Category Archives: Congress

Ayn Rand would rap Ryan’s knuckles


Paul Ryan has always insisted on “revenue neutral” tax reform, but now that congressional Dems have been trounced, he’s singing a slightly different tune. The Wisconsin wing-nut said today he’d

Posted in Congress, Great Depression, Great Recession, mainstream media, Politics, taxes, The New Depression, Uncategorized, unemployment | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

What if the passion was never there?


Obama blew it. That’s the point of a long piece in today’s NYT by an exasperated academic who has stopped pretending Obama is the second coming of Martin Luther King: …[King] preached the gospel of nonviolence, but he knew that … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, Great Depression, Great Recession, mainstream media, New York Times, Obama, Politics, taxes, The New Depression, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Panetta sounds like Strangelove


Ignore the jobless, kick people out of their homes, starve the kids. These consequences are grim but acceptable. The one thing we cannot afford, you slimy Congresspeople, is to cut the Defense budget. Doing so might set off a “doomsday … Continue reading

Posted in arts, Congress, humor, mainstream media, movies, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

‘Goons of August’ usher in new era


Nobody’s shooting yet, but I’ll bet Barbara Tuchman would appreciate Robert Kuttner’s headline. Kuttner does a good job summarizing Democratic stupidity regarding the debt deal, and of explaining why our government, in its current form, is in worse shape than … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, economic collapse, Great Recession, Obama, Politics, taxes, The New Depression, unemployment, Wall Street, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Onion’s birthday joke, with an edge


The Onion’s Obama birthday joke was satire, but only in the lamest sense of the word: After months of heated negotiations and failed attempts to achieve any kind of consensus, President Obama turned 50 years old Thursday, drawing strong criticism … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, economic collapse, Great Recession, mainstream media, Obama, Politics, The New Depression | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Obama calls OUR bluff, not GOP’s


For months Obama loyalists at places like Daily Kos have argued against the evidence of their own senses. They insisted critics were wrong to call the president weak and rudderless. They remained confident Obama would stop caving and call the … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, economic collapse, Great Recession, Obama, Politics, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Media’s ‘cult of balance’ drags it to the right


Interesting blog yesterday by Paul Krugman, edgier than most of his op-ed columns, sparked by his gloomy conclusion that “the cult of balance, of centrism” is hurting the country more than the cult of right-wing loonies pushing for default on … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, globalization, mainstream media, New York Times op-ed, Obama, Politics, The New Depression, unemployment, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Groveler-in-chief can’t cut deal on debt


Last night I listened to Barack Obama beg right-wing fanatics to accept his proposed solution to the debt ceiling standoff. He may as well have said, “Come on guys, I’m giving away the store plus all the land around the … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, economic collapse, Great Depression, Obama, Politics, The New Depression, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A new corporate tax holiday would shock even cynics


Remember the disastrous “tax holiday” Congress granted mega-corporations such as Apple and GE in 2004? The idea was to allow corporations to bring home huge profits they’d stashed overseas, in the hope they might use the money to create jobs. … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, economic collapse, Great Recession, mainstream media, Politics, unemployment, Wall Street, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sound and fury, signifying status quo


Joseph Stiglitz, a few months ago in Vanity Fair: The more divided a society becomes in terms of wealth, the more reluctant the wealthy become to spend money on common needs. The rich don’t need to rely on government for … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, economic collapse, Great Recession, mainstream media, Obama, Politics, unemployment, Wall Street, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment