Enhancing Freedom, Opportunity and Cooperation in
Through informing and networking Liberals and Liberal Organizations.
Our vision is hundreds of thousands of well-informed
Our Website Our Editor To Unsubscribe Table of
Contents * Featured Articles Calendars of Events Communication with Our Members Opportunities Petitions Commentaries from Our Members Rich
Austin: We must demand Single Payer Jack
Smith: March for Health Care Reform Liberals and Democrats Links to the Beef Reactions to California Supreme Court Prop. 8 Ruling Three Types of Economic Stimulus: Good, Bad, Ugly* Climate Change Legislation Is Inadequate State and Local Links
to the Beef Featured Advocacy Group: Sound Alliance Vibrant Neighborhood Gathering Places Nation and World Links to the Beef Our Liberal Spirit Changing Activities Refresh Us* Our
Political Priorities ·
Fair Clean
Elections and Open Government ·
Fair Taxes and
Competent Spending ·
Investment for
Productivity ·
Quality
Health, Education, Jobs, Income ·
Environmental
Protection and Energy Independence ·
Security and
Equal Rights ·
Justice and
Peace Everywhere ·
International
Cooperation and Leadership Conservatives oppose all of these Let’s
End Our National Nightmare
Let’s
Restore Our American Dream More on Conservative opposition to our
American Dream Washington State’s 5 Major Needs ·
Federal
Funding for Health and Education · Substitute
a Progressive Income Tax · Replacing
Conservative Legislators Quote of the Week Long
Marches Kill Our Spirit
Calendar of Events
Schedule for Organizing
for
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5/31/2009 |
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6/1/2009 |
6:00:00 PM |
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Sequim |
6/2/2009 |
6:30:00 PM |
Sequim Library |
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6/3/2009 |
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6/6/2009 |
12:00:00 PM |
Whatcom Educational Credit Union |
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Friday, May 29 at 6:30 at
Saturday, May 30 at 12:30 PM at
Monday,
June 1 at 7 PM at
Tuesday, June 2 at
5:30 at Café Racer (
Wednesday, June 3 at 7 PM at
Saturday, June 6 at
6:30 at
Thursday, June 11
at 7:30 at Seattle Central Library Washington Mutual Foundation Meeting Room (
Friday
June 12, 2009, 7 to 9 pm at the
Saturday, June 13
at 6:30 PM at LueRachelle
Brim-Atkins’s home (
Saturday, June 13
at 6 PM at
Communication
with Our Members
I have combined commentaries on six
topics into six documents on our website:
·
Reforming
our Washington State tax system
·
Affordable
Housing and Transportation
·
Peak Oil,
Financial Bubbles and Global Warming
For commentary on economic reporting, I
also recommend that you try Dean Baker’s Beat the
Press blog.
Opportunities
Useful
Websites: contacts, maps, community organizing tools, and more.
Access
to jillions of political cartoons.
Download
Sightline Institute’s climate policy primer ‘Cap and Trade 101’. About
Sightline.
Conduct your own home energy audit.
See all of President Obama’s
weekly (Saturday) addresses.
Listen to Pete Seeger
singing and hear about his history of political singing (video). For more. I have a signed Pete Seeger songbook that I
got in 1945 when I listened to him sing in a
Play the new health care coverage video game.
Petitions
Tell
President Obama to ask congress to repeal ‘Don’t Ask. Don’t Tell.’
Tell
President Obama to remove Bush Administration Justice Appointees who are
abusing their power.
Tell
your senators to eliminate unwanted military pork from Iraq/Afghanistan funding
bill.
Tell
senators Kerry and Lugar to hold hearings on Sudan.
Tell
your congress members to strengthen the energy bill.
Tell
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to
quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Sign a pledge to repeal
California’s proposition 8.
Commentaries
From Our Members
Rich Austin: We must
demand Single Payer
Re: A so-called
“public option” in the sham “health care reform” hearings taking place in
Congress. To borrow from an old TV ad,
“Where’s the beef?” There is no public
option! One hasn’t been written! We’re
being asked to sign onto a blank piece of paper bearing the heading “Public
Option”. Well-intentioned folks have set forth their opinions on what a
“good” public option should look like…and then go on to add that we must demand
no less. Huh? Is that all it will take? All we have to do is demand? If it was that simple, whatever happened to
our demands for single-payer?
Folks, an overwhelming majority of Americans want
single-payer. Why isn’t Congress
representing us? Or to put it another
way, who is Congress representing?
Congress is representing the same medical-industry complex that will
make sure a “public option” (if in fact one even emerges) will reward them at
the expense of us. Medical insurers,
for-profit hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies plan to cash in on their
generous contributions (over $2.2 billion in a decade) that were handed-out to
their Congressional surrogates.
Congress will not act morally or ethically until
forced to do so. That’s how far
off-course our nation has gone. Congress
does not believe we the people have the gumption to take the kinds of actions
that will be necessary to win health care justice.
How’s this for a “public option”: Single-payer! “We must demand no less.” Single-payer legislation has already been
written. The i’s have been dotted and
the t’s have been crossed. Congress
doesn’t have to write anything. It’s
already been written! (HR 676 in the House, and S. 703 in the Senate.) Rather than discussing those two bills,
Congress is waiting for its medical-industry benefactors to write a new one. The foxes are guarding we chickens. So let’s become eagles! Rich
Austin
Jack Smith: March for Health Care Reform
I sure hope the local Democrats come out in force on
5/30. Health Care Reform needs all of us working together. If you watched Bill
Moyers last night you know that the DC Senators do not see it that way. Patty
Murray's speech at the march will be very important and interesting. Pax, Jack
Smith
Liberals
and Democrats
Government Watch
Also go to Whitehouse.gov.
President
Obama Speeches
5/21 President Obama spoke on the values that guide his foreign policy decisions, including the
closing of
5/22 Annapolis
(video) The President speaks at the US
Naval Academy Commencement in Annapolis, Maryland, and reminds us that our
military is made up of hundreds of thousands of individual stories, each guided
by a common set of values. He connects his admiration for the service of sailors
and Marines to the values he espoused yesterday at the National Archives.
5/23 Weekly
Address: Sacrifice (video) On Memorial Day weekend, President Obama
calls on the American people to join him in paying tribute to America’s
veterans, servicemen and women – particularly those who have made the ultimate
sacrifice - and their families.
President Obama honors military dead and
increases expenditures for veterans.
President Obama
nominates Sonia Sotomayer for Supreme Court (video). For more.
Conservative racists
accuse Sonia Sotomayer of being racist. Our best 20th Century Supreme
Court Judges (Oliver Wendell Holmes, Earl Warren, William J. Brennan, William
O. Douglas, and Hugo Black) had no previous service
in Federal Courts.
28 senators have
co-sponsored a resolution to provide a public health insurance option. Single-Payer events are
scheduled in 50 cities.
Gail Collins says that the college loan system is a mess and needs to
be reformed, but is skeptical that it will happen: The White House estimates
that it could save about $94 billion over 10 years if it cut out all the
middlemen. And it has the basis of a system in place, since the Department of
Education already makes a lot of direct loans to students. How many people out
there think that there’s going to be some reason that this turns out to be
extremely controversial? Can I see a show of hands?
“Senator
Nelson is for the system as it is now,” said a spokesman for Ben Nelson,
Democrat of Nebraska. If you are a big fan of Senate stalemates, you will remember
Nelson, the star of such past triumphs as The Stimulus Is Too Big. A great part of Nelson’s resistance has to do
with the fact that Nelnet, a big student loan provider, has its headquarters in
his state.
After messy last week, everyone became less popular,
but President Obama is still much more popular than Republicans. Colin Powell is much
more popular than Dick Cheney or Rush Limbaugh.
Among Republicans, Colin Powell, Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh are tied.
Reactions to
ActBlue
The California Supreme Court has ruled. For Democrats
across
But giving up is not an
option. We have to organize
change ourselves. In 2008, five hundred ActBlue fundraisers took responsibility
for protecting marriage equality in
This is a national
struggle. At ActBlue, we've
created the only platform that allows grassroots fundraisers to support
organizing efforts across all 50 states. Today all eyes are on
Support ActBlue. From all of us at ActBlue, thanks. Erin Hill, Executive Director, ActBlue
Campaign Courage
Moments ago, the California
Supreme Court announced its deeply disappointing decision to uphold Proposition
8. While
we are pleased that the court recognized the legal marriages of the 18,000
same-sex couples married in 2008, we are saddened by the Prop 8 decision.
But we don't have time to mourn the failure of the state court to restore
marriage equality to
Last week, we asked our members to vote on which year -- 2010 or 2012 -- the Courage
Campaign should support going back to the ballot to restore marriage equality.
Your collective response was overwhelming -- 82.5% support a 2010 ballot
measure. As a result, the Courage Campaign is announcing today its strong
support for a 2010 initiative, while respecting that partner organizations are
still discussing and deliberating this very important question.
In response to the court's decision, the Courage Campaign will hit the
Be fearless. We can't win without you. Rick Jacobs, Chair, Courage Campaign
Credo Action
This morning, President Obama nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be the next justice of the Supreme Court. Minutes ago, we got an important reminder of how judges can make the difference between expanding civil liberties for all Americans — or imposing the will of an oppressive majority on a powerless minority.
Today, the California
Supreme Court went the oppressive route when it ruled to uphold Prop. 8 — the
ballot measure passed last November that denies same-sex couples in
People say the fight for
same-sex marriage is about a lot of things. They say it's about equal rights,
and civil liberties, and the values that define
Victories in
We think Iowa Sen. Majority
Leader Mike Gronstal said it best when he said this shortly after
Thank you for working to build a world more filled with love. Kate Stayman-London, Campaign Manager, CREDO Action from Working Assets
Human Rights Campaign
The California
Supreme Court ruling brings bitter news: Proposition 8 will stand. While we take some solace that the loving couples who did marry in
California will stay married, an estimated one million more
individuals have been denied that dignity and right.
We are heartbroken. But we won't
back down. We will work relentlessly, organizing communities of faith and other
allies across the state, until Prop. 8 is repealed. It will take major resources to win – but the momentum of history is on
our side. Today's decision hurts. But we have known this pain before. Ours is a movement powered by resilience.
Once again, we will turn our anger into action.
In fact, we have already begun. To secure
marriage equality, we know we must broaden, diversify and deepen faith-based
support. So with California Faith for Equality, we have been building a coalition of clergy and lay
leaders who will lead a long-term campaign of education and action. We
will help train them to make equality
part of their daily ministries. We'll give them the tools to be effective spokespeople who can speak
of their faith and their belief in equality. We will also work with them to expand our volunteer base.
HRC members from around the country have
sent in beautiful images and messages of support in recent weeks. We'd like to
share those with you now in a new video that expresses both our profound hurt
and our fierce resolve to fight for equality. Watch the video. Look into the
eyes of the people, LGBT and straight, who stand in solidarity today. And
join the effort we must begin.
It's all about winning hearts and minds so
we can repeal this hateful marriage ban, once and for all. And it's not just
American Civil Liberties
Today,
personal freedom took a big hit in
This is deeply disappointing, especially in light of the recent Iowa Supreme
Court ruling saying that it is unconstitutional to keep gay couples from
marrying -- and the passage of laws opening marriage to everyone by the Vermont
and Maine legislatures. Public support for marriage for same-sex couples is
gaining ground, but
Matt Coles, the director of the ACLU's LGBT project, recorded a personal message
about
This decision legitimizes discrimination and allows the government to intrude
on our most intimate commitments. You can be sure the ACLU will continue to
work for fairness for gay couples and families. But this case goes beyond the
LGBT community. It is also about the government imposing one group’s idea of
morality on everyone else. And when that happens, you can be sure the ACLU will
be there.
Listen to what Matt has to say about the Prop 8 decision and the important work
the ACLU is doing to protect the personal freedoms of all Americans. Those
opposed to same-sex marriage are on the wrong end of history. And, with your
help, the ACLU will wage and win this battle for equality no matter how long it
takes. Sincerely,
Anthony D. Romero, Executive
Director, American Civil Liberties Union
Americans United
I am sure you share the monumental sense of
disappointment and anger that all of us who care about the freedoms of LGBT
Americans -- and ultimately of all Americans -- are feeling at the
appalling announcement that the California Supreme Court has upheld Proposition
8 and its ban on same-sex marriage. We may have lost this skirmish, but our
certainty has not been shaken: Marriage is a civil right and should not
be subject to majority rule or a religious litmus test.
As you know, gay-rights activists from across the
country banded together for this legal challenge to Prop 8 asserting that
significant changes to the California Constitution can only be made through a
deliberative process that begins in the legislature -- not in a ballot
initiative. Americans United and thirty other civil rights and liberties groups
filed a friend-of-the-court brief decrying the use of “majority rule” to take
away fundamental rights from a minority group.
We were right, and we lost. But we have not
given up. Now is the time to unite the country to undo Prop 8. Americans
United will move forward quickly and forcefully in the coming months to do just
that. Today’s ruling is unfortunate, but it is by no means the end of the
fight. Barry Lynn, Executive
Director, Americans United
Three
Types of Economic Stimulus: Good, Bad, Ugly
Unnoticed by our commercial commentators, there are
three types of economic stimulus. The
good type is our economic stimulus-investment package, which creates jobs and
improves our public services. The bad
type is bailouts of financial companies, which sustains jobs and incomes which
harm our economy. The ugly type is tax
breaks and subsidies of wealthy and powerful private interests, which create
some jobs and needed public services; but not nearly as many per dollar as our
economic stimulus package. Our Obama
administration is treating these three types of economic stimulus differently.
Good
Economic Stimulus
Our economic stimulus-investment package is a shift in
policy from the Bush administration. It
includes tax cuts for middle and lower income people, increased unemployment
benefits and food stamps to create consumer demand and jobs. It includes funds for state and local
governments to maintain jobs and public services. It includes funds to maintain and improve our
infrastructure and stimulate conservation and non-carbon based energy, thereby
creating construction, manufacturing and other jobs. Generally, these funds efficiently create
needed jobs, doing work that needs to be done.
They may produce half as many jobs as have been lost. Popular with
Another good economic stimulus is unionization, which
increases wages, consumer demand and jobs.
So far, our Obama Administration has not moved on this issue. For more.
Bad Economic
Stimulus
Our bailouts of too big (actually too politically
powerful) to fail financial companies began under the Bush administration and
are now diminishing. These bailouts
maintain employment of people, who were often the ones responsible for our
economic collapse. For more.
Ugly
Economic Stimulus
Our tax breaks and subsidies for private interests
have increased greatly during the years of Republican dominance. Due to ‘K’ Street lobbyists, our wealthy and
powerful have received many unfair tax breaks.
Military-industrial, agro-business, oil, private contractors and other
private cronies receive money, far in excess of the public value of any
services they offer. The funds they
receive creates far fewer jobs per dollar than the funds that are spent on our
stimulus-investment package.
Instead of being seen as increasing taxes and cutting
jobs during our economic recession, our Obama administration is choosing to
allow many of the tax breaks and subsidies to continue until the economy
recovers. Perhaps during 2011, we can
expect a huge confrontation between the Obama administration and ‘K’ Street
interests. In the meantime, the
continuation of these inefficient economic stimuli is contributing to our
federal deficits. For more. When will basic changes occur?
Climate Change Legislation Is Breakthrough, But Inadequate
Tonight, comprehensive
climate change legislation passed a congressional committee for the first time
in history. Unfortunately, what should be a momentous occasion for all of us
is, instead, a huge letdown. Here's why
we can't support this legislation:
·
It sets the bar
too low. It would reduce pollution, but not enough to save us from catastrophic
effects of global warming.
·
Instead of being
forced to pay for the transition to clean energy, corporate polluters would
receive hundreds of billions of dollars in handouts, and ordinary citizens like
you and me would be stuck with the costs. (That's why Shell Oil and other
corporate polluters support the bill.)
·
The bill contains
massive "offset" loopholes that would delay its already-too-weak
pollution reductions.
·
Despite the
recent financial meltdown, the bill allows Wall Street traders to game new
carbon markets, creating the potential for wild swings in energy prices that
damage our economy.
Sincerely,
Erich Pica, Friends of the Earth
The House Energy & Commerce Committee
just passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES), a
historic clean energy and global warming bill, by a vote of 33 to
25. This bill is the best chance we have this year to curb global warming
pollution, create millions of clean energy jobs, and enhance
This committee vote was certainly a great
victory. But it was just the first step in the long process of truly
putting our country on a path to a clean energy future. The ACES bill
will now head to the floor of the House, and later this summer we expect
a global warming bill to be voted on in the Senate. We need to
work hard to strengthen the bill to increase the provisions for renewable
energy and energy efficiency. Opposition
to this transition to a clean energy economy will surely mount, but if we
continue to stand together we will win in the end. Gene Karpinski, President, League
of Conservation Voters
Moments
ago, the House Energy and Commerce Committee reported out a bill to reduce
Standing between us and ultimate victory is an army
of right-wing ideologues and old school oil, coal and gas interests -- who
have unleashed a torrent of fake science, scare-mongering statistics, and
propaganda designed to stop climate progress in
We're at a make-or-break moment. Now that the bill has made its way out of
Committee, the wrangling over votes -- especially in swing
districts -- begins in earnest. Our National Climate Campaign Director
Steve Cochran tells me that the full House could vote on this bill within the
month, giving us precious little time to ramp up. That's why the opponents of progress are pulling
out all the stops to confuse and scare the public right now. And it's why you
and I must raise our voices as never before.
David Yarnold, President, Environmental Defense Action Fund
Last
night we celebrated a historic victory in the House Energy & Commerce
Committee when it voted 33-25 to advance a comprehensive clean energy and
climate plan, the American Clean Energy & Security Act. Even though we had extraordinary leadership
from our longtime environmental champions on the committee, Big Oil, Big Coal,
and dirty power companies like Southern Company were still able to take their
cut of concessions in subsidies at the expense of clean energy, energy
efficiency, and other provisions critical to protecting both the planet and the
public interest.
The Sierra Club is assembling a broad coalition of allies, including other
environmental groups, labor unions, progressive groups, and others. We're going
to launch a major campaign to strengthen this clean energy jobs plan as it
moves through Congress.
After the vote last night, Chairman Waxman said he hoped the bill would get
stronger as it moves through other committees and onto the House floor later
this summer. In order to make this
happen, we need your help. Your members
of Congress will play a critical role as this energy jobs plan comes to the
House and Senate floor later this summer, so we need you to tell them we
can and must do better as the bill progresses. Click here to urge Congress to pass a strong
comprehensive clean energy and jobs plan.
Thanks for all that you do to protect the environment. Greg
Haegele, Deputy Executive Director, Sierra Club
For
more reactions to American Clean Energy & Security Act. For
more. For more. A broad coalition says
the bill is too weak. Nine
house members who may determine whether a climate change bill passes.
"I would've made a good pope." Richard
Nixon
"I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a
month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it." Thomas
Jefferson
"I like men
who behave like men---strong and childish." Francoise Sagan
"When we got into office the thing that surprised me the most was that
things were as bad as we'd been saying they were." John F. Kennedy
"I never trust a man unless I've got his pecker in
my pocket." Lyndon Johnson
"You've got to be careful when quoting Ronald Reagan, because when you
quote him accurately it's called mudslinging." Walter Mondale
"The man with the best job in the country is the
Vice President. All he has to do is get up every morning and say, 'How's the
President?'" Will
Here’s the Beef
President
Obama is reducing the deficits that would otherwise occur. But do American’s understand?
Obama
Administration delays push for Panama Trade Treaty.
Do we need a
public jobs program (similar to FDR’s WPA and CCC programs)?
Business
dislikes mandatory arbitration even more than card check unionization.
The battle to
regulate natural gas drilling.
Democrats
should support auditing the Federal Reserve.
The Democrats
aren’t socialists. They often aren’t
even Liberals.
Only
22% of Americans call themselves Republicans.
When is a political party no longer a party?
Millennials
overwhelmingly favor Democrats, 41% could vote in 2008, 50% in 2010 and 60% in
2012.
State
and Local
Featured Advocacy
Group ------- Sound
Our recently formed Sound Alliance is oriented to increasing the effectiveness of
religious, labor and ethnic organizations as advocates for public
interests. Forming an alliance of such
organizations: it provides advocacy training for their members, discerns public
interests which they favor and assists them to organize toward realizing
them. For more.
Based upon listening campaigns among alliance organization members to
identify pressing issues, an agenda for the common good has been created:
· Provision and protection of civil rights for
immigrants.
· Universal affordable access to affordable quality
housing
· Universal affordable access to quality health care
· Universal affordable access to quality education
· Creation of sustainable living wage green jobs ,
oriented to energy conservation and reduction of green house emissions. For more.
Although Washington CAN obtains members through door-to-door
canvassing, both Washington CAN and Sound Alliance are oriented to motivating
and training politically inactive people to become effective advocates. Once a Sound Alliance member organization
forms a cadre of effective advocates, they may stimulate more advocacy among
other members of the organization.
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Vibrant Neighborhood Gathering Places
During the last 25 years,
This has gone smoothly, with our city council
facilitating the increase in downtown’s business, while also focusing on
upgrading our neighborhoods. Turning
grade ‘A’ residential streets into grade ‘A+’ residential
streets. We have little of the
neighborhood guerilla warfare so common in
Most exciting to me is some of our vibrant gathering
places. I know of none anywhere more
fascinating than our Crossroads,
with people of all shapes and colors eating (at the food court), playing games,
shopping, being entertained and just hanging out. Not far away is Jubilee Reach,
a gathering place for our diverse children, serving them with a variety of
before and after school programs. A few
miles away, is our Factoria Country
Buffet, with the same diversity of people eating and visiting heartedly. Our Downtown, Crossroads and other parks also
become gathering places during good weather.
Come and see for yourself.
Here’s the Beef
Pacific Northwest
attracts people, even when jobs are scarce.
Government reform
occurs in the other Washington, but not here.
Our Pacific Northwest
is contributing talent to the other Washington.
Montgomery County, MD reaches out to
welcome it’s many new immigrants.
Tent cities
fill homeless need until a more comprehensive solution is implemented.
A
coalition develops comprehensive strategy and initiatives to end homelessness.
A
variety of approaches are used to weatherize homes with Stimulus-Investment
Package funds.
Express
Credit Union serves people who otherwise would rely on expensive payday
lenders.
More
cities support community gardens.
High speed rail
needed between Vancouver, Canada and Portland, Oregon. For
more.
Our Canadian border is
no longer easy to cross coming south.
Preferred East Link
Light Rail alignment.
Research
and technology projects may speed up Hanford clean up.
Governor
Christine Gregoire signs executive order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
No good way to cut
people who qualify for Basic Health Plan assistance.
Connecticut house approves
public health insurance plan.
Is
Ross Hunter’s candidacy for King County Executive aimed at running for another
office?
Central Washington Republicans
call for fiscal austerity, except for their projects.
Latino population is increasing
in Yakima, Adams and Franklin County.
Nation
and World
The Rise of Crony Capitalism
The change from privately managed
competition to crony capitalism (which he calls the
Privately Managed Competition
John Kenneth Galbraith’s 1967
book, The New Industrial State,
described a managed competition economy in which large private corporations and
their employees thrived. Dominating
foreign and domestic markets, they sought stability through planning:
advertising to create demand, controlled competition, integrated production,
and labor peace. They produced and
distributed many of our products and employed many of our workers. The result was a stable middle class with
less financial inequality than at any time in
Collapse of Managed Competition
Beginning in the 1970s,
various factors harmed this managed competition economy and many of the
corporations and employees: increased foreign competition, oil shock produced
inflation, high interest rates to counter inflation, high value of the dollar
(which increased competing imports and reduced exports), recession which
negatively affected customers at home and abroad, anti-union institutions, tax
changes producing shifts from equity to debt financing, hostile takeovers and
more. Short term profits became more
important than long term production. Managers
and speculators gained power at the expense of stockholders, workers and the
general public. Financial inequality and
insecurity among our people greatly increased.
Crony Capitalism
Top corporate executives
increasingly treated corporations like their own private property. The most successful ones changed from serving
household consumers to providing contracted services to government, often obtained
through political influence. The
resulting crony capitalism is our present system, which is now collapsing. So, what reforms should be made?
Planned Markets
James Galbraith says that
both Conservatives and Liberals overstate the values of freely competitive
markets. For many goods and services
(such as health care and technical products), it is difficult for consumers to
obtain information necessary to making informed choices. Businesses continually attempt to remove
themselves from competition, thus destroying competitive markets. Many markets tend to be under-competitive,
leading to excessive prices which unfairly harm consumers, or
overly-competitive, leading to too low prices which unfairly harm entrepreneurs
and their employees.
The answer is to plan and
regulate our economy, various industries and markets to provide appropriate
competition. Competition would occur
within publicly managed markets, instead of planning only occurring when
competitive markets fail.
Reformed Federal Reserve
James Galbraith also
criticizes our Federal Reserve which includes (unconstitutional) control by
private bankers. Instead of the present
priorities of controlling inflation and sustaining profitable banks, the
Federal Reserve’s priority should be to increase employment, (thereby reducing
financial inequality). The Federal
Reserve should maintain low interest rates, which helps borrowers, increases
demand, supply and job creation.
Controlling Speculation and Inflation
To control speculative
bubbles and inflation, margin requirements and down payments should be required
for purchasing stocks and homes.
Transaction taxes should be levied to reduce speculation. Legislation and enforcement should eliminate
fraudulent borrowing. Mystery securities
should be banned or at least severely restricted to eliminate the moral hazard
of lenders escaping the consequences of bad loans. Derivatives and insurance should not be
allowed which enable speculators to bet on outcomes in which they have no
direct stake. Regulators (located within
the Federal Reserve or other regulatory bodies) should be shielded from
political interference.
Corporate Reform
Corporations should be
chartered locally, by states, nationally or internationally according to the
scope of their business activities. To
reduce externalities, their directors should include representatives of more of
their stakeholders than the providers of capital, including employees,
suppliers, consumers and community members (concerned with protecting our
environment). They should not be legally
considered to be humans with human rights.
Restrictions should be placed upon their freedoms of speech and right to
lobby governments.
Publicly Managed Competition
The result would be a
publicly controlled economy, with appropriate competition, reduced
externalities and priorities given to long term productivity improvement, high
employment and financial equity. Unlike
our privately managed competition of the 1960s, it would be a publicly managed
competition. It would not be a socialism
in which government produces and distributes most goods and services.
No Inflation in Sight
Too
much money circulating in the economy causes inflation. But in spite of our Federal Reserve’s huge
provision of funds, the money is not circulating in the economy. Additionally, our Federal Reserve will have
ample time to drain away excess funds. Because
our high unemployment and record amount of idle production capacity will keep
wages and prices low for several years after our recession ends.
To
avoid returning to recession as occurred in the 1930s and in
Workplace Flexibility Wanted
Some Statistics:
• 78% of couples in this country are dual-income earners
• 63% of us believe we don't have enough time for our spouses or
partners
• 74% of us say we don't have enough time for our children
• 35% of adults are putting significant time toward caring for an elder
relative.
Bottom line
• Half of us want fewer hours
• Half of us would change our schedules
• More than half would trade money for a day off
• Three-quarters of us want flexible work options
More and more
workers of both sexes are willing to scale back career goals, according to
Families & Work Institute data. "Reduced aspirations do not mean
employees are not talented or good at what they do," explains Lois Backon,
a vice-president at the Institute. "Most do want to feel engaged by their
jobs. But in focus groups they also say things like 'I need to make these
choices because my family is a priority' or 'I need to make these choices to
make my life work.'
Why the
changing priorities? Burnout is key, say experts, and the fact that companies,
even though they still long to discipline us, can't really be decent father
figures anymore. Benefits, pensions, other perks, and protections are almost
all a thing of the past. Not to mention job security, particularly in a
downturn. Americans no longer believe they will spend a career at one shop, and
they are right. The average American will hold 10 different jobs over his or
her lifetime. For
more.
Here’s the Beef
GLBT principles to
stimulate grass roots action.
Our
recession may increase the number of homeless people by 1.5 million.
Women
are rapidly gaining in education and employment, but still face barriers.
America
will continue to have much manufacturing.
School food services
find it difficult to change unhealthy student eating habits.
Bill
Moyers: We can’t expect private health insurers to cut costs.
Most doctors object to
treatment restrictions posed by private health insurers.
Private
health insurers can’t compete with public health insurance and they know it.
Veterans
Administration health care is better model than Medicare for public health
care.
Stimulus-Investment
Package funds are already having an influence.
International
Recession is harming less developed countries the most.
Giving
IMF more funds without reforming its approach will harm economic recovery.
Commission
of Experts presents recommendations for economic recovery to U.N Assembly.
Banks
may not be paying enough to reclaim TARP stock warrants.
Major oil companies enjoy
crony capitalism in oil rich countries.
Sri
Lanka must still deal with its diversity.
Israeli Foreign
Minister Avigdor Lieberman supports more settlements and refuses return to 1967
borders. More.
Israeli
parliament debates ‘loyalty’ law.
Our
Liberal Spirit
Changing Activities Refresh Us.
We humans
generally have short attention spans.
Focusing on one goal and doing the same activities for long periods of
time dulls our minds and wears us out.
The solution is to frequently change our activities. When scheduling our activities, we need to
alternate between big projects and smaller tasks. We need some free time for spontaneous
activities. We need immediate
gratification as well as long term investment.
We need to reap the benefits of serendipity which occurs when we change
our focus.
Unfortunately
our highly competitive job market now imposes long periods of time spent doing
the same tasks. The lack of affordable
housing near jobs requires that we spend time commuting. Then we work long hours, with little flexibility. Most of us have little vacation time, or time
off to attend to family responsibilities and other interests. We arrive home exhausted, to watch mindless
television or sleep.
We need
family friendly work conditions: Affordable housing near jobs. More ability to
work at least part time at home. More
flexible work times and ability to voluntarily work fewer hours. More ability to take time off to attend to
family responsibilities.
To
increase family friendly work conditions, we need full employment and
unionization (of both employees and contract workers) which increases employee
bargaining power. We need a higher
proportion of the benefits of production going to employees (in terms of income
or reduced work hours). We need more
employers to appreciate the value of broadening the range of tasks which their
employees perform.
Recommended Books – See our list of books for liberals
James Galbraith, 1998, Created Unequal. The Crisis in American Pay
James Galbraith, 2008, The
See the Rise
of Crony Capitalism.
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