SAr #11234

One way to slow global warming is with a global depression.

Shortfall: There has not been nearly enough anger about private military firms being used by BofA to harass reporters sympathetic to Wikileaks, nor about the same set of firms working for the Chamber of Commerce in an effort to sabotage progressive organizations.

Too Cute By Half: Great Britain says banning Syrian oil would hurt the ordinary Syrians, not the regime. But how many ordinary Syrians get any of the oil revenue? It goes, as usual, into weaponry to keep the despots in power. Curtailing their oil would curtail their purchases of weapons... from Great Britain.

A Modest Proposal: Obama's current stump speech emphasizes his intention to "reform the tax code, close loopholes, and make some modest modifications in programs like Medicare and Social Security." Reforming the tax code means raising taxes on the middle class. Modest modifications means driving the eligibility age for Medicare to 67 – which means you can't retire until 67 because you cannot afford to pay the medical insurance. It would be another broken promise.

A Is for Austerity: Greece expects its GDP to decline at least 5% this year and with luck to be flat next year. Optimism in action.

Not Necessarily News: "A former senior analyst at Moody's has gone public with his story of how one of the country's most important rating agencies is corrupt to the core. The analyst, William J. Harrington, worked for Moody's for 11 years, from 1999 until his resignation last year."

Synchronicity: A flurry of articles popped up this weekend, detailing the terrible effects of  new EPA rules on coal-fried plants. They are disingenuous at best. A non-partisan report points out that the plants being forced to close will are the oldest, the dirtiest and the most expensive to operate. On average they run onlhy 40% of the time. As far as causing blackouts, between 200 and 2003 the industry added 200 gigawats of capacity, far more than will be lost over the next 6 years. Republicans in the House, have been scrambling to block the measures, at the behest of their sponsors.

Bonuses Questions: (1) Where has Uncle Sam’s bailout money gone? (2) Has the money been paid back yet?

Das Kapital: “Karl Marx, it seems, was partly right in arguing that globalization, financial intermediation run amok, and redistribution of income and wealth from labor to capital could lead capitalism to self-destruct.” Roubini.

Turn About: The difference between the Bush tax cuts for the rich and Obama's payroll tax cut for working stiffs is that the GOP is in favor of making one permanent and ending the other as quickly as possible – even though both meet their definition of a tax increase, which they say they are unalterably against.

Datum: The Social Security trust fund holds $2.66 trillion in US Treasury bonds. They are as good (or bad) as the bonds held by China or Wall Street Banks. If the money is not stolen, Social Security will be able to make full payments until 2037. If the cap on income is then raised by 10%, the funding would be sound for much longer. Any politician who says different is looking to give that money to his friends on Wall Street.

The Pledge: Michele Bachmann has promised that she would “guarantee you the EPA will have doors locked and lights turned off, and they will only be about conservation.”

Similar, but Different: During the 1990's, Rick Perry invested between $5,000 and $10,000 in Movie Gallery, a company that rented pornographic movies. His campaign maintains that it was “nothing different than a Blockbuster chain.” Except, of course, that it rented porn out of the back room. Besides, he sold his stock in less than a year.