from the Center for American Progress
Archive for July, 2012
Once Upon a Trickle Down: The Rise and Fall of Trickle Down Economics
by n0madic, posted on Tuesday, July 31st, 2012 at 11:02 pmWalking Through the Halls of Power
by John Laesch, posted on Tuesday, July 31st, 2012 at 8:05 pmReflections from the Workers United Hall at 333 S. Ashland Ave., Chicago IL on July 30, 2012 – Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign meeting.
Present, past and future merge –
Walking in their footsteps – gaining strength hour by hour
Their voices echo off cold brick walls – shattering doubt and despair.
Only resolve lives here!
Great women and men sat on this very chair – plotting justice.
Alive and well – justice lives here!
Their rough hands pounded on this table – a solidarity drum – Here! Here!
Only solidarity lives here!
From the stage, the people’s voices gave democracy birth – the birth pains of revolution –
America, Democracy lives here!
It is here that anguish and anger
Si, Se Puede is all we know – hope lives here!
Ours is not the first nor the last – today’s struggles strengthened by the past
Worn steps, worn bodies – warm welcome comrades!
Power through unity – our future lives here!
Barlett and Steele on “The Betrayal of the American Dream”
by n0madic, posted on Monday, July 30th, 2012 at 10:42 amfrom Democracy Now!
The famed award-winning investigative reporting team of Donald Barlett and James Steele have just published a new book, “The Betrayal of the American Dream,” a followup to their landmark bestseller, “America: What Went Wrong.” As Republicans and Democrats continue disputing who should bear the brunt of the tax burden, Barlett and Steele argue that America’s middle class has been decimated over the years due to policies governing not only taxes but also bank regulations, trade deficits and pension funds. Their book chronicles how the American middle class has been systematically impoverished and its prospects thwarted in favor of a new ruling elite. Barlett and Steele have worked together for more than 40 years, sharing two Pulitzer prizes and two National Magazine awards. The duo joins us for the hour to discuss the assault on the middle class, the great tax heist, deregulation, the end of retirement, the outsourcing of U.S. jobs, the 2012 election and more.
Parts Two and Three after the jump.
Robert Pollin: Full Employment Is Possible
by n0madic, posted on Sunday, July 29th, 2012 at 1:31 pmfrom GRITtv with Laura Flanders
The latest book from Robert Pollin, economics professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst and director of the Political Economy Research Institute, is “Back to Full Employment.” If the title seems bold, the road map Pollin lays out behind it is hardly outlandish. In this conversation with Laura Flanders, Pollin explains how the Federal Reserve can grow employment tremendously, without the need for any legislation.
Urban Agriculture in Burlington VT
by n0madic, posted on Friday, July 27th, 2012 at 7:27 pmThe Great Opportunity Rip Off
by Pam Verner, posted on Friday, July 27th, 2012 at 12:45 pmI am a first generation American. My father was born in 1918 on a small island off the coast of Norway. He never finished high school. I grew up poor in the middle of a wealthy area of the Chicago suburbs dreaming about going to college with no financial ability to do so. I saw education as a way to climb out of our poverty and a sure ticket into the middle class.
I was taught that America is the land of opportunity and all I had to do was work for it. And so I did.
I worked two part-time jobs to fund my first year of college. Then I got married and 3 children intervened. When I was set to return to school, Reagan had just taken office and access to loans and grants had all but dried up. And so, without knowing anything about non-violent direct civil action, I did my first act of non-violent direct civil action.
Hotter today, a little rain, and…WHAT?
by Downtowner, posted on Wednesday, July 25th, 2012 at 9:37 pmI’ve been following the drought, and the multiple heat waves, and since it’s Wednesday, that means I am of course awaiting tomorrow morning’s weekly update to the drought monitor. We’ve had a little rain here, so perhaps the situation has improved? I hope so, but do understand there are vast swaths of the country that have not had as much rain as us and even here the grass is still brown.
Anyway, I saw a link to a NY Times story about the drought and heat, specifically their impact on infrastructure, and thought I’d check that out. The piece starts out with a bit about a jet sinking into the tarmac at an airport, and I admit I wasn’t paying much attention to which city that happened in, skimming, skimming, and then I saw something a little closer to home, that made me say out loud, ok out loud very loudly, “WHAT?”
(more…)
Bill Black Reports: LIBOR and HSBC
by n0madic, posted on Wednesday, July 25th, 2012 at 10:23 amfrom the Real News Network
Bill Black, author of “The Best Way To Rob a Bank is to Own One” begins a regular TRNN feature reporting on financial news
Developing Illinois’ Alternative Energy Sources
by n0madic, posted on Saturday, July 21st, 2012 at 12:55 pmfrom IllinoisCHannel TV
From Rural LaSalle County — we go on a tour looking at new solar and wind energy projects being developed in Illinois. We’ll hear about the costs, and how much these projects are contributing to the state’s electric generating capacity. We begin with an overview of the use of wind energy in Illinois, as described by Kevin Borgia, Director of the Illinois Wind Energy Coalition.
How Millennials and Students Won a Massive Victory on Loan Rates
by n0madic, posted on Friday, July 20th, 2012 at 10:06 pmfrom Rebuild the Dream
In January, nearly everyone thought the student loan interest rate was going to double — and no one could stop it. Then students stood up. They fought and they won
