Category Archives: Politics

A Python-esque rite in South Philly


Ah, the rites of spring in the `hood! You know — palm weaving, the Easter Parade on South Street, race riots in Grays Ferry. Here’s one that was new to me — the Good Friday re-enactment of the crucifixion of … Continue reading

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Brooks, the Earnest Weasel, nips at Obama


This because it’s been a long while since my last installment of the Weasel Watch: President Obama and Paul Ryan are two of the smartest, most admirable and most genial men in Washington. It is sad, although not strange, that … Continue reading

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A plague on Republicrats!


Will Barack Obama keep the promise he made today and oppose extending the Bush tax cuts next time? Will it even matter when the Republicans are finished screwing around with the tax code? The ugly truth is that Obama and … Continue reading

Posted in economic collapse, finance reform bill, globalization, Great Recession, Iraq war, mainstream media, Politics, taxes, unemployment, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How to negotiate like Neville Chamberlain


John Boehner’s target was $40 million in budget cuts. He got $38.5 million. And yet talking heads on MSNBC will almost surely try to spin the budget deal as some sort of victory for Democrats and working people, just as … Continue reading

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How do Paul Ryan do that voodoo he do?


I vote “yes” on Robert Reich’s call for higher taxes on the rich: …Remarkably, taxes on the top have plummeted. From the 1940s until 1980, the top tax income tax rate on the highest earners in America was at least … Continue reading

Posted in economic collapse, Great Recession, mainstream media, New York Times, Obama, Politics, taxes, unemployment, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Obama trap is closing on progressives


From the Animals: My little girl you’re so young and pretty/And one thing I know is true/You’ll be dead before your time is due/Yes you will. From Michael Gerson in The Washington Post: Obama now has Republicans cornered in budget … Continue reading

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To NY Times, economic rut is recovery


The lead paragraphs and headline — “Job Growth Suggests Resilience of U.S. Recovery” — of a recent New York Times article suggests, Herbert Hoover-style, that prosperity is just around the corner. The real story is buried deep in the text: … Continue reading

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Correction, DN — Corbett wields the chainsaw


Here’s Josh Cornfield of the Philadelphia Daily News following up on reaction to the newspaper’s cheesy, Photoshopped front page photo on March 31: The Philadelphia School District apparently loved the Daily News’ cover yesterday as much as district parents and … Continue reading

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Fox News VP: Sure, I lied about Obama


In case you wondered why Roger Ailes and his motley crew are barred from Canadian TV outlets, here’s this from Media Matters: In newly uncovered audio, a Fox News executive boasts that he lied repeatedly during the closing days of … Continue reading

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Joe Bageant walked it as he talked it


Joe Bageant, the self-described “redneck socialist” writer who died this week at age 64, enjoyed exploring the great divide between the working class and the limousine liberal establishment. Sometimes he seemed one of the few progressive-minded author/social critics who even … Continue reading

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