Robert Reich: Who Should Get the Tax Cut - The Rich or Everyone Else?

Robert Reich: The Defining Issue: Who Should Get the Tax Cut -- The Rich or Everyone Else?

Reich writes about how the Democrats can take the tax cut issue to the Republicans and turn it on their heads - if only the Democrats can grow the spine to do it.

Arianna huffington: Both Parties 'Have For 30 Years Now Screwed The Middle Class'

HuffPost TV: Arianna: Both Parties 'Have For 30 Years Now Screwed The Middle Class'

At least there's one progressive that's willing to point out that neither major political party is doing us much good. I may be a registered Democrat for now, but they're not really getting us out of the mess we're in very quickly. Still, the economic policies of the Republicans played a major part in creating this situation where the money goes to the top and stays there, so I'm not about to consider the GOP. It's getting to the point (or has gotten there) that I only vote for the Democrats to prevent the Republicans from getting power because they would make it worse for anyone who isn't filthy rich, although the Democrats can't seem to get things away from an stagnating status quo.

Robert Reich: 'Aftershock': How America's Shift Away From Helping Its Own Ruined The Economy And The Middle Class (PHOTOS)

Robert Reich: 'Aftershock': How America's Shift Away From Helping Its Own Ruined The Economy And The Middle Class (PHOTOS)

A great slide show by Reich describing how the country's productive forces (i.e., workers, not millionaire investors and bankers) have lost ground since 1980.

How about a new slogan: "Corporate America and the Republican Party: making sure working Americans don't even get a reach-around since 1980!"

Paul Krugman calls GOP out on "pointing a gun at the heads of middle-class families."

Op-Ed Columnist - The Tax-Cut Racket - NYTimes.com

Economist Paul Krugman calls Mitch McConnell and the GOP out on its despicable extortion scheme. His claim that the Democrats must stand up to this is right on the money - they shouldn't budge an inch on this one, and they need to start fearlessly calling the Republicans out on this immoral and reprehensible course of action.

Les Leopold: Poverty Rises as Wall Street Billionaires Whine

Les Leopold: Poverty Rises as Wall Street Billionaires Whine

Leopold raises some excellent questions in this article, especially:
"What do these guys actually do that earns them such wealth?", and "is what they do productive and useful for society? Is there any connection between what they earn and what they produce for society?"

When examining income inequality, it's important to ask if the labor of one person does is worth 400+% the labor of another, and why? What does someone who makes billions of dollars a year do that is that much more valuable than what someone does who only makes $25,000 a year? Why is it more valuable? Billionaire Wall Street bankers created financial products (credit default swaps, derivatives, etc), and made tons of money. What did they really do or make? It seems to me that they got to make these things up out of thin air, and sell it for a ridiculous amount of money. They practically created massive wealth for themselves from nothing, while the rest of us have to actually do something to make even a fraction as much money. It's hard to say that they're not calling the shots.

The Wall Street bourgeoisie shouldn't be whining. They made their wealth through exploitation of the working class and/or legerdemain, not through anything one could reasonably call labor or work.

Ian Fletcher: Economics vs. Fakeonomics

Ian Fletcher: Economics vs. Fakeonomics

It's good to see someone with economic credentials spelling out an intuition I've had for awhile now. Contrary to what proponents of unrestricted free trade claim, it benefits only a small percent of the population in the long run: the 1-2% at the top, and that's where those benefits stay, while the other 98-99% lose ground.

My reserved 9/11 thoughts

I'll keep my 9/11 remarks to this: In memory of the 2,996 people who died 9 years ago, I hope humanity can move beyond the terrible hate that the 9/11 attacks were an example of. This day could be a call to peace, and a repudiation of hate, so that such an great tragedy becomes a thing of the past. Please, let us work towards common goals and peace, rather than fear, anger and division that can tear us apart, or worse, even threaten our very existence.

If we can rise above this, for the sake of all the people who died on 9/11, and for the sake of all who died since as a result of those attacks, let us try to embody the best that humanity could be, not the worst.