Finally a Representative body, that knows WHO they work for ...
Class war breaks out in the U.K. The Labor government announces a tax on exorbitantly-paid bankers. American populists gnash their teeth in envy
By Andrew Leonard, Dec 9, 2009
Unsurprising headline of the year: "U.S. Probably Will Avoid Matching U.K. 50 percent Bonus Tax."
Alistair Darling, the U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced the tax -- aimed squarely at overpaid bankers
[...]
From Bloomberg:
"There are some banks who still believe their priority is to pay substantial bonuses," Darling said in Parliament. "I am giving them a choice. They can use their profits to build up their capital base. If they insist on paying substantial rewards, I am determined to claw money back for the taxpayer."
Paul Krugman says the move is "entirely reasonable." Justin Fox asks, "why the heck not?" Felix Salmon says "well done."
If you missed Dylan Ratigan's interview today with Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) -- well you missed a lot!
They spell out in stark relief the very REAL need for serious Wall Street Regulation -- NOW! (and still!)
Or we risk a repeat of the same Bubble-driven collapse of Trillion Dollar Derivative Bets, that occur in the dark, beyond the reach -- or even the Watch -- of any Govt Regulator, or even the Public scrutinity.
Nothing has changed, they can STILL Gamble Trillions in Derivatives, and let US the Taxpayers pick up the Tab, whenever their Bets GO Bad!
FRONTLINE INVESTIGATES THE ROOTS OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS
FRONTLINE Presents
The Warning
Tuesday, October 20, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS
In the devastating aftermath of the economic meltdown, FRONTLINE sifts through the ashes for clues about why it happened and examines critical moments when it might have gone much differently.
In The Warning, airing Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk (Inside the Meltdown, Breaking the Bank) unearths the hidden history of the nation's worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. At the center of it all he finds Brooksley Born, who speaks for the first time on television about her failed campaign to regulate the secretive, multi-trillion-dollar derivatives market whose crash helped trigger the financial collapse in the fall of 2008.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities economists just confirmed the trends of the last 8 years -- Most of the the Economic Gains went to the very Wealthy, while the rest of us struggled to just get by
Two-thirds of the nation's total income gains from 2002 to 2007 flowed to the top 1 percent of U.S. households, and that top 1 percent held a larger share of income in 2007 than at any time since 1928, according to an analysis of newly released IRS data by economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez.
During those years, the Piketty-Saez data also show, the inflation adjusted income of the top 1 percent of households grew more than ten times faster than the income of the bottom 90 percent of households.
(oh those talking heads... - promoted by poligirl)
I'm watching MSNBC waiting for President Barack Obama (seriously, never gets old typing that) to begin his press conference when I heard Chris Matthews ask his panel what question they would like to see asked of our President. One of the members of the panel (I'm afraid I can't name her, I got home after the segment started) gave her question and that's what has led me to be annoyed enough to diary. Follow me below the fold.
Update: Turns out it was Michelle Bernard. We now return you to your regularly scheduled diary.
They found that richer states vote for Democrats, and richer voters vote for Republicans. Poorer states vote for Republicans, while poorer voters vote for Democrats.
How can these realities co-exist?
This is one of those moments when I feel like I live in la-la land. It's possible that I am insane, stark-raving mad and delusional. Either that or there is a staggering moral obscenity underway in our country. We have plenty of money to fund what needs to be done--but our political leaders, on both sides of the aisle, seem unwilling to go where the money is: the rich. I know where Republicans stand on this issue. But, where in the hell is the Democratic Party?
(the failure of Market Fundamentalism... - promoted by poligirl)
So, I'm going to be on a bus tomorrow morning to Pennsylvania to knock on doors for Barack Obama--like a lot of you, I'm sure. But, wearing my hat as a labor movement person, I also believe we must have a vigorous debate about the greatest challenge facing working people, no matter how the election turns out: how do we get seize back control of our economy from the proponents of Market Fundamentalism? It is the job of the movement for workers' rights--whether that happens within unions or outside unions--to demand that the political candidates who are advocating for "change" seize the opportunity before us: a citizenry that is ready for deep, systemic change, not change around the margins.
