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The GOP's Misplaced Rage - The Daily Beast
"Until conservatives once again hold Republicans to the same standard they hold Democrats, they will have no credibility and deserve no respect. They can start building some by admitting to themselves that Bush caused many of the problems they are protesting."
FARK.com: (4291765) House GOP unveils its budget of fiscally responsible unicorns and market-driven rainbows
This is the most awesome discussion of the Republican "Budget Proposal" - oh god just please read it!! I can't stop laughing! This is the best thing since Sarah Palin!
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nstead of a budget they have a crayon drawing of a bald eagle high-fiving jesus...
doling out tax cuts to the needy, like middle class people who make over $5,000,000 a year. -
Here's the kind of logic Boehner's using...
"Two nights ago the president said, 'We haven't seen a budget yet out of Republicans.' Well, it's just not true because -- Here it is, Mr. President," - 9 more annotations...
War on Drugs: The Price Tag
This is good - having lived in Humboldt County when CAMP was invading (feels like a war zone) I can attest that this seems like not only a HUGE waste of money, but a "war" against something that isn't really a threat to anybody. For the record, the only drug I do is coffee (which is more addictive than pot, by far).
The Biggest Ponzi Scheme of Them All - O'Reilly Radar
Good article about the limits to growth.
RealClearMarkets - Articles - Save Jobs. Buy Something
Another point of view on shopping. I don't buy it. (haha - literally) We HAVE to break ourselves of the over-consumption habit, of living beyond our means, of using shopping like a drug... and yes, it's going to hurt the economy that has built up around the philosophy that shopping cures all ills, but that's not a healthy philosophy - and changing bad habits is difficult, but worth it.
Is Obama going to gut NASA? | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine
A fresh wind is blowing through the White House, and it’s taking away the stench of antiscience.... Still and all… where does NASA fit in with all this?
MichaelMoore.com : Senate to Middle Class: Drop Dead ...a message from Michael Moore
I, too, was surprised that the UAW had conceded to reduce pay and benefits to its members - and then they filibustered it! Why? When you have CEOs willing to work for $1 and Unions willing to reduce pay and benefits - it sounds to me like all sides were really willing to work on the issues - all sides except a few GOP senators. I'm not really pro-bailout, but OTOH, without it, it seems as if there will be very serious economic repercussions for the entire economy - potentially far worse than what we already have. At first I completely blamed the companies and thought, they made their bed, they should now lie in it, but looking at the bigger picture, looking at what advantages the competition had, some from their own governments, and some from ours, I realize the playing field wasn't exactly level. Dan Neill had some interesting insight to this, as did some other articles I bookmarked previously. What a mess.
Craven Senators Kill the Auto Deal
another take on the failed auto bailout - wow - the UAW agreed to cuts in pay and benefits? And these assholes filibustered it?
Pajamas Media » Losing Sight of the American Dream
"Somewhere along the line, it morphed into the Rich and Famous Lifestyle Fantasy." This is what I was trying to say in my "Not Shopping For A Better World" post, but she says it better.
Bill Moyers Interviews Michael Pollan
Bill Moyers sits down with Michael Pollan, Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley, to discuss what direction the U.S. should pursue in the often-overlooked question of food policy. Pollan is author of IN DEFENSE OF FOOD: AN EATER'S MANIFESTO.
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oyers sits down with Michael Pollan
Christmas with No Presents :: No Impact Man enjoys the holidays without all the stuff
This is inspiring!
Nationalize GM - Los Angeles Times
Wow - Dan Neill, my favorite automotive writer - yes - he's amazing - I'm not even that into cars, but Dan Neill is a fantastic writer who also loves all things automotive and is good enough to make you appreciate them, too - has a "modest proposal" - to go ahead and nationalize GM. And he has a pretty good argument for doing so instead of doing another bailout.
Taking on health care costs with a national health care plan would probably save a lot of companies, but that isn't a short-term solution to an immediate problem. This would be.
Read the article before you say "that's crazy talk!"
Forget commercialism! The new realities of consumption and the economy.
"Spending our way to prosperity? Not this time around.
As a “New Dream” economist, I am asked all the time: won’t consuming less hurt the economy? When there’s less spending, people get laid off, their incomes fall and businesses, especially small ones, go bankrupt. This question is especially urgent today, given that the recession is deepening and spreading. George Bush was widely (and rightly) criticized for suggesting shopping as the patriotic response to 9/11. Would Barack Obama be wrong if he suggested the same?
Short answer: Yes. But with this topic, there’s rarely a short answer. So here’s the longer one."
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Let’s remember, first, that the economic crisis wasn’t caused by a decline in consumer spending. It was triggered by the bursting of the housing bubble, Wall Street excesses, and some other factors. Consumers are cutting back now, but the decline in spending is one of a series of falling dominos—more an effect of recession than a cause.
New Dream Blog » Blog Archive » Holiday shopping–just don’t
"We can find better ways to support one another than funneling our money through giant multinationals in hopes that some trickles down to its employees."
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For the last two decades, the U.S. has been a consumer-driven economy. Bursts of spending have lifted us out of a series of short, not-too-painful recessions. And consumers are well aware of their “heroic” role. They’ve been told over and over that their spending is the basis for our economy. (Less discussed is how the consumer binge led to our gaping trade deficit.)
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While some consumers have been on a debt-fueled binge for quite awhile, apparently they haven’t forgotten how to sober up. And fast. They’re acting smart and cautious. That’s a good thing. Scaling back on gifts and holiday spending this year suddenly seems like the socially acceptable thing to do. Spending liberally can feel unseemly.
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'Buy Nothing Day' a sign of the times? | Crave - CNET
This article is a good synopsis of Buy Nothing Day and other ways to fight rampant, senseless consumerism
Op-Ed Contributor - Dying of Consumption - NYTimes.com
"...there is a deeper, potentially positive, meaning to all this: Consumers are now abandoning the asset-dependent spending and saving strategies they embraced during the bubbles of the past dozen years and moving back to more prudent income-based lifestyles."
The Worst Is Yet To Come: Anonymous Banker Weighs In On The Coming Credit Card Debacle - Executive Suite Blog - NYTimes.com
This is right on! The "MasterCard, I'm Bored!" mentality has got to change - we have come to believe that we are entitled to anything we want, even if we can't afford it. That is NOT the "American Way" as some people seem to think.
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