Richard Eskow explains why reinstating the Glass-Steagall "wall" between banking and securities is essential. Long story short: "too big to fail" banks actually possessed around 4% of their stated assets before the financial armageddon of 2008, and now they have -- wait for it -- 5%. That means 95% of their financing is debt. And these are the heroes of the "fiscally-responsible" right! So banks would actually have less debt if they weren't involved in so many casino-economy games and were more involved in holding savings and lending to small businesses, which is what they always say they're going to do if we would just stop watching them.
Shaun Richman, writing at In These Times, suggest some ways unions could fight back against "right to work" laws. Unions could offer membership outside their contracted obligations, work to change the "at-will" employment standard at state levels (where an employer can fire you pretty much "at will") to a "just cause" standard (where an employer would have to have a good reason to fire you) -- and, basically, reach out to workers they don't necessarily represent, which unions have already started to do by fighting for the $15/hour minimum wage at municipal levels.
Sen. Bernie Sanders said at last week's debate that he would not raise the top tax bracket to where it was under President Eisenhower, at 91%. He then added, slyly, that he was "not that much of a socialist compared to Eisenhower," but even though I'd also prefer to end all those Bush Mobb tax cuts on dividend and capital gains income, we have a moral reason for a 91% tax bracket -- it prevents the wealthiest from running roughshod over the rest of us, as they've been doing for what seems like forever.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, supposedly the nicest Republican Presidential contender, says he would establish a "government agency" to promote "Judeo-Christian values" abroad. So I guess he thinks the problem with ISIS isn't that they're bastards, but that they're Muslim? Also, he wants "stringent background checks" on Syrian refugees, as if they're currently nonexistent. I suspect Mr. Kasich overestimates the size of both his heart and his brain.
Finally, Fox News's token non-insane television personality, Shepard Smith, condemns those who would close our borders to all refugees, saying "we cannot allow ourselves to become like those who want to destroy us" and "(w)e cannot resort to the tactics of the barbarians." All of that is true, and it may even give American rageheads some pause -- but only for a moment, before Ted Cruz or somebody reminds them how much short-term pleasure rage affords.
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