Lifted from reader rjs’s newsletter when comparing the Ryan outline and the Dem budget issues to be resolved: but this year, like each of the past three, that budget responsibility was again shirked, leaving us with government by “continuing resolution” which has resulted in as many as seven such short term funding bills in one […]

Damon Silvers appears to have his wheels on correctly answering two CNN talking heads on their version of Social Security. Kelly Evans: “Of course people want to make sure that our citizens are taken care of. But that’s almost not the point.” (It’s not?) Evans proceeds to assail Silvers and the AFL-CIO for refusing to […]

Excepts from an interview with Richard Wolff ( Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. And he is currently a Visiting Professor of the Graduate Program in International Affairs at the New School University in New York. Since 2008, he has been writing and speaking chiefly on the global capitalist crisis) from the […]

Eric Cantor rules on the debt ceiling?  From Talking Points Memo comes this bit of knowledge on who can propose a vote on the debt. Under normal House rules, according to House Democrats, once that bill had been rejected again by the Senate, then any member of the House could have made a motion to […]

by Linda Beale The Countermajoritarian Difficulty and Congressional Ethics–Ending the Shutdown [Edited to add Marcotte article on role of fundamentalism in Tea Party politics.] We have seen congressional ethics probes of Congressmen for exacting quid pro quo bribes from businessmen or for conflicts of interest or apparent failure to pay personal taxes.  What about failing […]

Recent article by AFP cites an IMF report suggesting that countries fighting deficit spending should simply “Tax the Rich” in income more. in its Fiscal Monitor report, subtitled “Taxing Times”, the Fund advanced the idea of taxing the highest-income people and their assets to reinforce the legitimacy of spending cuts and fight against growing income […]

Hat tip reader rjs and then lifted from The Global Glass Onion from a long list of links pn the default question: Here are a few lifted from the not including ones from the FED: Democrats and Republicans Pedal to the Metal in Debt Ceiling/Shutdown Game of Chicken – Yves Smith – Watching the shutdown/debt […]

Late posted, but still relevant: by Linda Beale The GOP Default Enthusiasts The New York Times has a story today about those in the GOP who don’t think the government of the USA defaulting on its debt for the first time in history is a big deal.  Weisman, Many in G,O,P. Offer Theory: Default Wouldn’t […]

*On-the-Record Media Call* Join Harvard University professor and economist Martin S. Feldstein and Peterson Institute for International Economics President Adam S. Posen today, October 10, at10:30 a.m. (EDT) for a discussion about the nomination of Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen to replace outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke. Date: Today, October 10, 2013 Call […]

by Linda Beale Economic Terrorism: the Tea Party/GOP’s Hostage Taking Plan (Tom Tomorrow’s “Giant Killer Robots”) As the New York Times reported on Saturday:  Stohlberg, A Federal Budget Crisis Months in the Planning, New York Times (Oct. 5, 2013), the current fiscal and political crisis was planned as a manuver to get their way  by […]