John Denver and Cass Elliot:
http://youtu.be/NKdknYaSHgE
Who knows where the time goes
Sandy Denny:
Night in the city
Joni Mitchell:
http://youtu.be/z_NnNIW7aRc
Happy Hour: Russell Malone – Heartstrings
http://youtu.be/WYV1pSFKj7M
For my good friend, Judy… I will miss you
Art by Panhandle Slim…
Singing from the wingnut attack hymnal
These people are so exhausting:
Republican Joe Lhota doubled down on his attack on rival Bill de Blasio’s leftist past Tuesday, charging the Democrat’s strategy is drawn “directly out of the Marxist playbook.”
Lhota hit de Blasio’s work in Nicaragua in the 1980s, where he did humanitarian work as an ally of the lefist Sandinista regime, which was fighting the U.S.-backed Contras.
“Bill de Blasio needs to explain himself — and explain himself now — to the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who escaped Marxist tyranny in Asia, Central America, and from behind the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe,” Lhota said, amping up his criticism a day after he hit de Blasio for reportedly describing himself as a backer of “democratic socialism” in 1990.
Oh no not the trees!
Trans Pacific Partnership
Glad that people are out there, exposing this proposed shitty deal:
This afternoon, September 23rd, protesters concerned about the looming Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) covered the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative with banners calling for a democratic process and a release of the treaty’s text. The group, which included members of FlushTheTPP.org, Backbone Campaign, Veterans for Peace, CODEPINK, and Earth First!, say that the TPP will have vast consequences for U.S. laws, workers rights, the environment and many other aspects of life.
We decided to expose these secret negotiations by going right to their national office and plastering the Office of the US Trade Representative with messages that let them and the public know what they are doing. We took over their office building today, and plan to continue to escalate tactics in Congress and wherever we see opportunities to expose the TPP, stop the undermining of democracy through Fast Track and have a real debate over whether the US wants rigged trade for big transnational corporations or fair trade that puts people and the planet before profits.
So far, the TPP has been drafted with an unprecedented degree of secrecy. While information has been kept from the public more than 600 corporate advisers have access to the treaty’s text – including companies such as Halliburton, Monsanto, Walmart, and Chevron. The Obama administration has kept the TPP classified, making it the first-ever classification of a trade agreement. In addition to denying public access to its text, the president has urged Congress to use Fast Track to pass the treaty. Fast Track would limit congressional consideration of the text to a quick up or down vote and give President Obama the power to sign and negotiate the treaty. This turns the Constitution on its head as the Commerce Clause authorizes Congress to “regulate commerce among nations” not the president.”
Seven advocates dressed as workers attached four massive banners to the front and side of the US Trade Representative’s office. Banners read “Transparency: Release the Text,” “Democracy, not Corporatocracy,” “Corporate Coup against the People and Planet” and “Flush The TPP.org.” Other activists at the front of the building held a large 15 foot tall sign that said: “Trading Away People’s Lives and the Planet’s Future.” They were able to cover the building in banners and hold this un-permitted protest and negotiate doing so without anyone getting arrested, in fact one activist who had been held in handcuffs was even released.
Robert Reich
Why we need to start taxing the rich:
To make the point, Inequality for All introduces us to several families struggling to get by. And it introduces us to Nick Hanauer, CEO of Seattle’s Pacific Coast Feather Company, a bedding manufacturer, and one of the first investors in Amazon. Hanauer says he makes between $10 million and $30 million a year, and he wonders why he pays a tax rate not of 17 per cent (Warren Buffet’s rate) or 13.9 per cent (Mitt Romney’s), but of 10 or 11 per cent.
He argues the economy doesn’t need to leave so much money in the hands of the super-rich. “Even the richest people sleep on only one or two pillows. I have the nicest Audi, but it’s still only one Audi. It’s actually our customers who are the job creators. They are the centre of the economic universe.”
Almost everybody understands that the health of the American economy depends mainly on consumer spending. Yet the debate over taxation and its place in the country’s economic health has paralyzed American democracy.
Arguing in favour of higher taxes on the wealthy in the U.S. is a bit like arguing that there is no god at a Baptist revival. That was evident in 2012 when Hanauer delivered a TEDtalk on the subject — to a standing ovation — and then saw it temporarily buried. It’s a story that shows how difficult it is, even in liberal circles, to shake people’s assumptions.
Hanauer’s TEDtalk begins with this: “It is astounding how significantly one idea can shape a society and its policies,” he said of the notion that taxing the rich hurts the economy. “This idea is an article of faith for Republicans and is seldom challenged by Democrats.” Sure, Hanauer got just a little nasty, when, over a picture of Donald Trump, he said: “When business people take credit for creating jobs, it’s a little like squirrels taking credit for evolution. It’s actually the other way around.” And he did make the mistake of invoking religion: “It’s a small jump from job creator, to the Creator.”
The Washington Post editorial board is run by morons
Oh, I’m sorry. Was that rude? Anyone who thinks the problem we have is the deficit is either stupid or has a hidden agenda. In light of their exalted view of Pete Peterson, you can bet on the latter:
Put another way: Medicare and Social Security remain on track to crowd out other spending, slow economic growth and leave the government paying more in interest costs — 5 percent of GDP by 2038, compared with an average of 2 percent over the past 40 years. Just to keep pace, the government would have to tax more and more, or cut more and more, or both. The longer policymakers wait to address these issues, the harder it will be, not least because the interest will keep piling up.
“The unsustainable nature of the federal government’s current tax and spending policies presents lawmakers and the public with difficult choices,” the CBO concludes. Mr. Obama ran for president promising to make such difficult choices. Lawmakers such as House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) have made similar boasts.
Instead they are facing the unthinkable prospect of shutting down the government as they squabble over the inconsequential accomplishment of a 10-week funding extension. It isn’t serious, but it certainly isn’t funny.