Working Life

   Paul Krugman wasn’t actually writing directly to the Catfood Commission II (speaking for myself, I decline to use a superlative being used by many to describe the Congressional fool’s gathering because the superlative implies higher quality). But, his message, looking at the debacle in Europe, is very clear: austerity is a loser.    In […]

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May I introduce to you my hero for the day: Jed S. Rakoff of the Federal District Court in Manhattan. Yesterday, Rakoff said what we all know: the government, our government, is not serious about holding people accountable for the robbery and greed and incompetence that led to the financial collapse, costing millions of people […]

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   If you needed anymore evidence that the bond market is more powerful than any moral or ethical canon, just check out the fortunes of Silvio Berlusconi. He skates charges of corruption and bribery of judges dating back to 1994, dodges charges (so far) that he slept with underaged women (his wife called him "the […]

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   Billions of dollars can buy you a lot–for example, a little toy called New York City that you pocket for yourself and, then, keep for yourself even when the rules say it’s time to go (hey, if you’ve got billions, you can buy off politicians to let you keep the toy for a little […]

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     Ah, it’s Monday, and I’m walking the tip-to-tip–from upper Manhattan all the way to Wall Street–support march for #OWS. So, I feel optimistic–and here’s another little tidbit of news: the youthful economists-of-the-future are giving a big thumbs down to the teachings of the so-called "free market". They staged a walkout last week–which only got […]

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    Yesterday, I wrote about the monumentally crazy letter co-signed by 60 House DEMOCRATS, who, by adding their names to the letter, in my view, were embracing austerity, cuts in Medicare and a de-funding of basic government services. One of the signers of the letter, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), responded to my post. So, in […]

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   In today’s installment of stupidity, crass political calculations and the desperate need to be inducted into the Washington Post’s circle of Very Serious People, I present to you a list of 60 House Democrats who now say they are willing to lock arms with the people who seek to destroy Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security […]

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Somehow, I’ve been thinking a lot about Molly Ivins recently and how she would know exactly what to say about the absurdity of our political leaders who are just clueless. She once said, of former Republican House Majority leader Dick Armey, “If ignorance ever goes to $40 a barrel, I want drillin’ rights on that […]

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   The "Greed is Good" ethos–let me get my hands on every dollar possible no matter how many people lose their jobs or how sleazy I look or how bad this is for the shareholders–has not gone away. As I’ve argued, part of the problem is that, since the financial crisis in 2008, the system […]

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   What’s all the handwringing from conservatives about? Well, that did not take long. Minutes after news broke Sunday night that Herman Cain had been accused of sexual harassment in the 1990s, comparisons were drawn to Clarence Thomas. Even 20 years after Justice Thomas joined the Supreme Court, and Americans heard the term “sexual harassment’’ […]

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