What Obama Wants

Amplify’d from www.nytimes.com

That’s three of the right’s favorite economic fallacies in just two sentences. No, the government shouldn’t budget the way families do; on the contrary, trying to balance the budget in times of economic distress is a recipe for deepening the slump. Spending cuts right now wouldn’t “put the economy on sounder footing.” They would reduce growth and raise unemployment. And last but not least, businesses aren’t holding back because they lack confidence in government policies; they’re holding back because they don’t have enough customers — a problem that would be made worse, not better, by short-term spending cuts. Read more at www.nytimes.com

 

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Mediums and Their Political Messages

URL:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-stoller/mediums-and-...

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Taxes and Billionaires

Amplify’d from www.nytimes.com

The larger question is this: Do we try to balance budget deficits just by cutting antipoverty initiatives, college scholarships and other investments in young people and our future? Or do we also seek tax increases from those best able to afford them?

And when Congressional Republicans claim that the reason for their recalcitrance in budget negotiations is concern for the welfare of ordinary Americans, look more closely. Do we really want to close down the American government and risk another global financial crisis to protect the tax bills of billionaires? Read more at www.nytimes.com

 

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Roundtable syndrome

Amplify’d from www.washingtonpost.com

Leonhardt is right, of course. But I’m not sure how much it matters on major, polarized issues such as deficit reduction. The debate between the Democrats and the Republicans isn’t which taxes to increase, or which tax breaks to erase. It’s whether there can or should be any revenues at all. And the Republican antipathy to any and all revenue is the product of ideology and internal Republican Party politics. Read more at www.washingtonpost.com

 

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The Twitter Zone

Amplify’d from www.nytimes.com

“The Twilight Zone” was never gangbusters in the ratings, and Serling — who smoked on screen — died at 50 from the ravages of six packs a day. He felt like a sellout and failure. He had sold syndication rights for his show to CBS for a few million, thinking he had not written anything of lasting value. Read more at www.nytimes.com

 

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Why the Tea Party Is Wrong

Amplify’d from www.huffingtonpost.com

We have developed an American myth about the magical efficiency of market forces and have deified entrepreneurs. We have developed a growing disdain for government as an obstacle to progress. Neither is entirely true or false: capitalism is not wholly good; government is not entirely bad. Both the private sector and government are essential, and both are flawed. Our future lies in our ability to balance one against the other, extracting the best from both and minimizing the worst from each. This is where the Tea Party specifically, and conservative Republicans generally, have utterly failed. They have lost all sense of balance, relying solely on a mythical private sector that has no counterpart in the real world. Read more at www.huffingtonpost.com

 

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In Eyes, a Clock Calibrated by Wavelengths of Light

URL:  https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/health/05light.html?...

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7/1: Independence Day — Seventeen Seventy When?

...A poll finds that one-quarter of Americans don't know what country we won independence from. That's OK... since Americans have the freedom to be ignorant of their history, or alternatively, make up their own.

Amplify’d from maristpoll.marist.edu

And, for the second year, about one in four Americans doesn’t know from which country the United States declared its independence.  While 76% correctly cite Great Britain, 19% are unsure, and 5% mention another country. Read more at maristpoll.marist.edu

 

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Corporate Cash Con

Amplify’d from www.nytimes.com

So here’s what you should answer to anyone defending big giveaways to corporations: Lack of corporate cash is not the problem facing America. Big business already has the money it needs to expand; what it lacks is a reason to expand with consumers still on the ropes and the government slashing spending. Read more at www.nytimes.com

 

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Did You Know…Independence Day Should Actually Be July 2?

URL:  http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2005/nr05-...

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7/1: Independence Day — Seventeen Seventy When?

...A poll finds that one-quarter of Americans don't know what country we won independence from. And Americans have the freedom to be ignorant of their history, or alternatively, make up their own.

Amplify’d from maristpoll.marist.edu

And, for the second year, about one in four Americans doesn’t know from which country the United States declared its independence.  While 76% correctly cite Great Britain, 19% are unsure, and 5% mention another country. Read more at maristpoll.marist.edu

 

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The New War of Independence -- Against Corporate Politics

Happy Independence Day.

Amplify’d from www.huffingtonpost.com

We call it "Independence Day." But the British didn't leave on July 4, 1776. The war lasted until September 3, 1783, when the Treaty of Paris was signed. July 4th is the day we declared ourselves independent. Victory came with the recognition that freedom is our natural condition. Our country wasn't born with violence, but with the realization that freedom is discovered and claimed, not granted by others. That's why we celebrate July 4, not September 3, as our Day of Independence. Read more at www.huffingtonpost.com

 

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