Okay, follow me on this. It's not too difficult. We all know that there has been overall economic growth in the past two decades. But the complaint of the OWS movement it that overall economic growth does not raise all boats of the economic stratosphere. Conservatives, on the other hand, will try to tell you that because of trickle-down economics, when … Read More
How’s Bank of America Doing?
Yesterday, I wrote about Bank of America's chutzpah in seeking to add a $5 monthly fee for use of the Bank of America debit card. Sadly, BofA wasn't the only big bank contemplating this fee; there is evidence of a possible illegal collusion of big banks to charge customers new fees, just for the convenience of using their debit cards to spend … Read More
The Chutzpah Of Bank of America
(1) So let me get this straight. After being bailed out by the federal government — with our tax dollars – following their gross incompetence, Bank of America wants to start charging fees for use of debit cards? That is, they want to make customers pay for accessing their own money? By the way, Bank of America gets to use customers' money … Read More
The Movement That Can’t Be Ignored
I have to admit — when I first heard of the Occupy Wall Street protests, I thought it was a two or three day story. But just the opposite has happened — the story grew and the protests grew. Although some in the media (Fox, I'm looking at you) still feign ignorance about what the movement is about, everyone else … Read More
Five Facts About The Wealthiest 1%
From Livescience.com: FACT #1: The wealthiest 1 percent of households own 34.6 percent of all privately held wealth, and 42.7 percent of all financial wealth (total net worth minus the value of one's home). Meanwhile, according to the NYU economist Edward Wolff a 2010 report, the bottom 80 percent of the population holds just 15 percent of the total wealth … Read More
Three Ways That Wall Street Occupies Washington, DC
From Think Progress: 1. Wall Street Occupies Washington With Massive Campaign Contributions: On Nov. 12, 1999 President Bill Clinton signed into law the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, a Depression-era law that created a firewall between commercial and investment banking. Repealing this law was one of the top legislative goals of the financial industry. In the 1998 election cycle, commercial banks spent … Read More
Dumbest Slur Against Occupy Wall Street Evah
It started with a David Brooks column in the New York Times yesterday. Here's an excerpt: Unfortunately, the country has been wasting this winter of recuperation. Nothing of consequence has been achieved over the past two years. Instead, there have been a series of trivial sideshows. It’s as if people can’t keep their minds focused on the big things. They … Read More
Is Occupy Wall Street the Antithesis of the Tea Party?
A lot of comparisons are being made between these two movements. And if one were to watch the media, it certainly looks like the fault lines are drawn, i.e.,: Tea Party = loved by Fox News = conservativeOccupy Wall Street = treated with disdain by Fox News = liberal But some are noting that the OSW movement really isn't hippies … Read More
People Like Class Warfare
A new Washington Post/Bloomberg poll asked Americans whether they would support or oppose a variety of ideas to reduce the budget deficit. Unppoular ideas were pretty much what you expect: raising taxes on the middle class, reducing Social Security benefits, and reducing Medicare benefits. But a couple of ideas enjoyed broader support — most of the public approves of reducing military spending and … Read More
Elizabeth Warren on “Class Warfare”
(Extended) quote of the day: “I hear all this, you know, ‘Well, this is class warfare, this is whatever'. No. There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own — nobody. “You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid … Read More
Bank of America to Rick Perry: “We’ll Help You Out”
Bank of America. The mortgage-fraud syndicate that we had to bail out. The one that announced today that it’s laying off another 10,000 workers. The one that was caught employing a military contractor to conduct “cyber war” against business journalists who were reporting on Bank of America’s constant crimes. The one that saw a 50% plunge in stock value this year, helping … Read More
Who’s Doing Well In This Economy?
Exxon!!!!! NEW YORK — Exxon (XOM) said Thursday that higher oil prices and improved refining margins boosted its second-quarter profits 41%. The largest publicly traded oil company reported earnings of $10.68 billion, or $2.18 per share, for the three months ended June 30. That compares with $7.56 billion, or $1.60 per share, for the same part of 2010. Revenue grew 36% to … Read More
Let’s Be Clear About Wisconsin
This is not about balancing the state's budget. It's about taking advantage of a state's financial woes in order to bust unions. In any financial crisis, somebody is going to get hurt financially. Ideally, those who suffer are those who are can absorb the blow the most. That would be the wealthiest members of society. But in Wisconsin, the wealthiest … Read More
Elections Have Consequences
Remember Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), the guy who — at the height of the spill — apologized to BP on behalf of America for the "tragedy" of the $20 billion clean up fund put together by the White House? Well, he's now your next chairman of the Energy Committee.
Arizona’s Illegal Immigration Law Explained
NPR got to the bottom of Arizona's much-discussed controversial anti-immigration law — the one would require certain aliens to have documentation with them at all times, and gives the Arizona police broad powers to stop and detain anyone who appears to be an undocumented alien. The Arizona law would undoubtedly send hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to prison in a … Read More