New stats just released show that 14.3% of Americans — or roughly, 1 in 7 — live in poverty. That's the highest percentage since 1949. But please, let's extend tax cuts for the wealthy.
Executive Pay
Probably going to be branded a socialist for saying this, but capitalism — at least as it is practiced today — really ain't worth a damn. Unless, of course, you are one of the privileged few. The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) released its annual report on executive compensation today — “CEO Pay and the Great Recession” — and you … Read More
Why A Civil Society Extends Unemployment Benefits
Throughout this entire recession, I've heard the same thing repeated over and over again by conservatives. It used to be a mantra that you only heard from the ignorant fringe; now it is as mainstream conservative as apple pie. It's this: If you give unemployment benefits to the unemployed, they won't look for work. …or some variation on this. This … Read More
On Obama’s Sagging Approval Ratings
"Democrats in Washington are divided and somewhat puzzled over President Obama's fading popularity", writes Matt Bai at The New York Times today. He then goes on to explain why he thinks Obama's popularity is lackluster in the middle of his first term: because Obama has too much of a legislator — trying to pass health care, the stimulus, etc. You know, I … Read More
About Elizabeth Warren
You may have seen her on The Daily Show or Real Time with Bill Maher or the Sunday chat shows already. If you have, you know that Elizabeth Warren is a force to be reckoned with. She's not a ballbuster — that's not what makes her a strong force — she's just extremely smart and competent. (I had her as a bankruptcy … Read More
The Tax Plans Explained Graphically
So Bush got tax cuts in 2003, set to expire this year. What those tax cuts gave us was lots of deficits. Oh sure, there was tons of economic growth, but the people who enjoyed that were generally the most wealthy. Anyway, Bush's tax cuts are set to expire and Republicans want to extend them. Obama wants tax cut's too, but … Read More
North Carolina Unemployment and The Filibuster Attempt
Tomorrow, Congress will consider extending unemployment benefits to millions of out-of-work Americans. Last time they tried this, Republicans successfully blocked it. According to the latest numbers from the North Carolina Employment Security Commission, North Carolina currently has a double-digit unemployment rate of 10 percent. North Carolina Policy Watch estimates that when the last vote to extend unemployment insurance failed, 20,000 North Carolinians lost … Read More
Financial Reform To Pass
Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) signed on yesterday. Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) signed on hours ago. That's 60, and it means that the financial regulation bill will pass the Senate without filibuster. It should be good news — installing Wall Street reforms to prevent another meltdown is the responsible sensible thing to do. Unfortunately, I fear the bill has been watered down … Read More
Are Republicans Really For “Smaller Government”, Or Just Tax Breaks For The Rich?
On Fox News Sunday, Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) let the cat out of the bag. In arguing to continue the Bush tax cuts (tax cuts which primarily go to those making over $275,000 per year), Kyl refused to comment on how those tax cuts would be paid for. Those tax cuts would be mean $678 billion less to make up … Read More
No Good Way To Spin This
The job recovery under Obama had a bit of a setback last month… The economy shed 125,000 job in June. Yes, the unemployment rate fell from 9.7% to 9.5%, but the unemployment rate only reflects people who are looking for jobs. It seems that a lot of people have given up still.
Suddenly, FinReg
Seems our lawmakers pulled a late nighter in Washington, and actually came up with a bipartisan bill to address abuses in the financial sector — the kind of abuses that led to the current crash and recession. It looks pretty comprehensive too. A strong bill — probably the toughest reform since FDR went after Wall Street following the Great Depression. What's … Read More
Should Taxpayers Pay For The Oil Spill?
Republican leaders think so. This is tremendously stupid politics. The public — particularly Republicans — are weary of taxpayer bailouts already. Now we want more? Oh, sure — count on Republicans to say, "Well, we bailed out the banks. So why not BP?" But that argument falls flat. The bailout of the banks was necessary to stem the economic downflow. … Read More
Facebook Changing Privacy Controls AGAIN
The announcement will be at 1 pm today (ET). Apparently, the backlash has been too great, and Facebook is going to fix it for the better: (CNN) — Facebook, in a rare move, is expected to reverse itself Wednesday on changes to privacy settings after sustained backlash from users worried about how their private information is being used. The announcement, … Read More
Is the Senate Financial Reform Bill Any Good?
Edmund Andrews, who used to cover these issues for the New York Times and now is at the Fiscal Times and blogging at Capital Gains and Games, says it’s very good indeed: Against that backdrop, it’s astonishing that the Senate bill actually became stronger as the process dragged on. The proposed consumer financial protection agency is stronger and I believe … Read More
Taxed Enough Already?
The "tea" in the Tea Party movement stands for "Taxed Enough Already". It's a bad time for this kind of movement, and here's why: Amid complaints about high taxes and calls for a smaller government, Americans paid their lowest level of taxes last year since Harry Truman's presidency, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data found. Some conservative political movements … Read More