Category Archives: Great Recession

PA’s frackin’ Scrooge of the Year


James Carville noted years ago that, from the standpoint of political strategists, “Pennsylvania is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and Alabama in between,” or words to that effect. He has been pilloried by critics on the left and right for his remark, … Continue reading

Posted in environmentalism, Great Recession, history, mainstream media, Philadelphia, Politics, The New Depression | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

These days, a bad tooth can break you


How many people have realized that the presumption of belonging to a “middle class” is delusional and dangerous? Enough to toss the reactionaries out of Congress in 2012? Maybe, but wouldn’t the current crop be replaced by a new bunch … Continue reading

Posted in campaign finance reform, Congress, economic collapse, Great Recession, mainstream media, Occupy Wall Street, Politics, The New Depression, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Barack Obama, the human cave-in


I’m stumped. What does Barack Obama believe in? Is there any promise he wouldn’t break, any anti-progressive stand he wouldn’t take if he thought it might gain him some political advantage? Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth is convinced … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, Great Recession, history, mainstream media, Obama, Politics, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Coddled senator: No minimum wage hike


“Behind every great fortune lies a great crime,” is the Anglicized version of a Balzac aphorism. I would add that behind most Republicans in Congress is a great unearned fortune and a defective sense of irony. Here’s an example from … Continue reading

Posted in economic collapse, Great Recession, humor, Politics, The New Depression, unemployment | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Obama is on our side… when he’s campaigning


This is from President Obama’s much-praised speech Tuesday in Osawatomie, Kansas, where Teddy Roosevelt gave his “New Nationalism” speech in 1910. The setting was chosen so that the corporate media would link Obama to the resurgence of progressive sentiments among … Continue reading

Posted in economic collapse, Great Recession, mainstream media, Obama, Occupy Wall Street, Politics, taxes, The New Depression, Uncategorized, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Banksters spooked by ‘Occupy Our Homes’


Not surprisingly, the corporate news media hasn’t made much of the human drama taking place as foreclosures and evictions by the big banks continue across the country. As Michael Moore wrote yesterday, “You need a Kardashian in your home as … Continue reading

Posted in economic collapse, Great Recession, mainstream media, Occupy Wall Street, Politics, The New Depression, Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

A peculiar way to measure jobs growth


Robert Reich is a commonsensical guy, and so what if he sometimes injects false optimism into his commentaries? You can tell he’s merely trying not to be a gloom merchant, that the jobs picture looks as bleak to him as … Continue reading

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

Obama tries, but wing-nuts reject his love


No irony about the sick state of American politics is funnier than the fact that wing-nuts, no matter how far to the right Barack Obama tilts, continue to vilify him as the Great Satan of socialism and the bleeding-heart champion … Continue reading

Posted in climate change, economic collapse, Goldman Sachs, Great Recession, liar, New York Times, Obama, Politics, The New Depression, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bush, Obama rolled lucky 7s for banksters


Did anyone else see the lame TV movie Too Big To Fail, which dramatized the Fall 2008 financial crisis? If not, you didn’t miss anything honest. It was based on the book by Andrew Ross Sorkin, the NYT reporter and … Continue reading

Posted in economic collapse, fiction, finance reform bill, Goldman Sachs, Great Recession, mainstream media, Obama, Politics, The New Depression, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Over there is where the Occupy camp used to be


Robert Scheer links the Occupy movement to the fight against the sort of corruption embodied by the SEC: … As Judge [Jed] Rakoff stated, the Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Citigroup with “a substantial securities fraud” in the sale … Continue reading

Posted in City Hall, economic collapse, Great Recession, mainstream media, Occupy Wall Street, Philadelphia, Politics, The New Depression, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged , , | 1 Comment