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The States Get a Poor Report Card – NYTimes.com

20 Mar

The principle of breaking up the Federal Government and turning programs over to the states is a good one. The problem, alas, is that state governments are corrupt, too. The Corpstate is everywhere.

And yet all the Republican presidential candidates think it would be a good idea to hand some of Washington’s most important programs to state governments, which so often combine corruptibility with incompetence. In a speech on Monday, Mitt Romney said he would dump onto the states most federal anti-poverty programs, including Medicaid, food stamps and housing assistance, because states know best what their local needs are.

States, however, generally have a poor record of taking care of their neediest citizens, and could not be relied on to maintain lifeline programs like food stamps if Washington just wrote them checks and stopped paying attention. In many states, newspapers and broadcasters have cut their statehouse coverage, reducing scrutiny of government’s effectiveness and integrity.

via The States Get a Poor Report Card – NYTimes.com.

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Occupy! and Make Them Do It | The Nation

19 Mar

Protest movements raise the sharp and divisive issues that vague rhetoric is intended to obscure and avoid, and the urgency and militancy of the movement—with its marches, rallies, strikes and sit-ins—breaks the monopoly on political communication otherwise held by politicians and the media. Politicians trying to hold together unwieldy majorities and their big money backers strive to avoid divisive issues except in the haziest rhetorical terms. But movements—with the dramatic spectacles they create and the institutional disruptions they can cause—make that much harder. Movements work against politicians because they galvanize and polarize voters and threaten to cleave the majorities and wealthy backers that politicians work to hold together. But that doesn’t mean that movements are not involved with electoral politics. To the contrary, the great victories that have been won in the past were won precisely because politicians were driven to make choices in the form of policy concessions that would win back some voters, even at the cost of losing others.

via Occupy! and Make Them Do It | The Nation.

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Scores Arrested as the Police Clear Zuccotti Park – NYTimes.com

18 Mar

Scores were arrested Saturday night when protesters marked the 6month anniversary of the initial encampment in Zuccotti Park.

The movement was mainly quiet during the winter, but organizers said they were aiming for a springtime resurgence.

“It’s just a reminder that we’re here,” Brendan Burke said, as the crowd marched past the New York Stock Exchange. “It’s an opportunity to remind Wall Street that we aren’t going anywhere.”

In several respects, Saturday’s march was similar to the inaugural one. The crowd was small but spirited and marched past the bronze sculpture of a bull at Bowling Green, which had served as a mustering spot for the first march. Marchers were accompanied by police officers on foot and on scooters who at one point blocked access to Wall Street, just as they did on Sept. 17.

via Scores Arrested as the Police Clear Zuccotti Park – NYTimes.com.

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Forget the Money, Follow the Sacredness – NYTimes.com

18 Mar

Despite what you might have learned in Economics 101, people aren’t always selfish. In politics, they’re more often groupish. When people feel that a group they value — be it racial, religious, regional or ideological — is under attack, they rally to its defense, even at some cost to themselves. We evolved to be tribal, and politics is a competition among coalitions of tribes.

The key to understanding tribal behavior is not money, it’s sacredness. The great trick that humans developed at some point in the last few hundred thousand years is the ability to circle around a tree, rock, ancestor, flag, book or god, and then treat that thing as sacred. People who worship the same idol can trust one another, work as a team and prevail over less cohesive groups. So if you want to understand politics, and especially our divisive culture wars, you must follow the sacredness.

via Forget the Money, Follow the Sacredness – NYTimes.com.

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The Purpose of Occupy Wall Street Is to Occupy Wall Street | The Nation

15 Mar

Occupy Wall Street. What other political movement in modern times has won the sympathy and/or support of the majority of the American public—in less than two months? How did this happen? I think it was a revolt that has been percolating across the country since Reagan fired the first air traffic controller. Then, on September 17, 2011, a group of (mostly) young adults decided to take direct action. And this action struck a raw nerve, sending a shock wave throughout the United States, because what these kids were doing was what tens of millions of people wished they could do. The people who have lost their jobs, their homes, their “American dream”—they cathartically cheered on this ragtag bunch who got right in the face of Wall Street and said, “We’re not leaving until you give us our country back!”

By purposely not creating a formal, hierarchical organization with rules and dues and structure and charismatic leaders and spokespeople—all the things their parents told them they would need in order to get anything done—this new way allowed people from all over the country to feel like they were part of the rebellion by simply deciding that they were part of the rebellion. You want to occupy your local bank—do it! You want to occupy your college board of trustees—done! You want to occupy Oakland or Cincinnati or Grass Valley—be our guest! This is your movement, and you can make it what you want it to be.

via The Purpose of Occupy Wall Street Is to Occupy Wall Street | The Nation.

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What corporations don’t want you to know – U.S. Economy – Salon.com

14 Mar

In terms of full-on misleading, as the New York Times reported in a 2011 story about the proliferation of “functional food” labels, federal regulators are now concerned “that some packaged foods that scream healthy on their labels are in fact no healthier than many ordinary brands.” ..

Information, as the old saying goes, is power. And when we consider all of this in totality, it’s clear corporate America recognizes the truth in the aphorism. Companies, in other words, understand that for all the fact-free vitriol constantly thrown at the basic concept of regulation, government regulations that increase information simply expand consumer power over the market. That may threaten companies that want to continue poisoning us, but as a political goal, consumer empowerment shouldn’t be so controversial.

via What corporations don’t want you to know – U.S. Economy – Salon.com.

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JPMorgan Passes Stress Test, Raises Dividend – NYTimes.com

13 Mar

Looks like the Obamicans are pulling out all stops for the election.

JPMorgan Chase became the first bank on Tuesday to say regulators have completed stress tests of its balance sheet, and it said it would raise its quarterly dividend by a nickel to 30 cents and buy back as much as $12 billion of stock this year.

The Atlantic ran a recent article about how these “stress tests” are a scam intended to make  bank for the 1%, not to protect the financial system for the 99%.

via JPMorgan Passes Stress Test, Raises Dividend – NYTimes.com.

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Nassim Taleb Endorses Ron Paul

13 Mar

Nassim Taleb is an economist and a student of risk. And that’s why he’s endorsing Paul. “Only one candidate, Ron Paul, seems to have grasped issues and is offering the right remedies for the central problems we are facing.” Only Paul understands the economic risks the Republicrat CorpState is creating. Paul’s addressing structural problems in the economy. The others are dulling the pain with Novocain; Ron Paul’s going for the cure with root canal.

According to Taleb, Paul is the only one with the right policies for the “Big Four”:

  1. Deficits: Rampant bureaucracy is feeding on itself and running up costs
  2. The Fed: Paul is “the only one with the guts [to go after it].”
  3. Militarism: Another self-feeding institution.
  4. “America is about resilience and you don’t achieve that with buy-outs. You need a certain rate of failure.”

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Ron Paul’s Delegate Strategy May be Working – Kenn Jacobine – Open Salon

13 Mar

Given his campaign’s strategy of focusing on caucuses and out hustling his rivals at local, county, and state conventions nationwide the main beneficiary of a brokered convention would be Texas Congressman Ron Paul. The fact of the matter is that most Americans do not get involved in politics. Many rightly view it as an ugly, corrupt business. Others are too busy following American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, or the latest escapades of Lindsay Lohan. While others would rather leave it to the professionals. But, Ron Paul supporters are different. They may not outnumber the supporters of other candidates, but they are hungrier and more dedicated to their principles. They are much more willing to show up, outlast, and fight for delegate positions than the supporters of rival candidates. These attributes seem to be paying dividends for the Paul campaign at least in the early stages of the delegate selection process.

[I’ve added italics, BB]

via Ron Paul’s Delegate Strategy May be Working – Kenn Jacobine – Open Salon.

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The modern war canon – The Browser – Salon.com

13 Mar

After the  war in Vietnam we said, never again. Now we’re in Afghanistan, making the same fundamental mistake.

One of the reasons I have chosen Halberstam is because I think it applies today to what the Western powers are trying to do in Afghanistan. There are so many parallel structures – the massive application of firepower and not much understanding of the people. To the Afghans, we tend to be just another foreign invader, however well-intentioned. Which is why, like Vietnam, I think it’s an unwinnable war.

We need to get out of Afghanistan, now, and STOP trying to remake the world by war, one or two nations at a time.

via The modern war canon – The Browser – Salon.com.

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