Posts tagged ‘economy’

Chris Lauzen at Odds with the Pope Francis on Economic Issues

by , posted on Thursday, November 28th, 2013 at 7:16 pm

It is Thanksgiving and I can’t get over the conversation I had with Chris Lauzen last week over the topic of a living wage ordinance. Even though I was born and raised on the mission field in West Africa, I don’t think that a politician’s faith should matter, unless that politician makes it part of his or her campaign. Chris Lauzen has put his faith front and center in most of his political endeavors – his political views as one who professes very publicly to be Roman Catholic are fair game. And, if you read the press release linked above you will notice that Lauzen doesn’t mind criticizing the Pope when the Pope admonishes Republicans. Maybe Chris is more in tune with God than the Pope is?

This morning I read a recent speech by Pope Francis who condemned the idolatry of cash in capitalism and called for a society with people, not money, at its heart. “It is the consequence of a global choice, an economic system which leads to this tragedy; an economic system which has at its center an idol called money.”

It made me think that the phone conversation Chris and I had should be made public and I should let readers decide if they think Lauzen is a man of faith or another hypocrite.

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K12 Inc., “The Dog Ate My Data” in Valley View Too

by , posted on Monday, April 1st, 2013 at 10:55 am

After making 16 similar presentations at public hearings over the course of 10 days in the Fox Valley, and receiving hundreds of tough questions, K12 Inc. finally showed up with a panel of executives.  I counted seven K12 Inc. executives, one attorney, and three board members from Virtual Learning Solutions.  They were all nicely dressed in business attire, their PowerPoint had new graphics, and their data was still non existent. K12 Inc. had 10 days to do their homework and once again failed to produce any substance.

Photo from D356U K12 Inc. Public Hearing - March 27, 2013

For almost three hours the D365U School Board kept pushing for data, substance and explanations about K12’s questionable history of grade doctoring, cover-ups, lawsuits, scandals and investor settlements.  The board was phenomenal, and Dr. Vince Gaddis (NIJwJ Steering Committee member) drove it home in a “worth the watch 12 speech” below the fold.

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Gerald Epstein: Rich Should Be Happy with Cliff Deal

by , posted on Thursday, January 3rd, 2013 at 7:32 pm

from The Real News Network

President Obama did not have to make this deal. It’s a debacle being called a win.

Gerald Epstein is Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute, and Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

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Robert Pollin: Economic Outlook for 2013

by , posted on Tuesday, January 1st, 2013 at 10:34 pm

from The Real News Network

With austerity policies in Europe and the USA and slow down in China and India, 2013 needs innovative policies or more recession is likely

Robert Pollin is the Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute and Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

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Where Did the Debt Come From?

by , posted on Wednesday, October 24th, 2012 at 6:00 pm

from the Center for American Progress

We hear a lot about our debt. And it is a pressing issue. But where did it come from? Michael Linden, the Center for American Progress’s Director of Tax and Budget Policy, looks at what happened in the 10-years since the Congressional Budget Office projected a massive surplus.

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Greek Society Unravels Under Austerity Measures

by , posted on Wednesday, October 24th, 2012 at 3:22 pm

from The Real News Network

Costas Lapavitsas: Merkel’s visit to Greece shows Eurozone leadership don’t want to push Greece out, but situation is explosive as people are furious at austerity measures

Most Greeks Look to Left for Solutions, but Far Right Gaining Strength

Costas Lapavitsas Pt.2: Left party Syriza leads polls but conditions for fascism also developing as crisis deepens

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Are Big Banks Too Big to Regulate?

by , posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2012 at 4:00 pm

from The Real News Network

Michael Greenberger: If somebody understood the economic issues and explained them to the American people, you could easily be elected president by saying you’re going to put an end to the Wall Street hijinks

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Financialization and the World Economy

by , posted on Sunday, September 30th, 2012 at 7:36 pm

from The Real News Network

Gerald Epstein, Political Economy Research Institute, and Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst): Financialization of the economy has been developing since the late 19th century and is now at historic Levels

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Richard Wolff: Spain & Greece – Is This What Collapse Looks Like?

by , posted on Friday, September 28th, 2012 at 7:52 pm

from The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann (RT)

Richard Wolff, economist & visiting professor in the Graduate Program for International Affairs, New School University, joins Thom Hartmann. Workers in Greece went on strike Wednesday to protest another round of spending cuts under consideration by the Greek government. Public employees, teachers, medics, lawyers, and even banksters walked off their jobs and took to the streets to protest salary and pension cuts. It’s the first such strike since the new Conservative government took power in June. Yet the Greek government today unveiled it’s new austerity budget pledging to cut $11.5 billion over the next several years. So what will this latest round of cuts due to a nation that is already collapsing under the banksters demands?

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German Economy and European Crisis

by , posted on Wednesday, September 26th, 2012 at 12:16 pm

from The Real News Network

German Left Party Vice-President Sahra Wagenknecht on wage repression in Germany and the European Stability Mechanism

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