The Pitchforks Are Coming… For Us Plutocrats | Common Dreams

The Pitchforks Are Coming… For Us Plutocrats | Common Dreams

"At the same time that people like you and me are thriving beyond the dreams of any plutocrats in history, the rest of the country—the 99.99 percent—is lagging far behind. The divide between the haves and have-nots is getting worse really, really fast. In 1980, the top 1 percent controlled about 8 percent of U.S. national income. The bottom 50 percent shared about 18 percent. Today the top 1 percent share about 20 percent; the bottom 50 percent, just 12 percent.

But the problem isn’t that we have inequality. Some inequality is intrinsic to any high-functioning capitalist economy. The problem is that inequality is at historically high levels and getting worse every day. Our country is rapidly becoming less a capitalist society and more a feudal society. Unless our policies change dramatically, the middle class will disappear, and we will be back to late 18th-century France. Before the revolution.

And so I have a message for my fellow filthy rich, for all of us who live in our gated bubble worlds: Wake up, people. It won’t last."

PERRspectives: Republicans Can't Quit Brownback Mountain

PERRspectives: Republicans Can't Quit Brownback Mountain

"For Republicans, it is the love that dare not speak its name. Tax cuts don't pay for themselves by generating economic growth so explosive that government revenues exceed the levels they would have otherwise reached. Ever since the Laffer Curve was first sketched on a napkin for the likes of Jack Kemp and Ronald Reagan, federal tax cuts have instead produced only record income inequality and mushrooming national debt. Nevertheless, GOP orthodoxy is unchanged, even as Governor Sam Brownback's tax cuts for the rich and small businesses truly are what's the matter with Kansas."

The Supreme Court Thinks Corporations Are People but Women Aren't

The Supreme Court Thinks Corporations Are People but Women Aren't

"As far as the Supreme Court is concerned, we're still in the 19th century when it comes to women's rights."

Supreme Court Ruling a 'Slap in the Face' to Public Unions | Common Dreams

Supreme Court Ruling a 'Slap in the Face' to Public Unions | Common Dreams

"Conservative majority sides with anti-union groups, though it stops short of worst-case scenario"

'People Make Up Our City': Why Seattle's $15 Minimum Wage Is a Sign of Things to Come

'People Make Up Our City': Why Seattle's $15 Minimum Wage Is a Sign of Things to Come

"For 100,000 working people in Seattle, a newly passed citywide minimum wage of $15 per hour will mean an increased standard of living - and recognition of their contributions to the local economy."

Poll: Conservatives say poor “have it easy”

Put Your Money Where Your Earth Is | Common Dreams

Put Your Money Where Your Earth Is | Common Dreams

"Could financial markets play a role in curbing climate change? Two former U.S. Treasury secretaries seem to think so."

The State of Voting in 2014

The State of Voting in 2014

"As we approach the 2014 election, America is still in the midst of a high-pitched and often highly partisan battle over voting rights. On one side are politicians passing laws and executive actions that would make it harder for many citizens to vote. This started after the 2010 midterm elections, when new state legislative majorities pushed a wave of laws cracking down on voting. On the other side are groups of voters and advocates pushing back — in the legislatures, at the ballot box, and especially in the courts."

SWAT Teams Claim 'Corporate' Exemption From Public Scrutiny | Common Dreams

SWAT Teams Claim 'Corporate' Exemption From Public Scrutiny | Common Dreams

"Operators of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams comprised of tax payer-funded police and sheriffs in Massachusetts claim they are immune to public records requests about deadly force, incident reports, and more because they are private "corporations"."

To My Fellow Zillionaires: I See Pitchforks

To My Fellow Zillionaires: I See Pitchforks

"And so I have a message for my fellow filthy rich, for all of us who live in our gated bubble worlds: Wake up, people. It won’t last.
If we don’t do something to fix the glaring inequities in this economy, the pitchforks are going to come for us. No society can sustain this kind of rising inequality. In fact, there is no example in human history where wealth accumulated like this and the pitchforks didn’t eventually come out. You show me a highly unequal society, and I will show you a police state. Or an uprising. There are no counterexamples. None. It’s not if, it’s when."

Inside Moral Mondays

Behind the Color Line: Moral Mondays

How Republicans Made Congress Stupid

www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/how-republicans-made-congress-stupid
"A debilitating brain drain has actually been under way in Congress for the past twenty-five years, and it is Sensenbrenner and his conservative colleagues who have engineered it."

Meet the Guy Stealing Your Retirement Savings Right Under Your Nose

www.alternet.org/economy/meet-guy-stealing-your-retirement-savings-right-under-your-nose
"Don't let your broker enjoy comfortable retirement with your money."

A Secret Plan to Close Social Security’s Offices and Outsource Its Work | Common Dreams

A Secret Plan to Close Social Security’s Offices and Outsource Its Work | Common Dreams

"Despite the fact that a Democratic president is running the executive branch, the Social Security Administration appears to be accepting the harsh budget cuts imposed upon it by Congress with an air of surprising passivity. This is puzzling. Social Security is an enormously successful and popular program. Historically only conservative Republicans have urged cuts to its administrative budget. Those cuts are already frustrating the public and undermining public confidence in the program."

Net Neutrality's Impact on Free Speech | Common Dreams

Net Neutrality's Impact on Free Speech | Common Dreams

"Last month, the FCC released its proposal detailing how it intends to protect Net Neutrality in the wake of the court ruling that overturned its Open Internet Order."

Senate Democrats Re-up Their Dark-Money Disclosure Bill—and Dare GOPers to Block It

www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/06/senate-disclose-act-dark-money-mitch-mcconnell
"The bad news: The new DISCLOSE Act is likely going nowhere. Senate Republicans, rallied by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have blocked earlier iterations of the DISCLOSE Act since 2010. McConnell, currently a foe of campaign finance limits, will no doubt fight the new legislation. It is almost guaranteed the bill will not secure the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster."

Election Rigging, Dark Money in Cantor's 'Upset' Loss to Koch Stealth Candidate

Election Rigging, Dark Money in Cantor's 'Upset' Loss to Koch Stealth Candidate

"The first alarm is the hidden connection that Professor David Brat's victory had to the Koch Brothers dark money network: hundreds of millions of dollars in "charitable contributions" to inoculate American academic institutions and media with extremist libertarian philosophy, promoting the Ayn Randian culture of greed while boosting radical Tea Party candidates. The net effect has been to undermine the civility of American politics, divide the Republican Party, stalemate Congress and hobble government institutions."

Private Wealth, Public Squalor: America’s Dilemma | Common Dreams

Private Wealth, Public Squalor: America’s Dilemma | Common Dreams

"Profits are at record heights and wages near record lows as a portion of the economy. CEO pay soars to new heights. The wealthiest 1 percent pockets nearly all of the nation’s income growth, while typical household income continues to decline."

Credit Rating Industry Dodges Reforms, Despite Role in Financial Meltdown

Credit Rating Industry Dodges Reforms, Despite Role in Financial Meltdown

"Undeserved triple-A credit ratings were one of the major accelerators of the financial meltdown of 2007 and 2008. Wall Street firms created wildly complex securities based on junk subprime mortgages and sold them to pension funds, insurance companies and other Wall Street banks because they carried the golden seal — AAA."

Massachusetts Passes The Highest State Minimum Wage In The Country

www.thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/06/19/3450807/massachusetts-minimum-wage-11/
"On Wednesday night, the Massachusetts House passed a bill that will raise the state’s minimum wage to $11 an hour by 2017. The Senate already passed that wage level, and after a procedural vote there it will head to Gov. Deval Patrick (D), who is expected to sign it into law."

Sources: Prosecutor Closing In On Chris Christie

Sources: Prosecutor Closing In On Chris Christie

"There's so much dirt there, and investigators have been patiently sifting. Looks like they have enough to start bringing indictments"

Leaked Doc Reveals Wall Street Plan for Global Financial Deregulation | Common Dreams

Leaked Doc Reveals Wall Street Plan for Global Financial Deregulation | Common Dreams

"Wikileaks published a previously tightly-held and secretive draft of a trade document on Thursday that, if enacted, would give the world's financial powers an even more dominant position to control the global economy by avoiding regulations and public acccountability."

How You Signed Away Your Right to Sue Corporations for Screwing You Over

www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/how-you-signed-away-your-right-sue-corporations-screwing-you
"The court decisions that birthed this brave new world coincided with a rising conservative legal movement that advocates judicial restraint and a corporate lobby that has successfully pushed the idea that America is an excessively litigious society in dire need of “tort reform.” The result, lawyers and scholars say, is that thousands of cases that individuals once had a shot of winning can no longer even enter a courtroom, jeopardizing enforcement of laws spanning consumer and employee protection, civil rights, and antitrust."

Robert Reich: 3 biggest right-wing lies about poverty

Robert Reich: 3 biggest right-wing lies about poverty



"Rather than confront poverty by extending jobless benefits to the long-term unemployed, endorsing a higher minimum wage, or supporting jobs programs, conservative Republicans are taking a different tack.

They’re peddling three big lies about poverty."

Goldman Sachs: Too Big To Rein In? | Common Dreams

Goldman Sachs: Too Big To Rein In? | Common Dreams

"On June 11, Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $67m to settle a suit charging the firm and others with colluding to drive down the price of takeovers."

The 37 Senators Who Today Voted for Millionaires Over Students

The 37 Senators Who Today Voted for Millionaires Over Students

"Senate Republicans today sided with 22,000 millionaires over 40 million Americans with student debt by blocking the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act."

What Happens When the Tea Party Goes to Washington

What Happens When the Tea Party Goes to Washington

"So, not only did Brat say he doesn't believe in the minimum wage, he also implied that he's in favor of continuing the Reaganomics policies that have destroyed our country, and destroyed the middle-class.

Believe it or not, there was a time in America when the middle-class was booming, and when libertarian economics was just a pipe dream."

The right’s despicable class war: Why they paint the poor as anti-American

The right’s despicable class war: Why they paint the poor as anti-American

"For wingnuts like David Brat, bashing poor people as unethical is just one more arrow in their bullying quiver"

The right’s despicable class war: Why they paint the poor as anti-American

The right’s despicable class war: Why they paint the poor as anti-American

"For wingnuts like David Brat, bashing poor people as unethical is just one more arrow in their bullying quiver"

Industry Group Files Lawsuit Seeking To Kill Seattle’s Minimum Wage, Claiming It Violates Their Free Speech

www.thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/06/12/3448134/the-completely-bonkers-lawsuit-seeking-to-kill-seattles-minimum-wage-repeal-the-twentieth-century/
"Last week, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray (D) signed a bill that will eventually raise his city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. It took eight days for a lobbying group representing major employers like McDonald’s and Taco Bell to file a lawsuit asking the courts to repeal the legislation."

David Brat Represents A 'Taliban-Like Insurgency'

David Brat Represents A 'Taliban-Like Insurgency'

"In fact, you could argue that he pretty much owes his job to people like the Koch brothers and their cronies. John Allison, the former CEO of BB&T bank and the current head of the Koch-founded Cato Institute, gave Brat's college a $500,000 fellowship back in 2010 so he could teach Ayn Rand and libertarianism at Randolph Macon University. Like hundreds of other college professors across the country these days, David Brat is really just a bought-and-paid-for shill of Charles and David Koch and their buddies.
The Kochs and their network have been funding academic institutions for years, most notably George Mason University's Mercatus Center, because they knew they had to bring up young academics in their libertarian money tradition in order to fully realize their political ambitions.
Brat's campaign manager, 23-year old Zachary Werrell, cut his political teeth at Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty, which is closely affiliated with Americans for Prosperity and the Kochtopus. His treasurer is Steven D'Ambrosia, an executive with Altria Corporation."

Elizabeth Warren Goes After Mitch McConnell For Blocking Her Student Loan Bill

Elizabeth Warren Goes After Mitch McConnell For Blocking Her Student Loan Bill

"Sen. Elizabeth Warren didn't react kindly to the Senate Republicans and Mitch McConnell blocking her student loan bill, which would have "allowed an estimated 25 million people with older student loans to refinance that debt at current, lower interest rates"."

The Ayn-Rand Loving Billionaires and Vast Right-Wing Machine Behind David Brat

www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/eric-cantors-upset-dark-portent-future-billionaires-dark-money-elections?page=0%2C0
"So, Dave Brat is far more than just a college professor who beat Eric Cantor in a fluke of a primary.
He is a complete shill for Ayn Rand-loving libertarians and the Koch Brothers.
And he is apparently a graduate of the Kochtopus’ “Teach Ayn Rand in College, Do Well, and We’ll Send You to Washington” program."

Elizabeth Warren Faces Right-Wing Stooge: Here’s Who’s Quietly Funding Her Top Critic

www.alternet.org/economy/elizabeth-warren-faces-right-wing-stooge-heres-whos-quietly-funding-her-top-critic?page=0%2C0
"But the more troubling donation to Chingos’ research is the $500,000 grant from the Lumina Foundation, because of its ties to Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest provider of private student loans, and a leading student loan servicer through its subsidiary Navient. Lumina was  created in 2000, when USA Group, then the largest administrator of private student loans, sold the bulk of its assets to Sallie Mae, and restructured the rest into a private foundation. The founding chairman of Sallie Mae became the founding chairman of the Lumina Foundation, and four directors of Lumina come from the Sallie Mae board."

Will We Let Congress Hand Billion$ More To Big Corporations?

Will We Let Congress Hand Billion$ More To Big Corporations?

"Corporations currently owe up to $700 billion in unpaid, “deferred” taxes. Congress can make them pay, or let them off the hook. Guess which choice Congress is about to make."

Republicans Block Elizabeth Warren’s Student Loan Bill That Would Have Helped 40 Million

www.politicususa.com/2014/06/11/republicans-block-elizabeth-warrens-student-loan-bill-helped-40-million.html
"The message that this vote is sending today is that Republicans don’t care about the American people. The were bought, paid for, and solely represent the interests of the very wealthiest among us."

Breaking: Disgraced ‘Kissing Congressman’ ADMITS Taking Cash For Votes!

Breaking: Disgraced ‘Kissing Congressman’ ADMITS Taking Cash For Votes!

"McAllister, who ran on “Christian values,” admitted on  Thursday to another thing Jesus might not like: allowing his votes to be bought. While explaining how “money controls Washington” and work on Capitol Hill is  “steady cycle of voting for fundraising and money instead of voting for what is right,” McAllister admitted that he has voted against legislation with a payoff in mind."

New Report Documents How Privatization Steals Wages, Harms Communities

New Report Documents How Privatization Steals Wages, Harms Communities

"The report, "Race to the Bottom: How Outsourcing Public Services Rewards Corporations and Punishes the Middle Class," makes the case that when private contractors make huge profits from taxpayer dollars, money is often sucked out of local communities. Dollars that used to go to employees are sent to shareholders instead, harming communities as local workers have less to spend. Taxpayers take another hit when employees, who used to have access to health care and good wages, now have to rely on food stamps and Medicaid to survive."

The newest threat to the middle class: Why private equity is becoming a public problem

The newest threat to the middle class: Why private equity is becoming a public problem

"A few weeks ago, a top official at the Securities and Exchange Commission reported on what he called a “remarkable” amount of potentially illegal behavior in the private equity industry — aka the industry that buys up, changes and sells off smaller companies."

Ted Cruz Accuses Democrats Of Setting First Amendment On Fire, Being ‘Fahrenheit 451 Democrats’ (Video)

www.addictinginfo.org/2014/06/03/ted-cruz-accuses-democrats-setting-first-amendment-on-fire-being-fahrenheit-451-democrats-video/
"During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Senator Cruz remained unfazed by the copious amounts of dark money currently flowing into U.S. elections at an alarming rate. As the country strays away from ‘one person, one vote’ to one dollar-one vote, Cruz decides the real First Amendment issue deals with money, and money is of the utmost importance."

Ted Cruz Introduces Bill That Would Eliminate All Limits On Campaign Donations

www.thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/06/03/3444422/ted-cruz-introduces-that-would-eliminate-all-limits-on-campaign-donations/
"Yet, while Cruz is quite upfront about his bill’s intentions in the text of the legislation, the title of the bill is more misleading — Cruz named his legislation allowing billionaires to write unlimited checks to political candidates the “SuperPAC Elimination Act of 2014"."

The Government Crackdown On Offshore Tax Dodging Just Got Real

www.thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/06/03/3444090/fatca-tax-evasion-list/
"Over 77,000 separate foreign banks and financial firms will start sharing information on their American accountholders with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in cooperation with a major crackdown on offshore tax evasion, the Associated Press reports."

Moral Monday Sit-In Equates Peoples Health with Eco Health | Common Dreams

Moral Monday Sit-In Equates Peoples Health with Eco Health | Common Dreams

"'Moral Monday' demonstrators took their fight back to the state capitol building again this week and eleven people were detained and cited for refusing to leave as they attempted to lobby Republican Gov. Pat McCrory to help end the legislature's frontal assault on the health of the state's people and its environment."

$15 Wage Wins in Seattle: We Did This. Workers Did This. | Common Dreams

$15 Wage Wins in Seattle: We Did This. Workers Did This. | Common Dreams

"Less than six months after the start of an aggressive grassroots campaign, the Seattle City Council unanimously approved a $15 minimum wage on Monday, the highest in the nation."

Seattle City Council Unanimously Passes Historic $15 Minimum Wage

Seattle City Council Unanimously Passes Historic $15 Minimum Wage

"The Seattle City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Monday that gradually increases the minimum wage in the city to $15, which would make it the highest in the nation."

Chris Christie Donor's Property Venture Given $106 Million by the State

www.alternet.org/investigations/chris-christie-donors-property-venture-given-106-million-state
"Chris Christie’s New Jersey administration awarded a $105.6m public subsidy to a property venture involving a close friend and financial backer of the governor, after state law was amended to enable the project to qualify for the money."

Mike Pence Opposes Stimulus Projects Unless They Benefit Mike Pence | Right Wing Watch

Mike Pence Opposes Stimulus Projects Unless They Benefit Mike Pence | Right Wing Watch

"the Indiana Republican, now the state’s governor, is joining a long line of Republicans who voted against the stimulus but then took credit for stimulus dollars that went toward projects in their districts."

The Rich Are Being Held Hostage?

The Rich Are Being Held Hostage?

"If our society is built along the lines these Rand-acolytes want, it will be a disaster economically, but even more importantly, it will be a nightmare in terms of morality. As the most recent decade just proved most conclusively, letting billionaire investors on Wall Street do whatever they want without much regulation will result in a poorer, weaker society."

Paging Thomas Piketty! ALEC’s sneaky new ally: Behind the 1 percent’s brazen new scheme to raise your taxes — and cut their own

Paging Thomas Piketty! ALEC’s sneaky new ally: Behind the 1 percent’s brazen new scheme to raise your taxes — and cut their own

"But, if your whole point is to destroy government, then STAMP is exactly what you want. Just ask ALEC."