Writing at The Nation, Chuck Collins, one of the author’s of the recently released study, “Inequality Report Card: Grading Congress on Inequality,” asks: Do you wonder which members of Congress routinely side with the richest 1 percent and Wall Street? … On the other hand, are you curious which members of Congress are committed to [...]
Tag Archives | Romney
Walmart Strikes Spreading is ‘Unprecedented’ and a ‘Game-Changer’
Even if you never shop at Walmart, the corporate giant effects how you spend your money. Its sheer size gives it enormous influence. The strikes by Walmart employees, and those who work, for example, at distribution centers, face not only the corporate giant, but a giant who consistently and strongly fights union organizing. The number [...]
Another Alternative Presidential Debate Option: Free & Equal (VIDEO)
I know there’s a bit of a break between the first and next Commission for Presidential Debates productions, but you might want to put another option on your calendar. The CPD schedule: October 11 (Biden and Ryan); October 16 and 22 (Obama and Romney). On October 23, 8:00 PM Central, The Free & Equal Elections [...]
Eleven Years in Afghanistan, and a ‘Transition Meltdown’ in Progress
Yesterday, October 7, was the eleventh anniversary of the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). The 2001 military effort is described in a Mother Jones article by Adam Weinstein, in which he quotes from a 2001 AP story. ‘Forty U.S. and British warplanes and an armada of warships and submarines pummeled strongholds of the al-Qaeda [...]
U.S. Ranks Third Highest in Poverty Rate in Developed Nations [VIDEO]
Some 46 million Americans live in poverty. – U.S. Census Bureau, 2011. That is the third highest poverty rate among developed nations, ahead only of Turkey and Mexico. – Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The quotes above are from the documentary, The Line. The film focuses on one of the things of apparent little [...]
Debating, Activist Style: Tar Sands Blockade and Walmart Strikers (VIDEO)
What’s happening in Winnsboro, Texas, and Elwood, Illinois, is clearly not nearly as newsworthy as tonight’s CPD production, even though that is controlled by Democratic and Republican parties, so you know what to expect – but that’s the stuff of non-stop coverage. But in Winnsboro and Elwood, We the People actions are taking place. Those [...]
Alice Walker’s ‘Democratic Womanism’: Powerful Perspective for Election 2012
“Democratic Womanism” is one segment of a three part interview with Alice Walker, by Amy Goodman on Democracy NOW. The first focuses on “The Legacy of The Color Purple” on that book’s 30th anniversary; the second on Palestine, “ ‘More brutal’ than U.S. South of 50 years ago.” The final segment is primarily Walker reading [...]
Democracy NOW! Expanded Debate Coverage Includes Stein and Anderson
Last week in another of several posts about the 2012 presidential “debates,” I included an idea from Anthony Noel, that of using TiVo to expand the Commission on Presidential Debates’ two party only production. Democracy NOW!, with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales, is actually using the same general idea. From Democracy NOW!: As President Barack [...]
UPDATED Texas Blockade of Tar Sands Continues Despite Use of Pepper Spray, Tasers (VIDEO)
UPDATE on Blockader Locks to Underground Capsule to Protect a Family Farm at end. The efforts to stop the construction of the Keystone / Tar Sands pipeline in East Texas continue. Before a few details, a reminder that this project is supported by both Obama and Romney. From FDL: ‘ … I’m directing my administration [...]
What Romney and Obama Aren’t Talking About
The list could be much longer, of course, but Bill Quigley’s “Fifteen Issues this Election is Not About,” at Dissident Voice, is a very good start. Included on his list: Neither candidate is campaigning to close Guantanamo prison. Neither candidate has called for arresting and prosecuting high ranking people on Wall Street for the subprime [...]
Can ‘The Debates’ Actually Be Useful?
In case you don’t have your calendars marked, starred and highlighted, here is the Presidential / Vice Presidential Debate schedule: October 3 – University of Denver, Denver, CO October 11 – Centre College, Danville, KY (vice presidential) October 16 – Hofstra, Hempstead, NY October 22 – Lynn University, Boca Raton, FL Before turning to some [...]
Taibbi: ‘This Presidential Race Should Never Have Been This Close’
From Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone: This Presidential Race Should Never Have Been This Close The press everywhere is buzzing this week with premature obituaries of the Romney campaign. New polls are out suggesting that Mitt Romney’s electoral path to the presidency is all but blocked. … That’s left the media to speculate, with a [...]
A Few Weeks Out and We Still Need Introductions to ‘Third Party’ Candidates
Less than two months from general election day, and the headline for a column at USA Today still makes sense, unfortunately. Meet Jill Stein She’s a doctor. Odds are high that she’s on the ballot in your state. Her party has rocked the vote in the past. But you’ve probably never heard of her, because [...]
Swing States, Spectator States, Orphan States and the State of Our Democracy
Nothing new: in U.S. presidential campaigns, big money and attention go to the ‘swing’ or ‘battleground’ states. Along with other (from my perspective) weird and convoluted “this is just the way things are, we have to accept it” arguments regarding our two party system, there’s this one: for top of the ballot choices, in only [...]
‘Americans for Prosperity’ Meet ‘Americans for Inequality’: Satire and Street Theatre
Yesterday The Americans for Prosperity rally, funded (according to HuffPo) by the Koch brothers, was held as planned, at Rockefeller Center. Satire and street theatre ensued, as both Occupiers and a contingent from Americans for Inequality joined the Prosperity gathering. From The Guardian: Protest backed by billionaire Koch brothers fizzles out as Occupiers match numbers [...]
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