BIG MONEY WINS, PEOPLE LOSE

Cowboy hat By Jim Hightower - Sat., 6/6/09
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On April 30th, the Senate voted down a proposal by Sen. Dick Durbina top Democrat to allow bankruptcy judges to lower the monthly mortgage payments of homeowners trapped by exploding interest rates. This bill would keep families in their homes,... [read more]

Do something!

Monday, April 6, 2009   |   Posted by Jim Hightower
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Q: What made Wall Street implode? A: They were making too much money to stop

April 2009

Did you have a piggy bank when you were a child? Mine was a cheery, round pig--made of brown pottery, as I recall. For parents of that time, having their children feed pennies, nickels, and the occasional dime into these toy banks was a sweet lesson in frugality--a Kodak moment for many families.

Today, though, the term "piggy bank" has a wholly different connotation. America's leaders are stuffing trillions of our tax dollars into such voracious Wall Street piggies as Bank of America, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs, and there's nothing sweet about it. Each day's news seems to bring ever more horrific stories of greed, incompetence, arrogance, excess, deceit, numbskullduggery, and inconceivable nincompoopery about this ongoing taxpayer bailout and exploding financial crisis.

After studying various theoretical models and applying careful mathematical analyses, the world's finest economic thinkers have now concluded that what we have here is, to use the technical term, "a mess." To help our readers get a better picture of it, this issue of the Lowdown offers some facts and tidbits, sets forth some Q & As, exposes a myth or two, explores a couple of reasons the stuff has hit the fan, calls out some culprits, and suggests a few steps towards financial sanity. Let's get started! [ read more ]

Name those greedheads!

Cowboy hat By Jim Hightower - Mon., 4/6/09
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Last month, I asked my radio listeners to come up with new words to describe the abominable sense of self-entitlement that presently afflicts Wall Street bankers. I noted that terms like "greedy," "shameful," and "narcissistic" were way too mild to... [read more]

OBAMA MUST BE BOLDER THAN FDR

Cowboy hat By Jim Hightower - Sat., 2/7/09
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When Franklin Roosevelt was accused of being a traitor to his own privileged class, he jauntily replied, "I welcome their hatred."

Those FDR-haters are on the prowl again, now led by right-wing think tanks and talk-show yakkers who are busy rewriting... [read more]

STOP CODDLING ELITE CROOKS

Cowboy hat By Jim Hightower - Sat., 2/7/09
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Bernie Madoff is the world-champion Ponzi schemer who has confessed to bilking some $50 billion from investors, including many friends, associates, and even his 74-year-old sister who lost about $3 million and had to sell her home.

But rather than being... [read more]

Union faces down banker greed

Cowboy hat By Jim Hightower - Thu., 1/1/09
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IRONICALLY, AT THE VERY TIME that boneheaded senators in Washington were working furiously to impose their anti-union extremism on our country, most Americans were captivated by some 250 feisty union members in Chicago, joyously cheering them on.

These were... [read more]

DoSomething!

Thursday, January 1, 2009   |   Posted by Jim Hightower
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At least since the days of Ronald Reagan, corporate interests have aggressively spread the myth that the American people hate unions. Not so. In fact, 68% of the public today say that unions are necessary to protect working families, and... [read more]


Congress gives Citi all it wants

Cowboy hat By Jim Hightower - Thu., 1/1/09
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A DECADE AGO, CITIGROUP led a full-court lobbying press on Washington, ultimately winning what big bankers, insurance giants, and high-rolling investment wizards wanted: government deregulation. By forcing the regulatory cop off the Wall Street beat, these geniuses were then able... [read more]

Senators bail out their banker buddies but stiff workers and their unions

January 2009

THE 8,000-MEMBER GREATER GRACE TEMPLE in Detroit is the home church of many autoworkers, and its Sunday service on December 7 spoke directly to their troubles. The tone was set by the choir's opening selection, "I'm looking for a Miracle." The Pentecostal pastor kept the spirit moving with a sermon he titled "A Hybrid Hope," after which the congregation joined in a full-throated, hallelujah version of the gospel classic, "We're Gonna Make It."

For the men and women who actually do the work in automobile manufacturing (America's quintessential industry), the only hope left for dealing with a catastrophic economic meltdown seems to be prayer. Their corporate leaders have failed them, and Congress has stiffed them. Only last month's begrudging agreement by the White House to consider a $14 billion bridge loan for the Big Three automakers has given them any optimism as their industry limps into 2009. But the ongoing bailout battle is no longer about economics. It's about class in America.

Republican lawmakers, backed by a raucous chorus of right-wing pundits and corporate lobbyists, have turned Motor City's economic woes into an excuse for launching a mendacious and pernicious assault on America's hard-working, highly skilled, unionized working families--and on the middle-class ideals that they embody. [ read more ]

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