Archive
Dirt Diggers Digest – Tiananmen Square Inc.
From Dirt Diggers Digest:
Tiananmen Square Inc.
October 1st, 2010 by Phil Mattera
Large corporations don’t depend on China only for cheap labor; they also seem to be adopting the practices of that country’s repressive government in the treatment of dissidents. It has just come to light that oil giant Chevron is working with Houston authorities in the prosecution of shareholder activist Antonia Juhasz, who berated executives and directors at the company’s annual meeting last May over environmental and human rights issues.
CBPP – In Case You Missed It…
From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Off the Charts Blog:
This week on Off the Charts, we discussed the recession, federal budget and tax issues, state tax issues, and a proposal that would impede implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
- On the recession, Chad Stone highlighted the jobs deficit that remains despite the official end of the recession. Arloc Sherman pointed out that the number of people living in deep poverty has risen 22 percent since the recession began. Donna Pavetti continued her countdown until the end of the now-expired TANF Emergency Fund, featuring what the fund accomplished, the support that existed to extend the fund, and next steps.
- On federal budget and tax issues, we summed up the issues that Congress debated in recent weeks and is likely to revisit during November’s lame-duck session. Chuck Marr explained that growing income inequality is another reason not to extend tax cuts for the wealthy, with the majority of income gains in the last expansion going to the top 1 percent of households (updated charts here). Jim Horney answered questions about what the new fiscal year means for federal programs and discussed a proposal at the President’s Fiscal Commission to move from an annual to a biennial federal budget.
- On state tax issues, Nick Johnson noted that while revenue losses for this recession exceed those of other recent recessions, states would have been in even worse shape if many of them had not raised revenues. And Jon Shure noted that a major business group in Massachusetts is opposing a cut in the sales tax because it would hurt the state’s business climate.
- On threats to health reform, Edwin Park discussed the implications of Senator Mike Enzi’s proposal to overturn federal regulations that help implement the Affordable Care Act.
In other news, the Center released a report on a flawed study about a corporate tax break in California and a podcast on what the new fiscal year means for federal programs (on iTunes here).
The US and a failed Ecuador coup
Latin America Rising
Possible Correa coup involves US meddling?
US media fails to cover global issues
CIA behind failed Ecuador coup?
Maddow: GOP plan to extend tax cuts for the rich
Crooks and Liars – Forged Documents Throw Legal Obstacle Into Path Of Foreclosures All Over U.S.
From Crooks and Liars:
October 01, 2010 12:00 PM
Forged Documents Throw Legal Obstacle Into Path Of Foreclosures All Over U.S.
By Susie MadrakOh boy. Seems like just about every rock you pick up these days has some giant cockroaches underneath — especially if it has anything to do with the banks and the mortgage industry:
Center for American Progress – Welcome to My Neighborhood
From Center for American Progress:
Welcome to My Neighborhood
Melissa Boteach and Joy Moses discuss the new poverty data, what we can do to reduce rising poverty, and why it’s important to focus on poverty amid other problems.
More: Let’s Get Serious About Poverty: What to Do About the New Census Data
From the Cartoonist Group.
View more cartoons in the archive.
Francis A. Boyle – The Impending Collapse Of Israel In Palestine
From Countercurrents:
The Impending Collapse Of Israel In Palestine
By Francis A. Boyle
01 October, 2010
Countercurrents.org[…]
After twenty-two years of getting nowhere but further screwed to Israel’s apartheid wall on the West Bank and strangulated in Gaza, it is now time for the Palestinians to adopt a new strategy, which I most respectfully recommend here for them to consider: Sign nothing and let Israel collapse! Recently it was reported that the United States’ own Central Intelligence Agency predicted the collapse of Israel within twenty years. My most respectful advice to the Palestinians is to let Israel so collapse!
[…]
In fact, Israel has never been a State but just an Army masquerading as a State — a Potemkin Village of a State. Israel is the archetypal Great Band of Robbers described by St. Augustine in Book 4, Chapter 4 of The City of God:
Kingdoms without justice are similar to robber barons. And so if justice is left out, what are kingdoms except great robber bands? For what are robber bands except little kingdoms? The band also is a group of men governed by the orders of a leader, bound by social compact, and its booty is divided according to a law agreed upon. If by repeatedly adding desperate men this plague grows to the point where it holds territory and establishes a fixed seat, seizes cites and subdues peoples, then it more conspicuously assumes the name of kingdom, and this name is now openly granted to it, not for any subtraction of cupidity, but by addition of impunity….
[…]
It is obvious that soon Zionism will enter into Trotsky’s “ashcan” of history along with every other nationalistic “ism” that has plagued humankind during the twentieth century: Nazism, Fascism, Francoism, Phalangism, Stalinism, Maoism, etc. The only thing that could save Zionism in Palestine is for the Palestinians to conclude any type of so-called comprehensive Middle East Peace treaty with Israel. It is for precisely that reason then that the Palestinians must sign nothing and let Israel collapse of its own weight over the next two decades.
CBO Director’s Blog – Fiscal Policy Choices in Uncertain Times
From the CBO Director’s Blog:
Fiscal Policy Choices in Uncertain Times
September 16th, 2010 by Douglas Elmendorf
I’m speaking this afternoon to the Washington Policy Seminar sponsored by the Macroeconomic Advisers forecasting firm. My presentation draws on several reports that CBO has released over the course of this year and emphasizes these points:
- CBO and most private forecasters expect that the economic recovery will proceed at a modest pace during the next few years. For example, in the forecast that we completed in early July, the unemployment rate remains above 8 percent until 2012. In addition, the economic data released since we finished that forecast have been weaker than we had expected, so if we were to construct a new forecast today, we would project slightly slower growth in the near term.
- Weak economic growth has serious social consequences. About 9½ percent of the labor force is officially unemployed, but many other people are underemployed or have left the labor force. The increase in unemployment is not uniform across demographic groups or regions, with larger run-ups for less-educated workers, men, and people living in certain states. The incidence of unemployment lasting longer than 26 weeks has been the highest by far in the past 60 years. As discussed in our April issue brief, the short-term and long-term impact on people of losing a job during a recession can be very significant.
- Some observers have argued that there is not much that policymakers can do about the weakness of the recovery. That is not our view at CBO. Although there are no magic cures, we do think there are both monetary and fiscal policy options that, if applied at a sufficient scale, would increase output and employment during the next few years (but not overnight). Such options would have costs though—in particular, expansionary fiscal policy would increase federal budget deficits and debt relative to current baseline projections, which are already quite worrisome.
- One key question I’ve been asked in the debate about fiscal policy: What sorts of fiscal policies would actually encourage greater economic activity and more employment? Fiscal policy can affect behavior through several channels: by changing direct demand for goods and services, changing people’s current and/or expected income, changing the payoff from extra work effort and saving, changing the cost of investment, and so on. Predicting the effects of particular policies is difficult, and estimates are quite uncertain.
- In January of this year, we published a study titled Policies for Increasing Economic Growth and Employment in 2010 and 2011. We studied temporary policy changes to be enacted in early 2010, because most observers were interested in the question of how to provide a short-term boost to the economy without significantly worsening the medium- and long-term budget situation. In most cases, permanent changes would generate larger short-term stimulus but would have substantially larger medium- and long-term budget and economic costs. We estimated the “bang for the buck” of different policies; of course, the effect on the economy would also depend on the scale of the policies. This graph summarizes our estimates:
Cumulative Effects of Policy Options on Employment in 2010 and 2011, Range of Low to High Estimates
- The other key question I’ve been asked: How can short-term fiscal stimulus be reconciled with the imperative—and it is a critical imperative—to put fiscal policy on a sustainable medium-term and long-term path? As I said to the Fiscal Commission at the end of June, there is no intrinsic contradiction between providing additional fiscal stimulus today, while the unemployment rate is high and many factories and offices are underused, and imposing fiscal restraint several years from now, when output and employment will probably be close to their potential.
- If taxes were cut or government spending were increased permanently that would worsen the already worrisome fiscal outlook, as shown in the graph below. Even if changes were temporary, the additional debt accumulated during that temporary period would weigh on the budget and the economy in the future. Achieving both stimulus and sustainability would require a combination of policies. If policymakers wanted to avoid worsening the large medium-term and long-term imbalance between federal spending and revenue, any policies that widened budget deficits in the near-term would need to be accompanied by specific policies to reduce spending or increase revenue over time.
Rising Burden of Federal Debt Held by the Public
- In summary, the economic recovery will probably proceed at a modest pace—leaving total output well below its sustainable level, and the unemployment rate well above its sustainable level, for a number of years. In CBO’s judgment, the available monetary and fiscal tools, if applied at sufficient scale, would improve economic conditions during the next few years—though with costs and risks in the medium and long term. Policymakers need to address those trade-offs.
In These Times – Media Blackout in the Age of Obama
From In These Times:
Media Blackout in the Age of Obama: Sad, but unsurprising, Salim Muwaukkil notes: “The election of the nation’s first black president has done little to improve media coverage of the nation’s black community.”
The Real Democratic Whiners: “This campaign season is defined neither by unreasonable petulance, as the White House asserts, nor by justifiable rage against the plutocratic machine,” David Sirota writes.
Weekly Mulch: Why Building a Bike-Safe City is Key to a Clean Energy Future
By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium bloggerWeekly Diaspora: Schools a Minefield for Undocumented Students After DREAM defeat
By Catherine Traywick, Media Consortium bloggerNews of Chicago Bomb Attempt Leaves Important Questions Unanswered
By David Szydloski
Democracy NOW! – Lenders Forced to Suspend Thousands of Foreclosures
Democracy NOW! – Ecuador Declares State of Emergency
FCPA Professor – House Passes Impotent Debarment Bill
From FCPA Professor:
House Passes Impotent Debarment Bill
On September 15th, the House, by a unanimous 409-0 vote, passed H.R. 5366 (“Overseas Contractor Reform Act”) (see here). The Act generally provides that a corporation “found to be in violation of the [FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions] shall be proposed for debarment from any contract or grant awarded by the Federal Government within 30 days after a final judgment of such a violation.”
The Act’s key trigger term for debarment – “found to be in violation” of the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions – is a trigger that is not reached in nearly every FCPA enforcement action because of the façade of FCPA enforcement. Thus, the Act represents impotent legislation.
Climate Progress – Hansen’s Discussion
From Climate Progress:
“It is likely that 2012 will reach a record high global temperature.”
October 1, 2010
Our top climatologist has a must-read, chart-filled analysis, “How Warm Was This Summer?”
Professor Souad N. Al-Azzawi – Crime of the Century: Iraq’s Occupation and DU Contamination
From The Intelligence Daily:
One of History’s Greatest Crimes
September 29, 2010in Analysis
By Stephen Lendman
America’s hidden history is ugly and disturbing. No nation ever matched it. To Iraq alone, over the past two decades, it includes ongoing genocide, destruction, terror, occupation, and contamination – a horrendous combination of crimes, unmentioned in Western discourse.
Environmental Engineering Professor Souad N. Al-Azzawi documents them, including in her report titled, “Crime of the Century: Iraq’s Occupation and DU Contamination,” a detailed account of US culpability.
Also See…
Crime of the Century: Iraq’s Occupation and DU Contamination
The Young Turks – Paladino Threatens Reporter
Home Again – Btselem
From abumiz | October 01, 2010
This video from 2006 shows a Palestinian woman returning to visit her home in the old city of Hebron 4 years after she left due to settler violence. She finds her home destroyed and turned into a closed military zone.
Source: http://vimeo.com/8738588
The Real News – Ecuador President Defiant After Failed Coup
National Geographic – Making Simply Beautiful Photographs
California Progress Report – On Corporate Tax Breaks Bill, Governor Gets Facts Wrong
Today’s California Progress Report – October 1, 2010
On Corporate Tax Breaks Bill, Governor Gets Facts Wrong
By Emily Rusch
CALPIRGGovernor Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 2666 (Skinner) Wednesday evening, a bill sponsored by CALPIRG and the California Labor Federation, that would have made corporate tax breaks more transparent. The measure called for the state to disclose who gets corporate tax breaks and how much they get.
Unfortunately the veto message entangled truth with myth. The governor’s veto message states: “The Franchise Tax Board and the Department of Finance already publish annual reports detailing all tax expenditures, their cost, their intended benefit and other useful information.”
The Progress Report – October 1, 2010
From: The Progress Report
On Wednesday, California Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman’s former housekeeper — Nicky Diaz Santillan — held a press conference with her lawyer Gloria Allred to announce that Whitman employed her for nine years and knew she was an undocumented immigrant, but turned a blind eye and exploited their relationship. According to Diaz Santillan, Whitman knew for years that she was undocumented, but fired her just a few months before she announced that she was running for governor. “From now on you don’t know me and I don’t know you,” Diaz Santillan claims Whitman told her in the summer of 2009. Santillan also alleges that Whitman “exploited, disrespected, humiliated and emotionally and financially abused” her and that she was not fully compensated for wages and transportation. Whitman has flatly denied knowingly employing an undocumented worker, telling reporters that she terminated Diaz Santillan’s employment as soon as she learned of her immigration status. Whitman has also pinned the blame on opponent Jerry Brown (D), describing the allegations as “smear politics” motivated by Brown. Whitman has said she will take a lie detector test when Brown and Diaz Santillan submit to a lie detector. However, Whitman can’t deny that she employed an undocumented immigrant for almost a decade, whether she knew it or not. Given Whitman’s own politicization of the immigration issue throughout her campaign, she has largely dug this hole for herself. Her campaign has been marked by flip-flops and deception on the immigration issue — and now possibly hypocrisy.
Burning Giant: Video of high-rise on fire in South Korea
Brennan Center for Justice
From Brennan Center for Justice:
Texas Supreme Court Justice Calls on State to Strengthen “Safety Net for Poor” by Expanding Legal Aid Funding
Nathan Hecht – Special to Express- News, “Struggling Texans need legal aid,” The San Antonio Express, September 27, 2010Tennessee Courts Fail to Provide Language Interpreters for Growing Population of Limited English Speakers; State Commission Identifies Language Access as Priority
Brandon Gee, “Language barrier keeps from Tennesseans from getting justice,” The Tennessean, September 26, 2010New York Hearings Highlight Task Force and Judge’s Mission to Expand Right to Attorney in Civil Cases
John Eligon, “In Hearings, a Campaign for Legal Aid in Civil Cases,” The New York Times, September 28, 2010
TechRepublic – Geek humor from xkcd comics
KHN – Health Insurance Prices, Restrictions Now On Federal Consumer Website
From Kaiser Health News:
Health Insurance Prices, Restrictions Now On Federal Consumer Website
KHN Staff Writer
Oct 01, 2010
Healthcare.gov, the website created by the new health law to be a one-stop consumer resource, today unveiled detailed cost and benefits information about health plans available in the individual insurance market. It’s the first time such data have been made public – either by the government or industry.
Related…
Media Matters – The Big Picture: October 1, 2010
Web of Justice: Russian bloggers expose crimes and corruption
David Sirota – Thank You Sir, May I Have Another
From Open Left:
Thank You Sir, May I Have Another: Spearhead NAFTA, Gut the Public Option, Get Labor’s Endorsement?
by: David Sirota
Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 18:05Rahm Emanuel was the chief legislative proponent of the North American Free Trade Agreement under President Clinton. As an investment banker, he publicly campaigned on the pages of the Wall Street Journal to give China Most Favored Nation Status. Under President Obama, he was the chief architect of the deal that coddled insurance and drug companies by negotiating away the public option – a public option that union leaders said was crucial for their support of health care legislation.
I could go on and on with examples from Emanuel’s career just like this. You know the story – and I won’t bore you with it. And so considering this record of doggedly opposing the labor movement’s most basic public policy priorities, you might expect that in Emanuel’s newly announced run for Chicago mayor, labor movement leaders would at least remain neutral. You might even expect labor to consider funding a full-fledged campaign against Emanuel in a race where there are expected to be many viable – and more progressive – candidates.
According to Politico, you would be wrong:
Rachel Maddow – Boehner faces self in battle to restore House integrity
Russia Today – Ecuador Chaos: Video of fierce riots as outraged cops attempt coup
From RussiaToday | October 01, 2010
Ecuador Chaos: Video of fierce riots as outraged cops attempt coup
Soldiers in Ecuador have rescued President Rafael Correa from a police hospital where he was being held by force. The troops opened fire on dissident law enforcement officers. A state of emergency has been declared in the country following police protests against new government austerity measures, which would cut their benefits. Officers blocked roads and took control of the capital’s airport. At least one person has been killed and dozens injured in the clashes. The President has accused the opposition and security forces of a coup attempt. The military declared its loyalty to Correa, but asked for the controversial law that sparked the protests to be reviewed.
Correa speaking at 01:50 – “Comrades, If you want to kill the president, here he is! Kill me! Kill the health system, kill our values, kill the fight for freedom!”
Related…
President Correa rescued as Ecuador capital Quito turns to battleground
Soldiers in Ecuador have rescued President Rafael Correa from a police hospital where he was being held by force. The troops opened fire on dissident law enforcement officers. A state of emergency has been declared in the country following police protests against new government austerity measures, which would cut their benefits. Eva Golinger, an expert on Latin America, says the uprising may not have been spontaneous. She claims the revolt is strongly backed by business and political elements both inside and outside Ecuador
From AlJazeeraEnglish | September 30, 2010
Ecuador’s president defiant over mutiny
Ecuador’s president has emerged defiant on Friday hours after being rescued by the military, which stormed a hospital in Quito, the capital, where he was taken hostage by rebellious members of the country’s police force.
The policemen were protesting for better wages and working conditions before they abducted Rafael Correa while he was being treated for exposure to tear gas.
Correa issued a warning against the hostage takers for what he called a threat to the country’s democracy.
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