Weekend Reading

Tucker Carlson Endorses White Supremacist Theory by Name

Republicans Throwing Away Our Money

The Corporate Tax Burden: Facts and Fiction

Milwaukee Tool's downtown project proceeds as key committee approves $12M in city subsidies

Anderson Cooper: Pretty much everything Sen. Johnson said is dangerous

SmithGroup Will Design Harbor District Riverwalk

How the Federal Reserve Is Increasing Wealth Inequality

The New Gerrymandering Scheme

West Allis is the Hottest City in Wisconsin

Kavanaugh an ill-considered choice to pen ruling on incorrigible childhood offenses

Sotomayor gives blistering dissent to Trump SCOTUS appointees who find juvenile not worthy of parole

Bill Requires MPS Reimburse Private School Transportation Costs

Why the "Reagan Revolution" Scheme to Gut America's Middle Class is Coming to an End

This Is Years of Starving Government and Deregulating Industry at Work

The 'Capitalism is Broken' Economy

Foxconn fallout: Mount Pleasant Village President says 'everything is on the table' for renegotiating local development agreement

More Holiday Reading

Norquist Says City Not ‘Most Racist’

Trump Defends Kenosha Shooting Suspect

Trump Compares Police Shooting Of Jacob Blake To Golfer Who ‘Chokes’ During Putt

GOP Sen. Ron Johnson Touts ‘Citizen Soldiers’ To ‘Overwhelm Rioters’

Bill Ackman on saving capitalism: Every child in the U.S. could be given enough money at birth to become millionaires by retirement

Civil unrest is happening in Donald Trump’s America, not Joe Biden’s

Kenosha destroyed Tucker Carlson’s narrative

Republican Senators Offer 8 Police Bills

From QAnon to Kyle Rittenhouse, the Right is Sinking Deeper Into an Alternate Reality

Stocks Are Soaring. So Is Misery.

Kyle Rittenhouse, Kenosha, and the Sheepdog Mentality

White Vigilantes Have Always Had A Friend In Police

Trump's Presidency in Seven Metrics

Cities and States Are Facing a $1 Trillion Budget Mess. There Will Be More Trouble Ahead.

White supremacists and militias have infiltrated police across US, report says

The Crowding-Out Myth

How the Myth of a Liberal North Erases a Long History of White Violence

Why police encouraged a teenager with a gun to patrol Kenosha’s streets
Central bankers need to overhaul outdated thinking on labor markets

Writing is the best way to discover what you think

Capturing The Police

Capitalists or Cronyists?

Capitalists or Cronyists?

Joe Biden Explaining Why Bernie Sanders Is The Best Candidate To Beat Trump

Weekend Reading

The U.S. Only Pretends To Have Free Markets
So We're Supposed To Treat Donald Trump With Respect, After All This? Oh, Hell No
Elizabeth Warren's Plan To Pay For Medicare-For-All, Explained
Elizabeth Warren Proves She Does Her Homework With Impressive Plan To Fund Medicare For All
Senator Warren's Answer On Taxes And Medicare For All Is Exactly Right
How Elizabeth Warren Can Address The Medicare For All Question
The Happy, Healthy Capitalists Of Switzerland
Upgrade The New Deal, Riemer Declares
Everyone Deserves Clean Water
For Elizabeth Warren, The Wealth Tax Is About More Than Money
United States Spend Ten Times More On Fossil Fuel Subsidies Than Education
Thousands Of Scientists Around The World Declared A Climate Emergency And Warned Of "Untold Suffering"
The Debate Over Whether The Very Rich Pay Lower Taxes Than You, Explained
Unions Are Pushing Members To Run For Office - And It's Paying Off
We Get It, Rich Guys Are Not Into Elizabeth Warren
If Corporations Are Being Run To Maximize Returns To Shareholders, Why Are Returns So Low?
Did Warren Pass The Medicare Test? I Think So
Only A Global Green New Deal Can Save The Planet
Never-Before-Seen Trump Tax Documents Show Major Inconsistencies
If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich? Turns Out It's Just Chance

Weekend Reading

The Oceans We Know Won't Survive Climate Change
Tax Aversion And The Legacy Of Slavery
How Slavery Shaped American Capitalism
Amid Trade War, Farmers Lean On New Crop: Hemp
Federal Judge In Trump Tax Case Picks Apart DOJ Rule Barring Indictment Of President
How To Get Away With Gerrymandering
For The First Time In History, U.S. Billionaires Paid A Lower Tax Rate Than The Working Class Last Year
Federal Deficit Estimated At $984 Billion, Highest In Seven Years
No More Half-Measures On Corporate Taxes
How A Brief Socialist Takeover In North Dakota Gave Residents A Public Bank

Send In The Clowns

[source]

Weekend Reading

California Scientists Unravel Genetic Mystery Of World's Tallest Trees
Record U.S Trade Deficit In 2018 Reflects Failure Of Trump's Trade Policies
How Rich Are The Bucks And Brewers Owners Getting Off Public Subsidies? Not As Much As You'd Think
Walker's Costly War On The Poor
Why American CEOs Are Worried About Capitalism

Weekend Reading

Why And How Capitalism Needs To Be Reformed
The IRS Tried To Take On The Ultrawealthy. It Didn't Go Well.
The Tax Law's Big Winner Is The Millionaire CEO
Bernie Sanders's Fox News Town Hall Wasn't A Debate. Bernie Won Anyway.
Warren Has A Good Beginning For Ending Corporate Tax Avoidance
The Truth About U.S. Taxes Is That They Aren't High Enough
Yes, Graceland Actually Threatened To Move To Japan To Get $194 Million In Subsidies From Memphis
Ending The Economic War Among The States: A Strategic Proposal
Amazon's Next Frontier: Your City's Purchasing
The Undemocratic Making Of Indianapolis
The Future Of Unions Is White-Collar
Fun Fictions In Economics

Weekend Reading

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Wants To Raise Taxes On The Rich - And Americans Agree
Economists Get Serious About Harm From Monopolies
Declining Birth Rates: Are We In Danger Of Running Out Of People?
The House Democrats' Colossal Election Reform Bill Could Save American Democracy
Why You're Wrong About Communism: Here Are 7 Huge Misconceptions About It - And Capitalism
Why Scott Walker's Welfare Legacy Will Outlast Him
The Future Of The Great Lakes
Anticompetitive Mergers In Labor Markets
Labor Market Concentration
Beware of Consultants Bearing Rosy News About Mergers

Unions Did Great Things For The Working Class

Weekend Reading

Koch-Backed Bill Guts Local Control
GOP Leaders Call Extraordinary Session To Change Election Laws

Legislators Pass Law to Benefit Landlords

Inflation? Bring It On. Workers Could Actually Benefit.

What Do We Know About Subsidized Employment Programs?

Six Teenagers Are Running For Governor In Kansas, And Suddenly This Doesn't Seem So Preposterous

Plight Of Phoenix: How Long Can The World's Least Sustainable City Survive?

Is Population Decline Bad?

Miller Park Tax Ends In 2020. Not.

How Vulture Capitalists Ate Toys 'R' Us

As Storms Get Stronger, Building Codes Are Getting Weaker

Wells Fargo CEO Is Getting A 36% Raise After The Bank's Nightmare Year

Kris Kobach Is A Loser

The Suburban Mystique

Sunday Reading

Is Wisconsin Going to Get Fox-Conned?
Modern Economists:The Inept Firefighters' Clubs
Capitalism the Apple Way vs. Capitalism The Google Way
100 Companies Responsible For 71% Of Global Emissions
Scientists Starting To Clear Up One Of The Biggest Controversies In Climate Science
You Can Pay For A Ballpark Without Fleecing Taxpayers
The Fascinating Life Of Nikola Tesla
Walker Building Yesterday's Economy

Weekend Reading

Why We’re in a New Gilded Age
Milwaukee Bucks Drawing Attention From Potential Buyers
Annualized Returns & the Average Investor
The Myth of Income Equality, Courtesy of AEI
Who The Job Creators Really Are
How Capitalism Enriches The Few Rather Than The Many
The Short Guide To Capital In The 21st Century

An Inherently Capitalistic Approach May Not Be A Good Thing

Recent history (the last 40 years, and more specifically, the last decade or so) should have given "free markets", "capitalism" and "running it like a business" a cumulative black eye. From increased market volatility, to insecure retirement, to rising health care costs, and stagnating wages, running everything like a business and allowing blind faith in the "free" market has been a spectacular failure for 99.9% of the population.

But, leave it to Republicans to beat and ride that dead horse into the ground.

Just recently in the Journal Sentinel, Dan Steininger (of BizStarts Milwaukee, Wisconsin Early-Stage Fund and Successful Entrepreneurs LLC), in an effort to laud the supposedly impressive economic power of research parks, claimed that, at the end of the day, we should all push for more public dollars being used for more private speculation because it is an "inherently capitalistic approach."

Research parks are claimed to "kick-start" economies and create jobs "that attract new companies to the region."

Steininger exclaims, "The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Innovation Park is now under construction in Wauwatosa. Its goal is to become the largest driver of economic development for southeastern Wisconsin in the 21st-century, knowledge-based economy."

Investment in research and development (R&D) is great. Increased educational spending, also, great stuff, in the general sense of things.

Although ... The "largest driver of economic development"?

I'm just saying there should be some perspective to counter the overblown rhetoric. There are many worthwhile endeavors and programs, which are important to a majority of citizens.

Government spending is wasteful when it goes to the poor, to teachers, or to public transportation. But there's never enough money for stadiums, research parks, and other private-interest pet projects. The projects that generally benefit a select few at the expense of many.

Small cabals of "entrepreneurs" are the ones who told us to run things like a business, cut taxes, and pump more money into private investment schemes. Yet, nothing has trickled down. Wages are down, health care costs are up, and retirement is increasingly unstable and/or out of reach. I don't know about you, but to me, that's not economic growth nor job creation.

For Further Reading:
The False Promise Of The Entrepreneurial University
Research Parks
Research, Science & Technology Parks: Global Best Practices
Technology In The Garden: Research Parks & Regional Economic Development
University Related Science Parks
UWM As Economic Engine? Dream On

Financial Engineering

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

An Ode To Vulture Capitalists Like Mitt Romney

A Failed System

CEOs "earn" [my quotes] 343 times more than typical workers.

Why again can't we impose higher taxes on the outrageously wealthy?

As Chrystia Freeland writes, Capitalism is failing the middle class.

Weekend Reading

10 Stories Of Successful Regulation

23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism

Business Is Booming

Commodity Shock Is Nightmare For Central Bankers

Medicare Recipients Against Handouts

On The Dole, Corporate Style

The Paradox Of Corporate Taxes

The Return Of Republican Malpractice Frauds

Understanding The Debt Difference

The Power of The Anointed Few

A really great article - No sense in relying on feudal capitalism

Selling Our Soul To The Company Store

Michael Moore eviscerates capitalism in his new film, Capitalism: A Love Story. He finds it to be unworkable, evil, and needing replacement with true democracy. Now although there may be persuasive kernels of truth in Moore’s vision, I’m not inclined to go quite as far. I tend to fall more into the Robert Kuttner camp, whose ideas are presented in his book The Squandering of America. In which he describes a mixed economy – basically a regulated capitalist economy with progressive taxation (think our post-WWII economy up until the late 1960s). Although either vision would likely get us closer to the standard-of-living we covet rather than the present dog-eat-dog, increasing inequality paradigm within which we operate.

One-sixth of our economy is represented by sickness – the health care industry. The financial services industry (which as we recently witnessed, adds nothing of value) represents 20 percent of GDP. Over 13 percent of the population lives in poverty. 50 million have no health insurance coverage. In indicator after indicator, and study after study, the U.S. trails in outcomes and performance. The only categories we still lead in are delusion and boastfulness.

Maybe it’s time we actually reregulate – the banks, the polluters, Wall Street, corporations, etc. Let’s increase taxes on the wealthiest. It’s time to get rid of 401(K)s and bring back quality pensions. The solution to health care: Medicare for all. The answer to unemployment, job training, and our crumbling infrastructure: public works programs.

Yes, there is definitely a large cost to such an expansive initiative. But that’s what an investment is, it makes everyone better off in the long-run. Rather than just benefiting a select, wealthy, few right now. The kind of investment that “spreads the wealth,” builds/maintains transportation networks, provides clean air and water, in essence, the tools and techniques that enable a civilized society.

Demand as Economic Engine

If you build it, there is no guarantee anyone is coming. We’ve been sold a false fable whereby low taxes (which primarily favor the uber wealthy) enable our social betters - The Ruling Class - to make wise investments which will either create more market liquidity or produce much sought-after services. Which is true, if you think $12 trillion in bubble wealth is actual liquidity, or if by sought-after services one means convenience, impulse items.

We are a fast food nation, addicted to debt, over burdened with things, and being led astray by those whom could care less about our health, retirement, wages, and quality-of-life. The capitalists have put a giant wheel in each of our cages and told us if we run fast enough we can be like them. In reality, we just need to get off the wheel.

As Abraham Lincoln's quote (the subtitle of this blog) explains, Labor is the engine, not capital. One can produce and produce, unless someone actually wants or needs the service or product its useless. Valuing Labor and utilizing its skills and knowledge to make things desired and necessary is a sustainable and less volatile path. We, as workers in a supposedly representative democracy, should be exporting our step-up model (living wage, health care, pension) rather than allowing corporations to slowly drag everyone down to below subsistence wages.

Privatizing Away Equity

Privatization is not the end-all, be-all its boosters have claimed. In fact, numerous studies have shown privatization of public services usually ends up costing more. Not only does it cost more, the money now spent does not support living wages, quality health care, or a decent pension plan. Now that the service has been privatized, the workers’ are ravaged. This is part of the process of what academics have called the race to the bottom.

The race to the bottom is the continual search for cheaper inputs in the production process. And crushing Labor (wages, health, retirement) is at the top of the list. The primary flaw in the privatization schemes we’ve been peddled over the last few decades (coincidentally alongside Reaganomics) is that the savings never appear. There is merely a realignment of monies from worker to management. The CEOs and executives of the new private ownership make out like kings, while the workforce of this service provider is suddenly making essentially minimum wage.

Moving Forward

Obama stormed into office promising change. Change is exactly what we need. But based on the development over the last eight months, change may not be on the way. Health care is still overly controlled by insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Our economic policy is still enraptured with deregulation, the supply-side, and the status quo. Our environmental degradation and sprawling lifestyle has yet to even enter a meaningful realm of debate.

Here's hoping the threat of the 2010 election inspires Democrats to relocate their spines and do what is right for America and its workers, ignoring the typically destructive policies the conservatives continue to claim will (eventually) work despite the evidence.

For Further Reading:

Nike Is Leading Race to the Bottom

Race to the Bottom

Understanding and Preventing Privatization