Category Archives: Capitalism

AFGE Responds to House GOP Budget Proposal

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WASHINGTON – American Federation of Government Employees National President John Gage today issued the following statement in response to the 2013 budget plan introduced by House Republicans:

“The House GOP budget, proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan, proposes a staggering $368 billion in additional federal workforce cuts over the next 10 years. Federal employees would have their salaries frozen for another three years and would face massive cuts to the retirement benefits promised when they were hired. In addition, the federal workforce would be cut by 10 percent, jeopardizing the federal programs and services every American relies on.

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Poll: Fewer Americans Than Ever See The Supreme Court Positively

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[F]ewer voters than ever view the high court positively. . . . The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters shows that 28% give the Supreme Court good or excellent ratings. Nineteen percent (19%) rate the highest court in the land as poor.

Admittedly, this poll was conducted by Rasmussen Reports, a conservative polling firm with a history of inaccuracies. Nevertheless, Rasmussen’s finding is consistent with other polls showing that Americans increasingly believe that, despite the fact that the justices’ very legitimacy stems from their ability to apply the law fairly and independent of partisan concerns, the Court’s decisions are driven in large part by politics.

Certainly, the Supreme Court’s five conservatives have done nothing to disabuse the American people of this unfortunate perception. To the contrary, the Roberts Court has consistently pushed an ideological agenda from the bench — often despite decades of precedent to the contrary:

– Citizens United
– Forced Arbitration
– Divide and Conquer
– War on Workers

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David Cay Johnston: The Richest Get Richer

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The aftermaths of the Great Recession and the Great Depression produced sharply different changes in U.S. incomes that tell us a lot about tax and economic policy.

The 1934 economic rebound was widely shared, with strong income gains for the vast majority, the bottom 90 percent.

In 2010, we saw the opposite as the vast majority lost ground.

National income gained overall in 2010, but all of the gains were among the top 10 percent. Even within those 15.6 million households, the gains were extraordinarily concentrated among the super-rich, the top one percent of the top one percent.

Just 15,600 super-rich households pocketed an astonishing 37 percent of the entire national gain.

The different results in 1934 and 2010 show how a major shift in federal policy hurts the vast majority and benefits the super-rich.

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Atheist Shoes (VIDEO)

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Now, I realise that some of you haven’t the foggiest what an Atheist shoe is. And, admittedly, an atheist shoes sounds like a peculiar idea. But we think a shoe is a lovely, understated way for atheists to out themselves and to be less shy about their godlessness. And we also think our Bauhaus-inspired, 1930s-infatuated shoes will be a welcome antidote to the samey junk pumped out by the big sneaker corporations – not only do we feel our designs are prettier, but we know that the care, craftsmanship and quality of materials going into our shoes are superior to those invested by N**e, *onver*e and Ad***s.

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Paul Krugman: Ignorance Is Streangth

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. . . So why are [Reactionaries] so eager to trash higher education?

It’s not hard to see what’s driving Mr. Santorum’s wing of the party. His specific claim that college attendance undermines faith is, it turns out, false. But he’s right to feel that our higher education system isn’t friendly ground for current [reactionary] ideology. And it’s not just liberal-arts professors: among scientists, self-identified Democrats outnumber self-identified Republicans nine to one.

I guess Mr. Santorum would see this as evidence of a liberal conspiracy. Others might suggest that scientists find it hard to support a party in which denial of climate change has become a political litmus test, and denial of the theory of evolution is well on its way to similar status.

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