think big thoughts

The Remarkable Political Stupidity of the Street

From Robert Reich:

“…when it comes to the regulation of Wall Street, one overriding cost doesn’t make it into any individual weighing: The public’s mounting distrust of the entire economic system, generated by the Street’s repeated abuse of the public’s trust.”

Robert Reich: The Rebirth of Social Darwinism

robertreich:

What kind of society, exactly, do modern Republicans want? I’ve been listening to Republican candidates in an effort to discern an overall philosophy, a broadly-shared vision, an ideal picture of America.

They say they want a smaller government but that can’t be it. Most seek a larger national defense and more muscular homeland security. Almost all want to widen the government’s powers of search and surveillance inside the United States – eradicating possible terrorists, expunging undocumented immigrants, “securing” the nation’s borders. They want stiffer criminal sentences, including broader application of the death penalty. Many also want government to intrude on the most intimate aspects of private life….

Yet one step closer to a police state

From the ACLU:

The U.S. Senate is considering the unthinkable: changing detention laws to imprison people — including Americans living in the United States itself — indefinitely and without charge.

The Defense Authorization bill — a “must-pass” piece of legislation — is headed to the Senate floor with troubling provisions that would give the President — and all future presidents — the authority to indefinitely imprison people, without charge or trial, both abroad and inside the United States.

Urge the Senate to Oppose Indefinite Military Detention

Net Worth of Congress Rises by 25% Since Financial Crisis

Dylan Ratigan interviews former Texas state Judge, Catherine Crier about the personal wealth of our congress-people and the institutional corruption in the judicial system:

Right now, both Democrats and Republicans are serving the big corporate givers. They’re not serving the constituents that sent them to Congress. If we don’t have a representative government, it’s over, right there. Done deal.

What will it take to limit the role of money in politics?

Listen to the November 1st podcast of Rose Aguilar’s radio show, Your Call, in which she talks with Lawrence Lessig about solutions to the problem the corruption of congress by money and corporate interests.