A day-after-tax-day graph
by David Safier Here's a telling graph showing the income of the 400 richest households in the U.S. since 1990 (in blue) and the amount of taxes they've paid over the same period (in red) Looks like the tax rate hasn't exactly been progressive. (h/t to Matt Yglesias)
Paul Krugman: The Fire Next Time
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Paul Krugman of the New York Times explains the need for financial services regulations in The Fire Next Time (excerpt): [Mr.] McConnell surely isn’t sincere; while pretending to oppose bank bailouts, he’s actually doing the bankers’ bidding. But before I get to that, let’s talk about why he’s wrong on substance. In his … Read more
Update: Why do Republicans hate unemployed Americans?
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: First it was Arizona's Senator Obstruction, Jon Kyl, who blocked the extension of unemployment benefits last fall because he wanted the Paris Hilton Tax (estate tax) for idle rich kids to inherit their parents' fortune to be dealt with first. Then it was Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) who blocked the extension of unemployment … Read more
Government sues Goldman Sachs for defrauding investors
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Think we don't need financial services reforms? Think the "free market" is self-correcting? Think again, Ayn. Goldman Sachs is the most politically powerful Wall Street bank. Alumni from Goldman Sachs are serving at every level of the federal government (and many state governments). Today, the federal government sued Goldman Sachs & Co. … Read more
Robert Reich: Break Up The Banks
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Where is Progressive "trust buster" Teddy Roosevelt when we really need him –again? H/T Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt – Political Cartoons (Puck Cartoons). Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich offers his formula for reigning in the pirates of Wall Street: Break Up the Banks: A fight is brewing in Washington — or, … Read more
The Great American Bank Robbery
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: I love that television commercial which begins as a bank robbery but then you quickly discover that it is the bank employees holding up its customers for fees and charges. So true. The economics-ignorant media focuses almost exclusively on Wall Street. The extent of their economics reporting on the nightly news each … Read more
Defensive Melvin fails to defend himself
by David Safier This is truly weird. E.J. Montini, a columnist at the Republic, wrote a piece putting down Melvin's idea of spending $200,000 in state funds to put vigilantes militia a Volunteer Security Force on the border to replace Melvin's beloved but defunct Minutemen. Even though the column was written for a Phoenix audience, … Read more
