MORNING MESSAGE: A Vision For Social Security OurFuture.org’s Richard Eskow: “Social Security benefits lag far behind those of other developed countries. A new analysis of census data shows that elder poverty is much higher than we first realized. And yet the discussion in Washington is of cutting, not expanding, it. The number of impoverished seniors [...]
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MORNING MESSAGE: Apple: Bad Model for “Tax Reform.” California, New Tax Thinkers, Chart a Better Way. OurFuture.org’s Roger Hickey: “In testimony last week Apple CEO Timothy Cook proudly described the ingenious ways in which Apple tax attorneys have gamed the U.S. tax system … Cook also laid out a plan for ‘reform’ of corporate taxes [...]
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MORNING MESSAGE: Apple Pie is American, But Apple Computer Isn’t OurFuture.org’s Richard Eskow: “We should treat Apple and other formerly American multinationals as neutral entities with whom we can cooperate at times for our mutual benefit. We should encourage them to invest in the United States and hire American workers, as we do with other [...]
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Republicans have been eager to blame the sequester on President Obama, and complain when certain cuts affect their districts. But beyond proposing robbing-Peter-to-pay-Paul solutions for things like protecting air traffic controllers, what do Republican want to do about the sequester cuts? Cut more. The AP reports: Republicans controlling the House pressed ahead Tuesday with slashing [...]
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MORNING MESSAGE: What’s Wrong With Jamie Dimon is What’s Wrong With America OurFuture.org’s Richard Eskow: “After today’s shareholder votes at JPMorgan Chase, Mark Gongloff is right to describe Dimon as a ‘cult leader.’ … But that’s not the end of the story. It’s too easy to externalize responsibility by pinning the blame on villains. … [...]
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MORNING MESSAGE: A Long Cold Summer For Young People Looking For Work OurFuture.org’s Isaiah J. Poole: “Just in the past decade Congress has cut $1 billion from youth jobs programs, according to a report by the Center for American Progress. And that is at a time when even before the Great Recession youth unemployment was [...]
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MORNING MESSAGE: Five Real Scandals Republicans Might Want To Address OurFuture.org’s Bill Scher: “Republican might want to ask themselves: do we really believe there’s any there there? … Meanwhile, there are real scandals out there: festering crises that demand policy solutions and government action. For example: 1. Carbon dioxide atmospheric levels hovering around 400 parts [...]
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Over at The Week, I make the argument that presidential scandal politics usually fail to lift the political prospects of the party outside the White House. No party has reaped a political reward from pushing scandal since Nixon, yet both parties have repeatedly tried. However, short of impeachment or electoral gains, opposition parties may be [...]
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MORNING MESSAGE: Simpson-Bowles Austerity Gang, Go Home OurFuture.org’s Richard Eskow: “A lot of liberals, like Josh Marshall, are celebrating the fact that the deficit is plummeting so rapidly. But it’s actually going down too quickly, in a way that undercuts long-term stability and growth … ‘Go big or go home,’ bellow Bowles and Simpson, and [...]
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MORNING MESSAGE: America’s Education Spring: A Growing Revolt Against ‘Reform’ Mandates OurFuture.org’s Jeff Bryant: “… the resistance to top-down education mandates is building. The movement is propelled by forces far greater than what education journalists and policy leaders understand – widespread grievances about inequity, unfairness, and public disempowerment. The revolt is happening. The revolt is [...]
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