Category Archives: unemployment

‘Rentiers’ to the jobless: Your pain is our gain

Posted on June 12, 2011 by oddmanout215

Those trying to escape the saga of Anthony Weiner and the Weiner-ettes may not have seen Paul Krugman’s Friday column, which focuses on the relentlessly high unemployment rate and on the fact that the most powerful people in government — … Continue reading →

Posted in economic collapse, globalization, Great Depression, Great Recession, mainstream media, New York Times, New York Times op-ed, Obama, Politics, unemployment, Wall Street, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

In praising Scott-Heron, Inquirer buries his message

Posted on June 1, 2011 by oddmanout215

Gil Scott-Heron, the African-American poet and musician who died this week at age 62, was most famous for his recording of “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” a funny and uncompromising call-to-arms that envisions the downfall of the corporate masterminds … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, economic collapse, globalization, Great Recession, mainstream media, Philadelphia, Politics, pop music, taxes, unemployment, Wall Street, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Subterranean homesick Bob

Posted on May 25, 2011 by oddmanout215

I tried, but the hundred Inevitables dogged me all day. By the time I got back to the bunker the medicine man was gone and Beethoven had unwrapped a bedroll with Ma Rainey. I’d missed my chance to give Bob … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, economic collapse, Goldman Sachs, Great Recession, Iraq war, mainstream media, Obama, Politics, pop music, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The hole where Borders was, and the dummies who dug it

Posted on May 17, 2011 by oddmanout215

Writers hate the idea of slush piles, where agents and editors dump unpublished works. On the last weekend of business at Borders in Philadelphia, I saw the equivalent of a slush pile for published works. It wasn’t a pretty sight. … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, Great Recession, livable cities, Philadelphia, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Again, Bernie plays the Obama we thought we elected

Posted on May 12, 2011 by oddmanout215

This from Bernie Sanders, who stands out from most of his fellow U.S. senators like a St. Bernard in a pack of toy poodles: The United States is the only major nation in the industrialized world that does not guarantee … Continue reading →

Posted in Congress, globalization, Great Recession, health care, Obama, Politics, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A plague on Republicrats!

Posted on April 13, 2011 by oddmanout215

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

Posted on April 9, 2011 by oddmanout215

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?

Posted on April 8, 2011 by oddmanout215

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

Posted on April 6, 2011 by oddmanout215

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

Posted on April 4, 2011 by oddmanout215

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 →

Posted in economic collapse, Great Recession, Iraq war, mainstream media, New York Times, Politics, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment