George Will: Who Cares About Corruption? Citizens United Is "Excellent"

www.mediamatters.org/blog/2013/10/31/george-will-who-cares-about-corruption-citizens/196695
"Nevertheless, Will goes on to call the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United -- one that allowed a tsunami of corporate money to enter the election process -- an "excellent" one. But even Citizens United noted the corrupting danger of unchecked money in the political system, and transparency was explicitly recognized as the critical protection against such a problem."

Sandy aid naysayers now want NY money

Report Exposes 'Unprecedented, Corporate-Backed Attack on Workers' | Common Dreams

Report Exposes 'Unprecedented, Corporate-Backed Attack on Workers' | Common Dreams
"A new report by the Economic Policy Institute released Thursday, examining the "unprecedented" attack on the rights of both unionized and nonunionized workers in states across the country, reveals how the right-wing machine in recent years has crippled the gains of a once prosperous middle class."

MSNBC's All In Reports on Devastating Food Stamp Cuts Rest of the Media is Ignoring

MSNBC's All In Reports on Devastating Food Stamp Cuts Rest of the Media is Ignoring
"These right-wingers hate the poor. They hate minimum wage which might help lift them out of poverty. They hate taxes if they're going to the "lazy moochers" who don't deserve to have food put in their mouths. And they don't want to do a thing about outsourcing and shipping jobs overseas. And they hate public education. But they expect everyone to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps by whatever means necessary. It's long past time these people were shown the door."

California’s Online Sales Tax Is Bringing In Millions Of Dollars

California’s Online Sales Tax Is Bringing In Millions Of Dollars: A year after closing the "Amazon loophole," California is generating millions in online sales tax revenue.

25 Facts Right-Wingers Desperately Want Us to Forget | Alternet

25 Facts Right-Wingers Desperately Want Us to Forget | Alternet
"Now that we have named the disease, we have to point to the cure: the facts. Here are 25 facts that right-wingers often forget, overlook, omit or ignore."

JP Morgan Settlement May Be Closer to $9 Billion After Tax Deductions

JP Morgan Settlement May Be Closer to $9 Billion After Tax Deductions
"I'd like to know when Jamie Dimon is going to prison, but I'm not holding my breath in the hope we're ever going to see that happen any time soon. And now after all of that wailing about how unfair this $13 billion settlement is for poor downtrodden JP Morgan Chase, we find out it's likely to be a whole lot lower"

How Sequestration Gets Even Worse Next Year

How Sequestration Gets Even Worse Next Year: The accounting gimmicks and emergency measures that muted the impact this year won't be available anymore.

How Alan Greenspan Destroyed America | Alternet

How Alan Greenspan Destroyed America | Alternet
"Alan Greenspan will go down in history as the person most responsible for the enormous economic damage caused by the housing bubble and the subsequent collapse of the market. The  United States is still down almost 9m jobs from its trend path. We are losing close to $1tn a year in potential output, with cumulative losses to date  approaching $5tn.

These numbers correspond to millions of dreams ruined. Families who struggled to save enough to buy a home lost it when house prices plunged or they lost their jobs. Many older workers lose their job with little hope of ever finding another one, even though they are ill-prepared for retirement; young people getting out of school are facing the worst job market  since the Great Depression, while buried in student loan debt."

With JPMorgan Under Spotlight, Growing Calls to Jail the Banksters | Common Dreams

With JPMorgan Under Spotlight, Growing Calls to Jail the Banksters | Common Dreams
"While JPMorgan Chase's $13 billion settlement for its "shady practices that five years ago helped trigger the financial meltdown, including manipulating mortgages and sending millions of Americans into bankruptcy or foreclosure" has gained attention for its record amount, a number of banking reform advocates are saying real accountability will come when executives are prosecuted and sent to jail for illegal activity."

Deregulating Wall Street Makes Bankers Richer And Hurts Everyone Else

Deregulating Wall Street Makes Bankers Richer And Hurts Everyone Else: New research shows that unshackling Wall Street redistributes wealth to bankers at the expense of the rest of the economy.

5 Reasons Why Cutting Social Security Would Be Irrational | Alternet

5 Reasons Why Cutting Social Security Would Be Irrational | Alternet
"Cutting this popular and well-run and life-sustaining program would be irrational."

Meet 3 Master Manipulators of America’s Oligarchy | Alternet

Meet 3 Master Manipulators of America’s Oligarchy | Alternet
"Whether they’re ginning up deficit hysteria to cut Social Security or blaming teachers and firefighters for state budget crises, these 1 percenters pose as defenders of your interests while arranging things so that they can plunder America and leave hard-working people with scraps."

WATCH: Comedian Russell Brand's Brilliant Tirade Against a Broken Political System | Alternet

WATCH: Comedian Russell Brand's Brilliant Tirade Against a Broken Political System | Alternet
"In a combative interview with the BBC, Brand shows he's a rather revolutionary thinker."

How the Wealthy Wage War on Democracy Itself | Common Dreams

How the Wealthy Wage War on Democracy Itself | Common Dreams
"A post-election poll in November found that more than 60 percent of all voters, both Democrat and Republican, are concerned about the level of money in politics. An incredible 85 percent want the names of political ad funders disclosed."

The Affordable Care Act’s Lower-Than-Projected Premiums Will Save $190 Billion

www.americanprogress.org/issues/healthcare/report/2013/10/23/77537/the-affordable-care-acts-lower-than-projected-premiums-will-save-190-billion/
"These savings will boost the health law’s amount of deficit reduction by 174 percent and represent about 40 percent of the health care savings proposed by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform—commonly known as the Simpson-Bowles commission—in 2010.
Moreover, we estimate that lower premiums will lower the number of uninsured even further, by an additional 700,000 people, even as the number of individuals who receive tax credits will decline because insurance is more affordable."

Defense Contractors Profit Despite Sequestration And Shutdown

Defense Contractors Profit Despite Sequestration And Shutdown: Shutdown? No problem. Sequestration? No sweat. Defense contracts continue to show huge profits.

The Trillion Dollare Money Pump for the 1% | Common Dreams

The Trillion Dollare Money Pump for the 1% | Common Dreams
"It took decades to create this trillion dollar money pump for the 1 Percent."

Pepper Spray Cop Fired For Assaulting Protesters Wins A $38,000 Payout

Pepper Spray Cop Fired For Assaulting Protesters Wins A $38,000 Payout: UC Davis officer John Pike — known as “pepper spray cop” for casually spraying nonviolent protesters during the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement — will be awarded $38,000 for psychiatric injuries.

4 Things You Need to Know About the Plot to Sell Off Your Pensions to Wall Street | Alternet

4 Things You Need to Know About the Plot to Sell Off Your Pensions to Wall Street | Alternet
"What your state legislators actually mean when they start throwing around the Orwellian phrase “pension reform"."

Detroit May Not Go Bankrupt. Here’s The Last Chance To Avoid It.

Detroit May Not Go Bankrupt. Here’s The Last Chance To Avoid It.: Here's what you need to know to understand Detroit's bankruptcy eligibility hearing this week.

Three Extreme Right-Wing Ideologies Have Taken Over the Republican Party -- and Could Destroy It Forever | Alternet

Three Extreme Right-Wing Ideologies Have Taken Over the Republican Party -- and Could Destroy It Forever | Alternet
"The overlapping ideologies of Ayn Rand capitalists, Christian fundamentalists and neo-Confederate white supremacists is a toxic mix"

Fact-checker finds Hannity wanting

A Hedge Fund Is Now The Largest Landlord In A Small Ohio Town

A Hedge Fund Is Now The Largest Landlord In A Small Ohio Town: Magnetar Capital bought up 9 percent of the homes in Huber Heights, Ohio.

Social Security Pumps $2 Into US Economy for Every Benefit Dollar Spent

Social Security Pumps $2 Into US Economy for Every Benefit Dollar Spent
"Just as Food Stamps stimulate the economy by creating about $1.80 of economic activity for every dollar of Food Stamps spent, Social Secuity pumps up job-generating and business activity by about $2 for every dollar recipients spend.  This is according to a new study by the AARP"

A Field Guide to the Koch O’ Nuts Behind the Near Government Default

A Field Guide to the Koch O’ Nuts Behind the Near Government Default
"It’s time for a fact check. The Koch family foundations and the newest known Koch vehicle -- Freedom Partners, which is staffed with by operatives connected to the Kochs and housed in the same building as Charles Koch’s foundation -- have bankrolled practically every group working to create a fake grassroots uprising against the ACA. Many of the groups linked to the Kochs have also pushed an extreme “shut-it-down” position that led the U.S. to the brink of a historic government debt default."

Jersey City Mayor Signs Country’s Seventh Paid Sick Days Law

Jersey City Mayor Signs Country’s Seventh Paid Sick Days Law: Employers in Jersey City will now have to offer their workers paid sick days.

McDowell County, USA Has Close to Haiti's Life Expectancy: Welcome to Third World America | Alternet

McDowell County, USA Has Close to Haiti's Life Expectancy: Welcome to Third World America | Alternet
"The Affordable Care Act is merely a small step in the direction of universal healthcare. One need only look at the data on life expectancy among Americans to realize how badly health care reform is needed in the United States. People in much of Europe are, on the whole, outliving residents of the U.S., which in some places, is looking more and more like a Third World country when it comes to life expectancy.

There is a considerable amount of data on life expectancy among Americans, much of it disturbing."

Shutdown Will Continue To Damage Economy Through The Holiday Season, Economists Predict

Shutdown Will Continue To Damage Economy Through The Holiday Season, Economists Predict: Thousands of workers, bracing for the next budget crisis, will likely hold back on Christmas shopping and other economic activity.

Billionaire Koch Brothers Spending Millions To Deny Health Coverage To Low-Income Americans

Billionaire Koch Brothers Spending Millions To Deny Health Coverage To Low-Income Americans: Volunteers with the conservative organization are distributing misleading flyers, attending committee hearings, and intimidating constituents.

10 Reasons Why the Tea Party is So Unpopular | Alternet

10 Reasons Why the Tea Party is So Unpopular | Alternet
"Now that the federal government has reopened and its debt limit raised, the Tea Party is more unpopular with Americans than ever—including among moderate Republicans—polls are finding, with analysts asking if the Tea Party is part of the GOP at all."

Republicans Have Done Real Damage to the Economy

Republicans Have Done Real Damage to the Economy
"Republicans have been obstructing ... everything. The ongoing economic damage has been just incredible but because it gradually worsens things the public is not as aware as they should be. There are two obstructions taking place. In the Senate Republicans have been filibustering every bill, every nominee ... everything. In the House the "Hastert Rule" prevents the majority of the Congress from being able to vote. By preventing bills from coming up for a vote if they might be passed by a majority that includes Democrats and some "RINO" Republicans, anything that could help the country and economy is blocked."

Ted Cruz Single-Handedly Blocks FCC Nominee Over Concerns That He’ll Make Elections More Transparent

Ted Cruz Single-Handedly Blocks FCC Nominee Over Concerns That He’ll Make Elections More Transparent:
"Cruz’s stated reason for blocking Wheeler is that he’s concerned the FCC nominee may try to make spending by corporations and millionaire donors seeking to influence elections more transparent."

The Abject Failure of Reaganomics | Common Dreams

The Abject Failure of Reaganomics | Common Dreams
"House Republicans got next to nothing from their extortion strategy of taking the government and the economy hostage, but they are sure to continue obstructing programs that could create jobs and start rebuilding the middle class. What they won’t recognize is the abject failure of Reaganomics"

Beer Offensive: The Koch Brothers Try to Bribe College Students Not to Sign Up for Obamacare with Brewskies | Alternet

Beer Offensive: The Koch Brothers Try to Bribe College Students Not to Sign Up for Obamacare with Brewskies | Alternet
"What's a family values conservative to do when every effort to protect millions of Americans from the scourge of affordable healthcare fails?

Break out the beer, of course. The latest campaign to kill off Obamacare in its infancy is now playing out on college campuses where a conservative group known as Generation Opportunity (GO), who are funded in part by the billionaire Koch brothers, is using the  lure of free beer and "opt out"  beer koozies to persuade young  students not to buy health insurance – or, at least, not to buy it from the Obamacare exchanges."

Thanks To Obamacare, Oregon Cut Its Unsinsured Population By 10 Percent Over The Past Two Weeks

Thanks To Obamacare, Oregon Cut Its Unsinsured Population By 10 Percent Over The Past Two Weeks: 56,000 new people have signed up for Oregon's Medicaid program so far this month. Most of them wouldn't be eligible for coverage without Obamacare.

PERRspectives: Benedict Boehner

PERRspectives: Benedict Boehner
"But the entire crisis could have been avoided if John Boehner had simply stood up to his own party, even at the cost of his speakership. Instead, Boehner came within hours of single-handedly dooming the U.S. economy--and tens of millions of Americans--by letting the default he decried nearly come to pass. In that case, John Boehner's name would have lived in infamy alongside Benedict Arnold, John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald and other legendary American villains who betrayed their nation and put its future at risk."

The Tea Party and the Economy: It's Like Putting an Arsonist in Charge of the Fire Department

The Tea Party and the Economy: It's Like Putting an Arsonist in Charge of the Fire Department
"The uncertainty of never knowing when an economic hostage taker is going to hold a gun to the head of the United States takes its toll."

Republicans Owe Us 24 Billion Dollars Plus for the Government Shutdown

www.politicususa.com/2013/10/17/republicans-owe-24-billion-dollars-government-shutdown.html
"The shutdown cost us at least $24 billion dollars. The shutdown that got Republicans nothing but funding at sequester levels that they claimed wasn’t theirs and blamed Obama for, but now claim as a victory – that sequester."

What You Can Get For The Price Of A Shutdown

What You Can Get For The Price Of A Shutdown: The shutdown may be over, but the cost can't be erased.

Health Care Hypocrisy | Common Dreams

Health Care Hypocrisy | Common Dreams
"While going to extremes to keep millions of Americans from getting vitally needed health coverage, Cruz repeatedly refused to answer whether taxpayers covered his health care. Finally, he piously responded that he was eligible for taxpayer coverage, but had nobly declined.

Such slapstick! It turns out that Ted was fibbing, for he’s covered by his wife’s policy. As a millionaire top executive at Goldman Sachs, she and her family are given gold-plated Cadillac coverage by the Wall Street giant. Goldman pays some $40,000 a year for her and Ted’s policy — a benefit-cost that the firm passes on to us taxpayers by deducting it from its corporate tax bill. Hilarious, huh?"

A Simple Reform Could Save America From Wall Street and Boost the Economy: What’s Washington Waiting For? | Alternet

A Simple Reform Could Save America From Wall Street and Boost the Economy: What’s Washington Waiting For? | Alternet
"Financiers have been getting a free ride for too long. Let's make them pay their share instead of robbing seniors."

Backfire! GOP Hostage-Taking Boosts Obamacare's Popularity | Alternet

Backfire! GOP Hostage-Taking Boosts Obamacare's Popularity | Alternet
'The GOP-led federal government shutdown over Obamacare has dramatically backfired on Republicans. Nearly two-thirds of active voters, the largest share yet, support the health insurance reform law and want it to work, new nationwide polling has found."

GOP-made shutdown catastrophe wreaked havoc

Chris Hayes: Hostages are being freed and the ransom is being paid

Joe Lhota: 'Don't Lump Me In With National Republicans'

Joe Lhota: 'Don't Lump Me In With National Republicans'
It's not easy running for mayor of New York City with the republican anvil hanging around your neck

The Government Shutdown Has Cost The Economy $24 Billion

The Government Shutdown Has Cost The Economy $24 Billion:
"Standard & Poor’s calculates that the shutdown that has so far lasted just over two weeks has taken $24 billion out of the economy, shaving at least 0.6 percent off of GDP in the fourth quarter."

Misunderestimating Who They Are: They Like To Destroy Things

Misunderestimating Who They Are: They Like To Destroy Things
"If you listen to right-wing radio, watch FOX News and read their online media and take it seriously (because they do) then you would know that many on the right don’t want to live in a country that has Social Security, Medicare, Obamacare, the minimum wage, Food Stamps, immigration, public schools, infant nutrition programs and the rest of the things government does to make our lives better. Andthey don't want anyone else to live in a country that has those things, either.

They are willing to destroy the village to keep the village from having those things. If you don't "get that" before entering into negotiations, you're at risk of making a terrible mistake -- like the sequester."

Paul Ryan's Peddling a 'Shock Doctrine' Cure | Common Dreams

Paul Ryan's Peddling a 'Shock Doctrine' Cure | Common Dreams
"If you are looking for certainties in American politics, count on this one: If a crisis of governing develops, the advocates for cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will arrive with a plan to resolve the standoff by balancing budgets on the backs of America’s most vulnerable citizens.
Cue Paul Ryan.
The House Budget Committee chairman, a Republican from Janesville, has for the better part of a decade been the most determined advocate on Capitol Hill for the Wall Street agenda that says earned-benefit programs should be reshaped as investment vehicles and voucher schemes that will benefit brokers and the health insurance industry."

What Obamacare Means to Me: The Difference Between Bankruptcy and Having a Life Again | Alternet

What Obamacare Means to Me: The Difference Between Bankruptcy and Having a Life Again | Alternet
"We lived under the illusion that we were adequately covered by our health insurance plan ... until my wife got sick."

We Are Witnessing the Emergence of a Political Process That Allows Right-Wing Billionaires the Power to Turn off Govt. Like a Switch | Alternet

We Are Witnessing the Emergence of a Political Process That Allows Right-Wing Billionaires the Power to Turn off Govt. Like a Switch | Alternet
"Charles and David Koch and other right-wing billionaires and near-billionaires are blind with anger after wasting millions of dollars on Mitt Romney, Karl Rove and the Republican Party in a failed attempt to defeat Barack Obama, the Democrats and health-care reform. These were the guys who smirked knowingly when Romney sneered at “the 47 percent” of Americans who receive some government help; they got snappish when Obama called them “fat cats”; they demanded the honorific title of “job creators"."

5 Charts Show the U.S. Has No Debt Crisis

5 Charts Show the U.S. Has No Debt Crisis
"The drastic reductions in state and local government spending fueled not just the direct loss of 737,000 public sector jobs by this summer, but constituted a major drag on the private sector economy as well. All told, the Economic Policy Institute estimates, austerity policies cost the American people 3 million jobs.
All of which is why the GOP must end the its hostage-taking of the federal government and the American economy once and for all. The numbers are clear. The U.S. does not have a debt crisis, but a jobs crisis. We've already cut enough spending for the time being. That's why Republicans should end their government shutdown"

Rep. Slaughter Grills GOP Official Over Rule Change 'Atrocity' Rigging Govt. Shutdown

Rep. Slaughter Grills GOP Official Over Rule Change 'Atrocity' Rigging Govt. Shutdown
"As it turned out, Slaughter's instincts were correct because Republicans shut down the government the next day. And 15 days later, the government remained shut down and the Senate bill had still not been brought up for a vote in the House."

That awkward moment a House Republican explains why they rigged the rules to keep the govt shut down

www.freakoutnation.com/2013/10/14/that-awkward-moment-a-house-republican-explains-why-they-rigged-the-rules-to-keep-the-govt-shut-down/
"Republican House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions was busted changing the rules of the House so that only Eric Cantor or a Republican designated by him, can bring the Senate bill to the House floor. Republicans already have control of the House, but this dirty little trick makes it impossible for any Democrat or moderate Republican have a say-so in the process of opening our government."

Tea Party Terrorist Republicans Are on an Economic Suicide Mission to Harm Obama

www.politicususa.com/2013/10/15/tea-party-terrorist-republicans-economic-suicide-mission-harm-obama.html
"Each of the GOP’s economic disasters has cost the nation dearly including the 2007-08 crash that killed tens-of-millions of jobs and decimated the world’s economy, and in 2011 they cost America a million jobs, nearly $19 billion in interest fees, and a sequester slated to kill over a million jobs within the next year. There is no telling what the current crisis will cost the nation or how devastating the next planned crisis will be will be to the economy, but if Republicans prevail there is little doubt the cost will be painful because the GOP is highly motivated to keep the economy in dire straits."

Deficits are Rapidly Shrinking, Spending is Flat under Obama

Deficits are Rapidly Shrinking, Spending is Flat under Obama
"Simply put, there is no crisis to justify the additional spending cuts Republicans are now trying to extort. As it turns out, federal spending has hardly budged while deficits have plummeted since Barack Obama first took the oath of office in January 2009."

3 Ways Regular Americans Will Be Hurt by a Debt Ceiling Default | Alternet

3 Ways Regular Americans Will Be Hurt by a Debt Ceiling Default | Alternet
"From credit cards to mortgages, pain will be felt across the country."

How Republicans Came To Own Sequestration’s Devastating Cuts As A Victory

How Republicans Came To Own Sequestration’s Devastating Cuts As A Victory: Republicans originally pinned the damage from sequestration on President Obama, but now embrace the cuts as a win.

Low Wages Cost Taxpayers A Quarter-Trillion Dollars Every Year

Low Wages Cost Taxpayers A Quarter-Trillion Dollars Every Year: Half of fast food workers are on public assistance programs that spend $243 billion each year on the working poor.

Get Nervous: The Fate of the Country Is in John Boehner’s Hands | Alternet

Get Nervous: The Fate of the Country Is in John Boehner’s Hands | Alternet
"With a Senate deal imminent, the speaker has a choice to make: His job or our economy. He could go either way."

Debunking GOP Shutdown Myth Machine

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Walmart Protester Going Full Steam Ahead

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House Dems Try To Pass Discharge Petition While GOP Obstructs

House Dems Try To Pass Discharge Petition While GOP Obstructs
"Of course, the House GOP changed the rules last week to prevent anyone who wasn't the Speaker from bringing the petition up for a vote."

De Blasio opens up to Baldwin

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The Tea Party Disconnect From Reality

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Robert Reich to Tea Party: Americans Don't Like Traitors to Our System of Government | Alternet

Robert Reich to Tea Party: Americans Don't Like Traitors to Our System of Government | Alternet
"By using tactics perceived to violate that system, the Tea Partiers have overplayed their hand. If they don’t stop their recklessness, they’ll be out of the game."

Medican't - "Taker" States

The Daily Show
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Trickle Down Economics—Or How the Rich Gamed the Tax System

Hypocrites! Corporate Leaders Bemoan the Default Crisis Created by Tea Partiers They Funded | Alternet

Hypocrites! Corporate Leaders Bemoan the Default Crisis Created by Tea Partiers They Funded | Alternet
"Yes, the frightened corporate leaders surely know how this happened -- because their money funded the tea party candidates and organizations responsible for the crisis."

Public Opinion Of GOP Plummets

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Surprise! Americans Miss Their Government

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A Mom's Message To John Boehner And Ted Cruz

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The Sad Story Of Cruz's Sidekick, Mike Lee

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Veterans Affairs Running Out Of Money Over Shutdown

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GOP In Danger Of Splitting Into Two Parties?

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Meet Rep. Steve Fincher, Running The Country

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Koch Brothers Prove Their Power Over GOP

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Moo-ving The Mold For Higher Worker Wages

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False Equivalence: How So-Called 'Balance" Makes the Media Dangerously Dumb | Alternet

False Equivalence: How So-Called 'Balance" Makes the Media Dangerously Dumb | Alternet
"Let us state this unequivocally: false equivalency – the practice of giving equal media time and space to demonstrably invalid positions for the sake of supposed reportorial balance – is dishonest, pernicious and cowardly."

There Is a Vast Oligarch Conspiracy Afoot to Destroy the Retirement Plans of Millions of Workers | Alternet

There Is a Vast Oligarch Conspiracy Afoot to Destroy the Retirement Plans of Millions of Workers | Alternet
"Engineered by billionaire former Enron trader John Arnold, championed by seemingly nonpartisan groups like the Pew Charitable Trusts and operating in states throughout America, this plot is not designed to strengthen pensions or to save taxpayer money, as its proponents claim. It is designed to slash public employees' guaranteed retirement income in order to both protect states' corporate welfare and, in some cases, enrich Wall Street."

PERRspectives: There is No Debt Crisis. There Should No Debt Ceiling Deal for the GOP.

PERRspectives: There is No Debt Crisis. There Should No Debt Ceiling Deal for the GOP.
"After slashing $2.5 trillion from the next decade's red ink in just the past two years, the U.S. national debt as a percentage of the American economy has stabilized. It is worth noting that only about a quarter of the deficit reduction comes from new revenues. (If all of the Bush tax cuts had been allowed to expire as part of January's fiscal cliff deal, U.S. debt would plummet from around 70 to about 50 percent of GDP.) May's 2013 deficit projection was now $642 billion,half the level Barack Obama faced on the day he first took the oath of office in 2009. As the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) explained just last month, for the next decade U.S. national debt will remain at sustainable, stable levels"

Mitch McConnell wants America to be an Oligarchy

Google: Doing Evil with ALEC | Common Dreams

Google: Doing Evil with ALEC | Common Dreams
"Google Inc. is now aligned with the notorious ALEC.
Quietly, Google has joined ALEC -- the American Legislative Exchange Council -- the shadowy corporate alliance that pushes odious laws through state legislatures."

Ginni Thomas and Her Groundswell Gang Planned ACA Hostage Scenario

Ginni Thomas and Her Groundswell Gang Planned ACA Hostage Scenario
"This post is revealing in so many ways. It's not just about the Affordable Care Act anymore, but about Medicare and Social Security, which are the real targets of their hostage-taking."

Sanders: Freedom of Speech Does Not Mean Freedom to Buy the Government

Sanders: Freedom of Speech Does Not Mean Freedom to Buy the Government
"Sen. Sanders was present at the Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in the case ofMcCutcheon vs. FEC. The Supreme Court will deciding the fate of the caps that limit how much donors can give to candidates and political organizations during a two year election cycle later in this term.

If the Supreme Court rules the caps unconstitutional, it will allow conservative billionaires to spend even more money in their attempt to execute a hostile takeover of the United States government."

Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security

Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security
"As the government shutdown marches on and the dangerously real deadline of the federal debt limit approaches, it is increasingly clear that the fight over "Obamacare" is merely an opening salvo. The real goal of the hostage takers is a "Grand Bargain" on the budget that would include cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

This has been the long-term agenda for debt crisis-monger Pete Peterson and government haters David and Charles Koch for many decades."

Sanders: The Supreme Court May Turn America into an Oligarchy | Common Dreams

Sanders: The Supreme Court May Turn America into an Oligarchy | Common Dreams
"Speaking outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) warned that the nation’s justices are preparing to cement the power of American oligarchs to influence elections through unlimited campaign donations."

Congressional Chaos

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Meet The GOP Members Burning Down The House

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Why The Debt Ceiling Isn't Your Family Budget

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Debt Ceiling Fight Isn't Business As Usual

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The Koch Brothers’ ‘Samson Option’

www.consortiumnews.com/2013/10/08/the-koch-brothers-samson-option/
"The fiscal crisis in Washington is not simply a threat to economic and government stability, as serious as that is. It is a premeditated scheme to carve out a new constitutional structure that gives the Koch Brothers and other right-wing billionaires the power to void the democratic process"

Will The Shutdown Cost America Jobs?

Will The Shutdown Cost America Jobs?: There are few hard estimates, but the evidence points to job losses thanks to the shutdown at a time of high unemployment.

Boehner Frantic For Shutdown Exit

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Public Record Shows Votes To End Shutdown

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The Hidden Danger in the Supreme Court’s ‘McCutcheon’ Case | Common Dreams

The Hidden Danger in the Supreme Court’s ‘McCutcheon’ Case | Common Dreams
"If the Supreme Court moves to strike down certain campaign finance limits this term, as many expect the Roberts Court will do, could the conservative majority also pave the way for dismantling a whole host of anti-bribery and campaign finance laws across the country?"

Boehner Doubles Down On Default

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Effects Of Shutdown Continue To Mount

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Any Room For Compromise For Boehner?

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The Government Shutdown Has Cost $1.6 Billion So Far

The Government Shutdown Has Cost $1.6 Billion So Far: The shutdown will cost $2 billion by October 9, the same as the damage of the flooding ravaging Colorado.

Public Pensions Under Fire

Public Pensions Under Fire
"Wall Street billionaires must be fed, even in these times of austerity. Because their greed is matchless, they've taken aim at public pensions this time, and are bent on consuming them by breaking contracts with workers in order to grab a chunk of their earned retirement security."

Sen. Sanders: Koch Brothers Plotted Shutdown 'Day After Obama Re-Elected'

Sen. Sanders: Koch Brothers Plotted Shutdown 'Day After Obama Re-Elected'
"the shutdown strategy was planned and paid for by the Koch brothers and other wealthy individuals who want to defund the Affordable Care Act, cut Social Security benefits, end Medicare as we know it, abolish the minimum wage and cut other programs that help working families."

Is This the Dumbest Thing a Republican Has Said During the Shutdown Mess? | Alternet

Is This the Dumbest Thing a Republican Has Said During the Shutdown Mess? | Alternet
"Rep. Ted Yoho has a novel theory of what failing to raise the debt limit would do."

 

GOP Rep Blames Cruz For Shutdown: 'He Took A Lot Of Folks Into The Ditch'

www.talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/gop-rep-blames-cruz-for-shutdown-he-took-a-lot-of-folks-into-the-ditch
"A Republican congressman said Monday that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is largely responsible for the first government shutdown since 1996."

Obamacare Is Right-Wing Proxy For Social Security and Medicare

Obamacare Is Right-Wing Proxy For Social Security and Medicare
"Despite all the sound and fury about Obamacare, here's the truth: It's not the prime target of the right. The real targets are Medicare and Social Security, as Rep. Barton admits in the video above when he says he wants "real reforms in entitlements"."