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Occupy Protestors Convince City Of Buffalo To Move Its Money From JP Morgan
Brief story from ThinkProgress showing that Occupy protestors succeeded in convincing Buffalo to move $45 million out of JP Morgan Chase and into a credit union
banksters  OWS 
19 hours ago
Government Spending: "Sometimes Things Are Not What We Think They Are"
Mark Thoma provides us with some collected older posts (his and others') which refute the charges of wingnuts that Obama has massively increased government spending
Obama  government  stimulus  wingnuts 
19 hours ago
Yeah! The Housing Bottom Is Here! (PWBC™)
A truly shocking list (with links!) of how badly (and how often!) the country's financial soothsayers and prognosticators get it wrong.
housing  economics  WRONG 
20 hours ago
Basics: How Overrepresented Are Rural and Low-Population States? | Angry Bear - Financial and Economic Commentary
Angry Bear gets specific about the ways in which the US governmental system, specifically the Senate and the electoral college, vastly overrepresent rural and low-population areas
government  Senate  electoral_college 
20 hours ago
The Polling Firm Rasmussen Lies to Its Clients
Brad DeLong gets promotional email from Rasmussen Reports touting "50% unemployment, a 90% stock market drop, and 100% annual inflation" starting in 2013
polls  Rasmussen  GOP  hackery 
yesterday
Macro: intuition vs. theory
EXCELLENT piece by Noah Smith explaining how right-leaning economists and politicians appear to be discarding good modeling in favor of "common sense," and why that's the wrong approach
economics  politics 
29 days ago
How the 1% think about their wealth
Felix Salmon points out the obvious conflict-of-interest of Chesapeake Energy's CEO in light of the recent book by Edward Conard arguing that the rich are UNDERcompensated.
economics  politics  assholes 
4 weeks ago
Ethics office clears Bachus of insider trading
Spencer Bachus (Serve The Banks-AL) is apparently not actually a criminal...just a corporate stooge.
economics  banksters  Spencer_Bachus 
4 weeks ago
John Kasich, Chris Christie, Scott Walker failing together and Republicans continue to lie about it! | Uppity Wisconsin
GOP governance in action, as shown by a BLS report showing the largest monthly decrease in jobs for 4/12 were in Ohio (Kasich), New Jersey (Christie), and Wisconsin (Walker).
politics  GOP  economics  jobs  employment  labor 
4 weeks ago
Philip Pilkington: Matt Yglesias’ Plan to Seize Your Savings for the Good of the Economy « naked capitalism
Philip Pilkington pens a devastating takedown of Matt Yglesias' nutty-sounding technocratic approach to cashless economy and negative real interest rates.
economics  Matt_Yglesias  idiocy 
5 weeks ago
Banks Seen Dangerous Defying Obama’s Too-Big-to-Fail Move - Bloomberg
Bloomberg article pointing out that in 2011, banks' assets totaled 56% of US economy, while in 2007, they held 43% - meaning "too big to fail" hasn't been solved at all
banksters  economics  too-big-to-fail  Obama 
6 weeks ago
Corruption is Responsible for 80% of Your Cell Phone Bill | Economy | AlterNet
Alternet article on the cost (to consumers) of large wireless carriers investing in politicians instead of infrastructure or competing with one another to increase service and lower cost.
economics  telecommunications  wireless  politics  corruption  lobbying 
7 weeks ago
Basilisk's Observations: The Fallacy of Strict Constructionism
EXCELLENT historically based takedown of the entire concept of "strict constructionism" - i.e., the notion popular among conservative jurists and legal scholars that the constitution's "original intent" should always be used to determine cases before the court today.
justice  SCOTUS  judicial_activism  strict_constructionism  conservatism 
7 weeks ago
Gary Shilling Makes Case for Another U.S. Recession - possible claim chowder?
Gary Shilling says the US headed for another recession this year, in 2012, due to various fundamentals (Europe, housing, employment). Prescient genius or laughably out of touch?
economics  recession  predictions 
7 weeks ago
Why Is the Left Slice of the Democrats Getting Crushed?
Matt Stoller at Yves Smith's place lays out the reasons the "online left" has lost so much ground from what should have been a position of recent-experience-based authority on economic issues and other issues.
economics  politics  progressive_strategies  Blue_Dogs 
7 weeks ago
Oops: Florida Republican Forgets To Remove ALEC Mission Statement From Boilerplate Anti-Tax Bill | ThinkProgress
Hilarious, in a not-so-funny sort of way: Florida state Rep. Rachel Burgin (R) introduced an ALEC-written bill with the ALEC preamble still attached to it, proving that many legislators are a) lazy and b) not all that bright, and also that c) corporations are literally writing our laws.
politics  Florida  GOP  ALEC  corruption  idiocy 
7 weeks ago
Missing Molly Ivins
Paul Krugman's thorough, loving tribute to Molly Ivins' brilliance and especially her fearlessness
media  courage  Molly_Ivins  Paul_Krugman 
9 weeks ago
Bernanke: There's No Housing Bubble to Go Bust
Jaw-dropping statement from Ben Bernanke in the October 27, 2005 Washington Post to the effect that there is no housing bubble, so it cannot go bust. Among the wrongest predictions ever for a major economic policy figure.
Ben_Bernanke  economics  housing_bubble 
9 weeks ago
Did Affordable Housing Legislation Contribute to the Subprime Securities Boom?
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis says there's no evidence the CRA or other affordable housing initiatives contributed to the subprime securities fiasco.
economics  banksters  housing_bubble 
9 weeks ago
The Run-Up in Home Prices: Is it Real or Is it Another Bubble? | Reports
Dean Baker at CEPR in 2002(!!) suspects America is in the beginning of a housing bubble.
Dean_Baker  economics  CEPR  housing_bubble 
10 weeks ago
Obama’s evolution: Behind the failed ‘grand bargain’ on the debt - The Washington Post
Corker of a post-mortem on the failed "grand bargain" talks that took place last summer (2011). Paints Republicans in their usual bad light, but paints Dems (especially Obama but also Pelosi/Reid in not much better light).
Obama  Nancy_Pelosi  Harry_Reid  deficit  economics  grand_bargain 
10 weeks ago
Philip Pilkington: The Irish Begin to Wake Up to the Fact That They are Repaying Money That is Then Burned « naked capitalism
Philip Pilkington runs down the reasons why Ireland is getting screwed by being forced to pay back debts that should never have been adopted by the state (and therefore, the Irish people) at any time.
banksters  economics  Ireland 
11 weeks ago
Is Red Meat – Or FAKE Meat – Killing Us?
Excellent article on the problems with grain-fed, mass-produced beef in (of all places) ZeroHedge
health  diet  factory_farming 
11 weeks ago
Arizona Death Panel Claims Another Victim - Forbes
Real life, private company "death panels" in Arizona. Not the horror the wing nuts raised a hue and cry about with respect to the PPACA, but the fact that NONE OF THEM SPOKE OUT ABOUT THIS shows their hypocrisy.
health_care  PPACA  death_panels 
11 weeks ago
Twitter / @JeffersonObama: @rollingingraves @Politica ...
Jefferson Obama, once again having trouble distinguishing between a pollster (whose job it is to...er...analyze polls) and a partisan hack, whose job it would be to elect Democrats and defeat Republicans.
Twitter  Jefferson_Obama  polls  five-thirty-eight 
11 weeks ago
Rep. Frank joins calls for top Fannie, Freddie regulator to be replaced - TheHill.com
Good run-down of the issues surrounding the difficulties of replacing DeMarco at FHFA.
economics  finance  FHFA  Obama  politics 
11 weeks ago
Norquist: Republicans Will Impeach Obama If He Doesn't Extend Bush Tax Cuts | ThinkProgress
Grover Norquist says in LATE JANUARY 2012 that Republicans will impeach President Obama if he raises taxes.
Grover_Norquist  taxes  Economics 
11 weeks ago
NY Times -The Power to Kill
New York Times blasts Eric Holder's speech supporting extra-judicial killings.
Obama  rule_of_law  Awlaki 
11 weeks ago
Dear Andrew Sullivan: Why Focus on Obama's Dumbest Critics? - Atlantic Mobile
A definitive beat-back of Andrew Sullivan's fawning fanboi slag-off of Obama's critics
Obama  Andrew_Sullivan 
11 weeks ago
The Case for Insurance Coverage of Contraceptive Services And Supplies Without Cost-Sharing
Guttmacher Instirute survey of studies covering health and cost savings when women are allowed greater access to contraception.
womens_issues  contraception  health_care  Economics 
11 weeks ago
Jobs Calculator
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's employment calculator: input a target unemployment (U-3) rate, and a number of months to achieve it from today's stats, and it will tell you how many jobs-per-month are required to achieve that.
unemployment  economics 
12 weeks ago
Obama embraces K Street
Dana Milbank has the details on the Obama administration's sneaky attempts to get around its own pious ban on lobbyists working within the administration by hiring career lobbyists who take their name off the faceplate of their lobbying firms just prior to hire by the White House.
lobbying  Obama  hypocrisy 
12 weeks ago
The complex reflex
Ryan Avent at The Economist offers a thoughtful look at how financial innovation, just like innovation in other fields (from medicine to technology) can be a good thing, even fostering innovation and development in other fields (as access to and use of money becomes easier and more efficient).
finance  economics 
12 weeks ago
Farmworker pay can be boosted at little cost to consumers | Fox News Latino
Unbelievable article from (of all places) FOX Latino, showing results of UC Davis professor Philip Martin's research that migrant farm worker pay could be raised 40% without adding more than $16/year to the average Americans' grocery bill.
labor  justice  economics 
12 weeks ago
Nope, more drilling won’t bring back $2.50 gasoline - The Washington Post
Something to answer the "drill, bably, drill" idiots with: Ezra Klein shows us why just drilling won't bring back $2.50/gal. gasoline
oil  gas_prices  economics 
march 2012
How to buy your way out of a felony charge | Felix Salmon
Felix Salmon recounts the tale of investment banker Joel Erzinger, who ran over a doctor with his car, then fled, and ultimately wound up essentially buying his way out of a felony hit-and-run conviction
banksters  crime  entitlement 
march 2012
Calm Down. Iran's Missiles Can't (and Won't) Hit the East Coast. | Danger Room | Wired.com
Spencer Ackerman at Wired's Dangerrom runs down how unlikely it is (read: impossible, currently and for some time to come) that Iran could seriously threaten the U.S. with nuclear missiles.
Iran  U.S.InternationalAffairs  warmongering 
march 2012
Debtors' Prison Gets a 2011 Update - WSJ.com
Wall Street Journal article about the return of debtors' prison to America, 2011. More than a third of US states now allow borrowers to be JAILED for outstanding debts.
crime  debt  debtors_prison 
march 2012
The Return Of Debtor's Prisons: Thousands Of Americans Jailed For Not Paying Their Bills | ThinkProgress
ThinkProgress article on the creeping return of debtors' prisons in America, 2011.
crime  debt  debtors_prison 
march 2012
Police Taser Death Toll Reaches 500 in US
Reader Supported News article on reaching the milestone of 500 people dead in the USA due to tasers. Disgusting.
law_enforcement  police-state  tasers 
march 2012
Don’t blame the Depression on the gold standard – but don’t expect it back either
Cato Institute scholar points out that the gold standard most goldbugs long for is not the broken-by-Britain one o the '30s, but the stable one of the earlier 1870-1920 period, expecting a return to gold now is impossible.
finance  gold_standard  economics 
march 2012
Despite Cantor’s 'Zero Tolerance', GOP Ethics Scandals | ThinkProgress
ThinkProgress dredges up an old video interview of Eric Cantor in mid-2010 by the National Review where he talks about Democrats' "unwillingness or inability" to "drain the (ethical) swamp" in Washington. Cantor waxes ecstatic about his own ability to drain the swamp in the interview, which TP juxtaposes against the dozen-plus GOP congresspeople currently under serious federal investigation for a variety of ethical misdeeds.
ethics  hypocrisy  GOP  crime  Eric_Cantor 
march 2012
U.S. does not believe Iran is trying to build nuclear bomb - Los Angeles Times
LA Times article on the consensus view of the US intelligence community: namely, that Iran isn't building - or attempting to build - a nuclear weapon currently (Feb. 2012)
LA_Times  Iran  war 
february 2012
RomneyCare Is Working Well In Massachusetts—Will Mitt Romney Admit It?
Matt Yglesias admits voting for Mitt Romney for MA Gov in 2001
Matt_Yglesias  Mitt_Romney  politics  media 
february 2012
Welcome … to the world of failed nations
Article detailing how schools are a feeder system for farm (slave) labor in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan  politics  war_on_terror 
february 2012
U.S. Corporate Tax Rate Plunges To 40 Year Low Of 12.1 Percent | ThinkProgress
Think Progress article detailing a WSJ expose from the CBO, which notes that effective corporate tax rates are at their lowest in forty years
corporatism  gaming-the-system  taxes 
february 2012
Not Just Safari
Internet Explorer dev team catches Google using secret API workaround to bypass user-set privacy preferences in IE
computer  web  Internet  Google 
february 2012
More Foreclosure Mischief: Bankruptcy Hijackings « naked capitalism
Naked Capitalism shows how the mortgage industry and bankruptcy attorneys consipre to get fees from the sausage-making of illicit foreclosures
banksters  fraud  mortgage  robosigning 
february 2012
The Moving of the Overton Window on Fiscal Policy | FDL News Desk
2012 discussion moves the Overton Window to the right as a result of BOTH parties' actions.
politics  economics  catfood_commission  Overton_window 
february 2012
Raging against the foreclosure machine | iWatch News by The Center for Public Integrity
EXCELLENT Primer on exactly how the current foreclosure mess occurs
banksters  economics  fraud  foreclosure 
february 2012
"Comparative Advantage" by Nicholas Confessore
Nick Confessore from Dec. 2002 reminds us why Paul Krugman is so oft-quoted: because he's so oft-RIGHT.
politics  economics  Dubya  Paul_Krugman 
february 2012
Stumbling and Mumbling: Unemployment, well-being and capitalism
Fascingating take on capitalism REQUIRING not just that there BE unemployment, but that the unemployed be made unhappy.
economics  politics  unemployment  labor  capitalism 
february 2012
Bush's Shocking Biblical Prophecy Emerges: God Wants to "Erase" Mid-East Enemies "Before a New Age Begins" | News & Politics | AlterNet
George W. Bush told French President Jacques Chirac that Gog and Magog were on the move in the middle east, hence the need for the Iraq war.
Dubya  Iraq  religion  fanatacism 
february 2012
Why the Senate hasn't passed a budget
The Economist explains the technical, parliamentary reasons why the US Senate hasn't passed a budget in 1,000 days plus. And - as usual - it's directly a result of Republican foot-dragging
GOP  Senate  asshats  obstructionism 
february 2012
Incoming GOP Financial Services Chairman: Washington's Role Is 'To Serve The Banks' | ThinkProgress
Pat Garofalo at ThinkProgress shows us the ridiculous Spencer Bachus (R-AL) saying just prior to his ascension to the chair of the Financial Services committee, that the role of Washington (by which he means congress) is "to serve the banks" (as opposed to regulate them).
banksters  Spencer_Bachus  idiocy  regulations 
february 2012
Getting More Liberal With Age
Catherine Rampell at NYT points to sociological research that says people don't get more conservative with age
sociology  aging  conservatism 
february 2012
Moyers: Meet the Shameless Plutocrats Choking What's Left of Our Democracy | Economy | AlterNet
Bill Moyers and Michael Winship pen a desperate-sounding plaint against the corrosive influence of plundered money in politics
campaign_finance  politics  elecitons 
february 2012
Private Equity Industry Attracts S.E.C. Scrutiny - NYTimes.com
SEC begins scrutiny authorized under Dodd-Frank of the private equity industry
banksters  finance  regulation  SEC 
february 2012
Psst...Tea Party is Just Like Everyone Else...Pass it Around | Stan Collender's Capital Gains and Games
Stan Collender shows that the Tea Party is all for keeping or expanding the federal spending they LIKE...
hypocrisy  teabaggers  wingnuts  spending 
february 2012
There Is No Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Term Sheet
Dave Dayen alerts us to the startling news that there is literally no foreclosure fraud term sheet: all those people pushing for this "great" deal literally had not seen what they were pushing...because details had not yet been drawn up.
banksters  housing_bubble  fraud 
february 2012
Bank CEOs Still Earn Big Bucks as Market Caps Shrink
The Wall Street titan's CEO, Jamie Dimon, will earn just shy of $42 million this year for a bank that lost nearly a quarter of its market cap—or 23 percent—during the year, according to Bove's numbers.
Jamie_Dimon  banksters  CEOs 
february 2012
J.P. Morgan, HSBC sued for silver manipulation
Two separate lawsuits filed in federal court in Manhattan Wednesday allege that banks J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and HSBC Holdings Inc. manipulate the price of silver futures by "amassing enormous short positions."

The suits allege that by managing giant positions in silver futures and options, the banks have influenced the prices of silver on the New York Stock Exchanges' Comex Exchange since early 2008.
Jamie_Dimon  banksters  fraud  Chase 
february 2012
J.P. Morgan Forfeits Millions in Settling Alabama Bribery Case - NYTimes.com
J. P. Morgan Securities will forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars in fees on derivatives contracts that it sold an Alabama county, under a settlement announced Wednesday that could offer hope to other governments staggering under similar deals.
Jamie_Dimon  fraud  banksters  Chase 
february 2012
JPMorgan Settles Bond Bid-Rigging Case for $211 Million - NYTimes.com
JPMorgan Chase reached a $211 million settlement with federal and state authorities on Thursday to resolve allegations that it cheated governments in 31 states by rigging the bidding process for reinvesting the proceeds of dozens of municipal bond transactions.
Jamie_Dimon  banksters  Chase  fraud 
february 2012
JPMorgan Settles Mortgage Securities Case
JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $153.6 million to settle federal civil accusations that it misled investors in a complex mortgage securities transaction in 2007
Jamie_Dimon  Chase  banksters  fraud 
february 2012
Under Walker, Wisconsin is No. 1 job loser
John Nichols points out that under Scott Walker, Wisconsin has been the nation's largest job-loser.
Scott_Walker  labor  assholes 
february 2012
Scott Walker Admits Union-Busting Provision 'Doesn't Save Any' Money For The State Of Wisconsin | ThinkProgress
Think Progress article recalling Wisconsin governor Scott Walker's appearance before a House panel in Washington where Dennis Kucinich asked him how much money his union-stripping bills saved the state of Wisconsin. Walker replies: "it doesn't save any."
Scott_Walker  labor 
february 2012
An Inside Look at Susan G. Komen for the Cure's Spin Machine - Jeffrey Goldberg - Health - The Atlantic
Leaked documents from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, showing careful planning of (and support for) the best way to dump ONLY Planned Parenthood.
Komen  politics  Planned_Parenthood  wingnuts  assholes 
february 2012
Recealed: inside the Chinese suicide sweatshop where workers toil 34-hours straight to make your iPod
Stunning Daily Mail (UK) article about how badly workers at China's FOXCONN (where Apple products are assembled) are treated.
Apple  labor  capitalism  FOXCONN 
january 2012
Should The Times Be a Truth Vigilante? | The Public Editor - NYTimes.com
New York Times' public editor, Arthur S. Brisbane, asks without apparent hint of irony whether the Times "should be a 'truth vigilante'." Yes. This is what our public discourse has devolved into.
NY_Times  journamalism  idiocy 
january 2012
Santorum: Our Abortion Was Different
Rick Santorum's wife had a twenty-week abortion in 1996. Santorums OK'ed it because of danger to Mrs. Santorum.
frothy_mix  Rick_Santorum  abortion  hypocrisy 
january 2012
When Romney ran Bain Capital, his word was not his bond
Article by a former trader detailing the sleazy way(s) Mitt Romney's Bain Capital dealt with companies they were trying to buy.
Mitt_Romney  GOP  POTUS12 
january 2012
10 reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free
Jonathan Turley details the still-advancing police state in America, 2012.
Obama  police-state  surveillance  terrorism 
january 2012
U.S. GAO - Troubled Asset Relief Program: As Treasury Continues to Exit Programs, Opportunities to Enhance Communication on Costs Exist
GAO study showing that the United States government (and thus, the people) did NOT "make money on TARP."
economics  politics  TARP 
january 2012
The Teflon reputations of deficit hawks...goes all the way back to the Great Depression
Ezra Klein ferrets out the curious fortunes of one Lewis Douglas, one of FDR's top advisors. Douglas was deeply against the New Deal and cozied up to popular Republicans at the same time he was at the highest levels of the Roosevelt Administration. After he left, he was not discredited, he was offered plum jobs...and eventually became a Republican.
politics 
january 2012
Apple CEO Makes $378 Million As Its Chinese Workers Still Toil In Terrible Conditions
ThinkProgress details the awful conditions present at Apple's main Chinese supplier/assembler, FOXCONN, while new CEO Tim Cook takes home 379 million this year.
business  Apple  labor  oppression 
january 2012
Reclaiming the Politics of Freedom
EXCELLENT article on why the right in America can continue to win by doing nothing more than doubling-down on their failed ideas, and what the left needs to do to truly counter (and ultimately defeat) it.
progressive_strategies  Democrats  GOP 
january 2012
Why Obama might veto defense bill: It would hurt the fight against terrorism
Marc Ambinder lays out a thoughtful explanation of the issues surrounding the 2011 NDAA...BEFORE all the sturm und drang erupted.
Obama  security  NDAA  terrorism  detention 
january 2012
Michelle Obama’s Evolution as First Lady - NYTimes.com
In-depth article showing a behind-the-scenes look at the first few years of the Obama White House. Michelle is revealed as a steadfast backer of her husband, but someone not always comfortable with her own role and not enamored of the deal-cutting done by top aides to the President. Obamabots' heads everywhere explode. ;o)
Obama  Michelle_Obama  Robert_Gibbs  Valerie_Jarrett 
january 2012
Support for War Tests Lieberman's Re-election Prospects - New York Times
Obama, in 2006, stumps for Lieberman and calls him 'mentor'.
Joe_Lieberman  Obama 
january 2012
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