Sunday, January 29, 2023
The Freedom Caucus Has a Harebrained Plan to Jack Up Taxes on the Poor
The Freedom Caucus Has a Harebrained Plan to Jack Up Taxes on the Poor: Under the ‘Fair Tax,’ the poorest fifth of Americans would pay roughly 70 percent of their income in taxes.
Friday, January 27, 2023
Older Voters Know What is At Stake
Older Voters Know Exactly What’s at Stake, and They’ll Be Here for Quite a While
Bill McKibben and Akaya Windwood
January 22, 2023
New York Times
Older Voters Know Exactly What’s at Stake, and They’ll Be Here for Quite a While
https://portside.org/2023-01-26/older-voters-know-exactly-whats-stake-and-theyll-be-here-quite-while
The founders of the group Third Act.
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Reclaiming U.S. Industry-Industrial policy
Reclaiming U.S. Industry: Biden’s industrial policies represent a stunning ideological reversal. The harder part will be making them work.
Saturday, January 21, 2023
How Nevada Picks Millions From California’s Pocket
How Nevada Picks Millions From California’s Pocket: A lawsuit against members of the wealthy Getty family exposes the intricacies of state trust law.
How the Federal Reserve Protects the Top One Percent
How the Federal Reserve Protects the Top One Percent: Our central bank operates by and for the financial elite
Our results show that the Fed’s policy helps preserve the value of the wealth of the top one percent. Without intervention by the Fed, a 6 percent acceleration of inflation would erode their wealth by around 30 percent in real terms after three years—assuming the inflation rate does not continue to rise. But when the Fed intervenes with an aggressive tightening as noted above, the one percent’s wealth only declines about 16 percent after three years. That is a 14 percent net gain in real terms. Our estimates indicate the top 10 percent would experience some net benefit as well from Fed intervention, similarly protecting the real value of their wealth, but the magnitude of the effect is much smaller.
Tuesday, January 17, 2023
MLK _ democratic socialist
A True and Visionary Radical, Martin Luther King Jr. Was No Moderate
King called himself a democratic socialist. He believed that America needed a "radical redistribution of economic and political power."
Jan 17, 2023Common Dreams
King called himself a democratic socialist. He believed that America needed a "radical redistribution of economic and political power." He challenged America's class system and its racial caste system. He opposed US militarism and imperialism, especially the country's misadventure in Vietnam. He was a strong ally of the nation's labor union movement. He was assassinated in April 1968 in Memphis, where he had gone to support a sanitation workers' strike….
We have posted more on our blog.
https://www.dsanorthstar.org/blog/a-true-and-visionary-radical-martin-luther-king-jr-was-no-moderate
In 1966 King confided to his staff: "You can't talk about solving the economic problem of the Negro without talking about billions of dollars. You can't talk about ending the slums without first saying profit must be taken out of slums. You're really tampering and getting on dangerous ground because you are messing with folk then. You are messing with captains of industry. Now this means that we are treading in difficult water, because it really means that we are saying that something is wrong with capitalism. There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism."
King became increasingly committed to building bridges between the civil rights and labor movements. Invited to address the AFL-CIO's annual convention in 1961, King observed, "Our needs are identical with labor's needs: decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old-age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children, and respect in the community. That is why Negroes support labor's demands and fight laws which curb labor. That is why the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth.
He continued: "The labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it. By raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed of levels of production. Those who today attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them."
In a 1961 speech to the Negro American Labor Council, King proclaimed, "Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God's children."
Read more.
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/martin-luther-king-jr-radical
https://mlkglobal.org/2017/11/23/martin-luther-king-on-capitalism-in-his-own-words/
Monday, January 16, 2023
Choosing Democracy: MLK: Saving the Soul of America
Choosing Democracy: MLK: Saving the Soul of America: MLK: Saving the Soul of America JANUARY 16, 2023 BY MAURICE ISSERMAN On Martin Luther King Day, leftists remember that his heart w...
See also
and,
Thursday, January 12, 2023
IRS and the New Republican Congress
I.R.S. Backlogs Continue as Republicans Mount Offensive
The National Taxpayer Advocate expressed hope that better days were ahead for the tax collection agency.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/11/business/irs-tax-returns-backlog.html?
Monday, January 2, 2023
The Authoritarian Challenge to Our Democracy. Spring 2023
The Authoritarian Challenge to Our Democracy: What is to be done?
Duane Campbell. Course Outline
Intro to the Renaissance seminar. 2023
Topic: Authoritarian Challenge to our Democracy , note. Their will be changes to this outline based upon seminar developments.
The current crisis.
Defining the issues.
Jan 6. Insurrection. The House Committee Hearings.
Extremism .
Crisis on the Right
Models of authoritarian take over
Psychology of authoritarians
History of authoritarian efforts in U.S.
Replacement theory
Tipping points.
“American Reckoning”. PBS. Interview.
Can democracy survive ?
Merge Left: Ian Haney Lopez.
Limiting the right to vote. -video
Groups working to protect democracy.
The dangers of a coup / Fascism
How we got here.
How economies work.
Heather McGee. The sum of us.
Economics of neoliberal capitalism.
Current economic situations
Inflation.
Economic concentration
Inequality; the end of the American Dream ?
Alternative views of the economic situation
What happens when 40% of the society does not believe progress is possible?
Crisis of democracy ?
Homelessness
Citizens United.
Climate crisis.
Politics of our era.
Ian Haney Lopez, Merge Left.
A Progressive Agenda
Inflation Adjustment Act.
Prior budget proposals.
Sanders et al
Tax enforcement
The Right. Trump and his allies.
Replacement theory
Tipping point
Who funds the Right? See Billionaires.
Conspiracies , how they grow
Voter suppression- video; Jane Mayer, Georgia.
The organization of Right Wing politics.
Will there be a second coup attempt.?
The armed Right
White Power Movement.
Christian nationalism
The media.
Influencing Attitudes and Behaviors
Social media
Weapons of mass deception
State and local budgets.
Poverty
Homeless
Organizations and campaigns
Poor People’s Campaign
The Third Wave
Reports from seminar members. What are you doing?
How to talk with your conservative neighbors
The climate crisis
Race. Critical Race theory
Immigration. The “Great Replacement “ conspiracy.
Deep State
Voting;
What more can we do? Jan. 6.2021. practice for a coup.
Mark Engler
Topic: Authoritarian Challenge to our Democracy
Sources 2022
The Authoritarian Challenge
Sources 2022.
Abramsky, Sasha. The American Way of Poverty: How the Other Half Still Lives, 2013.
Abramsky, Sasha. Jumping at Shadows: The Triumph of Fear and the End of the American Dream. 2017.
Achen, Christopher H., and Larry M. Bartels. Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government. 2017.
Gar Alperovitz, America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy. (2005) John Wiley and Sons
Alperovitz, Gar, What Then Must We Do ? Straight Talk About the Next American Revolution. 2013.
Barofsky, Neil, Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street. ( 2012)
Baker, Dean. Plunder and Blunder: The Rise and Fall of the Bubble Economy, (2009)
Barlett, Donald L., and Steele, James B., The Betrayal of the American Dream. (2012).
Bernstein, Jake, Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite, 2017.
Black, William, The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One.
Bivens, Josh, Failure by Design, The Story Behind America’s Broken Economy. 2011.
Block, Fred L., Capitalism: The Future of an Illusion. 2018. Univ. of California Press
Campbell, Duane. Choosing Democracy: a practical guide to multicultural education. (2010)
Center for Popular Economics, Economics for the 99%. July 2014.
Chayes, Sarah. Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security. 2015.
Chossudovsky, Michel, The Globalization of Poverty and the New World Order. 2003.
Dalio, Ray, Principles. Why and How Capitalism Needs to be Reformed.
Eden, Kathryn J. and H. Luke Schaefer. $2 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America. 2015,
Edelman, Peter, So Rich, So Poor. Why it’s so hard to End Poverty in America. 2012.
Eisinger, Jesse, The Chickenshit Club: Why The Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives. 2017.
Engler, Mark. How to Rule the World: The coming battle over the Global Economy. (2008)
Ferguson, Charles H. , Predator Nation; Corporate Criminals, Political Corruption, and the Hijacking of America. 2012. The background for Inside Job.
Ford, Martin. The Rise of the Robots. Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future. 2015.
Frank, Thomas, Pity the Billionaire: The Hard Times Swindle and the Unlikely Comeback of the Right. Metropolitan Books. (2012.)
Friedman, Thomas & Michael Mandelbaum, That Used to be US : How American Fell Behind in the World and How We Can Come Back. 2011.
Fox, Justin. The Myth of the Rational Market: a History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street. (2009)
Faux, Jeff. The Global Class War: How America’s Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future- and What It Will Take to Win It Back. ( 2006)
Fukuyama, Francis. Identity: The Demand and the Politics of Resentment. 2018.
Johnson, David Kay, It is Even Worse Than You Think. It's Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America, 2018.
Johnson, Simon and James Kwak, 13 Bankers : The Wall Street Takeover and the next Financial Meltdown. 2010.
Galbraith, John K. The Predator State. 2008.
Giridharadas, Anand, Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. 2019.
Green, Joshua. Devil’s Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency. 2017.
Greenhouse, Steven. Beaten Down, Worked Up. The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor. 2019.
Harding, Luke. Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win. 2017.
Harvey, David. A Brief History of Neoliberalism. 2005.
Harvey, David. The Enigma of Capital and the Crisis of Capitalism. (2010)
Hedges, Chris, & Sacco, Joe, Days of Destruction: Days of Revolt. (2012)
Henry, James. The Price of Off Shore Revisited. Tax Justice Network. July 2012.
Ibarra, Armando et al, The Latino Question, Politics, Labouring Classes, and the Next Left (2019)
Iglesias, Pablo, Politics in a Time of Crisis: Podemos and the Future of Democracy in Europe. 2015.
Klein, Naomi, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate , 2014.
Klein, Naomi, No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need. 2017.
Krugman, Paul. The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008. (2009)
Krugman, Paul, End this Depression Now. 2012.
Kuttner, Robert. A Presidency in Peril: The Inside Story of Obama’s Promise, Wall Street’s Power, and the struggle to control our economic future. 2010.
Levison, Andrew, The White Working Class Today: Who They Are, How They Think, and How Progressives Can Regain Their Support. 2013.
Levitsky, Steven and Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die. 2018
Lewis, Michael, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine. 2010.
Lewis, Michael, The Fifth Risk, 2018.
López, Ian Haney, Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism & Wrecked the Middle Class. 2014.
López, Ian Haney, Merge Left: Fusing Race and Class, Winning Elections, and Saving America, 2019
López, Ian Haney, Merge Left: Fusing Race and Class, Winning Elections, and Saving America. 2019.
Madrick, Jeff, Seven Bad Ideas: How Mainstream Economists Have Damaged America and the World, 2014.
McChesney, Robert W. , Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism Is Turning the Internet Against Democracy. (2013)
Mayer, Jane. Dark Money : The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right. ( 2016).
Mendoza, Kerry-Anne, The Demolition of the Welfare State and the Rise of the Zombie Economy. 2015.
Miner, Barbara, Lessons from the Heartland: A Turbulent Half-Century of Public Education in an Iconic American City. (2013.)
National Commission on the Causes of the Financial Crisis. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report. 2011.
Ornstein, Norman. One Nation After Trump. (2017)
Piketty, Thomas, Capitalism in the Twenty-First Century. 2014.
Prins, Nomi. It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bailouts, Bonuses and Backroom Deals from Washington to Wall Street. (2009)
Prins, Nomi. Collusion: How Central Bankers Rigged the World, 2018.
Prins, Nomi, “The Financial Crises and Covid”
https://tomdispatch.com/war-of-the-financial-worlds/
Poo, Ai-jen, The Age of Dignity. Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America, 2014.
Reich, Robert, Saving Capitalism for the Many, Not for the Few. 2014.
Rodrix, Dani, The Globalization Paradox; Democracy and the Future of the World Economy. 2011.
Ryan, Paul., The Way Forward: Renewing the American Ideal. 2014.
Saez, Emanuel, U.C. Berkeley. “Striking it Richer: The Evolution of Top Incomes in the U.S.” https://eml.berkeley.edu/~saez/saez-UStopincomes-2017.pdf
Sawicky, Max, How to Make Joe Biden’s Budget Can Build Back Better. Part 1.
https://cepr.net/report/how-joe-bidens-budget-can-build-back-better-part-i-send-money-now/ 2021.
Schweickart, David, After Capitalism, 2002.
Smith, Hedrick, Who Stole the American Dream?, 2017. http://reclaimtheamericandream.org
Smith, Yves, Econed: How Unenlightened Self Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism. 2010.
Snyder, Timothy , On Tyranny : Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. 2017.
Snyder, Timothy, “The American Abyss” A historian of fascism and political atrocity on Trump, the mob and what comes next? 2021. Snyder, Timothy https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/magazine/trump-coup.html?
Stiglitz. Joseph. Free Fall, America, Free markets, and the Shrinking World Economy. (2010)
Taibbi, Matt. Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America, Spiegel & Grau , 2010.
Thier, Hadas, A People’s Guide to Capitalism. 2020.
Varoufakis, Vanis, And the Weak Suffer
White House Council of Economic Advisors, What is the Opportunity Costs of Socialism? Oct. 24, 2018,
Wolin, Sheldon. Democracy Incorporated : Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism. 2010.
Zucman, Gabriel. The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens
Some on line resources on the economy,
Baseline Scenario. http://baselinescenario.com
Chicago Political Economy Group. www.cpegonline.org
Economic Policy Institute. www.epi.org
United for a Fair Economy. www.faireconomy.org
Center for Economic and Policy Research. www.cepr.net
Naked Capitalism. http://www.nakedcapitalism.com
New Deal. www.newdeal20.org
Inequality: http://runawayinequality.org/join-us/
Inequality Media Action; You Tube. Robert Reich.
To calculate the benefits that the rich in your state received from the Citizens for Tax Justice. http://www.ctj.org/
New Economic Perspectives. http://neweconomicperspectives.org
People’s Policy Project
https://peoplespolicyproject.org/
Also see. Jacobin Magazine
Dissent Magazine
And, my blog. www.choosingdemocracy.blogspot.com
To see the right wing populist economic nationalist view. Steve Bannon. See the You Tube video.
“ Generation Zero,”
For their view on trade see Navarro video: “Death by China.” On You Tube
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