Three Ways That Wall Street Occupies Washington, DC

Ken AshfordCampaign Finance Reform, Class Warfare, Corporate GreedLeave a Comment

From Think Progress: 1. Wall Street Occupies Washington With Massive Campaign Contributions: On Nov. 12, 1999 President Bill Clinton signed into law the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, a Depression-era law that created a firewall between commercial and investment banking. Repealing this law was one of the top legislative goals of the financial industry. In the 1998 election cycle, commercial banks spent … Read More

Simple Minds Offer Simple Analysis

Ken AshfordEconomy & Jobs & DeficitLeave a Comment

Once again, the crack bloggers at Patterico's Ponitification are showing their stupidity. It's Aaron "Not My Real Name" Worthing, touting this chart which is making the rounds on conservative blogs: and then writing this: So once again, we are shown that things are worse than they predicted if we did nothing.  I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating–over and over … Read More

And Cain Jumps The Shark, Too

Ken AshfordElection 2012Leave a Comment

It's not his 9-9-9 policy, although that proposal is dumb, too. Nope, it's this: Boortz, at the tail end of the interview, asks Cain how he’d do in a debate against Obama: “It would almost be no contest.” Ticking off ways he could compete with Obama, Boortz says that Cain would be able to talk about the black experience in … Read More

Congress Hits All-Time Low

Ken AshfordCongressLeave a Comment

Congress is on track to register its lowest annual average approval rating for any year since Gallup began measuring congressional approval in 1974. The existing lows are 18% recorded in 1992 (based on one measure that year) and 19% recorded in each of three years: 1979 (based on one measure), 2008 (based on monthly ratings), and 2010 (based on monthly … Read More

Dumbest Slur Against Occupy Wall Street Evah

Ken AshfordCorporate Greed, Economy & Jobs & DeficitLeave a Comment

It started with a David Brooks column in the New York Times yesterday.  Here's an excerpt: Unfortunately, the country has been wasting this winter of recuperation. Nothing of consequence has been achieved over the past two years. Instead, there have been a series of trivial sideshows. It’s as if people can’t keep their minds focused on the big things. They … Read More

People Like Class Warfare

Ken AshfordCampaign Finance Reform, Class Warfare, Corporate Greed, Economy & Jobs & DeficitLeave a Comment

A new Washington Post/Bloomberg poll asked Americans whether they would support or oppose a variety of ideas to reduce the budget deficit. Unppoular ideas were pretty much what you expect: raising taxes on the middle class, reducing Social Security benefits, and reducing Medicare benefits. But a couple of ideas enjoyed broader support — most of the public approves of reducing military spending and … Read More

The Rumors Of My Death….

Ken AshfordBlogging2 Comments

… are greatly exaggerated. Shows, bronchitis and life have taken a bit of a toll. What did I miss?  Steve Jobs death.  Sad.  Occupy Wall Street.  Encouraging. …and probably thirteen Republicans debates.  Priceless. Regular blogging to resume…….. (wait for it)….. nnnnnnnoW!