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on Conservative opposition to our American Dream Washington State’s 4 Major Needs Federal Funding for Health
and Education ·
A
Progressive Income Tax ·
Replacing
Republican Legislators Quote of the Week A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian
spring: there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely
sobers us again. In An Essay on Criticism 1711 by Alexander Pope
(1688 – 1744) I know just enough
to get in trouble
- song
by Hank
Williams, Jr. (1949 - )
Calendar of Events
Friday, October 3 at 7 PM at
Friday, October 3 at 7 PM at
Monday, October 6 at 6 PM at Rod Hearne’s & Roger Nyhus’s home (
Saturday, October 11 at 9:30 AM –
3:30 PM at
Saturday, October 11 at 6:30 PM at
Sunday, October 12 at 5:30 PM at
Kathy and
Tuesday, October 14 at 7 PM at
Wednesday, October 15 at 6 PM at
Joby Shimomura’s and Trace
Friday, October 17 – 19 at
Opportunities, Petitions and Feedback
Communication with Our Members and Feedback
I have compiled all of my
commentaries on our economy into one document which is posted on
our website. I believe one hour spent
reading them will make you better informed than the vast majority of Americans,
including many of our congress members. Without understanding our economic crises,
their causes and needed solutions, you are unable to act responsibly to
correct the situation which affects all of us.
Dave Thomas
Opportunities
Useful
Websites: contacts, maps, community organizing tools, and more.
Access
to jillions of political cartoons.
Download
Michael Moore’s latest movie ‘Slacker Uprising’ for free.
Take
a crash course (2½ hours) about our American economy (video).
Petitions and Donations
Tell your congress members to develop a plan for bailing out
main street, not wall street.
Tell
your congress members and leaders to bail out main street, not wall street. Different
petition with same message.
Tell your
congress members to oppose oil shale development.
Tell your congress members
to protect our drinking water.
Ask
our Inspector General to investigate FBI’s inappropriate investigations.
Tell
our presidential candidates to make housing a priority, at home and abroad.
Sign
Planned Parenthood petition stating I oppose Sarah Palin.
Commentaries From Our Members
Andrew Villeneuve: a Bailout Chain Letter
This "chain letter" landed in my inbox this morning, but oddly enough, it isn't from a
guy who claims to be in
“Dear
American, I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship
with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.
I am Ministry of the Treasury of the
I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement
as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the
leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This
transaction is 100% safe.
This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as
quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of
our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family
lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who
will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.
Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account
numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to
wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this
transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed
information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.
Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson”
Why do I
get the feeling I'm about to be scammed even if I don't reply? Andrew
Villeneuve
Bill Dubay on Unconstitutional Senate Tax Bill
How far we have come from paying any regard to the U.S. Constitution.
Regardless of the merits or shortcomings of the Senate tax bill (Wednesday
editorial "Tax measure: follow the Senate"), the very first sentence
of Article I, Section 7 of our ruling document reads, "All bills for
raising revenues shall originate in the House of Representatives ...."
I guess George W. Bush's statement about not letting the Constitution get
in the way because it is only a sheet of paper which is being adhered to in
Congress. Bill Dubay
Cheryl Banks on Socialist Takeover of Financial Companies
Published by
It's been a confusing
several days. The highly paid former CEO of Goldman Sachs came to speak to the
Senate Finance Committee and to the
This is socialism, isn't
it? When the federal government takes ownership of a private corporation, that
would be a definition of socialism. We the people now own these financial
institutions. I would have preferred that the well-paid CEOs continue to run
them and leave me out of it.
Hell has to have frozen
over, and you newspaper types missed it.
Cheryl Banks
Mary Evans on Fascist Takeover
of Our Government
Published by
I thought that investors took a chance on a profit or loss that was
subject to a (now ever-decreasing) capital gains tax. When did the change take
place that rules investment profits a private gain and investment losses a
burden for taxpayers? This is neither
capitalism nor socialism; from what I understand, it is fascism. In 1922, fascists began rescuing distressed
industries at taxpayer expense; by 1935 Mussolini bragged that 75 percent of
Italian businesses had become part of his "national corporate state of
fascism."
President Roosevelt warned us in 1942 when speaking on anti-trust law: "The
liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private
power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself.
That, in its essence, is fascism. ... Among us today a concentration of private
power without equal in history is growing."
One of 200 noted economists who signed a letter protesting the Wall Street
bailout, Luigi Zingales, suggested a vehicle similar to Chapter 11 bankruptcy
be adapted to the crisis. There are ways to deal with this disaster without
punishing the wallets of the entire populace for mistakes made by a greedy few.
In the presidential debates neither candidate objected to the bailout.
Last week, John McCain suggested a further cut in the capital gains tax as an
element of the "rescue." That's another reason I favor Barack
Obama. Mary Evans
Larry Fox: Invest in Jobs
Wow! I never thought I'd agree with Republicans on
anything, but hooray for those who voted against the stupid bailout. My reasons
for disagreeing with the bill are different from theirs, however. If members of
Congress would use the few days they have off to read history books, they could
see how we got out of a similar financial mess more than 70 years ago. FDR
attacked the "money changers" and refused to bail them out. FDR led us
out of the Great Depression, not by bailing out the troublemakers but by using
money to put people back to work. There has been no mention of looking at what
worked to get us out of a depression and duplicating the effort. If we are
going to spend $700 billion, shouldn't we look at something other than bailing
out the people who caused the problem in the first place?
Lost money in your 401(k)? Those of us who bailed out of
the stock market as soon as George W. Bush got appointed president did not lose
a lot.
Sure, the depreciation of the U.S. dollar and low
interest rates because of poor economic policies hurt some investors but not as
bad as those who speculated in stock. I had reservations about that system,
even though I did OK on my 401(k). Those 401(k)s enabled people to continue to
pour money into the stock market. Doing this had the effect of over inflating
the value of those stocks. Think about it.
Larry Fox
David Blair on Post Turtles
While
suturing a cut on the hand of a 75-year old
The old
rancher said, 'When you're driving down a country road and you come across a
fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle.' The old rancher saw a puzzled look on the
doctor's face, so he continued to explain. 'You know she didn't get up there by
herself, she doesn't belong up there, she doesn't know what to do while she is
up there, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put her up there to begin
with. David Blair
Liberals and Democrats
President Bush’s Basic Value
Looking back over President Bush’s large number of major and other mistakes, I wonder if there is a simple common thread. More than anything else, he seems motivated to reward his cronies, including campaign contributors to him and his Republican colleagues. This explains his tax cutting, subsidies, attempt to allow companies to despoil our public lands to obtain our mineral and timber resources, deregulation and refusal to enforce regulations, privatization, using crises (9/11, invasion of Iraq, Katrina) to make unsupervised no-bid contracts, and more.
Bush’s deception derives from trying to conceal this corruption. His signing statements and other attempts to increase his power are means directed toward control over government assets. About the only other thing he has done besides reward his cronies is to promote various Christian Conservative causes.
Like Marcos, Somoza and many crony capitalist dictators, Bush’s crony capitalism is directed toward completely looting every public asset that he can control. Just before he leaves office, his bailouts and proposed bailouts appear to be his most extensive looting. He appears to be attempting to force our government to borrow to the maximum, directing the funds to his cronies. For more. They say that our credit crisis demands immediate action. But what about our health care, wage, job and pension crisis that's been going on for the last decade?
Our
government already owes $9.6 trillion, with 45% of our treasury securities
owned by
It is necessary for us to restore the availability of credit. But this should not be done in a way that rewards any of Bush’s cronies who have been responsible for creating our present financial mess. For more.
John McCain Has Lost It.
John McCain’s policies are similar to Bush’s policies. But his temperament is different. With little curiosity, Bush makes a decision with limited understanding of issues and alternatives. No matter how bad the consequences, he stays the course without admitting any mistake. He believes all bad things are result of something besides his action. If we just continue his course of action, everything will turn out alright,
John McCain impetuously makes decisions, but doesn’t stay the course. He continually makes new choices, generally denying that he ever made a different choice before. He has done this with his policy positions. With his campaign organization. With his campaign strategies and tactics. It now seems as though he wakes up every morning, looks at the news and decides what action he can take to gain some political advantage. Even if it reverses his stance of the day before. For more. For more.
As Conservatives frequently do, McCain accuses his opponents of doing the outrageous thing that he does. Thus he says he puts our country before his political career, and that Barack Obama does the opposite. In fact there is abundant evidence to the contrary.
On financial crisis, Obama is careful and steady, McCain is here, there, everywhere
John McCain’s grandstanding may have hindered our financial bailout negotiations. For more.
Sarah Palin Never Had It
I’m a reformer. I’m under investigation for troopergate and abuse of power.
I’m against
landmarks. I hired a
I was against the bridge to nowhere. I was for it before I was against it.
I’m a budget balancer. As mayor, I left town in debt, charged state for travel while staying home.
I’ve got executive experience. I ran small town with 53 employees, was governor less that two years.
Abstinence-only works. My unwed teenage daughter is five months pregnant.
God bless
*This was
stimulated by a cartoon by Don Wright of the
Like Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin is being kept out of sight, particularly away from our press. Here’s why. A hidden celebrity doesn’t remain a celebrity.
The First Presidential Debate Showed Nothing New
I
During the first presidential debate, Jim Lehrer asked questions which focused upon John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s previously expressed differences. Some questions Lehrer might have asked. Even in response to open-ended questions, both candidates responded with little that they hadn’t said before. For example, neither would tell us how reduced revenue would force them to delay some of their proposals. I don’t think I learned anything new about either one of them, their agreements and disagreements. More important to me was what they didn’t say.
Foreign Policy
Regarding
foreign policy, Obama said that McCain supported initiating the war based on
assumptions that were all wrong. McCain
said that Obama’s opposition to the surge was wrong. They expressed their different slightly
differing views concerning what to do with respect to
I would have liked for the candidates to talk about restoring our international reputation with other nations through providing cooperation and respectful leadership concerning our many global challenges. Including terrorism and other crimes, ethnic conflicts, unregulated international trade, global warming and other environmental challenges. How should our international governance be reformed to deal with these issues?
The world is
much larger than the mid-east. What
should our government be doing with respect to
Our Credit Crisis and Budget
McCain blamed our credit crisis upon greedy corrupt people, while Obama gave more attention and to institutional factors: deregulation, securitization, and leverage. Obama was more specific in how the restoration of credit should be shaped. We received little information about how victims of our current bubble would be rescued. Or how future bubbles would be prevented
McCain emphasized eliminating earmarks, while Obama emphasized eliminating subsidies. McCain emphasized tax cuts. So did Obama. McCain emphasized balancing the budget by eliminating unspecified waste, which is obviously impossible. Obama emphasized spending priorities, but failed to adequately address additional sources of revenue, beyond forcing our very wealthy to again pay their fair share.
Neither candidate suggested the basic problems we face and the magnitude of the changes that we must make. We must change back from a borrow and consume (and speculate) society to a earn and invest society. We must greatly restrict leveraged speculation in mystery securities and their insurance. We must encourage the reduction of debt. We must discourage consumption and encourage investment. We must invest to improve our economy’s productivity and to produce jobs.
Let’s hope our other debates will stimulate our candidates to express their views on these basic questions. We voters need to know. Both the candidates and the media are failing to educate us about the basics. What causes bubbles (including our present one) and how can they be prevented? What is our American Dream and what is necessary to restore it? I hope our Puget Sound Liberals newsletter is performing this role to the extent of our limited resources.
A minor point: John McCain claimed that our corporate income tax rates are among the highest in the world. Barack Obama correctly noted that due to loopholes, the percentage of profits that our corporations pay is among the lowest in the world. Many major corporations pay no taxes. Another example of Conservative deception. The Conservatives use the same deception in referring to personal income taxes. For more.
Here’s the Beef
Liberals, hold your heads high.
Amazingly, Conservatives haven’t all been hunted down, tarred and feathered.
Conservatives are whining and blaming about our housing and credit crises. As usual, they are wrong.
Anti-black racism will reduce Barack Obama’s votes, but not enough to cost him the election.
Barack Obama. Looking good. Looking great. Well ahead in most formerly toss-up swing states. Keep working for coattail effect.
State and Local
Endorsements
for General Election Candidates
Gates Committee Report:
In developing replacement and
incremental alternatives, the Committee focused on the following problem areas:
regressivity, adequacy, volatility, neutrality, economic vitality, and
simplicity. This section provides a
summary of the recommendations the Committee includes in its final report. Although
the report contains many other alternatives deemed worthy of discussion and
consideration, the Committee believes that the following alternatives deserve
special attention. It should be noted that the Committee proposes alternatives
and recommendations with an eye to revenue neutrality, consistent with the
charge it received from the Legislature.
Replacement Alternatives
If the Legislature chooses to
replace major taxes in the current tax system, the Committee recommends:
1. A subtraction method business value added tax to replace
the business and occupation (B&O) tax.
Replacing
the B&O tax with a value added tax eliminates the “pyramiding” effect
as goods move through the production
chain, thereby addressing the Committee’s concerns with economic neutrality and
competitiveness. A majority of the Committee members recommend this
alternative.
2. A flat rate personal
income tax to reduce the state sales tax rate and eliminate the state property
tax. Share all or part of the state property tax relief with local governments
and/or local schools. The
Committee developed the personal income tax alternative in response to a number
of concerns about the existing tax system.
·
Regressivity:
Low-income households pay a larger proportion of their income in taxes than do
higher income households. This option would address these concerns by imposing
a tax on income earned in
·
Federal
Tax Burdens: Changing to a personal income tax would allow households to export
a portion of their state tax burden to the federal government because state
income taxes are deductible in the federal income tax computation. This will
significantly reduce the federal income tax burden on
·
Vitality:
Since businesses pay a significant percentage of the retail sales tax,
reduction of this tax will cause a shift of overall tax burden from businesses
to households. A reduction in the relative business tax burden would improve
·
Adequacy:
Decreasing the state sales tax rate should reduce the impact of revenue loss
from cross-border and remote shopping. Diminishing the incentive for
cross-border and remote shopping also improves the competitive position of
The Committee recommends both a flat
rate and a graduated rate income tax. However, a greater number of Committee
members supported a flat rate income tax versus a graduated rate income tax.
The Committee recommends the
elimination of the state portion of the property tax because the property tax
is unpopular, yet the public appears more accepting of local property taxes for
local purposes. Accordingly, the Committee suggests that the Legislature
consider replacing the state property tax levy and granting local school
districts or other local governments additional levy authority.
See all of our Washington Tax Reform Commentaries in one document.
Sound Transit’s
Expansion Plan – Pros and Cons.
Mayors and analysts debate Proposition 1.
Will Sound Transit’s proposed light rail expansion cost $22.8 billion or $107.3 billion?
Seattle Times rejects Sound Transits Proposition 1 for light rail expansion.
Seattle PI praises Seattle Mayor’s and Council’s responsible budgeting.
Our Seattle School Board needs to keep our elementary schools to meet student needs.
Read Seattle
Times commentary and then
Comparing Two Proposals
for Funding Public Schools
From
On September
28, 2008, the Seattle Times published an article about the race between myself
and Glenn Anderson in the 5th Legislative District of east
It is unfair to myself and unfair to
the voters to point out a controversial proposal I have made to raise State
funding for public schools without also pointing out the controversial proposal
my opponent has made to raise State funding for public schools.
Voters have a
right to know both sides of this important story. Their choice in this election
is not just between a Republican and a Democrat, as your story implied. Rather
it is a choice between paying for the education of our children by having
corporations pay their fair share of State taxes or paying for education by
raising property taxes on the middle class. My proposal would not harm
corporations because they could simply deduct their State taxes from their
Federal taxes. So all I am really talking about is transferring a billion
dollars from the federal tax rolls to the State tax rolls.
But Glenn’s
proposal to raise our property taxes, by raising the State wide Levy Lid from
the current 24% to 30%, would greatly harm both homeowners and our children
(see 2007 House Bill 1612, Page 5, Line 27). His bill would harm homeowners
because the middle class in our State already pays State taxes much higher than
the national average. Raising our property taxes would only increase the
unfairness of our State tax structure and increase the number of homeowners who
would lose their homes to foreclosure.
We also know
from past attempts to use high levies to fund education that this method is
harmful to children because it is extremely unreliable and results in some
school districts having adequate funds while others do not. In 1975, the last time the State levy lid was
this high, 40% of the students in our State were in “levy Loss” school
districts. The
Out of sheer
desperation, the
It is not
fair to me or to your readers to point out only one side of this story. My
funding proposal, while controversial, would not harm homeowners or children.
By contrast, Glenn Anderson’s proposal to raise taxes would certainly harm
homeowners and children. I ask the
Seattle Times to tell the truth about Glenn Anderson and House Bill 1612. Let’s
have an open, honest, and public debate about how best to balance our State
budget and provide adequate funding for our public schools. The real issue here
is not merely who will get elected, but how we can best insure the future of
our children. Sincerely,
Contributions to
Spring for House,
Before and during
the six weeks since David obtained more votes than his Republican opponent,
Here’s the Beef
See who’s filing to
run for Washington state and federal offices.
Both Dave
Reichert and Darcy
Burner oppose bailout.
Darcy Burner
says bailout must protect taxpayers.
Washington
Mutual collapse affects Puget Sound economy (audio).
Nation
and World
Our Golden
Era. Wrecked by Conservatives.
Our Golden Era: Earn and Invest
(1945-1973)
Pent up Demand. Economy grew fast enough that government debt became more manageable. GI Bill (1944) enabled returning GIs to attend school, buy homes and start businesses. Many women left labor force to raise children. Manufacturing for both domestic and foreign markets, with little foreign competition. Marshall Plan (1947-). Korean War (1950-53).
Levittown,
Civil rights movement (1955-65) Voting Rights Act (1965). Apollo Program (1961-1975). Moon landing in 1969 (video).
Our Golden Era was characterized by:
Public and private investment. Increasing
productivity. High employment
rates. Unionization. Good earnings. Progressive taxes. Borrowing and speculation limited. Investment and earnings increases are a
virtuous circle.
Wrecked by Conservatives: Borrow and Consume
(and Speculate) (1980s-)
Oil Shocks (1973 and 1979). Stagflation. Credit card usage increases (1970s). Women increasingly seek jobs. White men experiencing increased job competition from women and African Americans help elect Reagan. Regressive tax cuts. Increased military-industrial spending. Large federal deficits and increasing debt. Anti-unionization. Privatization. Deregulation and reduced enforcement. Workers’ earnings no longer pace productivity increases. Increased income and wealth disparities. Wall street prospers at expense of Main Street. For more. For more.
Increased foreign, especially Japanese) competition (1980s). Savings and Loan deregulation (1982) causes bubble and crash (1989), costing $125 billion). Tax law changes stimulate junk bond (1985) corporate debt financing, takeover and destruction of many productive firms. Glass-Steagall Act which separated commercial and investment banks is repealed, allowing commercial banks to use deposited funds for speculation instead of main street loans. Long-Term Capital Management hedge fund does well and then crashes (1998).
President Bush’s economic policies are Reagan’s economic policies on steroids: Regressive tax cuts. Increased military spending. Decreased investment. Decreased regulation and enforcement. Public resource giveaways. Increased corruption. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan’s cheap money fuels dot.com bubble and crash (1998) and housing bubble and crash. Speculation based upon mysteriously packaged securities leads to credit bubble and crash. Leaving office, President Bush may destroy next year’s budget.
How Should We
Restore Credit? A Better Approach.
The Proposed Bailout
It appears that the proposed bailout proposal would allow the government to spend up to $700 billion to buy mystery securities from the financial companies which have created or bought them. [By mystery securities, I mean securities which are based upon mixtures of mortgages with unknown risks of default and foreclosure.] These are the same financial companies which have created our financial mess. Through their failed speculation in the housing bubble.
Suppose our government is able to buy the mystery securities at low prices which doesn’t reward the sellers and which allow it to eventually get much of our money back. Maybe all. Maybe even some extra. We would have still rewarded bad behavior by enabling the sellers to stay in business. And we may receive less money back than we spent. Many economists are saying this approach is not necessary, at least not immediately necessary. Joe Stiglitz says it won’t solve the problem. Ten things which may be wrong with current approach. Ralph Nader blogger says don’t feed the hand that bit us. Responding to voter opposition, Republicans and Democrats voted against the bailout proposal (9/29). For more. For more. For more.
What is $700 billion worth?
$700 billion is 7% of our $9.8 trillion federal government debt. $700 could be used to:
· Provide $2300 to every American person or $6200 per household
· Pay all income taxes of every American who makes less than $500,000 per year
· Fully fund our Defense, Veterans Affairs, Treasury, State, Interior & Education Departments and NASA
· Buy gasoline for every American car for 16 months
· Buy all NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball teams, build each a new stadium, and pay each player $191 million per year
·
Or create the 17th largest economy in
the world (equal to the
Our 400 wealthiest
Americans gained $700 billion in net worth during the Bush Administration. Maybe we should let them pay for any bailout,
leaving them $900 billion. On 9/29/2008,
our stock market lost $1.2 trillion. It
has lost $7 trillion since its
An Alternative Approach
Suppose we try an alternative approach
to make credit available to appropriate borrowers. Let’s
identify hundreds of banks across our country who hold very few mystery
securities. Banks which by and large
avoided speculating. Let us loan up to
$700 billion to these banks at rates which permit them to provide enough credit
to appropriate borrowers. Compare this approach
with President Roosevelt’s approach to a similar crisis 75 years ago. For more. For more. For more. For
more. For more (PBS NOW video). For more. For more. For more.
For
more. For
more (George Soros).
Maybe no finance company is too big to fail. Maybe the biggest ones should be the ones to
fail. They are the ones with lobbyists
and campaign contributions which oppose regulation. Which insist upon unregulated
speculation. Think of it as
demergerization. If credit is provided through presently smaller and more sound banks,
we might be better off if the larger financial companies (which are burdened
with mystery securities) were downsized or even failed.
Let the other financial companies take their richly deserved beating. Three (Bear Sterns, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers) of our five major investment banks
have already failed. The other two (Goldman
Sachs and Morgan Stanley) may soon do so. Combination commercial and investment banks,
such as Citigroup,
Credit
Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JP
Morgan Chase, and UBS AG also risk large losses. A savings and loan IndyMac failed. Our government took control of insurer AIG. Many mutual funds, pension funds, hedge funds
and other financial companies (such as commercial banks Washington Mutual and
Wachovia) which have
purchased mystery securities have also lost varying amounts. Other banks (Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo) appear to
remain strong, perhaps due to purchasing fewer mystery securities.
A form of derivative,
Credit Default Swaps (CDS) are insurance for bonds, which can be purchased even
if the purchaser doesn’t own the bonds.
Used for speculation, the total worth of CDS are now $58 trillion
(compared to $6.2 trillion in corporate debt).
As the value of bonds decline, holders of CDS must provide additional
collateral. CDS were largely responsible
for the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the collapse of AIG. Ten percent of all bond funds and nine of the
ten largest bond funds have CDS. For more about CDS.
I am not a national finance expert. There may be reasons why this won’t work. Too few banks which avoided the bubble. Too much damage when the miscreant speculators fail. Too much instability during the failure process. But I believe we should adopt an approach which rewards ‘good’ financial companies, instead of ‘bad’ ones. Jack and Suzy Welch comment on who is responsible for our financial crash.
To the extent that we have a stake in mutual and pension funds which have
lost money, each of us will also incur losses.
So will our state and local governments which have purchased mystery
securities or shares of funds which hold mystery securities. But we need to greatly reduce our
speculation. Letting failed speculators,
including ourselves as secondary speculators (who benefited from the bubble
until it crashed), is well deserved.
From now on, we can earn a return on our savings by investing in
companies which successfully provide goods and services.
PS. Remember that we must still
respond to our crisis with other measures:
· Regulations, margin requirements and other
measures to stop fraud and speculation. Bye bye market
fundamentalism (video). For more.
· Public and private investments to create infrastructure,
conservation, non-carbon based energy, new technologies, safety net and human
resource improvement, concentrated housing and other needed improvements. For more. For more. For more.
· Easing the hardships of innocent victims of past fraud and of those who must transfer from finance jobs to others.
For more detail: http://www.pugetsoundliberals.org/newsletter/Newsletter%20080822136.doc. Also see Ralph Nader’s financial system reform plan. Dave Thomas
Will You Accept
a Financial Loss for a Better Future?
Suppose you have a stake in a mutual fund, pension fund or other
so-called investment. Suppose you chose
it because it offered a faster growing value than other so-called
investments. This provides pressure for
your fund and others to join the competition to own mystery securities while
they are bubbling. Now the bubble
crashes and your so-called investment has lost value, maybe considerable value. The increased risk which accompanies higher returns
took away your returns. Should you
recoup your losses? Who should pay
you? To return to a non-speculative
economy, many of us may have to take a loss.
But if our financial companies are no longer taking much of the returns
from our productivity, we may be able to return to our golden era. More employment opportunities. Better pay.
Better guaranteed retirement.
Better social services.
Supporting many fewer expensive harmful rip-off artists (financial
companies and their employees). Can you
stand to have to work for your earnings, but receive the earnings your work
deserves?
I just heard a car dealer on TV, who said that while 83% of their loan
applications are usually approved, only 63% are now being approved. Are the standards now too high? Or were they too low before? For
more.
Every Child Matters – For
more
Every Child Matters is urging that
the candidates address—and that the news media cover—the following key issues
and questions:
·
More than 8 million children have no health insurance in the
·
More than 3 million children nationwide were reported abused and neglected
in 2006. What are your plans to keep all children safe from violence in their
homes, schools, and communities?
·
Millions of children are left alone every day after school. What is your
position on how to keep children safe and supervised in the late afternoon and
early evenings?
·
Millions of children lack access to early education opportunities. What is
your position on early care and education, including preparing children for
kindergarten?
·
More than 13 million of
·
Millions of children have a parent in prison. How would you address the
special needs of the children?
Marilyn
Watkins: Attention Olympia. Funding
early childhood learning pays off
National Family Platform
Adopted by Equal Voice for America's Families
Child Care
Increase the supply of quality child care that is affordable for families of
all economic backgrounds. Invest more money in child care subsidies and early
childhood education.
Criminal Justice Reform/Opportunities for
Ex-offenders to Rebuild
Make it easier and less expensive to get criminal records expunged. Help
ex-offenders rebuild. Support children of incarcerated parents. Automatically
reinstate voting rights for ex-offenders upon their parole.
Education
Promote accountability in education
and early education. Reform the way children are taught so that their skills
fit society's needs. Offer bilingual education and culturally relevant
curricula for students. Provide more recreation, sports, tutoring, literacy and
cultural history resources for high school students. Bridge the gap in
technology access and readiness between low-wealth families and wealthier
families. Involve parents in school decisions and in their children's
education.
Employment/Job Training
Bring manufacturing jobs back to
this country. Pass living wage laws. Enforce labor laws. Protect retirement
incomes. Provide training that will help people access jobs with living wages
so that parents will need to work only one job and will be able to spend more
time with their families.
Healthcare
Provide healthcare for all. Provide
better health and dental care. Provide medical help for elders. Enact price
controls on healthcare and medicines. Provide healthcare education. Promote
healthy living and good nutrition. Ensure mental health services are available
to all and the needs of people with disabilities are met. Improve public
programs, such as Medicaid, by making them simpler to apply to, easier to
access and delay-free.
Housing
Build quality and safe affordable housing. Bring prices down so that poor
families can afford rent or can purchase a first home. Help people feel secure
in their housing. Prevent families from being displaced by development and
gentrification.
Immigration Reform
Educate immigrants about their civil rights. Pass immigration reform, and
provide more opportunities for immigrant families to become citizens so that their
contributions can be recognized. Create a support system for children whose
parents have been deported. Separate the responsibilities of Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the police. Provide education for immigrant
children. Allow immigrants to carry a state driver's license.
Safe and Thriving Communities
Make all communities safe and
vibrant with strategies to address violence, drugs and decay. Invest in
infrastructure and resources to help all people thrive.
This National Family Platform is accompanied by a Call To Action that
includes:
· No family should live in poverty.
· Everyone who works hard should be able to advance and
participate fully in the economic, political and cultural life of the nation -
that is, every person in
· Economic status at birth (or gender, race, ethnicity, and
nationality) should not predetermine ultimate achievements.
· We take responsibility for ourselves, for our neighbors
and for contributing to a better society.
· We are engaging in efforts to create change and will hold
everyone in our communities accountable.
· We call on the nation to join us in supporting
What If Our United Nations Could Deal
with Ethnic Conflict
Cyprus. Sri Lanka. Rwanda. Bosnia. Kosovo. Congo. Darfur. Iraq. Georgia. All of these have involved conflict between
two ethnic groups. In many, the conflict
has continued for many years. In other
cases, a neighboring country, a regional body, or the United Nations has
intervened to limit or stop the violence.
Suppose Our United Nations was able to effectively intervene in all
these conflicts, as it has in
Here’s
the Beef
This week’s financial crisis may symbolize the end of the era of American global dominance.
For more on our financial crisis’ affect on our international influence.
Main street wants no bailout of wall street. But we must deleverage American households.
A securities transaction tax would dampen speculation and produce revenue to restore credit.
With budget deficits, beware the privatization of our public infrastructure.
Local Community Radio Act will increase local voices and choices.
President Bush seeks to place national guard under national control within our United States.
Resource rich countries experience corruption and division, harming their development.
Restructure taxes and reorder fiscal priorities to get our markets to respond to ecological truths.
Brazil is thriving under Lulu’s leadership.
Our Liberal Spirit
Knowing Enough
I have long studied economics. But six months ago, I knew little about our financial companies, markets and their operation. I have diligently studied our financial system. Compared with most of the many commentaries I read, I believe I now have a fairly competent understanding of the big picture and main dynamics. But I still feel uncertain of my knowledge of many of details.
As someone said, “It’s not what you don’t know, but what you know that isn’t so, that gets you in trouble.” As I study our financial system (or anything else) and begin to develop hypotheses about the situations, its history and causes, and its possible futures, I place particular emphasis upon finding analyses which refute my hypotheses. I believe it is much more important to have correct hypotheses than to have more hypotheses, some of which are incorrect.
To develop an accurate understanding, it is necessary to both build theories with facts and to try to destroy them with facts. It is necessary to pose some hypotheses, look for relevant facts – pro and con, modify or build new hypotheses, look for more facts, etc. We simultaneously build theories and throw facts at them. A successful knowledge seeker maintains a dialogue between theory and fact. Much more could be said about methodologies for theory construction.
People who are dangerous, due to knowing only a little, usually fail to challenge what they know. Thus Conservatives who say that raising taxes that are unfairly low are harmful to our economy, fail to observe the tax levels during our golden era (1946-73. Market fundamentalists fail to observe the many instances in which regulated markets perform well. And many unregulated markets which go awry, creating too much or too little competition for fair returns. Or rewarding fraudulent practices, leading to a race to the bottom. Have you ever heard of an unregulated market leading to a race to the top?
Conservatives decry government health coverage, without noticing that Social Security provides coverage which is more comprehensive, secure and inexpensive than private coverage. They decry even more, the provision of health care by government, ignoring the high quality of the care offered by our Veterans Administration. Numerous other examples exist of Conservatives allowing shallow ideology to override facts.
Unfortunately, Liberals can also hold erroneous beliefs, although usually not the ones of which Conservatives accuse us. We are not as fiscally irresponsible as Conservatives are. But without having clarified our basic values and facts which are relevant to realizing our values, too many of us fall for Conservative framing. When we have only a superficial understanding of various issues, we can easily be influenced by lobbyists to act against our own values and the people we wish to help.
I am especially impressed by Barack Obama’s discussion in his autobiographical Dreams of My Father and The Audacity of Hope of his attempts to encounter and reflect upon a wide variety of facts. Like most of us, he has a limited understanding of our financial system. But he has consulted with people who have a variety of experiences, understandings and suggestions concerning our financial system. I expect that he will rapidly learn enough. Good luck to all of you in your attempts to learn enough. Dave Thomas
Recommended Books – See our list of books for
liberals
These books were written during our Golden Era to describe and analyze some
of its social and economic features:
David Riesman, Nathan Glazer and Reuel Denney, 1950, The Lonely Crowd, A Study of the Changing American Character
William H. Whyte, Jr., 1956, The
Organization Man
Vance Packard, 1957, The Hidden
Persuaders
Betty Friedan, 1963, The Feminine
Mystique
Alvin Toffler, 1970, Future Shock
Charles A. Reich, 1970, The Greening
of
John Kenneth Galbraith, 1958,
The Affluent Society
John Kenneth Galbraith, 1967,
The New
John Kenneth Galbraith, 1973, Economics
and the Public Purpose
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