Happy Holidays from the Johnsons:
The back of the card:
Published by Sudeep Johnson
Doggie Paw Cards, Inc.
www.doggiepawcards.com
Many thanks to Paddington the little white dog, without whom this card would not have been possible.
Here is last year’s: Holiday Card From The Johnsons. (That card has a link to the previous year’s, etc…)
9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific http://www.blogtalkradio.com/
Election post-mortem, did candidates “distancing” themselves from Obama and core Democratic policies help them get votes or drive away base Dems? Disarray in the GOP?
Robert Reich’s statement – on Facebook! – that Dems must get their act together and appeal to regular people’s economic needs — or else we need a new party.
And, if there is time … “pointergate” to insane to be ignored.
Dave Johnson, David Waldmanprovide the commentary, with Jay Ackroyd. Satire from Culture of Truth.
The 2014 Virtually Speaking Media Panel: Andrew Jerrell Jones, Avedon Carol, Cliff Schecter, David Dayen, Dave Johnson, David Waldman, digby, Gaius Publius, Joan McCarter, Marcy Wheeler, RJ Eskow, Stuart Zechman
I have this posted over at AlterNet: 5 Giant Un-American Corporations Trying to Bolt U.S. to Avoid Taxes
Corporations get enormous benefits that regular “persons” do not. One of the biggest is limited liability. This means that the shareholders are not liable for the debts of the corporation. A corporation can get in a lot of trouble, financial and otherwise, and then just close up shop, divide its assets to its creditors, and the shareholders can just walk away losing only the money they originally put in. While it might be a “person” to certain members of the Supreme Court, there is no person to be made to work off the debt or to put in jail.
Corporations also enjoy lower tax rates than people do. (Except for the people who make a gain from the shares: they get a special, even lower tax rate called “capital gains.” Why is this? The capital gains tax rate is lower because the wealthiest make most of their income from capital gains, and the wealthiest make most of their income from capital gains because the capital gains tax rate is lower.)
And of course, corporate “persons” never have to die.
6p pt/9pm et – Avedon Carol & Dave Johnson
Shortsighted centrism empowers republicans while implementing bad policy. Triangulation backfires, as with immigration or misses opportunities, as with the ACA, SS benefit cuts, gay marriage. Policy and political concerns would be much more successful if widely popular, effective polices were adopted. Instead, we get Rahm’s memo. Plus political satire from @Bobblespeak
Follow @Avedon_Says @DCJohnson @JayAckroyd
Listen live or later at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/virtuallyspeaking/2014/06/23/avedon-carol-dave-johnson-virtually-speaking-sundays
The 2014 Virtually Speaking Media Panel: Avedon Carol, Cliff Schecter, David Dayen, Dave Johnson, David Waldman, digby, Gaius Publius, Joan McCarter, Marcy Wheeler, RJ Eskow, Stuart Zechman
I have this up over at AlterNet: 5 of the Worst Cities to Be a Renter Unless You’re Fabulously Wealthy,
The housing market is supposedly recovering, yet the homeownership rate is dropping. Meanwhile rents in urban areas were already high but now are absolutely skyrocketing. What’s going on? As millions lost their homes many of the houses were and are being bought up by large investors. And what do these investors want? They want rent and lots of it. According to a NY Times report, In Many Cities, Rent Is Rising Out of Reach of Middle Class, “In December, Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan declared ‘the worst rental affordability crisis that this country has ever known.’ ”
I wrote this for AlterNet: Meet the Billionaires Using Their Immense Wealth to Make Life Miserable for Ordinary Americans: 5 examples of billionaires pushing a right-wing economic agenda.
Here is how it works these days: You start hearing about a big, national problem and then it becomes a drumbeat. First there are a few articles and columns mentioning that such-and-such is a problem. Then a number of articles appear, then a “study” from a “think tank” confirms the problem and sounds the alarm about how terrible it is, and then just as the issue seems to be the only thing you are hearing about a solution is presented. Of course, the solution always involves taking something away from you and giving it to some company or industry standing in front of a billionaire or three. The right question to start asking when you hear about these “problems” is which billionaire is driving this.
Here are five-plus examples of billionaires who use their money to try to get us to think what they want us to think in order to enact a right-wing economic agenda.
I wrote this for AlterNet: 8 Phony GOP Solutions for Poverty That Will Only Bring More Economic Pain,
On the 50th anniversary of the war on poverty, Republicans are whipping out “compassionate conservatism” again, in an attempt to rebrand themselves as something other than the harsh, anti-poor, anti-women, anti-minority, anti-gay, anti-everything wingnuts they have been showing us they are. It’s a strategy Republicans default to when they’ve taken things to such an extreme that the country is revolted. And here we are with Republicans pretending to have proposals geared toward fighting poverty instead of just boosting the fortunes of those who already have huge fortunes.
Take a look at a newcomer to the scene: The Left Hook: Politics with a Punch.
“The Left Hook offers a progressive perspective on issues that impact Silicon Valley. We stand for social and economic justice, and our writers seek to advance those values by bringing to light current events and issues that too often are neglected. Although this site is curated by the South Bay Labor Council, its subjects will not be limited to labor issues. The Left Hook will provide a platform for a broad spectrum of news and commentary from a wide variety of citizen journalists. ”
On Twitter: @LeftHookBlog
I did this for AlterNet: The New Financial Scam Driving Workers Deep Into Debt,
If you can lure people into borrowing then you own them, sometimes literally—it’s a game as old as money itself.
Regular people don’t know much about money, loan terms or the trap of debt-slavery. This enables predators to dangle loans in front of desperate people and entrap them into various forms of financial and even actual servitude. Again and again schemes and scams pop up that trick people into borrowing. Of course, we all know how the credit-card trap has ensnared millions. Car loan terms have gone from two to three and now as long as five or even six years because people think a lower monthly payment is a good thing. In recent years we’ve seen “subprime” mortgages and payday lenders entrap borrowers. Now there is a new predatory lending scheme in operation called “workplace loans.” Keep an eye out for this, it is just one more way for the financial industry to lure workers into debt slavery.
But also keep an eye out for a different form of workplace loan that can actually help employees.
Last night’s Virtually Speaking was really good, and you can listen to it here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/virtuallyspeaking/2013/12/23/dave-johnson-cliff-schecter-virtually-speaking-sundays-1.
Commentators Dave Johnson (Campaign for America’s Future) & Cliff Schecter (Libertas LLC) discuss:
1) Good public policy as popular public policy. A government jobs program with a minimum wage increase would be both. Moral Mondays as an example of bringing public opinion to bare. Gillibrand’s populist “Opportunity Agenda.”
2) Political satirist CoT’s most ridiculous moment from the morning gabfest.
3) Potential progressive options to Clinton (Sanders, Schweitzer, O’Malley) and the impact they may have on the Democratic Party, and Clinton’s positions and campaign.
Jay Ackroyd moderates. Follow @CliffSchecter @DCJohnson @Bobblespeak @JayAckroyd.
Virtually Speaking is a regular online “radio” show that you can listen to live while it is recorded, or later (and on Podcast.)
This week, commentators Dave Johnson (Campaign for America’s Future) & Cliff Schecter (Libertas LLC) talk about good public policy as popular public policy and how a government jobs program with a minimum wage increase would be both, e.g. Moral Mondays and Gillibrand’s populist “Opportunity Agenda”
A ridiculous moment from Culture of Truth
Then potential progressive options to a Clinton candidacy e.g., Sanders, Schweitzer, O’Malley; and the impact they may have on the Democratic Party as well as Clinton’s positions and campaign.
You can listen live or any time later http://www.blogtalkradio.com/virtuallyspeaking/2013/12/23/dave-johnson-cliff-schecter-virtually-speaking-sundays-1.
You can also get Virtually Speaking on Podcasts.
Conservatives worship Ayn Rand, who said it was morally wrong to help people. How’s that for compassionate?
I wrote this for AlterNet — go read 6 Reasons There’s No Such Thing As Compassionate Conservatism.