About this blog:

What if they held a class war and nobody noticed? For decades, liberals and progressives have been bashed for conducting a "class war" every time they suggest that it would be appropriate for the extremely wealthy to shoulder a bit more of the burden of paying for government. Meanwhile, a swarm of far-right think-tanks and political action committees have been working tirelessly to promote the idea that taxes on the wealthy should be lowered further from their historic lows, and that entitlement programs such as social security and medicare are too expensive to sustain (and in any case, immoral). The latest attempts to delegitimize public employee unions are the logical next step in what genuinely appears to be the systematic dismantlement of the middle class. This blog will highlight some of the more extreme examples of this activity that may not always show up in your news feeds.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Buried

Ever wonder how news orgs decide what to cover?  It's not always about "what's the biggest story?"  Hundreds of thousands marched against the Iraq war in the US and millions overseas, and it was barely reported, with the numbers minimized when it did receive passing mention.

Here's something going on in New York that you may not have heard about.

Interesting Flowchart for Republican Readers

http://front.moveon.org/picking-from-the-field-of-9-gop-candidates-a-hilarious-flowchart/

Saturday, September 17, 2011

What Driftglass Said

John Cole brought this excellent smackdown of David Brooks to my attention.  It's not that long, so just go and read the whole thing.  The last two paragraphs are for the ages.

Monday, September 12, 2011

A Leopard Cannot Change Its Spots

I am shocked, shocked!  Imagine my surprise that the Conservative government in Britain is imposing policies that will disproportionately hurt those at the lower end of the income scale.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Then and Now

If you look at Robert Reich's graph, you get the impression that something big happened around 1980.  I wonder what that was...?

Labour Day

Just a short reminder that Labo(u)r Day has not been around that long.  According to Wikipedia, we owe its origins to typographical workers in Toronto, who were striking for a 58 hour (!!!) work week.  When the leaders of the strike were arrested under Canada's antiquated labour laws, another demonstration was held in early September, and this became an annual "labour festival" that inspired the creation of an official holiday...first in Canada, then in the US.

Given the currently ascendant Galtian philosophy that human capital is a "fungible resource" made up of easily interchangeable "parts" (i.e., workers), one wonders when the previously fringe idea of abolishing this holiday will work its way into the mainstream of Republican ideology.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Rewarded for Treason

Great post by Thers.  The destructive practices of the entrenched right wing establishment have been very lucrative over the last couple of decades.  Given the existing reward system, what is the incentive to change?  The question:  can those incentives be reduced, or can suitable disincentives be implemented?