I have been making the argument for the last several years that it was the legacy New Deal programs such as Social Security, Medicare, FDIC insurance and Unemployment insurance which did more to keep us out of an even deeper depression than the so called stimulus that was passed in Obamas first year. We cut those programs and we will not have a double dip recession, we will have a repeat of the Great depression.

X2

The view of shareholder value as corporations’ primary objective has dominated since the 1980s.

This is great propaganda spewed by the CEO class. The truth is they only have two priorities:
1. How much money they can suck out of the corporation they allegedly run before the leave – willingly or otherwise.

And in a distant second:

2. The shareholder value of the top 1% of shareholders in the corporation.
Those who could possibly bring pressure on them.

Maybe we should pass a law making it a Federal Crime (with prision time) to impregnate any woman who is not your legal spouse? I’m sure all those family value politicians would have nothing to fear from that.

The truth is you cannot have global trade with out an empire to enforce the trade routes. We just took over from the British Empire.

The only allegiance these trans-national corporations and Republicans have is to keeping our military global and not pay for it in taxes.

I do not see any reason why it should not be required that any stock bought must be held for a minimum of 24 hours before it could be sold. What ever happened to the notion of stocks were a long term investment? Told to me by every financial planner I ever talked to?

Works real well for the one percenters.

If the Democrats and Obama’s plan to fix/strengthen ACA is the same as their plans for Social Security and Medicare, then you are truely deluding yourself.

Also no matter how far right the Republican party has gone,it does not excuse the Democratic party moving to the right and occupying that space while abandoing thier Liberal principals of the past. I did vote in the 2010 elections and I will vote in November’s elections. But I will not vote for sell out Democrats who sell us crappy Republican plans and then insult us for wanting better.

Have not read the book. But will now have to head to the local library to check it out. Thanks.

Federated States? Sovereign Nations? How 20th Century! We are all headed towards being associates of (name your country) a subsidiary of (Name your multi-national corporation).

Then it will be which of them will start maintaining their own private armies to ensure their profits. Contracts and treaties will only be for those with the muscle to enforce them.

This won’t solve the problems, but how about we cut Congress’ salaries, end their pensions (put then in a 401K) make then pay a larger portion of their healthcare, eliminate their expense accounts and make them pay for their own travel. Cause as John Boehner has said – We are broke.

(Except when it comes to war, corporate welfare, tax cuts for the rich and other 1% boondoggles

I think the Democrats left the Filibuster in place so they could use it as an excuse for not passing legislation they did not want but looked good to the left.

However, I am not one for completely removing the filibuster, which can have its place. What I think is that the minority party should be allocated a limit of 5 filibusters per session. Then they would have to decide what is really important to fight and not just use the tool for political gamesmanship.

I would argue it was Kennedy’s assassination and the joke called the Warren Commision that white washed the investigation and gave us the magic bullet theory. Or one could argue it was when we dropped the second A-bomb on Japan and told the world there was a new 800 pound gorilla in the world as our elites bagan to dream of an empire.

Yes, Roger Clemens is on trial now. Funny how they have time to prosecute (persecute?) a retired baseball player for steroid use, but the MOTU who crashed the economy? I wonder if Dimon will even be under oath?

Does anyone know how Zillow became the de-facto source for home valuation? I get an e-mail once a month from them on the valuation of my house and it is all over the place. Up one month then down the next. I am unfortunetly one of those underwater, current on my payments (actually paying extra principle each month). When I approached my Credit Union about refinancing several years ago, they told me no that Zillow had the value to low. That was the first I heard of them. Who is behind Zillow?

I think there is more to this. By redefining a millionare as middle class. The Democrats can claim that they have expanded the middle class and therefore the middle class is not suffering as much as the far left loonies claim as we wage class warfare. Makes it easier to push those shared sacrifices of cuts to SS and Medicare.