Pulitzer Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz weighs in on the prevalent concentration of wealth and power in the America, in a Vanity Fair article. Convincingly, he points out that the other 99% of Americans have suffered reduced income and living standards while the super-rich continue to consolidate wealth and power. In terms of income inequality the US now lags well behind Europe and more closely resembles countries like Russia and Iran. Stiglitz also debunks the "marginal-productivity theory" often used by economists to explain vast disparities in income in western societies.
http://www.vanityfair.com/society/features/2011/05/top-one-percent-201105?currentPage=all&wpisrc=nl_wonk
Karl Rove's new conservative-driven Wikicountability is a craven attempt to respond to the popularity of WikiLeaks. It is targeting President Obama through a host of FOIA requests that have failed to reveal anything meaningful at all. Unfortunately, the GOP today favors propaganda over true jounalism.
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/04/05/rove_wikileaks_journalism/index.html
The GOP in the House is recklessly undermining airline travel safety through draconian budget cuts they propose and a provision to count non-voting members in union elections as 'no' votes against the membership.
http://www.alternet.org/news/150493/think_that_hole_in_the_southwest_plane_is_scary_the_gop's_plan_to_gut_airline_regulation_is_what's_truly_frightening_/?utm_
More than 700 bills have been introduced around the country, in virtually every state, seeking to restrict worker's rights. Tennessee and Florida have recently gotten into the act, and a broad movement opposing these draconian attacks on the middle class is gaining momentum.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-unions-20110402,0,3452790.story
Workers Fight Back Against More Than 700 Anti-Union Bills
http://www.thenation.com/blog/159690/workers-fight-back-against-more-700-anti-union-bills
The Patriot Act has been used to eviscerate civil liberty protections for the American citizenry in the name of protecting national security. It's high time that significant reforms are written into the law to counter warrantless wiretaps of citizens and other abuses of personal privacy. If these reforms are not instituted then President Obama should veto the reauthorization of the Patriot Act.
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/04/10539/today-call-white-house-and-demand-patriot-act-reform
Tomorrow's Supreme Court election in Wisconsin is critical in the battle to roll back union-busting law, and would be remembered as a major victory for the Left if JoAnne Kloppenburg defeats David Prosser to counter the conservative tilt of the Court.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/04/wisconsin-walker-election-prosser-union
This is precisely the type of aggressive legal action that the people need to initiate if there is to be a chance of turning the tables on overwhelming corporate power. We must attack through law as that is the method through which the will of communities is continually subjugated to the often reckless goals of free enterprise.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24103
This is truly an outrageous act by the Fed, particularly since the Libyan loans are at a lower rate of interest than what the Fed charged the US Treasury during the bailout. Senator Bernie Sanders is virtually the only politician trying to bring this and other banking malpractice to light. I know I'm a little late on this but we should all know that this is going on.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/159621/why-federal-reserve-propping-bank-libya
This is a very important story that the NYT broke about a month ago, before I started the blog, and I wanted to get it out there to those who have yet to hear about the dangers of this natural gas drilling practice.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/us/27gas.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=hydrofracking&st=cse
