From OpenSecrets, hat tip to John Sides at The Monkey Cage: Cross-posted at Asymptosis.

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Mitt Romney tried Thursday to borrow the campaign themes that got President Barack Obama elected in 2008. The Republican nominee repeatedly promised “big change” in Washington, a fresh phrase for him and one that he used more than a dozen times in a 20-minute speech at a rally that kicked off a […]

Two articles published late yesterday in the New York Times, when juxtaposed with each other, pretty much encapsulate my frustration with this campaign.  One, titled “New Federal Rules for Debt Collectors,” by Edward Wyatt, reports: Debt collection agencies, whose sometimes aggressive tactics have earned them scrutiny from consumer protection groups and state regulators, will come […]

You can’t say Wall Street has no ethics…but you can say what kind:

Lifted from Angry Bear Robert’s Stochastic Thoughts, and Brad Delong and Naked Capitalism beat me to it…oh well: I have always assumed that Romney must be smart, because of the way in which he acquired great wealth.  Yes he was ruthless and dishonest (the real scandal is what is legal).  But there are lots of […]

Via Economist’s View comes a segment from a Krugman and Stiglitz video: instituteforneweconomicthinking on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free [Note: The video starts at the 16:15 mark, and the Krugman and Stiglitz discussion begins at 25:30]

by Linda Beale The GOP, rape and abortion, and the place of God in political discourse Remember GOP candidate Akin and his comments about no-pregnancies-from-legitimate-rape, suggesting somehow that most rapes are not legitimate and are maybe sought after by the one raped as well as by the rapist?  Akin revealed an incredible lack of understanding […]

IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed. Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the […]

Over the weekend, the daughter of a friend of mine’s dog—a wonderful three-year-old German shepherd /collie mix named Bella—suffered a spinal injury of mysterious provenance.  At first, on Saturday night, the problem seemed to be just hot spot just above her tail.  But by Sunday morning, she was unable to use her hind legs at […]

by Linda Beale Growing inequality calls for both “predistribution” and (rightly directed) redistribution In putting forward my theme of democratic egalitarianism, I have often noted that there is no such thing as an economically egalitarian society–there will always be differentials among people, those differences often relate to social class and the education, privileged upbringing, and […]