The Savage Arithmetic of the Pre-Existing Condition

The Savage Arithmetic of the Pre-Existing Condition
"Two years ago, Republican Mike Huckabee compared people with pre-existing conditions to houses that have already burned down. Just the other day on the Leno show, likely GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney voiced a very similar opinion.

They both have awesome health insurance.

Do you? Forever?"

Debunking Paul Ryan’s Bizarre Claim That Food Stamps Are ‘Unsustainable’

Debunking Paul Ryan’s Bizarre Claim That Food Stamps Are ‘Unsustainable’: pIn response to a question from ThinkProgress at a policy summit yesterday, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) not only attempted to defend the tax cuts for millionaires in his new budget, but also dove into greater detail about why he so drastically cuts support programs for poor and low-income Americans: RYAN: With respect to these programs [...]/p

The Supremes & Obama Care: Five Hypocrites and One Bad Idea | Common Dreams

The Supremes & Obama Care: Five Hypocrites and One Bad Idea | Common Dreams
"The Supreme Court is so full of it. The entire institution, as well as its sanctimonious judges themselves, reeks of a time-honored hypocrisy steeped in the arrogance that justice is served by unaccountable elitism."

The Koch Brothers: Why the Billionaire Siblings Are Spending a Fortune in Support of a Conservative Political Agenda

"The Koch brothers fueled the conservative Tea Party movement that vigorously opposes Barack Obama, the US president. They fund efforts to derail action on global warming, and support politicians who object to raising taxes on corporations or the wealthy to help fix America’s fiscal problems." -commondeams.org

Senate Republicans Stand with Big Oil, Filibuster for Corporate America | AlterNet

Senate Republicans Stand with Big Oil, Filibuster for Corporate America | AlterNet
"The American taxpayer is subsidizing those billions Big Oil is raking in, while we pay more and more at the pump every week. At least we know now, definitively, which side the Republicans are on."

STOP THE KOCHS FROM DENYING VOTING RIGHTS

The Wisconsin Story: Scott Walker's Unprecedented Assault on Unions and Democracy And the June 5th Recall Vote | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet

The Wisconsin Story: Scott Walker's Unprecedented Assault on Unions and Democracy And the June 5th Recall Vote | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet
"Wisconsin's populist rebellion came after state GOP leaders attacked workers' rights and dignity."

House Republicans vote to end Medicare as we know it, again

House Republicans vote to end Medicare as we know it, again
"The House Republicans made their ultimate dystopian statement today, in passing Rep. Paul Ryan's budget in a 228-191 vote. Ten Republicans voted against it, no Democrats voted for it and 13 members did not vote."

Koch Brothers Exposed preview

How the Koch Brothers spent $3.9 million under the radar

The Budget for All: A technical report on the Congressional Progressive Caucus budget for fiscal year 2013 | Economic Policy Institute

The Budget for All: A technical report on the Congressional Progressive Caucus budget for fiscal year 2013 | Economic Policy Institute
"Last year, the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) introduced the People’s Budget, a budget alternative for fiscal year (FY) 2012, which would have achieved fiscal sustainability while investing in economic recovery, strengthening the middle class, and protecting vital social insurance programs (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act). For FY2013, the CPC has released the Budget for All as an alternative to President Barack Obama’s budget request for FY2013"

Making the Connections | Common Dreams

Making the Connections | Common Dreams
"Poet, essayist, and political activist Adrienne Rich died on Wednesday at the age of 82.  The following is an essay of hers Common Dreams ran in December of 2002. It reads as well know as ever. Thank you, Adrienne."

New Tax Cuts in Ryan Budget Would Give Millionaires $265,000 on Top of Bush Tax Cuts — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

New Tax Cuts in Ryan Budget Would Give Millionaires $265,000 on Top of Bush Tax Cuts — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
"Even as House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget would impose trillions of dollars in spending cuts, 62 percent of which would come from low-income programs,[1] it would enact new tax cuts that would provide huge windfalls to households at the top of the income scale."

John Nichols: Fighting Back Against Austerity

A Budget for Wall Street Versus A Budget for Main Street | Common Dreams

A Budget for Wall Street Versus A Budget for Main Street | Common Dreams
"The U.S. House of Represenatives will weigh in Thursday on the direction the country should take regarding budget priorities."

Romney Justifies Denying Health Care To People With Pre-Existing Conditions: ‘We Can’t Play The Game Like That’

Romney Justifies Denying Health Care To People With Pre-Existing Conditions: ‘We Can’t Play The Game Like That’: As Mitt Romney tries to distance himself from Obamacare, he ran into some trouble last night when he got stumped by comedian Jay Leno. Leno asked Romney what he would do to help people with preexisting medical conditions, who are often denied coverage today by insurance companies worried about increased costs. Romney’s answer was essentially [...]/p

The Truth About the US Postal Service | Common Dreams

The Truth About the US Postal Service | Common Dreams
"America's postal service is a true public service, a grassroots people's asset that has even more potential than we're presently tapping to serve the democratic ideal of the common good. Why the hell would we let an elite of small-minded profiteers, ranting ideologues and their political hirelings drop-kick this jewel through the goal posts of corporate greed? This is not a fight merely to save 32,000 post offices and the middle-class jobs they provide — but to advance the BIG IDEA of America itself, the bold, historic notion that "yes, we can" create a society in which we're all in it together."

3 Shady Things the Koch Brothers Have Been Up To That the Media Ignore | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet

3 Shady Things the Koch Brothers Have Been Up To That the Media Ignore | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet
"To the corporate media, the machinations of the 1 percent's most infamous poster boys might look like old news. But for regular Americans, it's a fight for their lives."
The wealthy funders of the Tea Party.

Occupy Education: Seizing the Momentum to Reclaim Our Schools | Common Dreams

Occupy Education: Seizing the Momentum to Reclaim Our Schools | Common Dreams
"The Occupy movement that began in 2011 raised a defiant voice for justice and equality."

GOP Justices Clown over Health Care | Common Dreams

GOP Justices Clown over Health Care | Common Dreams
"The questions asked by the Republican partisans on the U.S. Supreme Court suggest they will overturn the Affordable Care Act. Instead of a serious debate about health care and the Constitution, they clowned around with silly what-ifs about mandating broccoli-eating and requiring burial insurance"

Lawrence Lessig on How the Kochs Buy Democracy

By Ditching the Public Option, Obama Gave His Enemies a Path to the Supreme Court | The Progressive

By Ditching the Public Option, Obama Gave His Enemies a Path to the Supreme Court | The Progressive
"If you want to keep your private health insurance provider, fine. But if you want the government, in essence, to be your insurer, then join the Medicare program. This option the Supreme Court couldn’t invalidate unless it threw out the entire Medicare system, which has stood for 47 years."

What’s Good For The CEO May Be Bad For Business – OpEd

What’s Good For The CEO May Be Bad For Business – OpEd
"Total investment will increase when the government expands public investment in needed infrastructure like broadband, a smart energy grid, and an efficient transportation system. The government should also provide incentives for productive private domestic investment rather than rewarding speculation and overseas investment."

Veterans Peace Team Joins Occupy Wall Street

Veterans Peace Team Joins Occupy Wall Street
""Post-World War II, the military hasn't been defending America, but working for the power elite to expand empire," Will Thomas tells me. In I962, at the age of 19, he was deployed on board the USS Okinawa to help enforce the US Naval quarantine of Cuba during the missile crisis."

The Horrors of an Ayn Rand World: Why We Must Fight for America's Soul | News & Politics | AlterNet

The Horrors of an Ayn Rand World: Why We Must Fight for America's Soul | News & Politics | AlterNet
"An Objectivist America would be a dark age of unhindered free enterprise, far more primitive and Darwinian than anything seen before."

Republican Party Is Rotted and Collapsing from Within -- And We Can Thank Super PACs for Exposing It | | AlterNet

Republican Party Is Rotted and Collapsing from Within -- And We Can Thank Super PACs for Exposing It | | AlterNet
"Super PACs are an affront to the democratic process, but they are hastening the Republican Party's fall."

Koch Brothers Behind Efforts to Overturn Health Reform | AlterNet

Koch Brothers Behind Efforts to Overturn Health Reform | AlterNet
"Do all roads lead to Koch?"

State Legislatures May Be Next Battleground For Post-Citizens United Shareholder Protection Proposals

State Legislatures May Be Next Battleground For Post-Citizens United Shareholder Protection Proposals: After the Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in the Citizens United v. FEC that corporations could spend unlimited funds from their corporate treasuries on independent political expenditures, some in Congress sought to give shareholders a say in deciding what what expenditures to make. While the Shareholder Protection Act of 2010, a bill by Rep. Mike Capuano [...]/p

"Too Crooked to Fail": Matt Taibbi Says Bailouts, Fraud are the Secrets to Bank of America’s Success

Via commondreams.org

Banking 'Technocrats' Undermine Democracy

Why Doctors Are Cheering Obamacare

Congressional Progressive Caucus Issues 'Budget for All' | Common Dreams

Congressional Progressive Caucus Issues 'Budget for All' | Common Dreams
"The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) has issued their full alternative budget today,The Budget for All."

Exxon Mobil’s Tax Rate Drops To 13 Percent, After Making 35 Percent More Profits On Rising Gas Prices In 2011

Exxon Mobil’s Tax Rate Drops To 13 Percent, After Making 35 Percent More Profits On Rising Gas Prices In 2011: Exxon Mobil, the most profitable of the big five oil companies, made $41.1 billion in profits last year. Although Exxon made 35 percent more profits since 2010, its estimated effective tax rate actually dropped. Citizens for Tax Justice reported Exxon paid only 17.6 percent taxes in 2010, lower than the average American, and a Reuters [...]/p

The Occupy Files: DHS Investigated Anonymous and Kept Tabs on Political Hackers

The Occupy Files: DHS Investigated Anonymous and Kept Tabs on Political Hackers
"The Occupy Files reveal that DHS monitored Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and affiliated protests in the fall of 2011, but refrained from wholesale surveillance of the Occupy movement because of civil liberties concerns. The federal agency's cyber wing did, however, investigate Anonymous, a highly visible faction of the Occupy movement, after several successful hacks made headlines."

The Paul Ryan Rorschach Test

The Paul Ryan Rorschach Test
"House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan did a great public service when he released his budget last week. By throwing a piece of total garbage on the table and pretending it was a real budget plan, he allowed us to see who in Washington is serious about the budget and who just says things that will push their agenda."

Affording Health Care and Education on the Minimum Wage | Common Dreams

Affording Health Care and Education on the Minimum Wage | Common Dreams
"The cost of family coverage increased from 329 hours in 1979 to 2,079 hours in 2011. These figures imply that after paying for family health insurance coverage, a minimum-wage worker would have just one hour of work left over to spend on other goods and services after working 40 hours per week for 52 weeks in a year."

400 Chernobyls: Solar Flares, Electromagnetic Pulses and Nuclear Armageddon

400 Chernobyls: Solar Flares, Electromagnetic Pulses and Nuclear Armageddon
"There are nearly 450 nuclear reactors in the world, with hundreds more being planned or under construction. There are 104 of these reactors in the United States and 195 in Europe. Imagine what havoc it would wreak on our civilization and the planet's ecosystems if we were to suddenly witness not just one or two nuclear meltdowns, but 400 or more! "

A Single Hedge-Fund Hustler Makes More Than 85,000 Teachers: Why Are Our Priorities So Messed Up? | World | AlterNet

A Single Hedge-Fund Hustler Makes More Than 85,000 Teachers: Why Are Our Priorities So Messed Up? | World | AlterNet
"This obscene distribution of income is what we get for failing to rein in Wall Street."

Why Seniors Could Pay $5,900 More for Health Care Under the Republican Budget

Why Seniors Could Pay $5,900 More for Health Care Under the Republican Budget: pOur guest blogger is Topher Spiro, the Managing Director of Health Policy at the Center for American Progress. Earlier this week the Center for American Progress released an analysis of the Republican budget’s Medicare plan, which would provide vouchers to beneficiaries to purchase either a private health insurance plan or the traditional Medicare plan. We [...]/p

MIT Economist: Income Inequality In The U.S. Is Crushing The Middle Class’ Political Power

MIT Economist: Income Inequality In The U.S. Is Crushing The Middle Class’ Political Power: pThanks in large part to the Occupy Wall Street movement, the debilitating effects of income inequality have been hoisted into the national spotlight. But in addition to killing economic growth and economic mobility, income inequality also exacerbates political inequality. Today, ThinkProgress spoke with MIT economist Daron Acemoglu, whose new book, Why Nations Fail (co-written by [...]/p

62 Percent Of The House Republican Budget Cuts Would Hit Programs For Low-Income Americans

62 Percent Of The House Republican Budget Cuts Would Hit Programs For Low-Income Americans: pThe House Republican Budget, in addition to providing $3 trillion in tax breaks to the rich and corporations, would gut the food stamp program, denying food assistance to millions of Americans. And that’s not the only way in which the budget, authored by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), would force the pain of [...]/p

Occupier Cecily McMcillan Describes Seizure, Injuries Suffered During NYPD Raid

FOIA Request Shows Feds Were Gathering Intelligence On Occupy Wall Street Before The First Tent Went Up

FOIA Request Shows Feds Were Gathering Intelligence On Occupy Wall Street Before The First Tent Went Up
"The Partnership for Civil Justice has just released the results of their Freedom of Information Act request about the Department of Homeland Security coordinating activities against the Occupy movement. No actual smoking gun about the apparent coordination that marked the police operations, but it's not too difficult to figure from the documents they released that there are some things they're not saying:"

Study: Millionaires Don’t Flee States Due To Tax Hikes

Study: Millionaires Don’t Flee States Due To Tax Hikes: pConservatives across the nation have claimed in recent months that progressive attempts to reduce the burden of budget state budget cuts by raising taxes on millionaires will do nothing but cause the/p

Mitt Romney Is A Serial Liar, Lies More Than Most Politicians

Ohio Governor’s Budget Could Force Local Town To Privatize Fire And EMS Services

Ohio Governor’s Budget Could Force Local Town To Privatize Fire And EMS Services: pBudget cuts proposed last year by Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) forced cities and towns across Ohio to layoff public safety officials and close fire stations. This year, cuts in Kasich’s budget are again causing ripple effects in the area of public safety — this time by forcing one town near Cincinnati to choose between [...]/p

House Republican Budget Could Cut Off Food Assistance For Millions Of Low-Income Americans

House Republican Budget Could Cut Off Food Assistance For Millions Of Low-Income Americans: pThe House Republican’s 2013 budget authored by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) would cut the social safety net to ribbons while handing trillions of dollars in tax breaks to the rich and corporations. And one of the bigger casualties — in addition to high-profile Ryan targets like Medicaid and Medicare — would be [...]/p

Faith leaders condemn Ryan Budget

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

Senate Democrats File New Bill To Require Disclosure Of Independent Expenditure Funders

Senate Democrats File New Bill To Require Disclosure Of Independent Expenditure Funders: pJustice Anthony Kennedy’s controversial 5-4 majority opinion in the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case specifically endorsed the idea of campaign finance disclosure. “Disclosure is the less-restrictive alternative to more comprehensive speech regulations,” he wrote, adding that they ensure voters are informed enough about who is speaking to fully assess the content of [...]/p

A Seven Day Plan to Finally Hold Wall Street Accountable

A Seven Day Plan to Finally Hold Wall Street Accountable
"New evidence points to illegal behavior. Prosecution is the only way to keep that behavior from continuing."

What The House Republican Budget Gets Wrong About College Aid

What The House Republican Budget Gets Wrong About College Aid: pSince House Republicans took over the majority in 2010, they have had higher education in their sights, proposing bill after bill that would bump up to a million students out of the Pell Grant program (which provides higher education grants to low-income students) and scaremongering about increased financial aid. And the GOP’s 2013 budget, released [...]/p

Only Big Government can Save the American Dream

"Will we choose the future in which a middle class can thrive again in America like it did for 50 years after the New Deal until Ronald Reagan blew everything up? If you want the American Dream back - go to college without debt, have a good job and reliable healthcare, live knowing that an accident or illness won't wipe you out - then work to kick these radical, reactionary Republicans out of government!"

Why Gen Y has Minimum Rage

Sears Lavishes CEO With Pay And Perks, While Laying Off Workers And Bilking Taxpayers

Sears Lavishes CEO With Pay And Perks, While Laying Off Workers And Bilking Taxpayers: pIn the wake of the Great Recession, wages have stagnated while CEO pay has soared. Case in point, Sears last year paid its chief executive millions of dollars, and piled on hundreds of thousands of dollars in assorted perks, including charter airfare and covering some of his income tax bill: Sears Holdings Corp. paid its [...]/p

The Banksters Got Bailed Out-What about Students

Supreme Court Dilutes Family and Medical Leave Act

Supreme Court Dilutes Family and Medical Leave Act: pBy the all-too-familiar 5-4 split, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that workers cannot sue state governments for monetary damages when denied the unpaid time off guaranteed by the Family and Medical Leave Act. The 1993 law provided those with full-time jobs at private companies of more than 50 employees and employees of federal, state, [...]/p

NYPD Riot Cops Remove Occupy Protesters from Union Square | Common Dreams

NYPD Riot Cops Remove Occupy Protesters from Union Square | Common Dreams
"

Occupy Wall Street takes on NYPD, calls for end to harrassment, brutality, and surveillance

Republican Budget Slashes Programs For The Poor

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

Horizontal Meets Vertical: 3 Ways Occupy, Community Groups and Unions Can Work Together to Change Society | | AlterNet

Horizontal Meets Vertical: 3 Ways Occupy, Community Groups and Unions Can Work Together to Change Society | | AlterNet
"To build this movement, Occupy needs to connect with tens of millions of people who are watching the unfolding battle but are not yet involved."

This Spring We Rise!

Ryan budget would cut taxes for the rich and make seniors, the disabled, and children pay for it | Economic Policy Institute

Ryan budget would cut taxes for the rich and make seniors, the disabled, and children pay for it | Economic Policy Institute
"Reneging on commitments to seniors, the disabled, and younger generations because of an unwillingness—not an inability—to fund our social contract is a choice, not a necessity. Yet Ryan has once again unabashedly decided to aid the very fortunate at the expense of the rest of us—particularly the most vulnerable."

GOP’s Plan To Reduce The Debt Makes The Debt Worse

GOP’s Plan To Reduce The Debt Makes The Debt Worse: pHouse Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) released the GOP’s new budget this morning, and in doing so, he touted it as a plan to make America’s level of debt more sustainable. “We’ve shared with Americans a specific plan of action that cuts spending, pays off the debt and gets our economy back on the [...]/p

After Using Over $500 Million In Taxpayer Money To Build Sports Stadiums, Cincinnati Forced To Sell Off Local Hospital

After Using Over $500 Million In Taxpayer Money To Build Sports Stadiums, Cincinnati Forced To Sell Off Local Hospital: pOfficials in Hamilton County, Ohio are preparing to sell off a local hospital at half its 2006 value, then raid the county’s rainy day fund, all in order to help pay for Cincinnati’s boondoggle stadium deal. The stadium deal, struck in 1996, built separate new facilities for the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals and the MLB’s Cincinnati [...]/p

The Most Conservative Congress Ever

According to a new study - this could be the most conservative congress ever.

The 5 Worst Things About The House GOP’s Budget

The 5 Worst Things About The House GOP’s Budget:
Ryan and the GOP have the social safety net and Medicare in their sights, and yet again, they’re attempting to pass the cost of massive tax breaks for corporations and the rich off to middle and lower-income Americans.

Nine Strategies to End Corporate Rule | Truthout

Nine Strategies to End Corporate Rule | Truthout
"We live in a time of massive disparity between penalties for street criminals and corporate wrongdoers. Corporations, which claim all the rights of “persons,” are subjected to much weaker punishments than real people. It doesn’t have to be."

Occupy Wall Street plans day of action, calls it a 'general strike'

Occupy Wall Street plans day of action, calls it a 'general strike'
"Here we go again: Occupy Wall Street, I love much of what you do, but you don't call a general strike unless you have some reason to believe—like, say, months of organizing and a ton of people committed—that people will actually stay out of work in response to your call. But no, Occupy Wall Street is calling for a general strike on May 1."

Former Goldman Sachs Partner Decries Firm’s ‘Commerical Animals,’ Admits It Duped Customers

Former Goldman Sachs Partner Decries Firm’s ‘Commerical Animals,’ Admits It Duped Customers: pFormer Goldman Sachs manager Greg Smith set Wall Street on fire last week when he used an editorial in the New York Times to announce his resignation and blasted the firm’s “toxic and destructive” culture that led traders to mislead customers in an ever-present quest for profits. The reaction from Wall Street was predictable — [...]/p

Paul Ryan’s Budget Includes $3 Trillion Giveaway To Corporations, The Rich

Paul Ryan’s Budget Includes $3 Trillion Giveaway To Corporations, The Rich: pThe budget unveiled by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) this morning includes substantial changes to the American tax code, both for corporations and individuals. Ryan’s tax plan shrinks the number of income tax brackets from six to two, with marginal tax rates set at 10 percent and 25 percent. He repeals the Alternative [...]/p

Police State Blues | Common Dreams

Police State Blues | Common Dreams
"At mid-evening, on Saturday, March 17, upon the six-month anniversary of the occupation of Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan, the NYPD -- because the department suffered no ill consequences from their search and destroy mission launched, in the late fall of 2011, to scour Liberty Square of liberty -- initiated another brutal operation to expel OWS activists from the premises, and to discourage, in general, those who might venture attempts to exercise their right to free assembly and free expression across the whole of the city of New York as winter proceeds into spring."

Rightwing Group Targets Wis. Dem and Republican | The Progressive

Rightwing Group Targets Wis. Dem and Republican | The Progressive
"Two Wisconsin state senators are now facing the prospect of a recall election, thanks to the work of a rightwing group called Citizens for Responsible Government." This is what happens when you oppose dirty mining companies that want to destroy your state.

NYPD Brutally Beat Occupy Protesters, Media at Zucotti Park

NYPD Brutally Beat Occupy Protesters, Media at Zucotti Park
"An Occupy Wall Street protester says police gave demonstrators little warning before kicking them out of a New York City park overnight and that officers beat many of them during the arrests."

NY City Council Members Respond to Violent OWS Eviction, Slam the NYPD | AlterNet

NY City Council Members Respond to Violent OWS Eviction, Slam the NYPD | AlterNet
"In Zuccotti Park this afternoon, Occupy Wall Street protesters met with City Councilmembers Jumaaane Williams, Ydanis Rodriguez, and Melissa Mark-Viverito, as well as clergymembers and representatives from Occupy the Hood, for a press conference in response to Zuccotti Park's reoccupation -- and violent eviction by the NYPD -- this Saturday."

Despite a 36-Year Ban On Political Contributions, Government Contractors Donate To Romney's Super PAC

Despite a 36-Year Ban On Political Contributions, Government Contractors Donate To Romney's Super PAC
"I wonder how SCOTUS will rule on this so-called "gray area." The Citizens United ruling seems to indicate that when in doubt, rule in favor of corporations expressing themselves through hefty donations:"

Pennsylvania GOP Senate Candidate And Liar, Falsely Claims Obama ‘Gave Himself The Power To Spend At Will’

Pennsylvania GOP Senate Candidate Falsely Claims Obama ‘Gave Himself The Power To Spend At Will’: pFormer Pennsylvania State Rep. Sam Rohrer is leading the GOP field for his party’s nomination for U.S. Senate, according to the latest PPP poll. He is seeking the right to challenge Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D) in November. But between now and the April 24 primary, he might want to brush up on the U.S. [...]/p

Rep. Introduces Legislation to Forgive Student Loan Debt | Common Dreams

Rep. Introduces Legislation to Forgive Student Loan Debt | Common Dreams
"Rep. Hansen Clarke (D-Michigan) introduced legislation to the House that would enable students to be forgiven from student loans."

Community versus Individualism: How To Tell The Progressive Story | Visions | AlterNet

Community versus Individualism: How To Tell The Progressive Story | Visions | AlterNet
"One of the clearest dividing lines between conservatives and progressives is represented by a battle of metaphors: the individualistic "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" metaphor vs. the community "we're all in this together" metaphor."

Candidate Running Against Corrupt Eric Cantor, David Hunsicker Talks About Medicare And Social Security

Goldman Sachs’ Trader Finds a New Occupy Tactic » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Goldman Sachs’ Trader Finds a New Occupy Tactic » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
"In the last decade, Wall Street has evolved from predator to organized crime with a speed dial to Washington.  Instead of Washington reforming Wall Street, it has seduced and corrupted Washington.  It didn’t have to come to this."

AFL-CIO Lays Out Plans for Improving the Country

AFL-CIO Lays Out Plans for Improving the Country
"The issues they tackle go beyond just worker's rights and represent one of the more aggressive political statements from labor unions in recent years. They issued a series of statements announcing their positions, including Citizens United:"

Occupy Arrestees Refusing Iris Scan Held Longer; Young Woman Beaten By Police Freed Without Bail | AlterNet

Occupy Arrestees Refusing Iris Scan Held Longer; Young Woman Beaten By Police Freed Without Bail | AlterNet
"As the latest round of Occupy Wall Street protesters who were arrested in this weekend's crackdown face arraignment and are finally released, reports came out that protesters were being charged more in bail if they refused to have their irises scanned by the police."

On the News With Thom Hartmann

Outlaw Occupy: US Set to Strangle Protests with Jail Threats

Last Ryan Budget’s Food Assistance Cuts Would Have Killed 174,000 Jobs — Will His New Budget Do The Same?

Last Ryan Budget’s Food Assistance Cuts Would Have Killed 174,000 Jobs — Will His New Budget Do The Same?: pHouse Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) pitched his last budget proposal as a way to rein in the federal budget, cut deficits and debt, and create jobs. While much of the focus on that budget fell on Ryan’s plan to end Medicare as we know it, it also included substantial cuts to vital safety [...]/p

Romney Super PAC Takes Money From Government Contractors, Flouting Ban

Romney Super PAC Takes Money From Government Contractors, Flouting Ban: pFor over 35 years, government contractors have been prohibited from donating to political campaigns, but the super PAC supporting GOP front runner Mitt Romney is exploiting a grey area in the law to accept money from these companies. A 1976 amendment to The Federal Election Campaign Act banned federal contractors from making “contributions to influence [...]/p

Gender Pay Gap Is Largest On Wall Street

Gender Pay Gap Is Largest On Wall Street: pWhile it’s well-known by now that women consistently earn less than men even though they often attain better education — 77.4 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts in 2010 — Bloomberg News’ Frank Bass reports a new development: this gap is widest on Wall Street. Parsing census data, Bass found that the [...]/p

Right Wing Blogger Calls for Police to Gun Down Occupy Protesters

Right Wing Blogger Calls for Police to Gun Down Occupy Protesters
"Today he’s so excited you can almost see the slobber on his keyboard, as he wishes the police would simply gun down the protesters."

Newspaper Giant Gives CEO $32 Million Severance Package After Laying Off 20,000 Workers In Six Years

Newspaper Giant Gives CEO $32 Million Severance Package After Laying Off 20,000 Workers In Six Years: pWhen Craig Dubow resigned as CEO of the nation’s largest newspaper conglomerate amid health problems last year, he ended a six-year stint that “was, by most accounts, a disaster.” Gannett, the parent company of the USA Today and 80 other American newspapers, had seen its revenue plummet $1.7 billion and its stock price fall 86 [...]/p

Romney Admits GOP Education Policy is Intended to Kill Unions

Romney Admits GOP Education Policy is Intended to Kill Unions
"Republicans always say they want to get the federal government out of education. This comes in many forms, but usually they say something like "education should be returned to local control" or "I'll eliminate the Department of Education." They always avoid talking about union-busting because union-busting is not always especially popular. Wisconsin's Governor Walker can attest to that."

Occupy the Media—and the Message | The Nation

Occupy the Media—and the Message | The Nation
"From its inception, the Occupy movement has had a contentious relationship with the mainstream media."

AFL-CIO calls for birth control access, immigration reform and overturning Citizens United

AFL-CIO calls for birth control access, immigration reform and overturning Citizens United
"This series of statements reminds us that while the AFL-CIO has endorsed President Obama and will endorse many other politicians this year, its goals go beyond what any of those politicians are likely to seriously fight for, and won't be fought only in elections or legislation but reach into every corner of the lives of working people."

Liberty Plaza Re-Occupied for 6-Month Anniversary of Occupy Wall Street; Police Violently Raid | AlterNet

Liberty Plaza Re-Occupied for 6-Month Anniversary of Occupy Wall Street; Police Violently Raid | AlterNet
"It was a beautiful scene in Zuccotti Park--clearly Liberty Plaza again--on Saturday night around 11:00. Giant banners unfurled along the edges, declaring that Occupy Wall Street was back in town. "

The Banality of Corporate Evil -- In These Times

The Banality of Corporate Evil -- In These Times
"Were it not a matter of life and death, it would be amusing to watch the Supreme Court contort itself–and the Constitution–in slavish fealty to Corporate America."

5 Politicians Pushing the US Closer to a Disastrous War With Iran | World | AlterNet

5 Politicians Pushing the US Closer to a Disastrous War With Iran | World | AlterNet
"President Obama may be pushing back against the “loose talk of war,” but Congress sure isn't."

5 Freedom-Killing Tactics Police Will Use to Crack Down on Protests in 2012 | | AlterNet

5 Freedom-Killing Tactics Police Will Use to Crack Down on Protests in 2012 | | AlterNet
"The First Amendment right to assemble and protest is going to get a black eye in 2012—as it has every time there has been an upsurge in America’s social justice movements."

Occupying Democracy: A Moral Revolution for Social Justice | Truthout

Occupying Democracy: A Moral Revolution for Social Justice | Truthout
"We, the People, are awakening to recapture the moral stance that represents what is most precious and inspiring about our nation. We are Occupying democracy."

Mitch McConnell Votes Against Highway Bill He Said He’d Work To Pass

Mitch McConnell Votes Against Highway Bill He Said He’d Work To Pass: pIn early March, the Laborers’ International Union of America launched a radio and mail ad campaign aimed at prodding Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) to pass the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, a highway and transportation bill. Their ads, focused on Kentucky [...]/p

How Ayn Rand's Bizarre Philosophy Made the New Right so Toxic | | AlterNet

How Ayn Rand's Bizarre Philosophy Made the New Right so Toxic | | AlterNet
"Rand's psychopathic ideas made billionaires feel like victims and turned millions of followers into their doormats."
"Ignoring Rand's evangelical atheism, the Tea Party movement has taken her to its heart. No rally of theirs is complete without placards reading "Who is John Galt?" and "Rand was right". Rand, Weiss argues, provides the unifying ideology which has "distilled vague anger and unhappiness into a sense of purpose". She is energetically promoted by the broadcasters Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Rick Santelli. She is the guiding spirit of the Republicans in Congress."

"Voices"

Stop cuts to the Postal Service.

VIDEO: All 3 Missouri GOP Senate Candidates Stumped When Asked To Identify The Minimum Wage

VIDEO: All 3 Missouri GOP Senate Candidates Stumped When Asked To Identify The Minimum Wage: pThree Missouri Republicans running to take on Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) in November were asked during a radio debate on KMOX what the federal minimum wage is and whether they would vote to increase it. None of the three knew what the minimum wage it, but all knew that they would vote against increasing it, [...]/p

CHART: How The 1934 Recovery Benefited The 99 Percent, While 2010′s Benefited The Rich

CHART: How The 1934 Recovery Benefited The 99 Percent, While 2010′s Benefited The Rich: pIn 2010, as the nation slowly ground its way from Great Recession to recovery, 93 percent of national income gains went to the richest 1 percent of Americans. As Reuters’s David Cay Johnston pointed out today, this makes the 2010 recovery quite different from the recovery that followed the Great Depression, as then, income gains [...]/p

How Delta Airlines And Eric Cantor Are Trying To Strangle U.S. Exports

How Delta Airlines And Eric Cantor Are Trying To Strangle U.S. Exports: pAs we’ve noted, Republicans are are bogging down an attempt to reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank — which helps companies access capital to sell their products abroad — on the grounds that it’s too much government intrusion in the free market. The agency isn’t even funded by taxpayers (though the agency does provide loan guarantees [...]/p

Thom Hartmann Teaches Econ 101 To Fox News

PERRspectives: GOP Drops "Obama Bear Market" Myth as Dow Hits 13,000

PERRspectives: GOP Drops "Obama Bear Market" Myth as Dow Hits 13,000
"Despite a mountain of data and the overwhelming consensus of economists to the contrary, Republican leaders including House Speaker John Boehner and would-be President Mitt Romney continue to falsely claim "Obama made the economy worse." But another tried and untrue GOP talking point about the supposed "Obama bear market" has largely vanished. Of course, with the Dow Jones now at 13,000 and the NASDAQ at 3,000, Republicans should be silent. After all, with the indexes at four year highs, Barack Obama is just the latest to show that the stock market almost always does better under Democratic presidents."

Occupy! and Make Them Do It | Common Dreams

Occupy! and Make Them Do It | Common Dreams
"The spring months are likely to see the expansion of the Occupy movement. Evicted from the little parks where they were encamped, the activists are joining housing occupations and other protests against predatory banks, student protests against rising tuition and debt, and labor strikes and protests against lockouts. This is big news in American politics because we have not seen a protest movement with this much imagination, energy and traction for a long time."

Indiana Company Rejects Gov. Mitch Daniels’ Claim That It Added Jobs Due To ‘Right-To-Work’ Law

Indiana Company Rejects Gov. Mitch Daniels’ Claim That It Added Jobs Due To ‘Right-To-Work’ Law: pIndiana Republicans ignored protests from labor groups and even National Football League players this winter and became the 23rd state to adopt a so-called “right-to-work” law. Despite having no evidence that the anti-union legislation would create jobs, Republicans claimed it would, and Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) signed it into law. Less than two months after [...]/p

SWAT Team Raids Occupy Miami Safehouse: This is What Democracy Looks Like?

SWAT Team Raids Occupy Miami Safehouse: This is What Democracy Looks Like?
"The Tuesday raid was the second on Occupy Miami in the past six weeks. On January 31, Miami-Dade cops evicted protesters from Government Center. This time it was City of Miami police officers that arrived in SWAT vans and emerged with their assault rifles drawn."

Elizabeth Warren Answers The Question, 'Does Washington Work For You?

Explain It To Me, GOP

Experts Say Attack On Iran Could Mean $6 Per Gallon Gasoline

Experts Say Attack On Iran Could Mean $6 Per Gallon Gasoline: pGOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has promised that if he wins the White House gasoline price will drop to $2.50 or even $2 per gallon. The former House Speaker also said that as president, he’d support (and join) an Israeli military attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Indeed, Gingrich said recently that “the red line is [...]/p

The Myth of the Rational Market » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

The Myth of the Rational Market » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
"Money that could have saved Americans’ pensions instead was allocated to profits for armament corporations and to advance Israel’s territorial hegemony."

Corporate Win, Loss for the 99%: U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement Takes Effect | Common Dreams

Corporate Win, Loss for the 99%: U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement Takes Effect | Common Dreams
"The deal means that almost 80 percent of U.S. exports of industrial products to Korea are now duty-free and nearly two-thirds of U.S. exports of agricultural products to Korea are now duty-free."

Occupy Movement to Blossom as Spring Approaches | Common Dreams

Occupy Movement to Blossom as Spring Approaches | Common Dreams
"The Occupy movement is hoping to increase its presence as the cold winter months come to an end. Many Occupy groups from across the country are planning new actions in the coming weeks."

The Truth about Goldman Sachs

The Truth about Goldman Sachs
"The investment firm headed south as soon as it started prioritizing short-term gain over its long-term interests."

50 Years Ago Today, John F. Kennedy Called For Sweeping Consumer Protections

50 Years Ago Today, John F. Kennedy Called For Sweeping Consumer Protections: pThe United States established one of its first true consumer protection laws in 1872, when it protected consumers from fraud involving the use of U.S. mail. But the modern era of consumer protection didn’t begin for another 90 years, when President John F. Kennedy delivered remarks to Congress that established four basic consumer rights — [...]/p

Bernie Sanders: Wall Street Speculators And Rising Gas Prices

Fate Of Nation's Infrastructure Rests With House Republicans

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Former SEC Official Slams House JOBS Act: ‘It Won’t Create Jobs, But It Will Simplify Fraud’

Former SEC Official Slams House JOBS Act: ‘It Won’t Create Jobs, But It Will Simplify Fraud’: pIn a rare show of bipartisanship, the House of Representatives easily passed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act last week, with both parties touting it as a way to help small business startups and boost the economy. The White House supports the bill, and Senate Democrats are planning to introduce it (or something like [...]/p

Romney, Santorum, and Goldman Sachs: Their Values Are the Same

Romney, Santorum, and Goldman Sachs: Their Values Are the Same
"It is amazing we live in a culture that allows the wealthiest and most powerful companies in the country to cheat their clients and the public at large with impunity, and that their closest political allies aren’t held to account as well. Help us shine a spotlight on this by signing our petition."

The Public Trial of Goldman Sachs | Economy | AlterNet

The Public Trial of Goldman Sachs | Economy | AlterNet
"The public reaction over this week's Goldman Sachs revelations speaks volumes of the firm's power and the public rage over its ethical lapses."

The Biggest Engine of Economic Growth? 8 Ways Taxpayers and the Government Are Necessary to Capitalism | | AlterNet

The Biggest Engine of Economic Growth? 8 Ways Taxpayers and the Government Are Necessary to Capitalism | | AlterNet
"Almost everything the American capitalist system needs is provided by taxpayer dollars and government action."

Wall Street Scored Big in the Last Elections

PERRspectives: Oregon, Massachusetts Gains Bolster Obama Health Care Reform

PERRspectives: Oregon, Massachusetts Gains Bolster Obama Health Care Reform
"The Affordable Care Act is working. 2.5 million more young adults ages 19 to 26 now have health insurance. The shrinking of the Medicare "donut hole" allowed 3.6 million seniors to save $2.1 billion on their prescription drugs last year. And the ban on insurers refusing to cover pre-existing conditions is saving lives.

The Purpose of Occupy Wall Street Is to Occupy Wall Street | The Nation

The Purpose of Occupy Wall Street Is to Occupy Wall Street | The Nation
"Our kids—the heart and soul of this movement—have watched us for years beating our heads against the walls of power, always marching on Washington, sending in checks to the environmental groups, giving up red meat—and what they got from this is that they are the first generation who will now be worse off than their parents. They still love us (which is remarkable when you think of the world we’ve handed them), but they are taking a different path from ours. Let them."

Fox News Analyst Calls Goldman Whistleblower Column A ‘Political Hit Job’ By The New York Times

Fox News Analyst Calls Goldman Whistleblower Column A ‘Political Hit Job’ By The New York Times: pA Goldman Sachs employee yesterday publicly resigned via an op-ed in The New York Times, in which he called the firm “toxic and destructive,” saying that Goldman traders consistently talk about how much profit they are making by ripping off their clients. Goldman quickly mobilized a smear campaign against the former employee, Greg Smith, with [...]/p

Scott Brown Weakened Restrictions On Goldman Sachs Abuses Aired By Whistleblower

Scott Brown Weakened Restrictions On Goldman Sachs Abuses Aired By Whistleblower: pIn his public resignation letter in today’s New York Times, former Goldman Sachs executive Greg Smith said that one of the fastest ways to get ahead with the firm is to persuade clients “to invest in the stocks or other products that [the firm is] trying to get rid of because they are not seen [...]/p

In Aftermath Of Whisteblower Editorial, British Members Of Parliament Slam Goldman Sachs

In Aftermath Of Whisteblower Editorial, British Members Of Parliament Slam Goldman Sachs: pFormer Goldman Sachs employee Greg Smith’s scathing New York Times editorial, in which he announced his resignation from the firm and decried its “toxic and destructive” atmosphere, has sparked a host of reactions in the United States, where Goldman was at the center of the financial collapse that engulfed the economy in 2008. But Goldman [...]/p

Why Republicans should start acting like Reagan

How A Departing Goldman Sachs Insider Made The Case For The Volcker Rule

How A Departing Goldman Sachs Insider Made The Case For The Volcker Rule: pGoldman Sachs executive director Greg Smith became a former Goldman Sachs executive director this morning after he penned a resignation letter in the New York Times that confirmed virtually every negative characterization of the bank. Smith slammed the “toxic and destructive” Goldman environment, in which directors referred to their clients as “muppets” and traders worried [...]/p

Goldman Sachs’ $1 Million Man: Mitt Romney’s Ties To A ‘Toxic And Destructive’ Bank

Goldman Sachs’ $1 Million Man: Mitt Romney’s Ties To A ‘Toxic And Destructive’ Bank: pRepublican presidential primary frontrunner Mitt Romney (R) is taking a break from the campaign trail a day after finishing third in the Alabama and Mississippi primaries, stopping in New York City for multiple fundraisers and a visit with campaign surrogate Donald Trump. Romney will attend three fundraisers and haul in an expected $2 million this [...]/p

Goldman Sachs Insider Resigns, Reveals ‘Toxic’ Culture In Which Managers Called Clients ‘Muppets’

Goldman Sachs Insider Resigns, Reveals ‘Toxic’ Culture In Which Managers Called Clients ‘Muppets’: pLast year, Goldman Sachs faced a significant amount of heat when internal emails — in which, bankers described a financial product they sold to clients as a “shitty deal” — became public. Goldman trader Fabrice “Fabulous Fab” Tourre became the face of a bank that cared more about its own internal trading profits than serving [...]/p

Youth in Revolt: The Plague of State-Sponsored Violence | Truthout

Youth in Revolt: The Plague of State-Sponsored Violence | Truthout
"In the United States, the state monopoly on the use of violence has intensified since the 1980s and, in the process, has been increasingly directed against young people, poor minorities, immigrants and increasingly women."

Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs | Common Dreams

Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs | Common Dreams
"To put the problem in the simplest terms, the interests of the client continue to be sidelined in the way the firm operates and thinks about making money."

5 Ways Wall Street Is Putting the Squeeze on American Students | Education | AlterNet

5 Ways Wall Street Is Putting the Squeeze on American Students | Education | AlterNet
"The damage Wall Street inflicted on our educational infrastructure is growing."

What Has Occupy Been Up To? 6 Great Actions You Can't Miss This Spring | | AlterNet

What Has Occupy Been Up To? 6 Great Actions You Can't Miss This Spring | | AlterNet
"Occupy changed over the winter from outdoor camps to internal work and debates. But that laid the groundwork for a very big spring. Here's what to expect."

How Federal Budget Cuts Could Devastate Low-Income Children

How Federal Budget Cuts Could Devastate Low-Income Children: pFamilies that depend on government assistance face countless threats, but a new study from the Urban Institute shows just how devastating budget cuts could be to America’s poorest families. According to the report, as of 2009, low-income children received 70 percent of government funding for children — a respectable portion of overall federal spending dedicated [...]/p

US Subjected Manning to Cruel, Inhuman, Degrading Treatment, UN Torture Chief Concludes | Truthout

US Subjected Manning to Cruel, Inhuman, Degrading Treatment, UN Torture Chief Concludes | Truthout
"The United States government subjected Bradley Manning to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment following his arrest in May 2010 in Iraq on suspicion of leaking hundreds of thousands of secret State Department cables and other documents to WikiLeaks, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Torture concluded in a long-awaited report."

Bad News For Scott Walker

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Dissent can be fun

HUD Report: Banks Hampered Foreclosure Inquiry | Common Dreams

HUD Report: Banks Hampered Foreclosure Inquiry | Common Dreams
"Several major US banks obstructed a government inquiry into unlawful foreclosures,according to a report released today by the inspector general for the Department of Housing and Urban Development."

Thom Hartmann: Why Republicans don't want you to re-fi you're home.

Demonstrators Protest Against Anti-Women Bills That State Legislatures Are Considering

Demonstrators Protest Against Anti-Women Bills That State Legislatures Are Considering: pState legislatures are busy debating another round of anti-choice legislation (after passing a record number of anti-abortion measures in 2011). But this year, women are speaking up more loudly. To push back against the Republican-backed proposals, Democrats have proposed satirical bills mocking extreme measures bestowing personhood on a zygote and requiring women to have ultrasounds [...]/p

Revolution on the Radio | The Nation

Revolution on the Radio | The Nation
"Nearly two months after Occupy Wall Street set up camp in Lower Manhattan, the New York Times public editorwrote about the challenge presented by the movement’s “difficult, sprawling story.” To journalists, editors and readers he asked,  “How should the New York Times cover this movement that resembles no other in memory?”

Former Employees Allege JP Morgan Chase Robo-Signed Credit Card Documents, Destroyed Borrower Records

Former Employees Allege JP Morgan Chase Robo-Signed Credit Card Documents, Destroyed Borrower Records: pBack in January, American Banker reported that JP Morgan Chase — the nation’s biggest bank — was potentially robo-signing credit card documents. Robo-signing, of course, is the pernicious practice banks used to approve foreclosures without verifying basic information about borrowers or complying with property law. Today, American Banker is back with allegations from former JP [...]/p

From Pizza Making To Bank Vice-President: How Big Banks Promoted Unqualified Workers To Robo-Sign Foreclosures

From Pizza Making To Bank Vice-President: How Big Banks Promoted Unqualified Workers To Robo-Sign Foreclosures: pScandal enveloped multiple Wall Street megabanks in 2010 when it was discovered that throughout the housing bust and the foreclosure crisis that ensued, the nation’s largest banks were caught robo-signing — the practice of approving foreclosures without verifying mortgage information and fabricating other loan documents. At the time, the banks promised to end the practice [...]/p

President Obama and the Democrats’ Long List of Accomplishments

President Obama and the Democrats’ Long List of Accomplishments
* Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell – ends official discrimination against LGBT Americans who wish to serve their country in the military
* Saved the U.S. auto industry through an emergency auto industry rescue package
* Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act - helps ensure equal pay for equal work by enabling people to challenge unequal pay in court even if the fact that their pay is unequal is not discovered by the employee for a long time
Click on link for the full list.

The Scorched-Earth Politics of America's Four Fundamentalisms | Truthout

The Scorched-Earth Politics of America's Four Fundamentalisms | Truthout
"Americans seem confident in the mythical notion that the United States is a free nation dedicated to reproducing the principles of equality, justice and democracy."