14 Jun
The Bad Logic Of Fiscal Austerity
The Bad Logic Of Fiscal Austerity – Paul Krugman Blog So, one more time: here’s an attempt to put together some key arguments about why the rush to fiscal austerity is deeply misguided. Let me start with the budget arithmetic, borrowing an approach from Brad DeLong. Consider the long-run budget implications for the United States [...]
