tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76470644164389780122012-02-16T06:07:29.409-08:00Roger O ThornhillRoger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comBlogger5671100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-195657323712613162010-08-12T09:20:00.001-07:002010-08-12T09:20:23.118-07:00

Robert L. Borosage: American Opinion: Rebuild America, Don't Sack It: "'I still believe that this will be largely a referendum on the administration's policies,' said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, explaining why the primary successes of wingnut tea party conservatives may not hurt Republican chances this fall.With the economy in dire shape

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-68095602601990464502010-08-10T09:17:00.001-07:002010-08-10T09:17:31.170-07:00

Serial Denial and the Permanent War System: "Two months ago, I wrote that the Obama administration and the U.S. command in Afghanistan faced an ‘Iraq 2006 moment’ in the second half of 2010 – a collapse of domestic political support for a failed war paralleling the political crisis of Bush’s Iraq War in 2006.  Now comes Republican Congressman Frank Wolf to make that parallel with 2006 eerily

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-77670530472064439882010-08-06T14:46:00.001-07:002010-08-06T14:46:35.994-07:00

What collapsing empire looks like: " (updated below) As we enter our ninth year of the War in Afghanistan with an escalated force, and continue to occupy Iraq indefinitely, and feed an endlessly growing Surveillance State, reports are emerging of the Deficit Commission hard at work planning how to cut Social Security, Medicare, and now even to freeze military pay.  But a new New York Times

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-90145457326781148722010-08-06T08:48:00.001-07:002010-08-06T08:48:27.754-07:00

Johann Hari: And the Most Inspiring Good News Story of the Year Is...: "At first, this isn't going to sound like a good news story, never mind one of the most inspiring stories in the world today. But trust me: it is. Yan Li spent his life tweaking tiny bolts, on a production line, for the gadgets that make our lives zing and bling. He might have pushed a crucial component of the laptop I am

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-8678112590482383482010-08-01T06:47:00.001-07:002010-08-01T06:47:20.131-07:00

Op-Ed Contributor: Four Deformations of the Apocalypse: "How my Republican Party destroyed the American economy."(Via NYT > Opinion.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-26053538931249166852010-07-31T15:04:00.001-07:002010-07-31T15:04:19.588-07:00

Paul Craig Roberts: Let Them Eat Cake: "It is not unusual for members of the diminishing upper middle class to drop $20,000 or $30,000 on a big wedding. But for celebrities this large sum wouldn’t cover the wedding dress or the flowers.When country music star Keith Urban married actress Nicole Kidman in 2006, their wedding cost $250,000. This large sum hardly counts as a celebrity wedding. When

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-17451081489805916022010-07-30T08:18:00.001-07:002010-07-30T08:18:20.872-07:00

Steven Weber: Making Degrade: "The steady erosion of American productivity and viability may not just be unfortunate happenstance or a natural socioeconomic evolution, but a premeditated, consolidated effort to reap reward from fomenting failure. And, as an interesting bit of collateral damage, people no longer have any faith in someone or something unless there's money involved, hence the

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-16119109245460625642010-07-29T09:40:00.001-07:002010-07-29T09:40:35.874-07:00

This week in Change: " (updated below) I'm still away for the week working on my book, but in order to create a new comment section and to illustrate our political culture of Change, I'd like to note these three incidents from this week: First, in Collapsing Empire News, the Democratic House -- not deterred or even slowed in the least by what the WikiLeak-ed documents revealed -- voted

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-89822313763033487372010-07-27T10:24:00.001-07:002010-07-27T10:24:43.873-07:00

Robert Reich: The Great Decoupling of Corporate Profits From Jobs: "Second-quarter earnings reports are coming in, and they're making Wall Street smile. Corporate profits are up. And big American companies are sitting on a gigantic pile of money. The 500 largest non-financial firms held almost a trillion dollars in the second quarter, and that money pile is growing larger this quarter. Profits

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-22509584345303029072010-07-27T10:16:00.001-07:002010-07-27T10:16:15.801-07:00

Are the American people obsolete?: "Have the American people outlived their usefulness to the rich minority in the United States? A number of trends suggest that the answer may be yes."(Via Salon.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-283419393267855842010-07-23T10:36:00.001-07:002010-07-23T10:36:15.847-07:00

Why has the Post series created so little reaction?: "Remember how The Washington Post spent three days documenting on its front page that we basically live under a vast Secret Government -- composed of military and intelligence agencies and the largest corporations -- so sprawling and unaccountable that nobody even knows what it does.  This public/private Secret Government spies, detains,

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-39161777655765832842010-07-22T10:14:00.001-07:002010-07-22T10:14:22.525-07:00

Sherrod Asks President Obama the Right Question: Do You Believe in My Principles?: "I guessed this one wrong. I told colleagues early this week I thought Vilsack would apologize and offer Shirley Sherrod her job back, and that she’d hestitate. But I thought President Obama would then call her personally and close the deal — and that this was the WH plan for escaping the political hole they

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-49803378210483321642010-07-22T09:49:00.001-07:002010-07-22T09:49:21.434-07:00

David Sirota: It's the Tax Cuts and Wars, Stupid: "In a terrific column for Tax.com, Pulitzer-Prize winner David Cay Johnston breaks down new government data and puts USA Today's whole 'lowest tax bills since 1950' revelation into dollars and cents we can all understand: In 1979 federal taxes for the median-income household totaled $6,100, but in 2007 taxes slipped to $6,000. That $100 decline,

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-16756909696695315452010-07-19T11:47:00.001-07:002010-07-19T11:47:09.738-07:00

The Real U.S. Government: "The Washington Post's Dana Priest demonstrates once again why she's easily one of the best investigative journalists in the nation -- if not the best -- with the publication of Part I of her series, co-written with William Arkin, detailing the sprawling, unaccountable, inexorably growing secret U.S. Government:  what the article calls 'Top Secret America.'  To the

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-22639584439632912562010-07-15T13:21:00.001-07:002010-07-15T13:21:11.813-07:00

Subsidizing Fossil Fuels: $72 billion (vs $29 billion): "I’m a gearhead. I like the sound a V8 or V12 makes when I mash down my right foot and those pretty butterflies open up.But I am not unaware of the external costs of my hobbies. Which is why I found this research piece, titled Energy Subsidies Favor Fossil Fuels Over Renewables, rather interesting. It turns out, according tho this one

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-594870094796863182010-07-15T13:15:00.001-07:002010-07-15T13:15:24.851-07:00

Shadow Housing Inventory: Two Houses for Every One for Sale: "RealtyTrac, as reported on Housing Wire, gave a gloomy update on the US housing market. RealtyTrac does granular collection of data on foreclosures, capturing every filing. One of the shortcomings of this approach is that processes vary by state (as in some state require more court filings over the course of a foreclosure than others

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-50927669427884446282010-07-15T13:13:00.001-07:002010-07-15T13:13:50.975-07:00

The $4 Trillion Dollar Question: "I have been covering the US Real Estate market for decades. I grew up with RE (mom was a RE broker and an investor). I have been a housing bear for about 5 years. I recognized the credit bubble and inevitable bust long before most other analysts/strategists/economists did.I mention this just to inform readers that it is very rare that I come across any housing

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-29251668628877554182010-07-14T10:13:00.001-07:002010-07-14T10:13:54.723-07:00

Leo Hindery, Jr.: Where Is the 2008 Barack Obama Now on Jobs and Trade?: "Although John Edwards had no business running for President in 2008 given the tawdry marital indiscretions that he was hiding from nearly everyone, including from his senior campaign team, he nonetheless clearly established the agenda on jobs (and labor) and trade for all of the Democratic candidates, especially as it later

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-21424355210441789572010-07-13T15:08:00.001-07:002010-07-13T15:08:19.897-07:00

Can infrastructure-led growth save the economy?: "The debate about American economic policy can best be understood with the help of a remark by the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes: 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' When you have eliminated impossible policy options, whatever options remain, however difficult, must be pursued."(

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-21374622602292375602010-07-10T08:26:00.001-07:002010-07-10T08:26:35.851-07:00

Are low taxes exacerbating the recession?: "As the planets economy keeps stumbling, the phrase 'worst recession since the Great Depression' has become the new 'global war on terror' — a term whose overuse has rendered it both meaningless and acronym-worthy. And just like that previously ubiquitous phrase, references to the WRSTGD are almost always followed by flimsy and contradictory explanations

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-73643593094966557072010-07-02T11:19:00.001-07:002010-07-02T11:19:53.226-07:00

Les Leopold: Wall Street's Answer to Unemployment: "Take a hard, cold look at June's tragic unemployment numbers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics rate is 9.5 percent, roughly where it's been for more than a year. The BLS jobless rate (U6) is 16.5 percent -- nearly 30 million people are without jobs or forced into part-time work. More than 6.7 million workers have been unemployed for more than 27

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-83947361006867421442010-07-01T10:31:00.001-07:002010-07-01T10:31:49.582-07:00

Presidential scholars: Bush is the worst president of the modern era, bottom five of all time.: " Since 1982, the Siena Research Institute has polled presidential scholars on whom they view to be best and worst presidents in American history, based on a variety of issues from ‘integrity’ to economic stewardship. This year’s poll of 238 scholars found that President Franklin Roosevelt was once

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-44160253669598720592010-06-28T10:11:00.001-07:002010-06-28T10:11:30.441-07:00

Parenteau: Marching to Austeria* and Other Neolib Fibs: "By Rob Parenteau, CFA, sole proprietor of MacroStrategy Edge, editor of The Richebacher Letter, and a research associate of The Levy Economics InstituteRichard Alford has correctly identified the need to address global imbalances – rather than simply slouch our way back to some milder version of status quo before the pre- Lehman meltdown

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-61215585759759567672010-06-28T10:04:00.001-07:002010-06-28T10:04:44.201-07:00

Op-Ed Columnist - The Third Depression - NYTimes.com: "Recessions are common; depressions are rare. As far as I can tell, there were only two eras in economic history that were widely described as ‘depressions’ at the time: the years of deflation and instability that followed the Panic of 1873 and the years of mass unemployment that followed the financial crisis of 1929-31.Fred R. Conrad/The New

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-50020127197352256272010-06-28T09:51:00.001-07:002010-06-28T09:51:42.559-07:00

Naomi Klein: Sticking the Public With the Bill for the Bankers' Crisis: "My city feels like a crime scene, and the criminals are all melting into the night, fleeing the scene. No, I'm not talking about the kids in black who smashed windows and burned cop cars on Saturday.I'm talking about the heads of state who, on Sunday night, smashed social safety nets and burned good jobs in the middle of a

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-91755634691815324482010-06-23T10:31:00.001-07:002010-06-23T10:31:55.450-07:00

Gonzalo Lira: Is the U.S. a Fascist Police-State? « naked capitalism: "By Gonzalo Lira, a novelist and filmmaker (and economist) currently living in Chile and writing at Gonzalo LiraI lived in Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship—I can spot a fascist police-state when I see one.The United States is a fascist police-state.Harsh words—incendiary, even. And none too clever of me, to use such

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-71351593617678339752010-06-23T07:07:00.001-07:002010-06-23T07:07:49.825-07:00

General McChrystal Failing to Follow Obama’s Afghan Policy - The Daily Beast: "The press is turning a story about policy into a story about penises. What matters isn’t what McChrystal said about Obama—it’s what he believes about Afghanistan.It’s not the insubordination, stupid. It’s the war. Behind all the indignant huffing and puffing, what Stanley McChrystal actually said about his civilian

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-76864131886310309842010-06-23T07:01:00.001-07:002010-06-23T07:01:19.946-07:00

Robert Scheer: General Discharge - Robert Scheer's Columns - Truthdig: "After the brilliant Rolling Stone article by Michael Hastings, President Barack Obama has no valid option other than to fire Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Not because of the dozen outrageous anti-administration verbal gaffes which have been reported, but rather because this definitive piece on the ‘Runaway General’ establishes the

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-43299216261940150632010-06-22T14:10:00.001-07:002010-06-22T14:10:59.706-07:00

Cause and effect in the War on Terror: "American discussions about what causes Terrorists to do what they do are typically conducted by ignoring the Terrorists explanation for why he does what he does.  Yesterday, Faisal Shahzad pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to attempting to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, and this Pakistani-American Muslim explained why he transformed from a

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-61810880619944260792010-06-21T07:49:00.001-07:002010-06-21T07:49:33.554-07:00

A big step in China’s global economic maturation: "China’s decision to gradually abandon their hard peg to the US$ takes us back to pre July ‘08 when it more freely floated. Yes, this comes right before the G20 meeting and with growing international pressure, particularly from the US Congress, but China understands that the move is in their best long term interests in terms of growing the

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-6148745874636590952010-06-15T06:44:00.001-07:002010-06-15T06:44:31.917-07:00

Do Laws Even Matter Today?: "Below is today’s column exploring the growing anger of voters and the possible linkage of controversies ranging from the bank bailouts to immigration to the BP oil spill.As soon as Arizona passed its recent immigration law, some reporters and commentators were quick to cast the story with the usual actors: ‘Tea Partiers,’ race activists, conservatives and liberals.

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-49151285047157793792010-06-12T12:23:00.001-07:002010-06-12T12:23:06.656-07:00

John McCain on the Evil, Barbaric Iranians: "John McCain has a new article in The New Republic -- which is exactly where it should be -- calling for regime change in Iran.  The whole article contains one paragraph after the next of the favorite pastime of Americas political and media class:  self-righteously condemning other nations for what we ourselves do (at least) as much.  Of all McCains

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-72255686326531129402010-06-10T07:54:00.001-07:002010-06-10T07:54:43.734-07:00

BP vs. Obama's Climate Complacency: "Engulfed by the worst environmental disaster in US history, Barack Obama is trying to change the subject. On May 26 the president pledged to 'keep fighting to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation,' and on June 2 he declared, 'The time has come, once and for all, for this nation to fully embrace a clean-energy future.' Pivoting from oil spill to

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-19937452717158443312010-06-10T06:49:00.001-07:002010-06-10T06:49:44.759-07:00

Bill McKibben: Missing the Real Drama of the Deepwater Horizon Blowout: " Cross-posted from Nieman Watchdog. When a well started spewing oil off Santa Barbara in 1969, it spurred the first Earth Day, which in turn launched the environmental movement and a fundamental questioning of the balance between humans and the rest of nature. It turned out, in other words, to be a real Moment.   It makes

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-12846617189274943622010-06-08T11:04:00.001-07:002010-06-08T11:04:34.429-07:00

Will Bunch: Along Came "Jones": Why My Generation Isn't Saving the World: "As long as I live, I'll never forget the night that Elena Kagan and I got drunk together. It was November 4, 1980, to be exact. OK, before I go much further with this, I should make clear: I've never actually met President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, and on the night that we got drunk, I was in Providence, R.I., and she

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-78083311401793562742010-06-08T08:40:00.001-07:002010-06-08T08:40:33.935-07:00

Will Obama Break a Sweat on Climate Legislation?: "This story first appeared on the TomDispatch website.Here's the president on March 31st, announcing his plan to lift a longstanding moratorium on offshore drilling: 'Given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth and produce jobs, and keep our businesses competitive, we are going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-22605580492661098402010-06-08T08:05:00.001-07:002010-06-08T08:05:12.519-07:00

Why We Are Screwed: "Report: More than 1,400 former lawmakers, Hill staffers are financial lobbyistsEven for Washington, the revolving door between government and Wall Street spins at a dizzying pace. More than 1,400 former members of Congress, Capitol Hill staffers or federal employees registered as lobbyists on behalf of the financial services sector since the start of 2009, according to an

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-20581656154094969152010-06-08T08:03:00.001-07:002010-06-08T08:03:47.551-07:00

Op-Ed Columnist: ‘A Very Deep Hole’ on Jobs: "Last month’s jobless numbers are the latest evidence of the severe threat the unemployment crisis poses to the well-being of the U.S."(Via NYT > Opinion.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-91624540854612526352010-06-07T11:17:00.001-07:002010-06-07T11:17:54.378-07:00

Super Debt Cycle: U.S. Debt Set to Surpass Gross Domestic Product: "Economists continue to line up warning of an economic meltdown as the U.S. moves toward 2012 when our debt will exceed our gross domestic product. The White House and Congress, however, continue to spend wildly on Iraq, Afghanistan, and other programs. As we previously noted, our debt has now surpassed $13 trillion. Foreign

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-61392488167506577282010-06-05T15:14:00.001-07:002010-06-05T15:14:17.340-07:00

Did G20 Economies Just Vote for Another Great Recession, Massive Unemployment?: "Unless I misunderstand these stories, it appears the world’s biggest economies just decided, over US objections, to resurrect Herbert Hoover, rebury Keynes and pursue another Great Recession, tanking their economies and putting millions more out of work. And it’s all driven by a world-wide plague of deficit hysteria

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-72937897436320489192010-06-04T11:41:00.001-07:002010-06-04T11:41:20.614-07:00

From Shared Sacrifice to Hedonism: "By David Sirota After Japan’s 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Franklin Roosevelt delivered a national address making eight references to the ‘sacrifice’ that would be needed in the impending war and three mentions of the ‘self-denial’ we would have to endure. "(Via Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-75506177992996610762010-05-31T09:54:00.001-07:002010-05-31T09:54:17.936-07:00

This Country Needs a Few Good Communists: " By Chris Hedges Hope in this age of bankrupt capitalism will come with the return of the language of class conflict. It does not mean we have to agree with Karl Marx, but we have to speak in his vocabulary. "(Via Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-33484887540919499992010-05-29T09:44:00.001-07:002010-05-29T09:44:22.991-07:00

Report: White House Had Clinton Offer Intelligence Position to Sestak to Drop Out of Race Against Specter: "After months of evading questions, the White House appears to have confirmed that it did play a leading role in trying to get Rep. Joe Sestak to drop out of the race against now defeated Sen. Arlen Specter. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel reportedly asked former President Bill

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-57894131344308137612010-05-29T09:42:00.001-07:002010-05-29T09:43:07.912-07:00

Who are the real "crazies" in our political culture?: " (updated below - Update II) One of the favorite self-affirming pastimes of establishment Democratic and Republican pundits is to mock anyone and everyone outside of the two-party mainstream as crazy, sick lunatics.  That serves to bolster the two political parties as the sole arbiters of what is acceptable:  anyone who meaningfully

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-28746565066765194002010-05-29T09:40:00.001-07:002010-05-29T09:40:19.539-07:00

Rep. Alan Grayson: We've Always Been at War with Eastasia: "On May 30, 2010, at 10:06 a.m, the direct cost of occupying Iraq and Afghanistan will hit $1 trillion. And in a few weeks, the House of Representatives will be asked to vote for $33 billion of additional 'emergency' supplemental spending to continue the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. There will be the pretense of debate -- speeches

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-11255755787800830732010-05-28T07:05:00.001-07:002010-05-28T07:05:22.477-07:00

The American Century Is So Over: "This story first appeared on the TomDispatch website.Irrespective of their politics, flawed leaders share a common trait. They generally remain remarkably oblivious to the harm they do to the nation they lead. George W. Bush is a salient recent example, as is former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. When it comes to foreign policy, we are now witnessing a

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-57560961281881990492010-05-25T08:41:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:41:08.352-07:00

10 Most Corrupt US Capitalists: "I left Vegas on Friday, but before I split, I took one final lap around the Skybridge Alternative Investment conference to say goodbye to a few people.On the way out, I interrupt a tall old codger making time with Sandra, who works as Roubini’s Research Strategies Director. She is quite fetching, and since I was late, I bulled in, barking ‘Pardon the

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-23841522459205524972010-05-24T13:22:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:40:19.034-07:00

Cenk Uygur: Ask Goldman Sachs to Give it Back!: "Sometimes when you explain to people that some of the most complicated financial transactions in the country were just side bets, they don't really believe you. They think it's an oversimplification. We couldn't have wrecked the global economy because some people made side bets. These are sophisticated bankers with sophisticated financial

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-24736841517550377752010-05-24T13:21:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:39:01.728-07:00

The Greeks Get It: " By Chris Hedges Here’s to the Greeks. They know what to do when corporations pillage and loot their country. Call a general strike. Riot. Shut down the city centers. Toss the bastards out."(Via Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-20152112080894338282010-05-24T12:33:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:38:33.202-07:00

The absence of debate over war: "The Washington Posts Fred Hiatt ponders how little attention our various wars received during the primary campaigns that were just conducted: 'You would hardly know, from following this years election campaign or the extensive coverage of last weeks primaries, that America is at war. . . . those wars, and the wisdom of committing to or withdrawing from them, have

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-45236108802371673652010-05-23T10:36:00.001-07:002010-05-23T10:36:01.106-07:00

Alan Grayson’s “The War is Making You Poor Act”: "You have to hand it to Grayson, this is a very clever way to get the issue of ‘why is defense spending a sacred cow’ the attention it warrants. "(Via naked capitalism.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-43881833171747627572010-05-21T09:54:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:37:32.165-07:00

Rep. Dennis Kucinich: Our Survival Depends Upon Reconciliation With, Not Exploitation of, the Natural World: "This post was originally on May 19 as a speech on the Floor of the House of Representatives.The Creator gave us a paradise, and we, appropriating the power of nature's god, are turning our planet into a smoking, glowing, oily mess by plundering Mother Earth of her treasures and by

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-57574167015299879442010-05-20T10:44:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:36:59.766-07:00

David Sirota: The Predictable and Inevitable Blowback: "Imagine, if you can, an alternate universe.Imagine that in this alternate universe, a foreign military power begins flying remote-controlled warplanes over your town, using on-board missiles to kill hundreds of your innocent neighbors.Now imagine that when you read the newspaper about this ongoing bloodbath, you learn that the foreign

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-23842976834337870252010-05-19T08:19:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:43:10.760-07:00

A Cost Benefit Analysis On Defense: "Walker Frost wants to cut military spending:Over the last decade, an admittedly small but most relevant samplesize, any correlation between military spending and the prosperity ofAmericans, and non-Americans, seems negative. The relative slide in USpower has, if anything, been accelerated by excessive military spendingand record deficits. Our $900 billion

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-84403252421021478662010-05-13T21:37:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:35:52.037-07:00

What Obama's choice of Kagan tells us about his judicial philosophy.: "Since the Republican attacks on Elena Kagan's fitness to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court have thus far ranged from hypocritical to laughable to insane, the fight between the left and the way left has become far more interesting, with Salon's Glenn Greenwald battling her supporters and everyone else trying to figure out where

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-13799712415896572942010-05-11T15:52:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:35:33.297-07:00

Miran-Duhhhhh!: "It seems to me that a huge problem that Americans on both sides of the aisle have is that they believe in personal freedom, but only for themselves; for the other guy they seem always to want a powerful and intrusive federal government. Red staters and blue staters are both equally guilty of this in my experience. You get conservatives asking for a federal ban on gay marriage and

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-88483569022646790092010-05-10T07:23:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:35:17.971-07:00

After Religion Fizzles, We’re Stuck with Nietzsche: " By Chris Hedges The traditional religious institutions are in irreversible decline. They have nothing left to say. And their aging congregants, who are fleeing the church in droves, know it. But don’t think the world will be a better place for their demise. "(Via Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-67251149103480487302010-05-07T09:39:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:34:58.377-07:00

Les Leopold: Is Warren Buffett Main Street's Benedict Arnold?: "The derivatives genie is now well out of the bottle, and these instruments will almost certainly multiply in variety and number until some event makes their toxicity clear. Central banks and governments have so far found no effective way to control, or even monitor, the risks posed by these contracts. In my view, derivatives are

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-13608284708543536292010-05-07T09:38:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:33:47.836-07:00

Sorrows and Secrecies: "Excellent interview with Cold Warrior apostate Chalmers Johnson (Blowback, The Sorrows of Empire) at Counterpunch--the questioner is Harry Kreisler, author of the just-out Political Awakenings--on the long-term cardiac threat posed by the combination of imperial overstretch and monstrous debt loads:Talk a little about what militarism is, and what imperialism is.What I want

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-29712830950382804402010-05-06T10:32:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:32:51.324-07:00

Guest Post: Top Recipient of Political Cash from BP, Goldman Sachs, Defense Contractors AND Healthcare Giants: Barack Obama: "→ Washington’s BlogPreface: The story that Obama was the top recipient of political contributions from BP is going viral today. I thought I’d put the story in a little context.As a side note, I voted for Obama, and had high hopes for him … until he appointed Summers,

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-20540897942945464732010-05-05T13:23:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:32:07.108-07:00

US Greek Bailout Costs? Tiny: "There is a faulty meme circulating that the US is on the hook for enormous amounts of the $145 billion dollar Greek bailout. Rumors of 20, 30 even 40% of the total bailoutTurns out the US participation is de minimus.U.S. participation in the €110 billion ($145 billion) loan to Greece is relatively modest. The 15 nation euro-zone governments are ponying up $106

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-90355520740599616752010-05-04T12:48:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:31:17.394-07:00

The Great Reflation: "Let me start this week’s Outside the Box by venting a little anger. It now looks like almost 30% of the Greek financing will come from the IMF, rather than just a small portion. And since 40% of the IMF is funded by US taxpayers, and that debt will be JUNIOR to current bond holders (if the rumors are true) I can’t tell you how outraged that makes me.What that means is that

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-88950151968772800172010-04-30T11:03:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:29:17.676-07:00

Les Leopold: Why Do We Save Billionaires, but Not Teachers?: "This week thousands of New Jersey public school students walked out of class to protest draconian school budget cuts. 'Save my teacher,' their signs read. In a state that is home to a bevy of high finance billionaires, with the highest per capita income in the nation, teachers are being sacked left and right. In our town half the

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-572572618890951362010-04-27T10:18:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:28:17.040-07:00

Op-Ed Contributor: Meet the Real Villain of the Financial Crisis.: "Blame Congress for the meltdown, not Goldman Sachs. "(Via NYT > Opinion.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-61423359125205449752010-04-22T10:58:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:27:33.841-07:00

William J. Astore: American Kleptocracy: How Fears of Socialism and Fascism Hide Naked Theft: "Crossposted with TomDispatch.com.Kleptocracy -- now, there’s a word I was taught to associate with corrupt and exploitative governments that steal ruthlessly and relentlessly from the people. It’s a word, in fact, that’s usually applied to flawed or failed governments in Africa, Latin America, or the

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-61472084350584747692010-04-22T10:05:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:25:49.387-07:00

2010 Midterms: Jobs vs. Wars in California: "Do you know someone in California? Have they seen this?California’s economy is in a tailspin. One in 5 Californians is out of work. Over three quarters of a million have lost their homes. Desperately needed social services have been cut to the bone. Yet residents of our state continue to pay for a senseless war in Afghanistan that’s not making us

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-55549512849161171672010-04-22T10:01:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:24:17.713-07:00

Guest Post: Are Interest Rate Derivatives a Ticking Time Bomb?: "→ Washington’s BlogDerivatives are the world’s largest market, dwarfing the size of the bond market and world’s real economy.The derivatives market is currently at around $600 trillion or so (in nominal value).In contrast, the size of the worldwide bond market (total debt outstanding) as of 2009 was an estimated $82.2

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-89921973291352775302010-04-21T09:41:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:20:53.103-07:00

Robert L. Borosage: The Big Fix (Hold on to your Wallets): "The drumbeat about deficits has reached deafening levels. The president warns about 'out of control' spending. Fed Chair Ben Bernanke calls for bringing deficits down. The opinion pages bristle with rants about the U.S. turning into Greece, headed to default. Next week, the first session of the president's 'National Commission on

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-40037870306379709702010-04-20T22:04:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:19:14.762-07:00

Noam Chomsky Has ‘Never Seen Anything Like This’: " By Chris Hedges America’s greatest intellectual says, ‘The mood of the country is frightening. The level of anger, frustration and hatred of institutions is not organized in a constructive way. It is going off into self-destructive fantasies.’ "(Via Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-80483731433062377432010-04-14T08:53:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:18:29.047-07:00

Robert L. Borosage: Was Bernie Madoff the Exception or the Rule?: "Were the big banks all knowingly running Ponzi schemes? That's the question that arises from the stunning hearings held this week by the Senate Permanent Committee on Investigations, chaired by Senator Carl Levin, on the collapse of Washington Mutual, the largest thrift failure in the U.S. Faced with looking like fools or knaves,

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-32952296426698376402010-04-14T08:52:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:17:26.241-07:00

The Price of Assassination: "Whether or not drone missile strikes and assassination plots are legal, are they a good idea?"(Via NYT > Opinion.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-590784259012417922010-04-12T07:17:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:17:11.547-07:00

No Money for Jobs Bill: "Now that Washington finally focuses on jobs, guess what? There's no money left. After bailing out banks, boosting war spending, and expanding health care, both Democrats and Republicans are putting the brakes on job relief, despite its polling status as the issue of most concern to most Americans.Our $12.8 trillion national debt is suddenly a big worry on Capitol Hill

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-89686464241200400802010-04-10T17:47:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:16:34.645-07:00

Driven to Destruction – The Cost of the Car Culture: "Consider the following statistics:1) There are 115 million households in the United States.2) 58.1% of American households have at least two cars. 20.1% have three or more.3) The IRS currently estimates that it costs 50 cents a mile to maintain a personal automobile.4) The average American vehicle drives 12,334 miles each year.Do the math,

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-9582558329017015542010-04-10T17:45:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:15:39.534-07:00

Guest Post: Bank of International Settlements’ Tough Assessments Don’t Bode Well for World Economy: "→ Washington’s BlogIn a new report, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) – often called the ‘central banks’ central bank’ – points out that bond investors are not as smart as they think, that Western debt is much higher than officially reported (since contingent liabilities and pension

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-15394602113502672652010-04-09T11:07:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:13:53.350-07:00

Les Leopold: Why Are 25 Hedge Fund Managers Worth 658,000 Teachers?: "What work do we value most?In 2009, the worst economic year for working people since the Great Depression, the top 25 hedge fund managers walked off with an average of $1 billion each. With the money those 25 people 'earned,' we could have hired 658,000 entry level teachers. (They make about $38,000 a year, including benefits.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-75658543173562339912010-04-08T12:23:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:12:22.058-07:00

How Politically Feasible Are Defense Spending Cuts?: "A recent Economist/YouGov poll confirmed that while the public is furiously hostile to the budget deficit and furiously hostile to tax increases it’s also furiously hostile to all feasible methods of reducing the deficit by reducing spending. Annie Lowrey made a helpful summary chart that combines (in blue) the number of people who say

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-11300059086237715472010-04-08T09:52:00.001-07:002010-05-26T08:11:50.164-07:00

Olbermann on Obama's assassination program: "Here again, we see one of the principal and longest-lasting effect of the Obama presidency: to put a pretty, eloquent, progressive face on what (until quite recently) were considered by a large segment of the citizenry to be tyrannical right-wing extremism (e.g., indefinite detention, military commissions, an endless and always-expanding 'War on

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-61335069403257952102010-04-07T09:50:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:29:41.661-07:00

Tom Engelhardt: Believe It or Not (2010 Imperial Edition): U.S. War-Fighting Numbers to Knock Your Socks Off: "Crossposted with TomDispatch.com.In my 1950s childhood, Ripley’s Believe It or Not was part of everyday life, a syndicated comics page feature where you could stumble upon such mind-boggling facts as: 'If all the Chinese in the world were to march four abreast past a given point, they

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-90164278594372722592010-04-07T09:29:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:27:44.961-07:00

Confirmed: Obama authorizes assassination of U.S. citizen: " (updated below - Update II) In late January, I wrote about the Obama administrations 'presidential assassination program,' whereby American citizens are targeted for killings far away from any battlefield, based exclusively on unchecked accusations by the Executive Branch that theyre involved in Terrorism. At the time, The

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-15789376937691462692010-04-06T10:34:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:26:26.523-07:00

Looting Main Street : Rolling Stone: "The destruction of Jefferson County reveals the basic battle plan of these modern barbarians, the way that banks like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs have systematically set out to pillage towns and cities from Pittsburgh to Athens. These guys aren't number-crunching whizzes making smart investments; what they do is find suckers in some municipal-finance

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-44280618940611199402010-04-05T14:23:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:26:08.875-07:00

How the Corporations Broke Ralph Nader and America, Too: " By Chris Hedges Ralph Nader’s descent from being one of the most respected and powerful men in the country to being a pariah illustrates the totality of the corporate coup."(Via Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-49689854992625281512010-04-04T09:19:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:25:35.982-07:00

The Real Reason China Resists on the RMB: "As reported yesterday, the US-China 'currency manipulation' showdown is past for the moment. The underlying issue -- China's insistence on keeping its RMB at an artificially low level, which ends up keeping the US dollar artificially high -- is far from resolved. But it won't be forced to a head this month.That doesn't mean that our coverage is over!

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-27933196431096895502010-04-03T13:06:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:25:11.655-07:00

Op-Ed Columnist: We Still Don’t Hear Dr. King: "Forty-three years after Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic speech decrying the Vietnam War, his message has yet to be heard. "(Via NYT > Opinion.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-31665458377101712962010-04-01T09:45:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:24:50.713-07:00

Study Shows Economic Crisis and Response a Victory for the Rich: "Breakfast at Tiffanys is so passé; lets do Cartier in Shanghai to celebrate! (photo: Stuck in Customs via Flickr)A recent paper shows the complete victory of the rich in the class war. If you had any doubt, consider these facts. In 1983, the 838,900 households comprising the top 1% in wealth held $6.6 trillion in financial assets (

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-22758657071665676302010-03-31T11:27:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:24:08.147-07:00

Harold Meyerson - A flawed American political model aids China - washingtonpost.com: "I don't mean to sound nostalgic for the Cold War, but we've got to stop conducting ourselves as if nobody is looking.The Senate has shriveled into a body that routinely thwarts majority rule. The Supreme Court has ruled that big money can dominate our elections as never before. Do we think that no one outside

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-12875209271719500172010-03-31T11:12:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:23:09.658-07:00

Quit trying to blame China for American decline: "Here's an idea for how the U.S. can finally get a handle on its increasingly fraught relationship with China. Unlike other ideas gaining momentum -- such as pressuring China to revalue its currency upward, as insistently favored by New York Sen. Charles Schumer, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, and others -- it doesn't involve threatening or

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-71209704631450385122010-03-29T08:57:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:35:04.209-07:00

Mike McConnell, the WashPost & the dangers of sleazy corporatism: "In a political culture drowning in hidden conflicts of interests, exploitation of political office for profit, and a rapidly eroding wall separating the public and private spheres, Mike McConnell stands out as the perfect embodiment of all those afflictions. Few people have blurred the line between public office and private

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-77821118946263849642010-03-26T11:09:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:19:35.293-07:00

Les Leopold: Slaughterhouse '10: The Gutting of State and Local Government: "The Jeffersonian anti-federalists feared that a strong national government would lead our fledgling nation back towards monarchy. Instead they wanted government closer to the people where it would better serve their interests rather than interests of the moneyed merchants and traders.That not good enough for Tea Party

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-10159661408918713472010-03-23T06:33:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:33:58.795-07:00

A stark truth - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com: "One does not normally see this truth stated so starkly in places like Time Magazine -- from Michael Scherer's interesting article on AIPAC's current strategy to 'storm Congress':The third 'ask' that AIPAC supporters will make of Congress on Tuesday is to once again pass the $3 billion in U.S. aid provided annually to Israel. 'It's a very tough ask

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-62996657675811649912010-03-23T06:32:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:34:26.481-07:00

Industry interests are not in their "twilight" - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com: "The Washington Post's Ezra Klein has an amazing post in which he trumpets what he calls the 'Twilight of the Interest Groups' reflected by likely passage of the health care bill (h/t). Why are Interest Groups -- once so powerful in Washington -- now banished to their 'twilight'? Because, says Ezra, 'the Obama

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-68472517170818388692010-03-23T06:04:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:17:29.632-07:00

Courting Trouble With China: "Washington's campaign to get Beijing to revalue its currency risks a trade war-and another recession. Jeffrey E. Garten talks to Chinese officials about America's dangerous game.Even in highly partisan Washington, group think can drive policy,..."(Via The Daily Beast - Blogs and Stories.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-10352114517492594922010-03-21T10:58:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:17:16.583-07:00

Op-Ed Contributor: The Real Arithmetic of Health Care Reform: "Take away the budgetary gimmicks and games, and it’s clear that health care reform raises, not lowers, federal deficits."(Via NYT > Opinion.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-81689958708146205042010-03-21T10:54:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:16:51.517-07:00

Joe Trippi: The Election is Being Stolen in Iraq -- Don't Sit Back and Watch: "This morning I posted on my blog about the fraud taking place in the Iraqi election:After countless Iraqi citizens, American soldiers and NGO workers have put their lives on the line to build democracy in Iraq, the election is being stolen right under our eyes - and the international community is just standing by to

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-84535803577700739272010-03-19T10:53:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:15:54.312-07:00

Fact Sheet: The Truth About the Health Care Bill: "click for a PDF of our health care reform fact sheetI’ll be on the new CNN show with Jon King that premieres at noon ET, available for live stream here — jhDirect link to King’s flash stream here. (Show now over–sorry.) –ed.The Firedoglake health care team has been covering the debate in congress since it began last year. The health care bill

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-38198105631767060422010-03-19T10:43:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:13:34.384-07:00

What’s the Matter With Democrats?: "By David Sirota Democrats are now preposterously selling giveaways to insurance and pharmaceutical executives as a middle-class agenda."(Via Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-11170181452162024312010-03-17T10:40:00.003-07:002010-04-07T10:13:16.997-07:00

Hands Off the Yuan: "The escalating calls for China to rebalance its currency are based on deeply flawed assumptions and will only make Americans pay more for their favorite products -- like iPhones."(Via Foreign Policy.)

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-12808130525059975212010-03-17T10:40:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:12:54.386-07:00

Robert Scheer: Lame Bill from a Lame Duck: "If you think health care reform has been an unsatisfying test of the government's ability to deal with our pressing problems, brace yourself for bigger disappointment in its attempt to bridle Wall Street. This is when the true heavies go to work and, as opposed to the medical industry lobby, the moneychangers fear not the wrath of their clients or, as

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-14778823312060816002010-03-17T10:39:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:12:02.408-07:00

Michael Moore: The Green They Steal, the Greed They Wear ...a St. Patrick's Day Lamentation: "Friends,It was amazing. Every story on the front page of Monday's New York Times told the story of the Age of Greed during which a system known as capitalism is slowly, but surely, killing us:Insurance company greed: 'Millions Spent to Sway Democrats on Health Care'War profiteers: 'Contractors Tied to

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-30128385918589227532010-03-16T09:57:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:09:57.402-07:00

Eliot Spitzer: Time for Truth: Three Card Monte Is for Suckers: "Cross-posted from New Deal 2.0.In December, we argued the urgent need to make public A.I.G.'s emails and 'key internal accounting documents and financial models.' A.I.G.'s schemes were at the center of the economic meltdown. Three months later, a year-long report by court-appointed bank examiner Anton Valukas makes it abundantly

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647064416438978012.post-77034992899983902152010-03-15T10:23:00.001-07:002010-04-07T10:08:55.760-07:00

U.S.-Israel rift undermining some long-standing taboos: "The rather extraordinary dust-up between the U.S. and Israel has, among other benefits, shined a light on two of the most taboo yet self-evidently true propositions: (1) our joined-at-the-hip relationship with Israel is a significant cause of anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world, fuels attacks on Americans, and entails a very high

Roger O Thornhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10291639339268923062noreply@blogger.com