I Hadn't Heard About This One

I'm surprised the banksters aren't dancing in the streets.  Scott Lemieux:

One crucial factor behind the meltdown that caused the Great Recession is the assurance many financial firms gave customers that risky investments were safe. In this context, one would think the Supreme Court would watch out for attempts by dishonest financial executives to evade accountability. But in Janus Capital Group, Inc. v. First Derivative Traders, the Court split 5 to 4 along familiar ideological lines, saying that executives could not be held liable for lies contained in literature distributed by a mutual fund managed by the corporation.

I guess dancing in the streets would be unseemly.  Besides, it might cause people to notice that the company that manages their IRAs and 401k's (what's left of them) now have a license to cheat them and lie to them about it with impunity.

When these kinds of decisions were coming down in the 1930s, FDR proposed expanding the court to 15 seats, so that he could appoint six new justices who stop the Court from striking down New Deal legislation.  Think Obama would ever consider this?  Based on what I've seen, he probably supports the majority decision.

If this doesn't convince you that the banksters now own all three branches of our government, nothing will.

Well, Duh!

Ygelsias:

[I]f you look at how American became a major power in the first place, it had nothing to do with defense spending and everything to do with economic growth. If you have growth, then you can build a military. If you squander your resources, then you’ll be overtaken.

When I interned on the Hill in 1980, I remember the Congressman I worked for - Pete Stark (God love him) - saying that the least productive thing the government does is spend money on military resources.  Why?  Because the only thing all those planes and ships and weapon systems are good for is destroying other people and their things - and even when there's peace (fat chance of that) they just sit their unused.

There is little doubt in my mind that the past thirty years have proven Pete correct.

But that was a radical idea back then, and now you hardly ever hear it said.  Kudos to Matt for saying it.

Hey, I Went Through Bankruptcy and I Came Out OK

Our modern Republicans:

Some Republicans, including House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), have said a few days of forcing Treasury to prioritize payments wouldn’t be a bad thing. But one congressman, Rep. Eric “Rick” Crawford (R-AR), thinks that process should go on for quite a bit longer:

“That wouldn’t work for just a few days. That would work for a few years,” said Crawford, who added that he would agree to raising the debt limit only if such a bill included major changes in federal budget priorities. Budget deficits, he said, require “that we take some painful measures now. I’d rather swallow that bitter pill today.”

Credit rating agencies have warned the U.S. that failing to pay some obligations, even if every debt interest payment is made, would still result in a downgrading of U.S. credit. But Crawford isn’t alone in saying the U.S. should actively drive itself over the debt ceiling cliff. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) called for the U.S. to default because “it could benefit us to go through a period of crisis.”

These people really want to destroy the economy.  I guess they think the public will blame it on the President.

Who cares?

It's yesterday's news.

Crazy Republicans

Most of the Republicans I know are fairly reasonable on most topics.  But get them in a room together and they become a bunch of loons.  I think it's in their DNA - they just have to prove that they are as much of if not "more" of whatever is being discussed that they follow the lead of the craziest person in the room.  Whether it comes to flag waving or the war on terror or "keep the government's hands off my medicare," they just have no idea how extreme they sound when they have wound each other up.

As a party, today's Republicans are nuts, and heaven forbid they actually hold the reins of power in the White House in their current state.

The good thing is that some people are starting to notice.

Yes, You Do Get What You Pay For

Spencer England:

Even though industrial production is still about 10% below its prior peak firms are reporting that they are having trouble recruiting skilled labor. I wonder how much of the supposed shortage of skilled labor stems largely from American industry shifting its plants to places like Mississippi because the southern states have low taxes and cheap labor. If you move your plant to a low tax state firms you can save money, but there is no free lunch and you get what you pay for. If you move to Mississippi you have to draw your labor force largely from graduates of the Mississippi education system. If you want skilled labor that is able to do a little algebra and/or read a blue print, maybe you should leave your plant in states like Massachusetts or Washington where they have higher taxes, but they also have good education systems.

For years American companies have been shifting their manufacturing activities to low-tax states and countries.  I haven't been noticing a particular increase in the quality of products I'm buying in the stores, have you?

I've been saying this for years

Glad to see someone I respect agrees with me.