Republicans don’t get it: At a press conference today unveiling the stimulus proposal, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) justified the conservative plan to give tax breaks to corporations — instead of working Americans — by arguing that people actually like working long hours: I am so proud to be from the state of Minnesota. We’re the workingest state in the country, … Read More
Brave New World
In the news: McDonalds, competing more and more with Starbucks (rather than Burger King and Wendy’s), will start hiring baristas. McLatte, anyone? I’m no business major, but I think this makes sense. I think the coffee craze is big, and — like the article says — Starbucks doesn’t play well in middle America. Kansans feel stupid asking for "venti" coffees. … Read More
Class Warfare
Bush wonders why he’s not getting credit for the increase in wealth because if his tax plan. Thanks to Krugman and Yglesius, we can see why — graphically. The reason people don’t tout the benefir it because from Bush’s tax plans hits strongers for less the 10% of Americans. And that 10%? The uber-rich:
Credit Debt
I’ve been hearing and reading a lot lately about consumer debt and overbearing debt collection practices. It’s a serious problem. And bankruptcy laws, which were once there to protect the consumer in trouble (with its concept of "debt forgiveness") have been slowly altered over the years to make it much more difficult for consumers to get themselves back on their … Read More
Stars And Writers Of “The Office” Explain The Writers’ Strike
Sounds like they have a legitimate beef: \ UPDATE: Another video explains the strike…
Why Our Toys Are Unsafe
Because the GOP is all into deregulation, that’s why. They’ve gutted the consumer protection statutes and bureaus (note: the CPSC under Bush actually doesn’t want to do it’s job) and left it up to the businesses themselves to behave responsibly. Mother Jones explains what has happened as a result: What happens when manufacturers are left to police themselves Zenith projection … Read More
What You Don’t Know Can’t Hurt You, Right?
Hmmmm: Anxious to avoid upsetting air travelers, NASA is withholding results from an unprecedented national survey of pilots that found safety problems like near collisions and runway interference occur far more frequently than the government previously recognized. NASA gathered the information under an $8.5 million safety project, through telephone interviews with roughly 24,000 commercial and general aviation pilots over nearly … Read More
Two Americas
As some say, the rising tide is only lifting the yachts. The Pew Research Center reported this week that the public is quickly becoming aware of the perverse economic polarization of society: Over the past two decades, a growing share of the public has come to the view that American society is divided into two groups, the “haves” and the … Read More
Venturing Into Economic Waters
Okay, I’m really in no position to voice an opinion about economic things [UPDATE: Maybe I should read this primer], but I’m going to anyway. From what I understand (and let me repeat the caveat — I don’t claim to have a mastery of this), the reason for the economic jitters and stock market decline is because of the subprime … Read More
File Under “Chutzpah”
Wow: A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to an Army base in Texas, U.S. officials said. The company also billed and was paid $455,009 to ship three machine screws costing $1.31 each to Marines in Habbaniyah, Iraq, and $293,451 … Read More
Watch For Jumping Stockbrokers
I don’t follow the markets much, but I hear bad things… DOW NASDAQ S&P 500 2:00 p.m.: Rebound? 3:00 p.m.: Guess not. 3:30 p.m.: Aw, screw it. This is why I don’t follow the stock market.
Help! The Tax Protesters Are Swarming!
I hope you are enjoying this thread
The Ed Brown Standoff
This story — about a couple of nutjobs in New Hampshire — just came up on my radar. They’re in a months long standoff with the state and federal government for refusing to pay their taxes. Wikipedia got me up to date. I’ve had online debates with people who insist that the federal income tax is illegal. The arguments advanced … Read More
The Most Dishonest Wall Street Journal Editorial Ever
Indeed. UPDATE: Snark here.
Red vs Blue
Some interesting facts about red vs blue states: The Commonwealth Fund report, "Aiming Higher: Results from a State Scorecard on Health System Performance," examined states’ performance across 32 indicators of health care access, quality, outcomes and hospital use. Topping the list were Hawaii, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Bringing up the rear were the Bush bastions of Kentucky, Louisiana, … Read More