Most of us think of economic theories as lining up from left to right, from communism to free-marketism, but there is a whole other school of economics that is on a slant to that line and provides an escape from the limits of conventional economics. During the 1800s that school was so influential in the USA that it was called "The American System" or the "high wage system". Here is something from the right winger economists at the Mises Institute complaining about one of the advocates of that system:

And those political views were clearly stated by Lincoln when he first ran for the Illinois legislature in 1832: "My politics are short and sweet, like the old woman’s dance. I am in favor of a national bank . . . in favor of the internal improvements system and a high protective tariff." These three things -- protectionism, government subsidies to railroad and canal-building companies, and central banking -- were called the "American System" by Henry Clay. Economists have another word for them: "mercantilism."

Practically every conventional economist from Marx to Hayek to Paul Krugman and Gary Becker shares this same contempt for the American System. According to them, it's just dumb "mercantilism" and economics theory proves that it can't work. But every single nation that has become wealthy since the dawn of the industrial age has embraced something very much like the American System: China, Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Germany, and of course the USA. And every nation that has adopted or been forced to adopt the recipes of conventional economics has seen wages fall, manufacturing collapse, and the middle class disappear. That is where we are going in our era of wage cuts where even a decent education is something that middle class people can no longer afford. Sadly for America we have abandoned the American System and we are paying the price.

This might not be the sexiest news of the day, but today, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius responded to a concentrated attack by Republican governors to try to dismantle health reform at the state levels. You see, in their usual fashion, Republican governors busy with their states' budget crises... sorry, I mean busy with attempting to strip their public employees of collective bargaining rights, still found time to write a bogus letter to Sebelius, demanding that people in their state continue to fall pray to the health insurance industry.  In her response, Secretary Sebelius stood firm and told those governors that health reform is here to stay.

So what do these handmaidens of the big health insurance industry want? As the Secretary's letter points out,

Your letter identified four areas  for greater state flexibility.  Specifically, you called for the ability to (1) exercise maximum flexibility to operate exchanges, and in particular to select the insurers that will participate in the exchange, (2) give states authority to determine essential health benefits that participating plans must offer, (3) waive provisions that might inhibit the availability of consumer-driven plans and health savings accounts (HSAs), and (4) enroll Medicaid beneficiaries into private plans without HHS approval.

Translation: Republican governors want the power to (1) subjugate the health insurance exchanges to the whims of the health insurance industry without accountability, (2) continue to allow house insurance plans to be termed "health" insurance plans in which the "insured" can't afford to actually use any care, (3) make sure insurance companies have to pay as little as possible to actually provide care (I suppose that way they will have more money to stuff the campaign coffers of these corporate callgirls, I mean Republican governors), and (4) let private health insurance take over Medicaid and make the poor pay huge copays and deductibles.

There have now been FIVE federal court rulings on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Of this, only two of them have gone against the ruling and one of them was only against part of it (the federal mandate).

So, how has the media discussed these rulings? Here's the answer in graphical from House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi:

Bring out my fainting couch, Matt Taibbi has just revealed that in America, in AMERICA!, people who make a lot of money via corporate chicanery can often get away with it. Of course, it's President Obama's fault too.

Indeed, the shocking pattern of nonenforcement with regard to Wall Street is so deeply ingrained in Washington that it raises a profound and difficult question about the very nature of our society: whether we have created a class of people whose misdeeds are no longer perceived as crimes, almost no matter what those misdeeds are.

Jay Gould, the Thomas Edison of stock fraud who once boasted he could break strikes by hiring half the working class to kill the other half died rich and honored. JP Morgan - Mr. Inside Trader was King of New York for most of his life. John D. Rockefeller who was a master of kickbacks and corporate fraud and sent thugs to machine gun striking workers went to jail, let me see, NEVER! Michael Milken walked out of a 2 year minimum security jail sentence, the result of 90 count indictment on securities fraud, to pick up his $2Billion and is now listed as a "philanthropist". Milkin's bosses never were even the subject of a serious criminal investigation. In the phony 1970s "budget crisis" New York bankers openly looted the city budget and the retirement funds of city workers and the only people who went to jail were protesters. The banks that funded Enron walked away scot-free. The only non-peon to go to jail for the S&L crisis had his conviction overturned. The basic operation of PE firms is ripping off creditors especially old people depending on pension payments that were negotiated as contracts but are not respected by bankruptcy courts. That getting away with theft business is not new on Wall Street. Hold your hat, Matt, those guys in Nigeria don't actually intend to send you money either! How's that for a shock?

While there are many initiatives and increases proposed in the 2012 President's budget that will give low-income families a much needed help in education, expanded child care, youth activities, access to post secondary education, workforce innovation, rental housing assistant, changing high-poverty neighborhoods, et al, most often, liberal critics are reactionary to one or two proposed cuts without looking at the whole picture within the budget. It is often a short sighted view that leads to many misunderstanding. The $2.5 Billion proposed cut to The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) has been one that has been making its round in the Liberals circle as if the President's budget works against the interest of low-income families. So, let's explore LIHEAP first and read for yourself here and here for the other goodies in the budget that should help liberals realize that President Obama is on the side of the low-income and poor families.

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is a program that helps mostly the poor and seniors stay warm and/or cool depending on the season by subsidizing a large portion of their energy cost. In 2008, the LIHEAP enacted funding was $2.6 Billion. In 2009, the LIHEAP enacted funding in total including funds from the Recovery Act (the stimulus bill) was $8.1 Billion. In 2010, the LIHEAP enacted funding was $5.1 Billion In 2011, the LIHEAP funding under the FY 2011 Continuing Resolution (CR) to date is $3.9 Billion and budgeted for full year at about $5.1 billion The 2012 proposed budget for LIHEAP is $2.6 Billion a reduction of $2.5 billion to the program from a year ago and at the 2008 level.

Guest Post by: Leslie Foster, Executive Director, Traveling Muse Pictures.


Shoot 'Dem Like Birds

I remember reading about Brian Williamson's murder and being shocked. Williamson was an openly gay activist in Jamaica and for that, he was hacked to death by a mob in 2004. Born in 1945, Williamson was the co-founder of the Jamaican forum for lesbians and gays (J-FLAG) and was known for personally housing and caring for gay people in Jamaica. Fellow activists noted that he was extremely courageous and never stopped to think that of what he was risking--he worked hard to help those around him and lost his life for it.

I felt sick reading the Guardian article, my casual stereotypes of Jamaican culture challenged by what I was reading; by something that had happened just months before. I finished the article feeling sad and more informed, but not thinking there was anything I could really do.

Since President Obama released his budget, we have seen two kinds of reaction on the count of social security: conservatives are deriding the President for not addressing it in the context of his budget, and many on the ideologue Left assuming the President gave into their "pressure." Both seem to think that the President has decided not to address the long term challenges of social security at all. But what both extremes are failing to understand is the precise reason why social security is not addressed within the President's budget proposal. It's because social security has a budget of its own, a dedicated revenue stream, and it is by law forbidden from taking money from the general fund - as it stands now.

Anyone who believes that President Obama does not plan to tackle the structural problems in social security is deluding themselves. Indeed, the discussions to tackle that challenge have already begun, according to Obama. So why didn't he put it in his budget? Some say it's the fear of liberal backlash if tough measures are included. Some say it's the fear of conservative criticism of not doing enough. Yet others say that social security remains the political third rail, and even Obama does not dare touch it.

I think it's none of the above. I believe that there was a conscious decision by the White House to address social security as a separate item from the yearly budget battle. And that's with good reason - both political and policy-wise. On the policy front, dealing with social security on its own is the proper way to do it, since social security is a program with a dedicated revenue stream and defined benefits. It is not a matter of the general fund, and it should not get muddled with the rest of the budget bru ha ha. Politically, that very separation gives social security new ammunition from the conservative plots to destroy it. Let me explain.

President Obama has issued a directive, with full consent of Attorney General Holder, to the Justice Department to stop defending the federal Defense of Marriage Act in federal court, specifically section 3 challenges. DOMA section 3 is the section that defines marriage as between a man and a woman for federal purposes. The President has determined that singling out people for discrimination based on sexual orientation in federal law is unconstitutional - at least for couples legally married in their states. Accordingly, he has ordered the US Justice department to stop defending section 3 cases. Here's what the statement released by AG Holder had to say:

After careful consideration, including a review of my recommendation, the President has concluded that given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny. The President has also concluded that Section 3 of DOMA, as applied to legally married same-sex couples, fails to meet that standard and is therefore unconstitutional. Given that conclusion, the President has instructed the Department not to defend the statute in such cases. I fully concur with the President's determination.

Note, however, that this directive does not stop the Administration from continuing to enforce the law administratively. They just won't be defending it in court. AG Holder has also given members of Congress the option to defend the law if they so choose (and we know some will).

Still, this is a big effing deal. DOMA is unconstitutional on several fronts - not only does it deny a citizen's basic civil right to marry the person they love, it also tramples on the rights of the state that do recognize marriage equality. It basically states that the Constitution and its full faith and credit clause. You know, this one:

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State.

Note: Cross-posted from NewDeal20.org

Recently Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel-prize-winning Columbia University economist gave a very interesting speech in South Africa concerning climate change and the global economy. He argued that by implementing policies that help to reverse global warming, we can also reverse the global economic downturn, and although he also pointed out many barriers to doing so, he also outlined some interesting policy proposals.

For me, the most interesting part of his speech concerned the use of a Keynesian approach, not just for a single country, as is usually done, but for the entire world economy. Keynes pointed out that when the private sector is unable to generate enough demand in the economy, that is, it is unable generate enough spending from consumption and investment, then the government must step in to kickstart spending – thus, in recessions and depressions, it is now acknowledged, even seemingly among deficit hawks, that at some point it may be necessary for the government to spend more than it takes in to get the economy moving again (see numerous articles from NewDeal2.0’s Marshall Auerback on this basic idea).

So instead of apologizing again for my absence (despite things continuing to get better for me, I have had little time), I thought I'd write a piece about the Republican attack on American values and the American way of life, and the contributions to the same being made by the wonders that hold the keys to the left-puritan blogosphere.

Now, we know that Wisconsin Republicans created their "financial crisis" by giving a large corporate tax break almost equal to the size of the deficit their state is now facing. Manufactured crisis? You bet. Republicans in the state - and now in Indiana and in Ohio - would like to end collective bargaining rights of the state's public employees. At the national level, too, the Republicans are acting according to their own interests - that is, the interests of the corporation. The US House, under Speaker John Read-my-lips Boehner, has approved cuts in spending in job training programs, food stamps, and cutting off funding to implement health care reform. Interestingly enough, they have left alone a number of tax breaks for corporations that, for example, give them tax benefits to offshore American jobs. Evidently, the Republican party does not believe that our government should be helping retrain Americans for new jobs, with our unemployment rate still stuck at 9%. The Democrats in the Senate have declared the Republican proposals dead-on-arrival, of course, and it seems that Republicans might just head straight off the cliff as the current continuing resolution - the bill that keeps the federal government funded - runs out on March 4.

But for the political right, this is hardly about spending. We know from experience that Republicans in Washington will run up spending on the American credit card as soon as they hear about a new useless war or a new way to construct a corporate giveaway. What the Republicans are doing today, I believe, has one primary goal: to dismantle the reforms enacted by the President and Democrats in the last Congress. The House GOP's cuts already include blocking funds to implement health reform. The GOP is also moving down a path to defund and deconstruct the consumer financial protection bureau.

Cross-posted at Eclectablog.com. This past month has been a case study in how President Obama's steady and measured approach to upheavals is exactly the right one to navigate through sticky issues both in our nation's foreign policy and in our domestic scene, as well.

Schedule of solidarity events from Winning Progressive Wisconsin State Police Union regrets

I SPECIFICALLY REGRET THE ENDORSEMENT OF THE WISCONSIN TROOPER’S ASSOCIATION FOR GOVERNOR SCOTT WALKER. I REGRET THE GOVERNOR’S DECISION TO “ENDORSE” THE TROOPERS AND INSPECTORS OF THE WISCONSIN STATE PATROL. I REGRET BEING THE RECIPIENT OF ANY OF THE PERCIEVED BENEFITS PROVIDED BY THE GOVERNOR’S ANNOINTING.

Fox continues to push the Democrats are terrorists theory. And, at last, some decent media coverage: not from our useless US Media that neglected to invite a single Union Rep or member to Sunday shows today. Thanks goodness international media is breaking through the censorship. Firefighters march via Dorothy Rissman

Some people are on our side

Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill Protest from Matt Wisniewski on Vimeo from GN who got it from BWD.

Some are not

Message to Wisconsin taxpayers: President Obama and the Democratic National Committee have declared war on you. Message to other states: You're next.

The political unrest in Wisconsin, billed as some kind of grass-roots uprising, is being organized and directed by Barack Obama‘s Organizing for America and the Democratic National Committee. This development is consistent with Mr. Obama‘s instructions for supporters to "get in the face" of those who oppose them, but in this case, they are seeking to derail a lawful legislative process. Fox

and neither are these folks at Firedoglake.

Wisconsin’s Walker Just Following Obama-McConnell Shock Doctrine Playbook

While I find his behavior deplorable, it is important for grassroots progressive to keep in mind that what Gov. Walker is doing in Wisconsin is, in many ways, a small-scale version of what President Obama (with the help of Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell) has been overseeing at the federal level.

Koch Industries Slashed WI Jobs, Helped Elect Scott Walker, Now Orchestrating Pro-Walker Protest

Wisconsin’s newly elected Republican Gov. Scott Walker is facing a growing backlash over his attempt to cut pay and eliminate collective bargaining rights for public employees in his state.

[..]

A number of the big business interests standing with Walker are beneficiaries of his administration’s tax giveaways. But the greatest ally to Walker is the dirty energy company Koch Industries. In response to the growing protests in Madison, Koch fronts are busing in Tea Party protesters to support Walker and his union-busting campaign.

And more below

Two days ago, the President gave a press conference defending his $3.7 Trillion budget. As most of us have a busy life with our daily routines, work, taking care of our children, et al, it is sometimes difficult to make time to listen to a one hour Press Conference let alone listen to it during our down time. I usually scan though what is printed in the blogs or other publication to try to get the gist of things if I don't have time but this press conference was one not to be missed if you have missed it. The President was on his "A" game comfortably and intelligently explaining many complicated concepts at ease while hitting the right notes to getting his message across quite flawlessly. I don't know about you but you've got to know your shit inside out to stand there for an hour and deliver a message to the nation when challenging questions are thrown at you left and right. In all honesty, I enjoy seeing some members of the press core (Chuck Todd to mention just one) coming wagging their tails and the President sending them home with their tails between their legs. Check out the video and selective quotes on the budget, Egypt, Medicare, SS, Deficit and Debt below the fold. Transcript

I saw this photo and had to examine it carefully to figure out it was part of an anti-American demonstration in Pakistan and not a Teabagger anti-American demonstration in the USA.

President Obama's budget proposal goes directly after the organized system of looting that is the basis of the Republican power block - tax subsidies of the rich and multi-national corporations, profit taking from the monopolistic health insurance markets, medicare and medicaid's big pharma bill padding, and the bloated "defense" budget. The reforms suggested by the President are so clear and compelling that the beneficiaries from the system cannot risk a debate on what the President proposes. When Obama proposes to control costs in medical care, the Republicans want to discuss cuts to Medicare. When Obama proposes to cut special tax gifts to oil companies, Republicans want to discuss cuts to Social Security. When Obama proposes to eliminate unnecessary Defense spending, the Republicans discuss cuts to Medicaid. The goal is to prevent discussion of what is actually in the proposed budget. Fortunately for the Republicans not only do they have the support of the corporate media, but the supposedly progressive netroots is on board along with Fox Democrats like Robert Reich. The DailyKos diarist "slinkerwink" just provided an exquisite example of how it's done

What US media and netroots don't consider interesting is interesting. Here are a couple items from Netherlands Radio news.

The defector whose claims that Iraq had biological weapons were used to justify the 2003 US invasion has admitted that he lied to help get rid of Saddam Hussein, the Guardian newspaper said Tuesday.

"Maybe I was right, maybe I was not right," Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi told the British newspaper.

"They gave me this chance. I had the chance to fabricate something to topple the regime. I and my sons are proud of that and we are proud that we were the reason to give Iraq the margin of democracy," he added.

Janabi, codenamed Curveball by German and American intelligence officials, told the BND, Germany's secret service, that Iraq had mobile bioweapons trucks and had built clandestine factories.

And

A US agent was shot and killed in Mexico on Tuesday and a second agent wounded amid a surge in violence in a country ravaged by crime cartel turf wars and a government crackdown on the drug trade.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were attacked while in a car while driving between Mexico City and the northern industrial Monterrey, US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said late Tuesday.

And

After two days of heated debate, a slim majority of Dutch MPs have voted in favour of sending a police training mission to Afghanistan.

The decision comes nearly a year after the last government collapsed in a dispute over extending military deployment in the war-torn country.

And the decision wasn’t much easier this time around. The Green Left party has surprised - and deeply angered - its voters by supporting the mission, despite successfully demanding that conservative Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s minority cabinet make certain concessions.

Press Conference - questions of utter stupidity. Budget Briefing (not the press conference) WH briefing for bloggers To me, only the last question about nuclear power was interesting, what do you think? Not quite as Dumb as the AP, but that's a low bar? And from the Department of News You Won't See in Netroots: the TARP inspector general resigned:

In the letter, Barofsky added that with American International Group's (AIG_) "recapitalization plan, there is a chance that TARP may break even or possibly turn a profit on one of its most controversial transactions," and that the successful public offering by General Motors (GM_) demonstrated the U.S. Treasury's "ability to exit some of its most difficult investments."

New DNC advert above (from @nicole473 on Twitter) and from the same source: And Hayek really was an idiot.

I listened to the most fascinating podcast this weekend. It was from NPR's Planet Money. The other day, they had a story about Egypt's military and seriously...it explains everything. What do I mean by that?

Booman on how the President overruled the US Foreign policy establishment

Biden occasionally breaks the mold, as he did in his opposition to the escalation in Afghanistan, but the president still stands largely alone in his foreign policy team in siding against our sixty-five year history of screwing the underdog in favor of "stability" and "access to markets." The man has guts, but it's really nothing but a progressive view of U.S. foreign policy in the post-war era. We all espouse that view, but we never see it carried out in Washington DC. When I see things that never happen, happen, then I have to make a note of it.

Even Jimmy Carter shrugged while the Shah butchered the protesters in 1978 and 1979.

You want to know why I was so passionate that Obama, and not Clinton, be the Democratic nominee? It wasn't for health care reform. It was for decisions like this.

Newt Gingrich didn't like it though. Since Gingrich is almost always both morally and factually wrong, this seals the deal for me.

Live feeds: Aljazeera - http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/ Guardian - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/feb/11/egypt-hosni-mubarak-left-cairo MSNBC - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ After 18 days Mubarak has stepped down. The Egyptian people has brought down the regime after 30 years and are saying:

This week, following the website launch, Elizabeth Warren held a conference call (sponsored by the Consumer Federation of America) where she spoke directly to a large group of pro-consumer groups, including Americans for Financial Reform. The substance of the call was largely to be expected, a big thank you to those who worked to make the CFPB real, a request for comment, especially using the CFPB website and it's modern tools for soliciting comment.

There is a new bureau web site with a video. Holly Petraeus is working for Dr. Warren to protect military families from financial sharks.

Reading Bill Press, a syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services in his article, Obama meets foreign policy test with the crisis in Egypt, he clearly depicts that Obama did not miss any chance in Egypt and in fact has executed a well planned methodical approach to send a message to Mubarak that he has to step down in a sweet and respectful manner in order to end the civil unrest in Egypt. Remember the 3am Ad?

"It's 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. But there's a phone in the White House and it's ringing. Something's happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers that call. Whether it's someone who already knows the world's leaders, knows the military, someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world. It's 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. Who do you want answering the phone?"

In all honesty, I am glad the President is the one that is answering the call and addressing our country's first foreign policy challenge.

The Washington Post has a fascinating article today about an 18 year-old young woman trapped between wanting, desperately, to serve the United States in the military and her inability to do so because she was brought here as an undocumented citizen when she was 11.

When Noheli Carrasco takes charge of her teenage battalion at South Lakes High School - their rifles pointing toward the ceiling, green uniforms crisply ironed - she looks much like the military officer she wants to be.

But Carrasco, 18, is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. And although she wants to join the Air Force after graduation and has been courted by recruiters, she is barred from enlisting.

~SNIP~

"It's the one thing I want to do. I want to serve this country," said Carrasco, who came here with her family from Bolivia when she was 11. "I had no idea how hard it would be."

If you look closely at the disclosures from the mutual fund managing your 401K you may see that they have invested some of your money in a plan to hollow out an American aluminum company and move its production to China. This plan is highly lucrative for the managers of the private equity companies involved and for some bankers and lawyers. What's in it for you? Risk - a lot of it! And you also get help give a salary to Rick Wagoner, last seen presiding over the near death of General Motors. And chances are this is not the only such scheme you are helping finance. Lucky you! Let's see how it works for Aleris, an Ohio based aluminum company.

President Obama has kicked off his new program called Advise the Advisor to stay connected and allow more access to exchange ideas between average Americans and the Administration's advisors. The President has been one of the most inspiring personalities in modern day politics and is trying a lot of new things to listen to new ideas to push our country to be the first inventors, creators and thinkers enabling participation in our Democracy. Advise the Advisor is:

a new program to help senior staff at the White House stay connected to the American people. Think of this as your direct line to the some of the President's senior advisors at the White House. Here's how it works: a member of the President’s senior staff will post a short video to let you know what they are working on at the White House and give you an opportunity to give us your advice, feedback and opinions about key issues

Pretty simple ha? Catch this video where David Plouffe explains the program focusing on innovation and requesting your participation:

To me, this is an advert that would have been impossible without the 2008 election. The Obama administration saved the domestic auto industry despite the bitter objections of Republicans and a number of Democrats who claim to be progressive. When the auto companies nearly failed, the Republicans were there to attack American prosperity with everything they had. Jim DeMint, who should be serving in the Confederate Senate, not the US one warned of riots.

A number of semi-related items. How taxes subsidize oil companies:

[in the 1950s] the U.S. State Department, eager to keep the Saudi government happy and the oil in the hands of U.S. companies, negotiated a deal whereby the governments would raise their royalty payments the companies had to pay them, but to reclassify them as income taxes. In the end, these governments collected more money from the oil companies, but the oil companies got a dollar-for-dollar reduction in their U.S. tax liabilities, so that the net effect was a reduction in U.S. tax revenues -- to the tune of $15 billion total in just the years between 2002 and 2008 -- while the oil companies themselves came out no worse, or perhaps slightly better off. What Obama should know about ending oil subsidies

Solar technology improves also from Grist.

And willing to do it relatively cheaply. Southern California Edison noted in its submission letter that the 20 projects -- which will generate between 5 and 20 megawatts -- will produce electricity at a cost below what utility industry wonks call the "market price referent." The MPR, as they call it, represents the levelized cost over 20 years of a combined cycle gas turbine like those typically found in natural gas power plants in the Golden State.

So in plain English, the developers of these solar farms have told the utility that they can produce electricity cheaper than a fossil fuel power plant.

And another gem from the Financial Crisis Inquiry

Our examination revealed stunning instances of governance breakdowns and irresponsibility. You will read, among other things, about AIG senior management’s ignorance of the terms and risks of the company’s $79 billion derivatives exposure to mortgage-related securities; Fannie Mae’s quest for bigger market share, profits, and bonuses, which led it to ramp up its exposure to risky loans and securities as the housing market was peaking; and the costly surprise when Merrill Lynch’s top management realized that the company held $55 billion in “super-senior” and supposedly “super-safe” mortgage-related securities that resulted in billions of dollars in loss

The President's speech to the Chamber of Commerce and my comment as published in the DailyFox

FDR would never have made this wimp speech FDR would have swollen with anger, his clothes tearing away and his wheelchair exploding as his massive musculature flexed. Raising the Red Flag with one hand, he would have leaped through the oval office window scattering glass fragments at supersonic speed and smashed into the Chamber of Commerce building, crushing it beneath his righteousness. His thunderous voice would have shaken the Capital as he held the hapless CoC President up by his scrawny neck and waved him opposite the Red Flag. Breaking into the IWW's One Big Union song, FDR would have then opened the armory and handed out weapons to the Peoples Revolutionary Soviet and led the masses towards the Supreme Court Building.

Fucking Obama, he's nothing like FDR.

/True Progressive

Superbowl Sunday note: Community owned Green Bay Packers are the only small market team left in the NFL and they do pretty well. The report is here and it contains a good summary of what we already know, plus a lot of analysis that counters the comfortable assumptions of most participants - including the standard narrative from the progressives.

From 1978 to 2007, the amount of debt held by the financial sector soared from $3 trillion to $36 trillion, more than doubling as a share of gross domestic product. The very nature of many Wall Street firms changed—from relatively staid private partnerships to publicly traded corporations taking greater and more diverse kinds of risks. By 2005, the 10 largest U.S. commercial banks held 55% of the industry’s assets, more than double the level held in 1990. On the eve of the crisis in 2006, financial sector profits constituted 27% of all corporate profits in the United States, up from 15% in 1980. Understanding this transformation has been critical to the Commission’s analysis.

So that's a huge structural change in the economy that is going to take years or decades to fix - if it is fixable. And the obvious barrier to fixing is in the power of the industry itself

From 1999 to 2008, the financial sector expended $2.7 billion in reported federal lobbying expenses; individuals and political action committees in the sector made more than $1 billion in campaign contributions.

I think this understates, since it does not include advertising in the media and money going to think tanks and universities.

Consider the current uprising of oppressed voices in Egypt. Consider the conviction of the Tunisian people who ousted their dictatorial regime. Consider the view of thousands of people protesting in downtown Amman, Jordan wanting to see change even after King Abdullah fired his Prime Minister Samir Rifai two days ago. Consider the announcement by Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh that he won't run for re-election when his term ends in 2013 and promise not to attempt to pass on the presidency to his son. The CHANGE virus is definitely spreading in the Middle East.

Today marks the first day of Black History Month for 2011. February has always been a month that has been celebrated by people of many races and background to recognize the notable contributions of African-Americans over the years. However, this month long celebration of AA achievement is also a reflection of the untold history that has deep roots of despair and jubilee. Since the beginning of the "Negro History Week" in 1926 which later became the “Black History Month”, there has been a significant record keeping of what really had happened to Blacks from the slave trade era, to the treatment they had endured, to the struggle for civil rights, to today where we have an African American President in the United States. However, in order to embrace and celebrate today’s progress; it is important to look at history since the colonial times at the dawn of the revolution and reflect on the good, the bad and the ugly to our present time. It is our American History that is often not fully thought in our schools.