The Red Menace

Robert Reich: The GOP's Big Investors

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:18:56 -0800

Have you heard of William Dore, Foster Friess, Sheldon Adelson, Harold Simmons, Peter Thiel, or Bruce Kovner? If not, let me introduce them to you. They’re running for the Republican nomination for president.

I know, I know. You think Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, and Mitt Romney are…

Robert Reich: Manufacturing Illusions

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:15:33 -0800

Robert Reich: Manufacturing Illusions:

robertreich:

Suddenly, manufacturing is back – at least on the election trail. But don’t be fooled. The real issue isn’t whether and how to get manufacturing back. It’s how to get good jobs and good wages back. They aren’t at all the same thing.

Republicans have suddnely become born-again champions of…

decoarchitecture: Mural, Federal Building & U.S....

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:01:08 -0800

decoarchitecture:

Mural, Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse, Binghamton, New York
from Library of Congress

I’ve seen a lot of 1930s murals but this one is unusual, sort of surreal and even creepy. Like that floating mailbag and all those bodies.

From LoC:

An Art Deco interpretation of a classical style. Built in 1935. Architect: Conrad & Cummings.

Spokane Deco: Rogers High...

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:41:37 -0800

Spokane Deco: Rogers High School

From:http://properties.historicspokane.org/property/?PropertyID=2030

“John R. Rogers High School is an outstanding example of the Art Deco style as applied to public structures. Although the interior has been significantly renovated, the exterior of the original building largely retains the same appearance as when it was first constructed in 1932. All the projecting distractions of previous years have been removed, leaving behind the impressive edifice of the main building as it was originally designed.”

Spokane Deco: The Paulsen Medical Building From:...

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:29:33 -0800

Spokane Deco: The Paulsen Medical Building

From: http://properties.historicspokane.org/property/?PropertyID=1903

“The style is generally associated with The Chicago School which signifies the skyscraper movement and the influence of Louis Sullivan. The Paulsen Medical and Dental Building was constructed next east and connects to the August Paulsen building. It was designed by Gustav Pehrson, one of Spokane’s great architects, and built in 1928-29, after Paulsen had died. Pehrson designed the fifteen story skyscraper in the Art Deco style with Spanish and Moorish styled exterior and interior detailing. Its stepped crown rises to a set-back penthouse”

Romney actually wants to help 'poor people,' and the right isn't happy

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:57:32 -0800

Romney actually wants to help 'poor people,' and the right isn't happy:

How much more odious can the Republicans reactionaries get? The government helping the poor/unlucky, imagine! It’s amusing to see Limburger and the NYT wetting their collective pants over the very idea. Any hint of political moderation causes a meltdown amongst the reactionary ideologues. Too bad for them, but Romney is going to win the nomination simply because of the few vapors of moderation that he occasionally vents. The Republican Power Elite know that, in the end, R is the one guy they’ve got who stands any ghost of a chance in the general election against Obama.

Robert Reich: The Republican Myth of Obama's "Entitlement Society"

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:32:53 -0800

Robert Reich: The Republican Myth of Obama's "Entitlement Society":

robertreich:

One of the few things Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich agree on is that President Obama is turning America into “European-style welfare culture.”

In his standard stump speech Romney charges Obama with creating a nation of dependents. “Over the past three years Barack Obama has been replacing our…

Robert Reich: The State of Our Disunion: A Globalizing Private Sector, A Government Overwhelmed by Corporate Money

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:02:56 -0800

Robert Reich: The State of Our Disunion: A Globalizing Private Sector, A Government Overwhelmed by Corporate Money:

robertreich:

Who should have the primary strategic responsibility for making American workers globally competitive – the private sector or government? This will be a defining issue in the 2012 campaign.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama will make the case that government has a vital role. His…

Robert Reich: The Romney Tax Loophole

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:27:50 -0800

Robert Reich: The Romney Tax Loophole:

robertreich:

After refusing for weeks to release his taxes, Mitt Romney now says he’ll do so — by tax day, April 15. But the real news is what Romney has now admitted about his taxes.

It’s not how much Romney earns. Everyone knows he’s comfortably in the top one-tenth of one percent.

It’s how much he pays of…

Robert Reich: Free Enterprise on Trial

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:27:10 -0800

Robert Reich: Free Enterprise on Trial:

robertreich:

Mitt Romney is casting the 2012 campaign as “free enterprise on trial” – defining free enterprise as achieving success through “hard work and risking-taking.” Tea-Party favorite Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina says he’s supporting Romney because “we really need someone who understands how…

Robert Reich: The Youthful Magic of Ron Paul

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:07:10 -0800

Robert Reich: The Youthful Magic of Ron Paul:

robertreich:

South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint, the darling of the Tea Party wing nuts of the GOP, is urging Republican candidates to listen to Ron Paul. “One of the things that’s hurt the so-called conservative alternative is saying negative things about Ron Paul,” DeMint told conservative radio…

Taxes + regulation = success in Vermont

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:01:33 -0800

Taxes + regulation = success in Vermont:

Here’s a really nice article about the Vermont success story. It turns out that high taxes and strong business regulations are a recipe for success. I doubt you heard that at the Republican caucuses this week. Act 250 regulations were a huge part of preserving the state’s quality of life. They discouraged the profiteers who would have monetized Vermont’s natural beauty while simultaneously destroying it.

“Vermont has made real investments in its quality of life. Now the relative strength and resiliency of our economy suggest that those investments are paying handsome dividends.

Maybe the old-fashioned value that most effectively nourishes the Vermont economy is the realization that there’s more to life than money.”

Robert Reich: The Decline of the Public Good

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:01:00 -0800

Robert Reich: The Decline of the Public Good:

There’s a lot here, but one thing that he describes is the downward spiral of public institutions as the wealthy cut support of them. My experience is that as this man-made, institutional decline starts (be it schools, roads, Social Security and Medicare finances ..), these same wealthy people condemn the institution as misguided and unsound, *because* of the declines that they intentionally created! Case in point: I have a wealthy reactionary friend who, after voting time and time again for tax-cutting Republicans, delights in harangues about how Social Security and Medicare are “unsustainable”. He’s implying that they are both foolish, deeply-flawed ideas because they’re consuming a larger share of tax dollars every year. But unstated, and, he would hope, un-realized, is the fact that Republicans, his allies in DC, are shrinking the tax pie and therefore these earned benefits programs necessarily claim a greater percentage of tax revenue.

The same people who invented this gambit also invented the Myth of the Job Creator.

I guess if i had a kid I could refuse to get him to school half the time because I was too greedy to pay for any gas that I was not going to personally benefit from. Then as he failed course after course I could tell everyone how dim-witted and ignorant he was. On the other hand, I don’t think I’d want to be around that kid after he grows up. Ignorance and anger are a very volatile mix.

robertreich:

Meryl Streep’s eery reincarnation of Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady” brings to mind Thatcher’s most famous quip, “there is no such thing as ‘society.’” None of the dwindling herd of Republican candidates has quoted her yet but they might as well considering their unremitting bashing of…

Robert Reich: My Political Prediction for 2012: It's Obama-Clinton

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 08:05:44 -0800

Robert Reich: My Political Prediction for 2012: It's Obama-Clinton:

robertreich:

My political prediction for 2012 (based on absolutely no inside information): Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden swap places. Biden becomes Secretary of State — a position he’s apparently coveted for years. And Hillary Clinton, Vice President.

So the Democratic ticket for 2012 is Obama-Clinton.

Why…

Robert Reich: The Defining Issue: Not Government's Size, but Who It's For

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 08:04:44 -0800

Robert Reich: The Defining Issue: Not Government's Size, but Who It's For:

robertreich:

The defining political issue of 2012 won’t be the government’s size. It will be who government is for.

Americans have never much liked government. After all, the nation was conceived in a revolution against government.

But the surge of cynicism now engulfing America isn’t about government’s…

Christopher Hitchens 1949-2011

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:42:22 -0800

Christopher Hitchens 1949-2011:

RIP Mr. Hitchens

It’s hard to imagine a world without his voice in it.

Robert Reich: An Offer to the President

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:40:45 -0800

Robert Reich: An Offer to the President:

robertreich:

Mr. President, we heard what you said last week in Kansas – about the dangers to our economy and democracy of the increasing concentration of income and wealth at the top.

We agree. And many of us are prepared to work our hearts out to get you reelected – as long as you commit to doing what…

Multi-billionaire takes a Republican lie outside and shoots it

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 08:54:27 -0800

Multi-billionaire takes a Republican lie outside and shoots it:

This lie is particularly galling to me because 1) I hear it all the time, 2) it’s an unpardonable lie, but mostly 3) it’s deliberately crafted to deceive people who know they’re hurting (no job) but don’t know how business or economies work. In other words, it’s designed to take advantage of the most vulnerable in order to benefit the least vulnerable.

The US nuclear industry wants to force out pro-regulation NRC leader

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 11:26:00 -0800

The US nuclear industry wants to force out pro-regulation NRC leader:

The four Nuclear Regulatory Commission members who are apparently owned by the nuclear industry, want the pro-regulation chairman gone. And they’re trying underhanded approaches to make that happen. In their view it seems that we can’t have an NRC that promotes safety if doing so will hurt the nuclear industry’s profits. Profits, after all, are what matter, and I’m sure that’s appreciated in Japan right now.

GingrichCare and the "individual mandate"

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 22:43:00 -0800

GingrichCare and the "individual mandate":

The referenced MoJo article quotes Newt as writing the following.

“In order to make coverage more accessible, Congress must do more, including passing legislation to: establish a national health insurance marketplace by giving individuals the freedom to shop for insurance plans across state lines; provide low-income families with $1,000 in direct contributions to a health savings account, along with a $2,000 advanced tax credit to purchase an HSA-eligible high-deductible health plan; make premiums for these plans tax deductible; provide tax rebates to small businesses that contribute to their employees’ HSAs; extend and expand grant funding to high-risk pools across the country; and require anyone who earns more than $50,000 a year to purchase health insurance or post a bond.”

An “individual mandate” … oh my. Could Newt be a Socialist?