Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Jobs in the U.S. auto parts industry are at risk due to subsidized and unfairly traded Chinese auto parts | Economic Policy Institute

Jobs in the U.S. auto parts industry are at risk due to subsidized and unfairly traded Chinese auto parts | Economic Policy Institute

Banking Wasn’t Meant to Be Like This | Truthout

Banking Wasn’t Meant to Be Like This | Truthout

GOP Declares Obama Plan That Taxes Banks To Help Homeowners ‘Dead On Arrival’

GOP Declares Obama Plan That Taxes Banks To Help Homeowners ‘Dead On Arrival’: pWith the housing crisis still strangling a full economic recovery, President Obama used his State of the Union speech last week to call for further assistance to homeowners who have been able to stay current on their mortgages. The loosely-outlined plan would allow homeowners to refinance their mortgages at current low interest rates and would [...]/p

Nation’s Largest Cancer Charity Caves To Right Wing Pressure, Ends Relationship With Planned Parenthood

Nation’s Largest Cancer Charity Caves To Right Wing Pressure, Ends Relationship With Planned Parenthood: pSusan G. Komen for the Cure is the country’s best-known and best-funded breast cancer organization. Known for it’s iconic pink ribbon and annual Race for the Cure event, the organization has invested nearly $2 billion in cancer education and research since its founding in 1982. But today, bowing to political pressure, Komen for the Cure [...]/p

Extremist Dave Thompson Bringing Right-to-Work (For Less) To Minnesota

Extremist Dave Thompson Bringing Right-to-Work (For Less) To Minnesota

How Tax Cuts Are Causing Our Current And Future Budget Deficits

How Tax Cuts Are Causing Our Current And Future Budget Deficits: pThe Congressional Budget Office today released its latest budget projections, which show that the deficit in 2012 is expected to exceed $1 trillion and that economic growth is likely to slow over the next two years. Predictably, Republicans jumped to blame the large deficit on President Obama’s spending. “The President and his party’s leaders have [...]/p

Grover Norquist Loves Impeaching (Democratic) Presidents

Grover Norquist Loves Impeaching (Democratic) Presidents

Reagan Worship And His Real Record

Elizabeth Warren's 30-Second Destruction Of Mitt Romney

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Maddow: The vulture capitalist feeding cycle

Wisconsin's Walkergate Investigation Gives A Glimpse Into GOP Strategies Nationwide

Wisconsin's Walkergate Investigation Gives A Glimpse Into GOP Strategies Nationwide

How to Reverse the Corporate Coup d'Etat

How Big Banks are Rewriting the Rules of our Economy

Moyers & Company Show 103: How power and influence helped big banks rewrite the rules of our economy. from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.

Guess which presidential candidate opened a Swiss bank account to hedge against American dollar?

Guess which presidential candidate opened a Swiss bank account to hedge against American dollar?

CNN's Erick Erickson: “ Watching A Hippie Protester Get Tased Just Makes My Day“

CNN's Erick Erickson: “ Watching A Hippie Protester Get Tased Just Makes My Day“

Tea Partier that works for CNN.

Thom Hartmann: Norquist, "Impeach Obama" for crimes against the 1%

The Financial Services Sector Bankrolls Spencer Bachus’ Campaign Account

The Financial Services Sector Bankrolls Spencer Bachus’ Campaign Account: pIn the fourth quarter of 2011, Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) reported raising $388,895.26 in campaign contributions. According to a ThinkProgress analysis, at least 44 percent of that came from political action committees and individuals connected to real estate, insurance, banking, and finance industries — areas overseen by the House Financial Services committee Bachus chairs. According [...]/p

As State GOPers Stay Extreme, Why Does MSM Keeps Insisting GOP Is Moderating? | AlterNet

As State GOPers Stay Extreme, Why Does MSM Keeps Insisting GOP Is Moderating? | AlterNet

Loving And Hating The “ Race Card“

Loving And Hating The “ Race Card“

ExxonMobil Made $41.1 Billion In 2011, But Pays Estimated 17.6 Percent Tax Rate

ExxonMobil Made $41.1 Billion In 2011, But Pays Estimated 17.6 Percent Tax Rate: pExxonMobil had the largest profits of the Big Five oil companies in 2011, raking in $41.1 billion for the year. This 35 percent jump from last year is driven in large part by record-high oil prices. Today, the oil giant announced its fourth quarter profits of $9.4 billion, a 2 percent increase since 2010. Here [...]/p

Are the Koch brothers teaching you?

The Truth About Mitch Daniels, Who Spoke For The Entire GOP Last Week

In Post-'Citizens United' World, Negative Ads More Prominent (and Successful) Than Ever | Common Dreams

In Post-'Citizens United' World, Negative Ads More Prominent (and Successful) Than Ever | Common Dreams

Climatologist James Hansen on “Cowards in Our Democracies”

Climatologist James Hansen on “Cowards in Our Democracies”: pJR: “Leading climate scientists have given their support to a Freedom of Information request seeking to disclose who is funding the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a London-based climate sceptic thinktank chaired by the former Conservative chancellor Lord Lawson.”  As the UK Guardian reported earlier this week, “James Hansen, the director of the Nasa Goddard Institute [...]/p

Why American 'Democracy Promotion' Rings Hollow in the Middle East | Common Dreams

Why American 'Democracy Promotion' Rings Hollow in the Middle East | Common Dreams

Insist the Koch brothers testify in Congress

Are the Oligarchs now openly talking about a coup d'etat in America?

Conservatives’ Politics of Fear a Biological Response | Truthout

Conservatives’ Politics of Fear a Biological Response | Truthout

PERRspectives: Meet the Party of American Capitalism

PERRspectives: Meet the Party of American Capitalism
Unfortunately for the Republican ideologues now decrying class warfare, it's the Democratic Party which has been saving American capitalism since 1933.

Inside the Bacchanalian Wall Street Fraternity Party of Billionaire Bankers and Hedge Fund Predators | Occupy Wall Street | AlterNet

Inside the Bacchanalian Wall Street Fraternity Party of Billionaire Bankers and Hedge Fund Predators | Occupy Wall Street | AlterNet

The Haditha Massacre: No Justice for Iraqis | Common Dreams

The Haditha Massacre: No Justice for Iraqis | Common Dreams

More Damning Evidence Points to Pesticide as Cause of Mass Bee Deaths | Common Dreams

More Damning Evidence Points to Pesticide as Cause of Mass Bee Deaths | Common Dreams

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Sen. Vitter's $1 Million Hold On Science

Sen. Vitter's $1 Million Hold On Science

How Apple Sits On Billions And Makes Record Profits While Its Chinese Laborers Work In Deadly Conditions

How Apple Sits On Billions And Makes Record Profits While Its Chinese Laborers Work In Deadly Conditions: pApple, Inc. is undoubtedly one of the most powerful and profitable companies worldwide. Last quarter, Apple made $13.1 billion, it’s highest profits yet and a 117 percent jump from last year. Apple’s current CEO Tim Cook has increased his salary by six-fold and could very well be the highest paid CEO of 2011. But as [...]/p

Renewable Energy Standards: If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

Renewable Energy Standards: If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It: pby Peter Fox Penner When your local utility buys more renewable energy to power your lights and computers, what more do you get besides the power?  You get cleaner air, fewer respiratory health problems, and lower health-care costs. You get local jobs building and maintaining green power plants and a better foothold in the fast-growing, [...]/p

How Power and Influence Helped Big Banks Rewrite the Rules | Truthout

How Power and Influence Helped Big Banks Rewrite the Rules | Truthout

Physicians in Congress Committing Malpractice on Millions | Common Dreams

Physicians in Congress Committing Malpractice on Millions | Common Dreams

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Why All the Robo-Signing? Shining a Light on the Shadow Banking System | Truthout

Why All the Robo-Signing? Shining a Light on the Shadow Banking System | Truthout

Former Bushie, Mitch Daniels Attacks Obama for Not Fixing the Mess He Helped Make

Former Bushie, Mitch Daniels Attacks Obama for Not Fixing the Mess He Helped Make

So Much For 'Freedom': Tea Partiers' Embrace of Gingrich Reveals Their Inner Authoritarian

So Much For 'Freedom': Tea Partiers' Embrace of Gingrich Reveals Their Inner Authoritarian

Meet Michael Youssef, Gingrich's Divisive Faith Co-Chair

Meet Michael Youssef, Gingrich's Divisive Faith Co-Chair

Billionaire Bill Gates Calls For Increasing Taxes On The Rich: ‘That’s Just Justice’

Billionaire Bill Gates Calls For Increasing Taxes On The Rich: ‘That’s Just Justice’: pLast night in his State of the Union address, President Obama once again urged Congress to pass the Buffett rule, noting that 25 percent of American millionaires pay less in taxes that millions of families in the middle-class. Republicans were quick to dismiss his request as “the politics of envy and division.” However, multi-billionaire Bill [...]/p

Dystopia: Corporate Rule Breeding 'Global Class War' | Common Dreams

Dystopia: Corporate Rule Breeding 'Global Class War' | Common Dreams

PERRspectives: Team USA Goalie Tim Thomas Snubs President Obama

PERRspectives: Team USA Goalie Tim Thomas Snubs President Obama

This is what a true scumbag looks like.

Five Good Economic Policy Ideas From Obama’s State Of The Union

Five Good Economic Policy Ideas From Obama’s State Of The Union: pDuring last night’s State of the Union, President Obama unveiled a series of proposals aimed at addressing growing income inequality, a shrinking middle class, and abuses by the nation’s biggest banks. “We will not go back to an economy weakened by outsourcing, bad debt, and phony financial profits. Tonight, I want to speak about how [...]/p

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

REPORT: What The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Has Done For You Already

REPORT: What The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Has Done For You Already: pRichard Cordray will make his first appearance on Capitol Hill today since President Obama recess appointed him as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Senate Republicans blocked Cordray’s nomination — and promised to block anyone nominated for the director’s position — but now that the fledgling agency has a director, it can [...]/p

Mitt Romney's Bain Capital 'earned' $342 million by bankrupting a company and firing 850 Floridians

Mitt Romney's Bain Capital 'earned' $342 million by bankrupting a company and firing 850 Floridians

Boehner Promises To Revisit Medicare Privatization In This Year’s Budget

Boehner Promises To Revisit Medicare Privatization In This Year’s Budget: pDuring an appearance on Fox News Sunday, House Speaker John Beohner (R-OH) confirmed that Republicans won’t be backing away from plans to privatize the Medicare program this year — despite voters’ rejection of the plan — and will attempt to “pursue a bipartisan Medicare proposal in order to deflect Democratic attacks”: WALLACE: Will the House [...]/p

Marine Gets Light Sentence for Massacre of Iraqi Civilians | Common Dreams

Marine Gets Light Sentence for Massacre of Iraqi Civilians | Common Dreams

6 Facts About Mitt Romney’s Tax Returns

6 Facts About Mitt Romney’s Tax Returns: pAfter weeks of refusals and equivocation, Mitt Romney finally released his tax returns last night to a handful of media outlets, showing that he made $21.7 million in 2010 and $20.9 million last year. He only actually released one year of returns, 2010, and his estimated return for 2011, even though many have called on [...]/p

Clean Water Safeguards Headed Down the Drain? | Common Dreams

Clean Water Safeguards Headed Down the Drain? | Common Dreams

Monday, January 23, 2012

Inside ALEC: Naked Contempt for the Press and Public in Scottsdale | Truthout

Inside ALEC: Naked Contempt for the Press and Public in Scottsdale | Truthout

VIDEO: Mitt Romney’s Greatest Hits — Sympathy For The Corporation

VIDEO: Mitt Romney’s Greatest Hits — Sympathy For The Corporation: pUp until now, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has been the presumed frontrunner of the GOP presidential candidates. But the recent focus on Romney’s tenure as head of the private equity firm Bain capital — a position which went a long way towards making Romney the approximately $190 to $250 million he’s now worth — [...]/p

Gingrich Used Gimmick To Avoid Paying Taxes On Millions In Income

Gingrich Used Gimmick To Avoid Paying Taxes On Millions In Income: pFormer House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) caused a stir during last week’s Republican presidential primary debate when he released his 2010 tax return and revealed that he had paid a 31.5 percent tax rate on $3.14 million in income. The release came amid widespread calls for Gingrich’s fellow candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), [...]/p

Mitt Romney is running on an 'I'm rich, so elect me' platform—and Karl Rove thinks it's brilliant

Mitt Romney is running on an 'I'm rich, so elect me' platform—and Karl Rove thinks it's brilliant

GOP's Claim That House Passed 30 Jobs Bills? Bogus.

GOP's Claim That House Passed 30 Jobs Bills? Bogus.

Conservative Fantasies About the Miracles of the Market | Common Dreams

Conservative Fantasies About the Miracles of the Market | Common Dreams

British Members Of Parliament Call For Closure Of Romney’s Cayman Islands Tax Haven

British Members Of Parliament Call For Closure Of Romney’s Cayman Islands Tax Haven: pFormer Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) admitted last week that his tax rate was about 15 percent because his income mainly comes from investments that are taxed at lower rates than normal income. Romney’s income is also bolstered by the fact that several of his investments — worth millions of dollars — take advantage of [...]/p

PERRspectives: Romney Plays the Victim Card

PERRspectives: Romney Plays the Victim Card

For the Record: George W. Bush is the Real ‘Food Stamp President’ | AlterNet

For the Record: George W. Bush is the Real ‘Food Stamp President’ | AlterNet

Romney Agrees To Release Tax Returns — But Not Enough Of Them

Romney Agrees To Release Tax Returns — But Not Enough Of Them

Challenging the Republican's Five Myths on Inequality | Common Dreams

Challenging the Republican's Five Myths on Inequality | Common Dreams

Friday, January 20, 2012

FLASHBACK: Reagan Raises Capital Gains Taxes For First Time

FLASHBACK: Reagan Raises Capital Gains Taxes For First Time: pMuch has been said in recent days after Mitt Romney revealed that his effective tax rate is close to 15 percent — below that of many middle-class Americans — because much of his income comes from investment gains, which are taxed at lower rates than normal wages. But Flyod Norris reminds us in the New [...]/p

Romney Confronted By Young Woman Over DREAM Act Veto Threat

Romney Confronted By Young Woman Over DREAM Act Veto Threat

Maine's Tea Party Governor: 'Slash Health and Human Services or I'll Close Schools' | Common Dreams

Maine's Tea Party Governor: 'Slash Health and Human Services or I'll Close Schools' | Common Dreams

Two Years After "Citizens United," Amending the Constitution is Essential | Common Dreams

Two Years After "Citizens United," Amending the Constitution is Essential | Common Dreams

We Must Stop This Corporate Takeover of American Democracy | Common Dreams

We Must Stop This Corporate Takeover of American Democracy | Common Dreams

Mitt Romney Says He'll Stuff Capitalism 'Down President Obama's Throat'

Mitt Romney Says He'll Stuff Capitalism 'Down President Obama's Throat'

To be clear, what Mitt Romney is defending isn't capitalism. It's financialism. Here's a good summary of what financialism is:

“…financial instruments become progressively further removed from their role in supporting commerce in the real world and develop a life of their own, a weird shadow dimension, a hall of mirrors, a distorted alternate reality that intersects and reacts with the real economy in unpredictable and destructive ways.”

Koch Industries: Summary | OpenSecrets

Koch Industries: Summary | OpenSecrets

Meet The 40 Members Of The Congressional Koch Caucus

Meet The 40 Members Of The Congressional Koch Caucus: pFive senators and 40 congressional representatives received a perfect 100 percent score from the Koch brothers’ astroturf group Americans For Prosperity for the first half of the 112th Congress. AFP judged Congress on their votes to protect the Koch brothers’ right-wing petrochemical empire on such issues as the repeal of President Obama’s new health care [...]/p

Supreme Court Orders Texas to Replace Minority-Representative Electoral Maps with Ones That Favor Republicans | AlterNet

Supreme Court Orders Texas to Replace Minority-Representative Electoral Maps with Ones That Favor Republicans | AlterNet

GOP Official Explains Romney’s Offshore Tax Havens: ‘The Man’s Got So Much Money, I Don’t Know Where He’s Going To Put It All’

GOP Official Explains Romney’s Offshore Tax Havens: ‘The Man’s Got So Much Money, I Don’t Know Where He’s Going To Put It All’: pCHARLESTON, South Carolina — Earlier this week, an investigation revealed that Mitt Romney holds millons of dollars in accounts located in the Cayman Islands. According to the ABC News report, Romney currently has as much as $33 million stored in accounts in the Caymans, “a notorious Caribbean tax haven.” The former Massachusetts governor’s campaign maintains [...]/p

Romney Campaign Defends Refusal To Release Tax Returns: ‘An Absolute Non-Issue’

Romney Campaign Defends Refusal To Release Tax Returns: ‘An Absolute Non-Issue’: pCHARLESTON, South Carolina — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) continues to face fire for not releasing his tax returns, particularly as questions mount about the 15 percent tax rate he says he pays, offshore investments in tax shelters like the Cayman Islands, and his continued income from the private equity firm he founded, Bain [...]/p

Report: US Soldiers Bringing Their Violence Home from Overseas | Common Dreams

Report: US Soldiers Bringing Their Violence Home from Overseas | Common Dreams

Romney Loses his Cool with Occupier | Common Dreams

Romney Loses his Cool with Occupier | Common Dreams

Mr. .001%. This is the wrong year for a one percenter like Romney to run.

Republican Racism is an Air Raid Siren, Not a Dog Whistle | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet

Republican Racism is an Air Raid Siren, Not a Dog Whistle | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet

Thanks to Citizens United, Multinational Mega Lobbyist Firm Salivates Over $4 Billion in Campaign Cash | Investigations | AlterNet

Thanks to Citizens United, Multinational Mega Lobbyist Firm Salivates Over $4 Billion in Campaign Cash | Investigations | AlterNet

Thursday, January 19, 2012

PERRspectives: Gingrich Proposes New Tax Rate for Mitt Romney: Zero

PERRspectives: Gingrich Proposes New Tax Rate for Mitt Romney: Zero

US Thirst for Fossil Fuels is Decimating Nature's Wildlife: Report | Common Dreams

US Thirst for Fossil Fuels is Decimating Nature's Wildlife: Report | Common Dreams

Are You Better Off Than You Were 30 Years Ago?

Are You Better Off Than You Were 30 Years Ago?

Study: States With Higher Taxes Are Better For Children

Study: States With Higher Taxes Are Better For Children: pIt may seem intuitive that states that invest more in public services are better places for children to grow up, but the Foundation for Child Development now has the numbers to prove it. The foundation is out with a new study that confirms the “strong relationship” between higher state taxes and children’s health. The study [...]/p

Two-Thirds Of Small Business Owners Say Citizens United Ruling Hurts Them

Two-Thirds Of Small Business Owners Say Citizens United Ruling Hurts Them: pTomorrow is the two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s historic decision in Citizens United v. FEC, which opened the door for unlimited corporate spending to influence the outcome of elections. On the eve of the anniversary, a new survey reveals that small business owners overwhelmingly say the ruling hurts their business: Two-thirds of American small [...]/p

Feds Helped States Increase Insurance Coverage For Children In The Midst Of An Economic Recovery

Feds Helped States Increase Insurance Coverage For Children In The Midst Of An Economic Recovery: pOur guest bloggers are Katy Womble and Kasey Mckeral, interns at the Center for American Progress. Yesterday, the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured released their annual report outlining trends in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility, enrollment, renewal, and cost-sharing policies in all fifty states. As families continue to struggle in [...]/p

When Jerry Springer Came To Fox News

Hightower Lowdown | Corporate elites and their small-minded political servants are creating the Incredibly Shrinking America

Hightower Lowdown | Corporate elites and their small-minded political servants are creating the Incredibly Shrinking America

Jim Hightower | Repeal the farce of "Corporate Personhood"

Jim Hightower | Repeal the farce of "Corporate Personhood"

Dump 'Citizens United'! | The Nation

Dump 'Citizens United'! | The Nation

Working and Poor in the USA | Common Dreams

Working and Poor in the USA | Common Dreams

‘Strict Constitutionalist’ Ron Paul Endorses Nullification As A ‘Very Good’ Idea

‘Strict Constitutionalist’ Ron Paul Endorses Nullification As A ‘Very Good’ Idea: pGREENVILLE, South Carolina — Standing in front of a statue of long-time South Carolina Sen. and former Vice President John C. Calhoun, Texas Rep. Ron Paul (R) endorsed the idea that states should be able to nullify federal laws they don’t like at a press conference at the South Carolina state capitol on Tuesday. In [...]/p

The Facts About President Obama's Energy Record

Romney Invests In Several Bain Funds That Use Offshore Tax Havens To Boost Profits

Romney Invests In Several Bain Funds That Use Offshore Tax Havens To Boost Profits: pMitt Romney yesterday admitted for the first time that his tax rate is about 15 percent, lower than the rate paid by millions of middle class families. Romney is able to pay such a low rate (even though the top income tax rate is 35 percent) because his income comes overwhelmingly from investments and he [...]/p

Ten Books That Could Be Kicked Out of Classrooms Under Arizona’s Insane Curriculum Law

Ten Books That Could Be Kicked Out of Classrooms Under Arizona’s Insane Curriculum Law: pIn December, an Arizona judge upheld a state law that bans classes that “promote the overthrow of the United States government, promote resentment toward a race or class of people, are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.” That ruling’s already [...]/p

Rachel Maddow: On Mitt Romeny And His Wealth

Report: The Recovery Act Saved Thousands Of Americans From Homelessness

Report: The Recovery Act Saved Thousands Of Americans From Homelessness: pThe Great Recession has steadily eaten away at the economic security of many Americans. Facing stagnant wages, growing unemployment, and rising health care costs, nearly 50 percent of Americans are slipping from the shrinking middle-class into low-income status or even poverty. In 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in order [...]/p

Education Will Get You a Job! But We're Cutting Education | Common Dreams

Education Will Get You a Job! But We're Cutting Education | Common Dreams

United States Congress: A Graveyard for Democracy and Justice | Common Dreams

United States Congress: A Graveyard for Democracy and Justice | Common Dreams

Neo-Racism in the Southwest : Information Clearing House

Neo-Racism in the Southwest : Information Clearing House

PERRspectives: Mitt Romney's Three Tax Scandals

PERRspectives: Mitt Romney's Three Tax Scandals

Mitt Romney Wouldn't Know a Free Market If It Bit Him on the Ass | Economy | AlterNet

Mitt Romney Wouldn't Know a Free Market If It Bit Him on the Ass | Economy | AlterNet

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Mitt Romney Embraces Privatizing Medicare and Social Security and Raising Eligibility Ages

Mitt Romney Embraces Privatizing Medicare and Social Security and Raising Eligibility Ages

Wikipedia, many other websites, will blackout tomorrow in protest of SOPA and PIPA

Wikipedia, many other websites, will blackout tomorrow in protest of SOPA and PIPA

Arizona School District Wipes Latino American History Off the Map | Common Dreams

Arizona School District Wipes Latino American History Off the Map | Common Dreams

Romney Admits His Tax Rate Is About 15 Percent, Lower Than Many Middle Class Families

Romney Admits His Tax Rate Is About 15 Percent, Lower Than Many Middle Class Families: pCitizens for Tax Justice a few months ago estimated that Mitt Romney, due to most of his income coming from investments, pays a tax rate of around 14 percent, a far cry from the 35 percent top income tax rate. Romney then confirmed that the bulk of his income does, indeed, come from investments (and [...]/p

The Four Most Racist, Fearmongering and Absurd Moments from Last Night's Debate | AlterNet

The Four Most Racist, Fearmongering and Absurd Moments from Last Night's Debate | AlterNet

No Graphs, Just Graphics: Illustrating The Success Of Health Care Reform

No Graphs, Just Graphics: Illustrating The Success Of Health Care Reform: pOur guest bloggers are Emily Oshima, a Research Associate/Policy Analyst with the Health Policy team and Lindsay Rosenthal, a Special Assistant for Domestic Policy at the Center for American Progress. While the ACA has helped millions of Americans since it President Obama signed it into law on March 23, 2010, a recent poll found that [...]/p

Geriatric Obfuscating Pathology: Is The GOP Self-Destructing? | Common Dreams

Geriatric Obfuscating Pathology: Is The GOP Self-Destructing? | Common Dreams

In Debate, GOP Candidates Have Little Sympathy For The Jobless

In Debate, GOP Candidates Have Little Sympathy For The Jobless

New Tool Reveals Country's Most Polluted Places: How Close Do You Live? | Environment | AlterNet

New Tool Reveals Country's Most Polluted Places: How Close Do You Live? | Environment | AlterNet

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Obama's 'In-Sourcing' Initiative Designed to Counter Outsourcing

Obama's 'In-Sourcing' Initiative Designed to Counter Outsourcing

Breaking: Religious Right Endorses Santorum; Aims to Stop Romney in South Carolina | AlterNet

Breaking: Religious Right Endorses Santorum; Aims to Stop Romney in South Carolina | AlterNet

STUDY: SOPA Coverage No Match For Kim Kardashian And Tim Tebow

STUDY: SOPA Coverage No Match For Kim Kardashian And Tim Tebow

10 Reasons the US is No Longer the Land of the Free | Common Dreams

10 Reasons the US is No Longer the Land of the Free | Common Dreams

Degrade This: Wall Street’s Ratings Agencies Undermine Europe’s Attempt at Recovery Acting Like Financial Terrorists | Common Dreams

Degrade This: Wall Street’s Ratings Agencies Undermine Europe’s Attempt at Recovery Acting Like Financial Terrorists | Common Dreams

Happy Anniversary, Citizens United! Citizens Celebrate By Uniting to Push For A Constitutional Amendment

Happy Anniversary, Citizens United! Citizens Celebrate By Uniting to Push For A Constitutional Amendment

Everything You Need to Know About Wall Street, in One Brief Tale | Common Dreams

Everything You Need to Know About Wall Street, in One Brief Tale | Common Dreams

Senator Bernie Sanders On How Congress Works For The 1%

The Tax Cut That Is Bigger Than Your Salary

More Proof the System is Broken: Bee Colonies Are Collapsing Left and Right | AlterNet

More Proof the System is Broken: Bee Colonies Are Collapsing Left and Right | AlterNet

The Apocalyptics | Truthout

The Apocalyptics | Truthout

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Dumb Budget Cuts: How Slashing Funds For The IRS Winds Up Costing The U.S. Money

Dumb Budget Cuts: How Slashing Funds For The IRS Winds Up Costing The U.S. Money: pWhen does a cut to the federal budget actually result in an increase in the deficit? When, as the New York Times profiled today, it cuts the Internal Revenue Service, leaving the IRS understaffed and unable to collect all the taxes owed to the federal government: An expanding workload and cuts in funds have left [...]/p

Spence's college degree? Economics, yes, but of the home

Spence's college degree? Economics, yes, but of the home

Survey: Illegal Corporate Campaign Contributions Up 400%

Survey: Illegal Corporate Campaign Contributions Up 400%: pIn 2009, just 1 percent of respondents to National Business Ethics Survey — a large industry study funded by major corporations like Walmart — said they had witnessed illegal corporate political donations. This year, that number quadrupled to 4 percent. Management-level employees at large, publicly traded companies were most likely to see the illegal activity, [...]/p

PERRspectives: GOP War on the IRS Costs U.S. Billions

PERRspectives: GOP War on the IRS Costs U.S. Billions

Iran: the Neocons Are At It Again » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Iran: the Neocons Are At It Again » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Bain Capitalism: Mitt's Frankenstein Is A Politically-Created Monster

Bain Capitalism: Mitt's Frankenstein Is A Politically-Created Monster

Fox Promotes Dubious Claim That 900 Deceased People Voted In SC

Fox Promotes Dubious Claim That 900 Deceased People Voted In SC

Wisconsin Lawmaker Introduces Resolution To Remove Ethicially Tainted Justice Michael Gableman

Wisconsin Lawmaker Introduces Resolution To Remove Ethicially Tainted Justice Michael Gableman: pIn just three short years on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, conservative Justice Michael Gableman managed to embroil himself in two major ethics scandals. The first, which arose before he was even elected to the court, arose out of a false ad Gableman ran during his election campaign claiming that his opponent unleashed a child molester [...]/p

War Clouds Darken: Russia Warns of US Strike on Iran | Common Dreams

War Clouds Darken: Russia Warns of US Strike on Iran | Common Dreams

NFIB Agrees: Key Uncertainty is About Demand, Not Regulations or Taxes

NFIB Agrees: Key Uncertainty is About Demand, Not Regulations or Taxes

School Suspends Mexican-American History Program To Comply With Arizona’s Ban On Ethnic Studies

School Suspends Mexican-American History Program To Comply With Arizona’s Ban On Ethnic Studies: pArizona passed a law in 2010 that bans schools from teaching ethnic studies. Believing such classes promoted “ethnic chauvinism,” former state schools superintendent and the law’s sponsor Tom Horne sought to ban any class that are “designed primarily for students of a particular race or that promote resentment toward a certain ethnic group.” His primary [...]/p

REPORT: News Networks Ignore Controversial SOPA Legislation

REPORT: News Networks Ignore Controversial SOPA Legislation

Why I Defend Obamacare and Plan To Fight For It As Hard As I Can

Why I Defend Obamacare and Plan To Fight For It As Hard As I Can

Full-Blown Civil War Erupts on Wall Street: As Reality Finally Hits the Financial Elite, They Start Turning on Each Other | Truthout

Full-Blown Civil War Erupts on Wall Street: As Reality Finally Hits the Financial Elite, They Start Turning on Each Other | Truthout

Revolving Door: From Top Futures Regulator to Top Futures Lobbyist | Common Dreams

Revolving Door: From Top Futures Regulator to Top Futures Lobbyist | Common Dreams

The corruption continues.

Economists: Romney’s Economic Plan Fails To Deal With ‘Main Drags’ On U.S. Economy

Economists: Romney’s Economic Plan Fails To Deal With ‘Main Drags’ On U.S. Economy: pFormer Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s (R) economic plan has become the centerpiece of his presidential campaign. Though his proposals are often vague, analyses of the plan shows that it would provide huge tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans while raising taxes on low-income families. And though Romney claims to be concerned about the federal budget [...]/p

Five U.S. Senators Are Perfect Koch Servants, Americans For Prosperity Reports

Five U.S. Senators Are Perfect Koch Servants, Americans For Prosperity Reports: pFive senators and 39 representatives received a perfect 100 percent score from the Koch brothers’ Astroturf group Americans For Prosperity for the first half of the 112th Congress. AFP judged Congress on their votes to protect the Koch brothers’ right-wing petrochemical empire on such issues as the repeal of President Obama’s new health care law, [...]/p

Multiple States Considering Legislation To Increase Voting Rights

Multiple States Considering Legislation To Increase Voting Rights: pIf voting legislation in 2011 centered largely on hindering access to the ballot box, 2012 will hopefully be defined as the year that voting rights began fighting back. Last year, a rash of anti-voting legislation popped up in states around the country, from Florida to Texas to Wisconsin. New laws banning anyone without photo IDs [...]/p

480 State Lawmakers To File Amicus In Support Of Obamacare

480 State Lawmakers To File Amicus In Support Of Obamacare: pIn the last several days, 26 states, the National Federation of Independent Business, and 36 Republican senators, filed amicus briefs before the Supreme Court describing the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate as a coercive provision that undermines the 10 Amendment rights of the states and characterizing Medicaid expansion as an illegal “commandeering” of states’ autonomy. [...]/p

Video Brings Accusations of War Crimes: Marines Urinating on Corpses | Common Dreams

Video Brings Accusations of War Crimes: Marines Urinating on Corpses | Common Dreams

Papantonio: Romney Helped Invent "Vulture Capitalism"

When Mitt Romney Came To Town



Good video on Mr. 1%

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Dr. Jeff Masters: We're Seeing The 'Most Extreme Configuration Of The Jet Stream Ever Recorded'

Dr. Jeff Masters: We're Seeing The 'Most Extreme Configuration Of The Jet Stream Ever Recorded'

GOP Establishment Rushes To Defend Romney’s Vulture Capitalism From Populist Backlash

GOP Establishment Rushes To Defend Romney’s Vulture Capitalism From Populist Backlash: pIn a potentially game-changing shift, Republican presidential candidates, including former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, have tapped into the populist anger of the 99 percent, tearing into former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s tenure at the financial firm Bain Capital, which made billions while bankrupting a quarter [...]/p

Republican National Committee Files Brief Seeking To Allow Corporate Funding Of Campaigns

Republican National Committee Files Brief Seeking To Allow Corporate Funding Of Campaigns: pOne of the few remaining limits on corporations’ power to buy and sell American elections is that corporations are not allowed to give money directly to federal candidates. Citizens United frees them to spend billions of dollars running ads or otherwise trying to change the result of an election to suit their interests, but corporations [...]/p

How The Republicans’ New Education Bills Would Hurt Disadvantaged Students And Undermine Accountability

How The Republicans’ New Education Bills Would Hurt Disadvantaged Students And Undermine Accountability: pOur guest blogger is Jeremy Ayers, Senior Education Policy Analyst at the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Last week, Rep. John Kline (R-MN), chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, released two bills to revise the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). NCLB certainly needs to be fixed, but the Kline bills would [...]/p

Sh*t Republican Candidates Say | Common Dreams

Sh*t Republican Candidates Say | Common Dreams

Fleecing the Angry Whites | Truthout

Fleecing the Angry Whites | Truthout

5 Founding Fathers Whose Skepticism About Christianity Would Make Them Unelectable Today | Belief | AlterNet

5 Founding Fathers Whose Skepticism About Christianity Would Make Them Unelectable Today | Belief | AlterNet

3 Places Where a Looming Energy War Could Mean Global Economic Disaster in 2012 | Environment | AlterNet

3 Places Where a Looming Energy War Could Mean Global Economic Disaster in 2012 | Environment | AlterNet

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Germany Installed 2 GW of Solar PV in Q4 2011 — The U.S. Installed 1.7 GW in All of 2011

Germany Installed 2 GW of Solar PV in Q4 2011 — The U.S. Installed 1.7 GW in All of 2011: pAnd the Germans did it at roughly half the price. In the lead up to another 15% reduction in Germany’s feed-in tariff (the price paid for solar electricity fed into the grid), the German solar industry finished 2011 off with a bang — installing 2,000 megawatts of solar photovoltaic systems in the fourth quarter. Let’s [...]/p

Does Mitt Romney Pay emAny/em Income Tax?

Does Mitt Romney Pay emAny/em Income Tax?

The GOP Solution for Everything: Railing Against People Who Don't Get Married | | AlterNet

The GOP Solution for Everything: Railing Against People Who Don't Get Married | | AlterNet

Why the Republican Party’s Spectacular Collapse Isn’t Good for Social Justice | Common Dreams

Why the Republican Party’s Spectacular Collapse Isn’t Good for Social Justice | Common Dreams

PERRspectives: 'Scorn and Disdain' for McCain on Iraq

PERRspectives: 'Scorn and Disdain' for McCain on Iraq

Reps. Issa And Maloney Team Up To Obstruct Access To Medical Research (Again)

Reps. Issa And Maloney Team Up To Obstruct Access To Medical Research (Again)

No Longer a Party of Lincoln: The Racial Politics of the New GOP | Common Dreams

No Longer a Party of Lincoln: The Racial Politics of the New GOP | Common Dreams

If Corporations Are People, Then... | Common Dreams

If Corporations Are People, Then... | Common Dreams

The Horror: What a Republican President Could Mean for the Supreme Court | | AlterNet

The Horror: What a Republican President Could Mean for the Supreme Court | | AlterNet

Monday, January 9, 2012

The GOP's Multi-Decade Capital Gains Tax Cut Scheme

The GOP's Multi-Decade Capital Gains Tax Cut Scheme

Corporations Hate Taxes, So They Let the Children Pay | Common Dreams

Corporations Hate Taxes, So They Let the Children Pay | Common Dreams

Scott Walker and the Stench of Scandal | The Progressive

Scott Walker and the Stench of Scandal | The Progressive

ALEC's Disturbing Level Of Influence

How The Lives Of 2.5 Million Young People Changed On 1/1/2012

Romney’s Bain Capital Made Billions While Bankrupting Nearly One-Quarter Of The Companies It Invested In

Romney’s Bain Capital Made Billions While Bankrupting Nearly One-Quarter Of The Companies It Invested In: p2012 GOP presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney, who has a large lead in the polls heading into the New Hampshire primary tomorrow, has been taking heat from both Democrats and his Republican challengers for his time at Bain Capital, the private equity firm that he headed. Bain’s modus operandi was to invest in companies, leverage them [...]/p

US Elections: Corporate Funding Unlimited

Friday, January 6, 2012

Judy Miller Alert! The New York Times is Lying About Iran's Nuclear Program | Common Dreams

Judy Miller Alert! The New York Times is Lying About Iran's Nuclear Program | Common Dreams

Have the Super-Rich Seceded from the United States? » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Have the Super-Rich Seceded from the United States? » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

German Solar Output Increases by 60% in 2011

German Solar Output Increases by 60% in 2011: pJust weeks after the solar industry installed the one millionth system in Germany, the country’s solar trade association announced that the technology accounted for 3% of total energy generation in 2011 — increasing 60% over 2010 to 18.6 terawatt-hours (18.6 billion kilowatt-hours.) Even with changes to the feed-in tariff that have reduced solar photovoltaic installations [...]/p

Official unemployment rate hits lowest mark since February 2009 at 8.5%

Official unemployment rate hits lowest mark since February 2009 at 8.5%

How Cities and States are Sticking It to Citizens United | Common Dreams

How Cities and States are Sticking It to Citizens United | Common Dreams

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Working hard to make Indiana look bad: The tortured, uphill case for ‘right-to-work’ | Economic Policy Institute

Working hard to make Indiana look bad: The tortured, uphill case for ‘right-to-work’ | Economic Policy Institute

ObamaCare Is Winning the Fight on Fraud and Abuse - Health Stew - Boston.com

ObamaCare Is Winning the Fight on Fraud and Abuse - Health Stew - Boston.com

Despite Republican obstruction, Obama announces summer jobs program for young people

Despite Republican obstruction, Obama announces summer jobs program for young people

Mitt Romney Gets Pwned by Occupier at New Hampshire Town Hall

Mitt Romney Gets Pwned by Occupier at New Hampshire Town Hall

Santorum Mocks Obama For Extending Health Care Coverage To ‘Everybody’

Santorum Mocks Obama For Extending Health Care Coverage To ‘Everybody’: pRick Santorum touted his opposition to the Affordable Care Act early this morning during an event in Manchester, New Hampshire and drew a clear distinction between his long-standing opposition to universal health care and the past positions of Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. “I’ve never been for government-run health care, never. Unlike the other two [...]/p

The Secret Mitt Romney Doesn't Want You To Know

Now That We Have A CFPB Director, It’s Time To Ban Corporate-Owned Courts In The Financial Industry

Now That We Have A CFPB Director, It’s Time To Ban Corporate-Owned Courts In The Financial Industry: pOne of the most important, if overlooked, provisions in the law creating the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a provision allowing the agency to push back against one of the most egregious errors committed by the Supreme Court in recent years — a line of decisions allowing companies to force their consumers into a [...]/p

Thom Hartmann: Rick Santorum Would Ban Condoms

Corporate Profits Have Rebounded To Pre-Recession Levels, But Corporate Tax Revenue Hasn’t

Corporate Profits Have Rebounded To Pre-Recession Levels, But Corporate Tax Revenue Hasn’t: pOver the last few decades, U.S. corporate tax revenue plunged to historic lows, falling from about 6 percent of GDP in the 1950s to barely more than 1 percent of GDP today. Obviously, part of the recent low level has to do with the Great Recession and its effect on businesses and their profits. But [...]/p

Rep. McHenry Goes To Bat For The Bank Industry Again, Takes A Swing At Cordray

Rep. McHenry Goes To Bat For The Bank Industry Again, Takes A Swing At Cordray

10 Ways Right-Wing Christian Groups Will Likely Shove Religion Down Your Throat This Year | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet

10 Ways Right-Wing Christian Groups Will Likely Shove Religion Down Your Throat This Year | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet

Time to Stop Being Cynical About Corporate Money in Politics and Start Being Angry | Common Dreams

Time to Stop Being Cynical About Corporate Money in Politics and Start Being Angry | Common Dreams

Secrets of Empire And Self-Deceptions Of Partisans | Common Dreams

Secrets of Empire And Self-Deceptions Of Partisans | Common Dreams

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Thank President Obama for his bold recess appointment

Thank President Obama for his bold recess appointment

Rick Santorum Compares Obama to Mussolini in Victory Speech

Rick Santorum Compares Obama to Mussolini in Victory Speech

Gingrich Calls For A ‘Voucherized’ Veterans Health Care System

Gingrich Calls For A ‘Voucherized’ Veterans Health Care System: pNewt Gingrich told a veteran during a town hall in Concord, New Hampshire this afternoon that he would support voucherizing the Veterans Health Administration, saying, “I think we should find ways to create satellite clinics that are local so people don’t have to travel and we should also find a way to have a voucherized [...]/p

Now the Vets will be tossed to the insurance wolves.

Contrary To GOP Candidates’ Claims, Obama And The Fed Aren’t Devaluing The Dollar

Contrary To GOP Candidates’ Claims, Obama And The Fed Aren’t Devaluing The Dollar: pA favorite line of Republicans in the 2012 GOP presidential primary has been to claim that President Obama is devaluing the American dollar. The surging former Sen. Rick Santorum, for instance, ranted that Obama “has devalued our currency,” while Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has said that, “in the last two years of the Obama administration, [...]/p

President Obama Has Made Far Fewer Recess Appointments Than Any Recent President

President Obama Has Made Far Fewer Recess Appointments Than Any Recent President: pDespite the inevitable conservative complaints that President Obama is engaged in some kind of massive overreach by recess appointing Richard Cordray as the nation’s chief consumer financial protection watchdog, the truth is that Obama has used his recess appointment power very sparingly. After today’s appointment, President Obama will have made a total of 29 recess [...]/p

PERRspectives: Mitt Romney, a Profile in Cowardice

PERRspectives: Mitt Romney, a Profile in Cowardice

Montana State Supreme Court: Citizens United Not Welcome Here | Truthout

Montana State Supreme Court: Citizens United Not Welcome Here | Truthout

Thanks to Our Military Debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan, America's 'Superpower' Status Has Officially Ended | World | AlterNet

Thanks to Our Military Debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan, America's 'Superpower' Status Has Officially Ended | World | AlterNet

'Citizens United' Unleashed a Monster: Why the Real Winner In the Iowa Caucuses Is the Big-Money Super PAC | News & Politics | AlterNet

'Citizens United' Unleashed a Monster: Why the Real Winner In the Iowa Caucuses Is the Big-Money Super PAC | News & Politics | AlterNet

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Santorum’s Racist Welfare Rant: ‘I Don’t Want To Make Black People’s Lives Better’ With Taxpayer Money

Santorum’s Racist Welfare Rant: ‘I Don’t Want To Make Black People’s Lives Better’ With Taxpayer Money: pGOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum has been trying to pull off an upset in the Iowa caucus, but he’s drawing criticism ahead of tonight’s contest for racially charged remarks he recently made about welfare recipients: At a campaign stop in Sioux City, Iowa on Sunday, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum singled out blacks as being [...]/p

Santorum: States Should Have The Right To Outlaw Birth Control

Santorum: States Should Have The Right To Outlaw Birth Control: pRick Santorum reiterated his belief that states should have the right to outlaw contraception during an interview with ABC News yesterday, saying, “The state has a right to do that, I have never questioned that the state has a right to do that. It is not a constitutional right, the state has the right to [...]/p

As America’s Infrastructure Crumbles, GOP Presidential Candidates Refuse To Offer Solutions

As America’s Infrastructure Crumbles, GOP Presidential Candidates Refuse To Offer Solutions: pRepublican presidential candidates have attempted to make their 2012 effort to unseat President Obama about the economy, but time and time again, they have proven unwilling to address the major crises threatening the future of America’s economic growth. At multiple debates, the candidates offered little in the way of how they would address the fiscal [...]/p

8 GOP Primary Moments That Would Make Jesus Weep | | AlterNet

8 GOP Primary Moments That Would Make Jesus Weep | | AlterNet

BofA Initiates New Loan Sharking Program - Excuse Me, Rate Hikes - For Small Business

BofA Initiates New Loan Sharking Program - Excuse Me, Rate Hikes - For Small Business

L.A.'s Dirty Coal Addiction Is Killing Arizona | Environment | AlterNet

L.A.'s Dirty Coal Addiction Is Killing Arizona | Environment | AlterNet

Why Rick Santorum's Entirely Predictable Brief Success in Iowa Still Means He'll be Back to Wingnut Welfare Soon | | AlterNet

Why Rick Santorum's Entirely Predictable Brief Success in Iowa Still Means He'll be Back to Wingnut Welfare Soon | | AlterNet