• O pportunity for middle class growth and prosperity, putting an end to the widening gap • B etter solution for healthcare, particularly in ending the preexistent clause and catastrophically financial personal disasters • A uthentic leadership in reaching out for solutions in foreign rela...
The much talked about Redistributor in Chief took place in 1981 when Reagan took the progressive tax structure on the wealthy from 70% down to 28%, the inevitable consequence of which simply brought into reality the adage the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. The additional bonus was the rise in numerous tax shelters to the point that true earnings were distorted. and to rub it in, investors looked to cheap foreign labor to enrich themselves further. Meanwhile in Washington unio...
Particularly during the Reagan and the Bush years though Clinton was not completely inculpable, financiers did not care for these controls and regulations of principals, thus, they exploded leverage in order to inflate the interest takeover where profits are harbored. When domestic investors were no longer satisfied with Government Securities and stodgy corporate holdings—as China, Japan and Saudi Arabia are today—they jumped for the over inflated bubbles blown by an irrational hou...
How about allowing delinquents to stay in their homes and pay rent, 20% of which goes toward principal? OR extend 30 yr. mortgage to 40 yr. These two options could detoxify the loans and allow the financial world to get on with it. And btw as long as we're in a bailout mode why not have the government buy out bankruptcy level medical bills? Did I mention a buy out of my beta tapes library?
On this site for years I was arguably the only one who would on occasion mention the New Deal in EARNEST. It seems with Reaganomics in disarray the ghost of FDR hovers between the headlines. Apparently the time is right to terminate Ponzi's funny money game and begin establishing an economic system that prioritizes real investments in making THINGS that truly matter in lieu of money making money and losing sight of the pragmatic aim of wealth.
There's little doubt that the race would not even be close were the Dem candidate white. There are still those who perceive Obama as Jackie Robinson in his first rough years in the majors rather than cheering him on in later years for his greatness. After these sixty years it will depend on the electorate gradually coming around to Obama as a Jackie of later years to make the race not even close. I don't think that perception will happen unless Obama edges out this clos...
It's not the $700 billion that raises my hackles, but the distrust that it will only prop-up a house of cards. If it were up to me I would let the thieves of Wall Street fall. They don’t deserve a bailout of any kind. Frankly it would be a great catharsis for the country in witnessing the dynamic of comeuppance when the pharaohs of the great temple turned to dust. For too long the artificial systemic of money making money under the cloak of subprimes, derivatives, and other arcan...
Remember the old-fashioned collateral--you know, what made you the guarantor of your own loan? Your assets or at least very secure employment and minimal debits used to be pre-requisites for the financial institution to approve a loan. Not anymore: the Ponzi principle is now the mantra for the financial sector by keeping the flow of funny money until the "capital" is exhausted with minimal assets to back them up. It's not pretty if you ever drove by a huge lot where thousa...
Now we know why Obama didn't choose Hillary as a running mate. It had nothing to do with her baggage or husband, but rather a premonition of the development of the Sarah syndrome stealing the spotlight from McCain. It reminds me of JFK beginning joint appearances with his wife something like: "Pardon my intrusion; I know you're here to see Jackie." Of course, subliminally JFK knew she was a tremendous asset--certainly more so than having Johnson at his elbow. I rather doubt...
Why in the world would the Republicans choose ABC’s Chuck Gibson to interview Palin? It was tough enough to make a solo debut without this pompous broadcaster shooting questions at her. Obviously she was nervous and programmed but she would have come off better had she been more relaxed with the likes of Judy Woodruff or Katie Couric. Nor will Sean Hannity coming up next week going to help her out because he’ll be putting words in her mouth and fawning all over...
The best economic plan for the candidates is not the simplistic either/or top down/bottom up offerings. The hard fact remains that economic decision making rests at the top whether it be Wall Street or the Government, and as a rule by the former which can be driven either by the bottom line or by a sense of civic duty, or by a combination of both. For example, it was Henry Ford who decided to sacrifice or at least moderate the bottom line in the short-run by instituting the f...
Although I’ve supported since Truman pushed for it in the late ’40s, universal healthcare can be put aside until we settle the horrendous issue of so many thousands going in hock or declaring bankruptcy owing to major medical bills in arrears. There should be for the uninsured and underinsured alike an accumulated floor one should have to pay for serious medical conditions. A youngster in his twenties barely above the minimum wage hit with appendicitis or a weekend sports injur...
I see no reason for the media and political wings to go ballistic over the selection of Sahra Palin. I think it’s cool to put a capable young woman—not to mention she’s beautiful—on the ticket. A 230 year history of a stable democracy is comfortably in a position to place the nation in good hands in the event of a dreaded situation. Under such circumstance even Dan Quayle would have carried us through—think Ford, Johnson, Truman. Besides, it’s tim...
In this era of Super Bowls, Wild Cards and American Idol, it strikes me as petulant to begrudge Obama his night under the stars. Give him credit for staging such a spectacular. No one took issue with Wendell Willke delivering a speech to hundreds of thousands, the Pope or Billy Graham at Yankee Stadium and Martin Luther King at the Mall. And who could forget the dramatic landing and Mission Accomplished speech atop an aircraft carrier. Copyright © 2008 Richard R. Kennedy All right...
Eric Alterman, the liberal media watchdog, has every right to continue to bludgeon the media for outrageous reporting notorious for omissions and outright myth-making disinformation. However, to single out Dana Milbank, the Washington Post’s White House columnist, Alterman is childishly shutting down opposing views of the other. Milbank is in a position to say what he thinks and has no obligation to temper it with the other side—few columnists do. If he thinks Obama has dev...