So some econ out of Harvard is shocked about what he found regarding our economy.  It’s a government problem.  The government is just not responding (read that: not doing anything). Americans no longer trust their political leaders, and political polarization has increased dramatically. Americans are increasingly frustrated with the U.S. political system. The political system […]

by Daniel Becker Being that we’re about to experience austerity because we are convinced we can’t spend money properly such that we actually end up with more after rather than less …  which is very depressing to me and defeatist in presentation, I present my new theme song:  That’s how it goes. I just find […]

In the context of Dan’s post below, I just want to repeat what Bruce Bartlett said so accurately yesterday: [H]ere’s what I would be doing if I were organizing opposition to the Republican budgetary disinformation campaign. First of all, I would be holding hearings five days a week in the Senate Appropriations Committee and every […]

Mandate Up by The Bell offers some advice to his readers on the mood of the country: Their Promised Approach to Governance Didn’t Work Out So Well for the Last Guys During one of their debates, Nevada Tea Party Senatorial candidate Sharon Angle famously told Majority Leader Harry Reid to “Man up!” meaning he needed […]

by Linda Bealecrossposted with Ataxingmatter Friday Animations–being a good mother These days the tea partiers and libertarians have tended to mock those who think that we should all tax ourselves to take care of those who are less fortunate, and that the wealthiest amongst us–corporate managers, private equity managers, and shareholders–should pay more in taxes. […]

Floyd Norris discovers a mathematical impossibility: Asked to rank, on a scale of one (excellent) to five (poor), the ability of their board’s compensation committee to “effectively manage C.E.O. compensation, 83 percent of the directors chose one or two, and only 4 percent picked four or five. But asked, “In general, do you believe U.S. […]

We’re used to that line by now. Ross Perot—one of the more prominent people who got rich due to government contracts—used it, Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman are using it (while desperately hoping you don’t pay attention to how they ran Lucent/HP or eBay), and Aaron Sorkin even had Charles Grodin say it in Dave, […]

by Divorced one like Bush For this post I will formally introduce myself. I am Daniel J. Becker. It is only proper and just to do so. I am using Mr. Greenwalds discussion only as a platform to add my thoughts regarding the Citizens United decision.  Also this is a long read. So I’ll give you […]

by Divorced one like Bush If you haven’t heard, the SCOTUS just ruled 5/4 that corporations are now your brother and sister under the constitution.  Hey brother, can you spare a dime? To bad corporations didn’t have to fight in the Revolution and actually bleed to get such rights. More seriously, the court ruled that […]

Slowly moving back into everything, and so catching up with Mark Thoma’s use of Paul Volcker as his latest line of Defense of Giving the Fed More Regulatory Power. (Amusing in itself, given Volcker’s description of the Fed before he was Owned by the Obama Administration.) I like Thoma (a lot more than he likes […]