April's Lowdown

April 2010, Volume 12, Number 4

Edited by Jim Hightower and Phillip Frazer

Washington besieged by an occupying force of corporate lobbyists

300 ex-Congress critters are among the hired guns who kill progressive reforms

Change. That's what Americans want. We the People--a.k.a. the body politic, the majority, the great unwashed, the hoi polloi, "us"--have made it clear that we want real, substantive change in the way Washington works, and for whom it works. We're sick of a "jobless recovery," rampant banksterism, collapsing bridges, corporate-owned elections, tinkle-down economics, oil dependency, made-in-China everything, mountaintop "removal," corporate welfare, falling wages, skyrocketing tuition, the demise of the middle class, and on and on. Enough! Ya basta! Stop it--change, dammit, CHANGE!

But where's the change? It's in subcommittees, in negotiations, in limbo, in transition, in purgatory, in trouble, in Never Never Land, in the trash can.

Why? Right-wing pundits and corporate-funded tea-party groups want you to blame Washington. Well, yes, Obama seems to lack convictions, much less courage; Senate Democrats tend to be five-watt bulbs sitting in 100-watt sockets; and congressional Republicans are...well, contemptible and pathetic. But these characters are the public face of the problem, not the source. Progressives need to focus on those shadowy players who're pulling the strings from behind the scenes to kill the will of the people and impose their special interest over America's public interest.


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DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE


Orwell's Quote

Ralph Kramden: Orwell spied for MI5 and ratted on his friends. I prefer Voltaire's quote: "It is dangerous to be right when your government is wrong."

-- posted by Ralph Kramden at 2:53am, May 1, 2010
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Wealth disparity

I find it just as obscene that athletes and other entertainment figures earn huge salaries as ceo's and other business executives. But in order to pay these salaries all these companies must somewhere along the line have customers. I try to spend my money in a way not directly supporting these excesses. I don't buy sports oriented clothing for example. I try to avoid coca cola products along with Exxon, Shell, etc. But when the government contracts with Coca Cola, etc. to provide vending machines in schools or other government facilities I have no control over my tax dollars being spent to enrich these people. I feel there should be a limit on income for anyone doing business or receiving tax breaks, bailouts, etc. from the government. Also all progressives should try to avoid contributing to this disparity in wealth.

-- posted by johnjohn3030 at 11:04pm, April 12, 2010
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wealth disparity

You are right. I think we should go back to the tax structure we had at the end of WWII when Ike, Kennedy, Nixon, Johnson were presidents, and when the middle class became strong. People making over $200,000 paid 90% in taxes. Adjust that for inflation. Anyone who thinks they earn in one week what the average American earns in one year, is a THIEF. It is legalized robbery from the company, from the workers' share, from the shareholders. No one's time is that much more than another person's time, no matter how smart they are or how much they do. The best way to adjust that stolen income is to tax earned income over 1 million (or even over half a million) at 90%.
Bonnie

-- posted by bgrossen at 4:27pm, June 1, 2010
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Vas and Roboboy

The source tag IS in the article- www.opensecrets.org/lobby That organization slices and dices all kinds of publicly available political donation and lobbying data. It looks to me that Hightower has pretty much paraphrased their research from different papers. See http://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/top.php?display=Z for former congressmen; http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/11/crossing-wall-street-1.html for the fundamental finance lobbying story - and don't worry it has all the source tags you could ever want as well as related articles.

-- posted by csspalding at 10:11am, April 9, 2010
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Great Article!!!

But as with any cancer...it eventually kills it's host. We are soon to embark on a total collapse of the dollar...so then they can have their world currency and more total control.

-- posted by asoper at 9:52am, April 9, 2010
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response

Scary article. But what can the average citizen do to really make a difference?
I feel dejected and helpless.

-- posted by BJMmay at 7:51am, April 9, 2010
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Documentation please?

I agree with VAS. I agree with Jim's views & want to believe everything he says, but it would be nice to know what sources he gets his facts from; Jack Clark of "Blast the Right" podcasts is very meticulous in citing his sources & would make a good role-model here.

ALOHA - Venlig Hilsen - CIAO - Salutations - SALUDOS - Med Hilsener - SALUT - Arriverdeci - SHALOM

-- posted by RoboRoy at 6:04am, April 9, 2010
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The source tag IS in the

The source tag IS in the article- www.opensecrets.org/lobby That organization slices and dices all kinds of publicly available political donation and lobbying data. It looks to me that Hightower has pretty much paraphrased their research from different papers. See http://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/top.php?display=Z for former congressmen; http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/11/crossing-wall-street-1.html for the fundamental finance lobbying story - and don't worry it has all the source tags you could ever want as well as related articles.

-- posted by csspalding at 10:15am, April 9, 2010
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Wall Street's Financial Fiefdoms

The cancer is so pervasive, I fear nothing can be done. Even Teddy Roosevelt would have a difficult time in this environment.

-- posted by r4jalgi at 1:46am, April 9, 2010
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Great article, but this is

Great article, but this is more like an op-ed piece. There are no tags to trace anything said back to the original documents. I (and I would guess many more like me) are tired of people who mouth this kind of stuff with nothing to back it up. I don't take anything on faith anymore.

-- posted by VAS at 1:46am, April 9, 2010
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original documents

OpenSecrets.org is your nonpartisan guide to money’s influence on U.S. elections and public policy. Whether you’re a voter, journalist, activist, student or interested citizen, use our free site to shine light on your government. Count cash and make change.

NOTE: Figures are on this page are calculations by the Center for Responsive Politics based on data from the Senate Office of Public Records. Data for the most recent year was downloaded on February 01, 2010.

-- posted by barbarav at 2:44pm, April 9, 2010
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The source tag IS in the

The source tag IS in the article- www.opensecrets.org/lobby That organization slices and dices all kinds of publicly available political donation and lobbying data. It looks to me that Hightower has pretty much paraphrased their research from different papers. See http://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/top.php?display=Z for former congressmen; http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/11/crossing-wall-street-1.html for the fundamental finance lobbying story - and don't worry it has all the source tags you could ever want as well as related articles.

-- posted by csspalding at 10:14am, April 9, 2010
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Great article, but this is

I suggest you look up the info on the net.
Many sources for the willing to do a bit of legwork.
Unless you are a right wing plnat......

-- posted by ellinas at 9:19am, April 9, 2010
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