Ransacked Nation

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Attacking the Messenger: Smearing "Gasland" Producer Josh Fox - The Natural Gas Industry Pushes for Profits At All Costs

I shouldn't still be surprised by the blind greed of corporations, but their vigorous deceptions shock me nonetheless. The ONLY thing most of these entities care about is profit - until the LAW prohibits a specific destructive practice, or people rise up in sustained and dramatic defiance, they will persist in their actions. Many corporate 'citizens,' who enjoy the Constitutional rights but not the responsibility and accountability of individuals, will pursue profit at the expense of society. In particular, the Oil & Gas Industry (and Chemical) are as brazen as it gets - they will poison your drinking water and then mislead and lie about it until the bitter end.

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10504/attacking-messenger-smearing-gasland-producer-josh-fox

Bernie Sander's Top Ten Tax Avoiders

The Vermont Senator has been putting pressure on corporate tax delinquents recently with a number of public statements. It's time to close all of these loopholes and force corporations to pay their fair share of taxes!
http://beta.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/03/bernie-sanders-top-10-tax-avoiders

Wisconsin Judge Checks & Balances Lawless Governor, Making it "Crystal Clear" Anti-Labor Bill Is Blocked

Wisconsin Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi barred state workers from implementing Gov. Walker's law because of an earlier court ruling that the GOP tried to circumvent. Another ruling earlier in the day by Court of Appeals justices rejected a request from the state Attorney General to remove barriers to implementing the union-busting law.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/159562/wisconsin-judge-checks-balances-lawless-governor-making-it-crystal-clear-anti-labor-bill

The Extremist GOP Agenda and the Fungible Federal Dollar Theory

GOP 'welfare reform' targets strikers and... abortion
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/27/959602/-GOP-welfare-reform-targets-strikers-and-abortion?utm_

The Surprising New Class Politics

An interesting essay on how the GOP strategy of pitting private and public sector workers against each appears to have blown up in their faces. The April 5 Supreme Court election in Wisconsin will be the first test as to whether there has been a meaningful shift in public opinion against the divisive Republican tactics.
http://www.truth-out.org/ej-dionne-jr-the-surprising-new-class-politics68809

Polling tight in Wisconsin Supreme Court campaign
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/28/960965/-Polling-tight-in-Wisconsin-Supreme-Court-campaign?utm_

The Radioactive Ocean

With increasing radioactivity levels in the oceans near Fukushima it's instructive to review civilization's history of exploding and dumping dangerous radioactive materials into the oceans of the world.
http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/03/radioactive-ocean

The failure of shareholder capitalism

This story completely refutes the assertion that increases in productivity will lead to more jobs in the US. It also details the continued evisceration of our manufacturing base in this country as more and more jobs are shipped overseas in pursuit of cheaper labor and unregulated markets.
http://www.salon.com/news/economics/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/03/29/failure_of_shareholder_capitalism

The Perils Of Corporate Media: MSNBC Makes Few Mentions Of Tax Avoidance By Parent Company GE

The only substantive coverage on GE tax dodging by MSNBC was a full segment on Lawrence O'Donnell's show, and a partial segment clip is in this story. The news, that MSNBC parent GE received a $3.2 billion tax credit on $14 billion in profits for 2010, was only mentioned briefly twice by the network in a three-day period.
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/29/corporate-media-msnbc-ge/

Jon Stewart Slams GE for Corporate Tax Hypocrisy
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/03/29/daily_show_ge_corporate_taxes/index.html

Michigan Cuts Jobless Benefit by Six Weeks

The primary reason for all these severe state budget crises is a lack of tax revenue. Business is sitting on trillions of dollars and one third of American corporations pay zero tax with many getting large refunds. Corporations paid only 6.6% of tax revenues last year. And the people continue to suffer the consequences of businesses and lawmakers refusing to make Corporate America pay their fair share into the society from which it profits. "Shared burden," anyone?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/us/politics/29michigan.html?_r=1&hp

Undoing the Great Risk Shift

This paper identifies the major shift financial risk from corporations and the government onto families and individuals that has taken place over several decades.

http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/weblog/254.html

The GOP's Absurd Plan for the Economy: Lowering YOUR Wages

The Republican assault on labor is based on misleading assertions that they will result in more jobs for Americans. It's a new generation voodoo economics and will only serve to further reduce income for working people in an economy in which wages have been largely stagnant for decades. One economist estimates that the spending cuts, if enacted, will cost 700,000 jobs.
http://www.alternet.org/news/150400/the_gop's_absurd_plan_for_the_economy:_lowering_your_wages/?utm_

Right-Wingers Using Public Employees as 21st-Century Welfare Queens

http://www.alternet.org/story/148633/right-wingers_using_public_employees_as_21st-century_welfare_queens_/

Monday, March 28, 2011

New Populist Moment

An excellent summary and analysis of the current political climate and the prospects for impacting change. One of the keystone items is a constitutional amendment that clarifies that corporations are not persons who are eligible for civil rights.
http://www.truth-out.org/new-populist-moment68816

Greg Mitchell has been providing weekly updates on WikiLeaks-related developments. They provide a great resource for those interested in following the story despite Mitchell plugging his upcoming book on Pvt. Manning.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/159513/wikileaks-news-views-blog-monday-day-121

Wisconsin stops collecting union dues, starts charging more for health care

The Walker-led Republicans are moving to implement their union-busting law despite the fact that the Secretary of State says it is not yet in effect. A court hearing on the matter is set for Tuesday.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/118775974.html

Meanwhile, Indiana House Democrats have returned to the state after securing concessions from Republicans in the legislature.
http://www.npr.org/2011/03/28/134932285/indiana-democrats-end-boycott-return-to-capitol?ft=1&f=1001

Big Solar's Death Panels

This is an interesting piece on the conflict between installing renewable energy capacity and preserving the ecosystem. Alas, it's going to be complicated and litigious every step of the way!
http://motherjones.com/environment/2011/03/solar-panels-desert-tortoise-mojave

Weekly Standard Publishes Hagiography To Koch Brothers, Doesn’t Disclose Financial Ties To Kochs

The ever-vigilant site ThinkProgress reports on the undisclosed conflicts of interest of the Weekly Standard and its reporters, and their misleading and disingenuous story.
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/28/koch-weekly-standard/

Radioactive water spilling into tunnels beneath Japan's quake-damaged nuclear plant

None of the news coming out of Japan is very encouraging.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-sci-japan-reactor-damage-20110328,0,2784682.story?track=rss&utm_

Fukushima may end up as a concrete-encased ghost plant, says expert
http://www.grist.org/article/2011-03-28-fukushima-will-end-up-as-a-concrete-encased-ghost-plant-says-exp

American Thought Police

Krugman weighs in of the Wisconsin GOP's attempt to silence Professor Cronon.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/28/opinion/28krugman.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

The American Historical Association Deplores Effort to Intimidate Professor Cronon.
http://blog.historians.org/news/1293/aha-council-deplores-recent-intimidation-efforts-aimed-at-cronon