http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-gop-became-the-party-of-the-rich-20111109

The nation is still recovering from a crushing recession that sent unemployment hovering above nine percent for two straight years. The president, mindful of soaring deficits, is pushing bold action to shore up the nation's balance sheet. Cloaking himself in the language of class warfare, he calls on a hostile Congress to end wasteful tax breaks for the rich. "We're going to close the unproductive tax loopholes that allow some of the truly wealthy to avoid paying their fair share," he thunders to a crowd in Georgia. Such tax loopholes, he adds, "sometimes made it possible for millionaires to pay nothing, while a bus driver was paying 10 percent of his salary – and that's crazy."

Preacherlike, the president draws the crowd into a call-and-response. "Do you think the millionaire ought to pay more in taxes than the bus driver," he demands, "or less?"

The crowd, sounding every bit like the pr... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Tuesday, November 15, 2011

A Tea Party of populist posers

By Dana Milbank

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/19/AR2010101906085_pf.html

On the morning of Oct. 14, a cyber-insurgency caused servers to crash at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The culprits, however, weren't attacking the chamber; they were well-meaning citizens who overwhelmed the big-business lobbying group with a sudden wave of online contributions. It was one of the more extraordinary events in the annals of American populism: the common man voluntarily giving money to make the rich richer.

These donors to the cause of the Fortune 500 were motivated by a radio appeal from the de facto leader of the Tea Party movement, Glenn Beck, who told them: "Put your money where your mouth is. If you have a dollar, please go to . . . the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and donate today." Chamber members, he said, "are our parents. They're our grandparents. They are us."

They are? Listed as members of the chamber's board are representatives from Pfizer, ConocoPhillips, Lockheed Martin, JPMorgan Chase, Dow Chemical, Ken Starr's old law and lobbying firm, and Rolls-Royce North America. Nothing says grass-roots insurgency quite like Rolls-Royce -- and nothing says populist revolt quite like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In describ... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Tuesday, August 23, 2011

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-burnett/its-the-values-stupid_b_888429.html

President Obama's April 13th speech about the economy emphasized cornerstone American values. Voters must understand these values to fully comprehend what's at stake as Democrats battle Republicans over the Federal debt limit and budget for the 14 months prior to the 2012 election.

While acknowledging there's a streak of "rugged individualism" in the American character, President Obama observed Americans also share the belief that "we are all connected; and that there are some things we can only do together, as a nation." As a community we build schools and roads. The president noted that Americans also share the belief that "each one of us deserves some basic measure of security," which is why we have Medicare and Social Security.

In a classic essay, Robert Reich wrote that embedded in the fabric of the American ethos are two positive narratives. The first is the Triumphant Individual, "the little guy who works hard, takes risks, believes in himself, and eventually gains wealth, fame, and honor" - this is the "rugged individualist" Obama alluded to. The second American narrative is the Benevolent Community, "Neighbors and friends who roll up their sleeves and pitch in for the common good" - this corresponds to Obama's observation "that there are some things we can onl... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Saturday, July 2, 2011

Transcript: Obama Speech British Parliament May 25, 2011

Remarks by Obama to Parliament in London, United Kingdom Westminster Hall, London, United Kingdom

3:47 P.M. BST

Obama: Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.)

My Lord Chancellor, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Prime Minister, my lords, and members of the House of Commons:

I have known few greater honors than the opportunity to address the Mother of Parliaments at Westminster Hall. I am told that the last three speakers here have been the Pope, Her Majesty the Queen, and Nelson Mandela — which is either a very high bar or the beginning of a very funny joke. (Laughter.)

I come here today to reaffirm one of the oldest, one of the strongest alliances the world has ever known. It’s long been said that the United States and the United Kingdom share a special relationship. And since we also share an especially active press corps, that relationship is often analyzed and overanalyzed for the slightest hint of stress or strain.

Of course, all relationships have their ups and downs. Admittedly, ours got off on the wrong foot with a small scrape about tea and taxes. (Laughter.) There may also have been some hurt feelings when the White House was set on fire during the War of 1812. (Laughter.) But fortunately, it’s been smooth sailing ever since.

The reason for this close friendship doesn’t just have to do with our shared history, our shared he... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Wednesday, May 25, 2011

G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/business/economy/25tax.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

General Electric, the nation’s largest corporation, had a very good year in 2010.

The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.

Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.

That may be hard to fathom for the millions of American business owners and households now preparing their own returns, but low taxes are nothing new for G.E. The company has been cutting the percentage of its American profits paid to the Internal Revenue Service for years, resulting in a far lower rate than at most multinational companies.

Its extraordinary success is based on an aggressive strategy that mixes fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore. G.E.’s giant tax department, led by a bow-tied former Treasury official named John Samuels, is often referred to as the world’s best tax law firm. Indeed, the company’s slogan “Imagination at Work” fits this department well. The team includes former officials not just from the Treasury, but also from the I.R.S. and virtually all the tax-writing committees in Congress.

While General Electric is one of the most skilled at reducing its tax burden,... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Saturday, April 16, 2011

The Machinery of Hope By Tim Dickinson Rolling Stone

20 March 2008 Issue

Inside the grass-roots field operation of Barack Obama, who is transforming the way political campaigns are run.

It's Presidents day, two weeks before the Texas primary, and Adam Ukman has come to the small city of San Marcos to train precinct captains for Barack Obama. A soft-spoken native of Houston, Ukman has served on the campaign's front lines in Iowa and Utah, organizing grass-roots supporters to secure decisive victories in both states. This evening, more than eighty residents of San Marcos have crammed into a yellow clapboard recreation center on a street dotted with shacks that date from the Jim Crow era. "Our job is not to run in here to tell you how it's going to be," Ukman tells them. "This is your campaign. Not our campaign."

Anyone who has spent time around Democratic politics has heard this kind of rhetoric before. Most often, it's pure horseshit. But Ukman is not here to break in a batch of untrained organizers. He knows that there is literally hundreds of years of organizing experience in the room - all he needs to do is set it loose. There's Michael Collins, an old-school politico in a tan Stetson who chaired John F. Kennedy's campaign in West Texas in 1960. A few seats over is Sandra Tenorio, who oversaw immigration issues for Gov. Ann Richards in the 1990s. And there's "Big Bob" Barton, a fixture of local party races since he wor... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Wednesday, February 16, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/opinion/19rich.html?_r=2&hp=&pagewanted=print

December 18, 2010
The Bipartisanship Racket
By FRANK RICH

JEEZ, can’t we all just get along? Can’t we be civilized? Can’t we reach across the aisle, find common ground and get things done? Can’t we have a new Morning in America as clubby and chipper as MSNBC’s daily gabfest, “Morning Joe”?

This is actually the manifesto of the new political organization called No Labels. It’s no surprise that its official debut last week prompted derisive laughter from all labels across the political spectrum, not to mention Gawker, which deemed it “the most boring political movement of all time.” But attention must be paid. In its patronizing desire to instruct us on what is wrong with our politics, No Labels ends up being a damning indictment of just how alarmingly out of touch the mainstream political-media elite remains with the grievances that have driven Americans to cynicism and despair in the 21st century’s Gilded Age.

Although No Labels sounds like a progressive high school’s Model U.N., its heavy hitters are serious adults — or at least white male adults. Among the 16 billed speakers at last week’s official launch in New York, there were three women and no blacks, notwithstanding an excruciating No Labels “anthem” contributed by the Senegalese-A... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Sunday, December 19, 2010

Too Big to Succeed

By THOMAS M. HOENIG Kansas City, Mo.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/opinion/02hoenig.html?_r=1&nl=opinion&emc=tya1&pagewanted=print

THE world has experienced a severe financial crisis and economic recession. The Treasury and the Federal Reserve took actions that saved businesses and jobs and may very well have saved the economy itself from ruin. Still, the public seems ungrateful, expressing anger at these institutions that saved the day. Why?

Americans are angry in part because they sense that the government was as much a cause of the crisis as its cure. They realize that more must be done to address a threat that remains increasingly a part of our economy: financial institutions that are “too big to fail.”

During the 1990s, Congress, with encouragement from academics and regulators, repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, the Depression-era law that had barred commercial banks from undertaking the riskier activities of investment banks. Following this action, the regulatory authority significantly reduced capital requirements for the largest investment banks.

Less than a decade after these changes, the investment firm Bear Stearns failed. Bear was the smallest of the “big five” American investment banks. Yet to avoid the damage its failure might cause, billions of dollars in public assistance was provided to support its acquisition by JPMorgan Chase. Soon other large financial institutions were found to a... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Tuesday, December 7, 2010

October 7, 2010, 9:38 pm

Making Congress All It Can Be

By LINDA GREENHOUSE

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/making-congress-all-it-can-be/?nl=opinion&emc=tya1

The attraction of reading what a sitting Supreme Court justice has to say about interpreting the Constitution is undoubtedly what has turned Justice Stephen G. Breyer’s new book, “Making Our Democracy Work,” into a surprise best seller. Commentators and reviewers have also emphasized the Constitution-related passages in the book, particularly Justice Breyer’s cogent analysis of why “originalism” falls short and why the interpretive goal should be to engage with the framers’ deepest values rather replicate their 18th-century frame of reference. His point, as the book’s title suggests, is for judges to make their way through the mists of history to a Constitution that works today.

These portions of the book are illuminating but perhaps just a bit familiar. After all, Justice Breyer and Justice Antonin Scalia, the court’s proud avatar of a non-living Constitution, have been debating their respective visions for years, both before live audiences and on the pages of United States Reports, the official volumes that collect the Supreme Court’s decisions.

My attention was riveted by another chapter that actually may be the book’s most important contribution to public understanding of the court’s work. This is Justice Breyer’s chapter on statutory interpretation, ... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Friday, October 8, 2010

October 7, 2010, 8:40 pm

Make Wall Street Risk It All

By WILLIAM D. COHAN

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/make-wall-street-risk-it-all/?nl=opinion&emc=tya1

Two years after the near collapse of capitalism, we certainly have our fill of financial reforms. The 2,200-page Dodd-Frank Act, which President Obama signed this summer, creates an Orwellian alphabet soup of new agencies, oversight boards and offices intended to protect us from ourselves.

The problem is that since the incentives on Wall Street have not been changed one iota by the new laws — nor are they likely to be changed by any of the soon-to-be-written regulations of federal agencies — we’re no better protected from bankers’ potentially reckless behavior than we were before the latest round of reforms.

It’s not that Dodd-Frank ignored Wall Street’s past excesses. The law will ensure that some, but not all, derivatives will have to be traded on exchanges and that some, but not all, of the banks’ proprietary trading will be curbed and that some, but not all, of their private-equity and hedge funds will be shuttered or spun off. Dodd-Frank is also supposed to curtail Wall Street’s penchant for creating conflicts of interest, although how the law is going to do that is far from clear.

“In the end, our financial system only works — our market is only free — when there are clear rules and basic safeguards that prevent abuse, that check excess, that en... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Friday, October 8, 2010

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-abelson/the-unconvention_b_747805.html

They came, they talked, they listened -- to each other. They were attentive and respectful, with nary a voice raised in anger. A most unconventional political gathering. No, this wasn't a preview of Jon Stewart's Rally To Restore Sanity. It was the first national convention for the Coffee Party, held last weekend in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Coffee Party you say? Still in its infancy, it was born with a single post on Facebook in January, its founder conveying deep dismay at what passes for political discourse in this country, and wondering if it was possible to counter alienating hyper-partisanship with something different, so we might finally get on with addressing the serious problems facing our nation today.

Tens of thousands roared their approval. By March a full fledged movement had erupted, comprised of red, blue, and purple Americans from all across the land -- united by their disgust with all forms of politics-as-usual. In the ensuing months, the movement self-organized and coalesced into Coffee Party chapters in communities nationwide. Six months later, a national convention.

One wonders what's next for this cross between a viral phenomenon and a face-to-face army of serious citizens.

The Tea Party has long been seen as self-organized to some extent, but it had the benefit (or curse) of deep pocketed funders and old political hands supporting an... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Sunday, October 3, 2010

Friends Without Benefits

The sad truth about Facebook. by Daniel Lyons

September 24, 2010

The people who run Facebook, the social-networking company, are furious about a new movie that takes lots of liberties in its depiction of how Facebook came into existence. They’re upset because much of The Social Network, which opens Oct. 1, is just completely made up. That’s fair enough. But to me, the really interesting thing about this movie is that while much of the tale is invented, the story tells a larger truth about Silicon Valley’s get-rich-quick culture and the kind of people—like Facebook’s 26-year-old founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg—who thrive in this environment.

The Valley used to be a place run by scientists and engineers, people like Robert Noyce, the Ph.D. physicist who helped invent the integrated circuit and cofounded Intel. The Valley, in those days, was focused on hard science and making things. At first there were semiconductors, which is how Silicon Valley got its name; then came computers and software. But now the Valley has become a casino, a place where smart kids arrive hoping to make an easy fortune building companies that seem, if not pointless, at least not as serious as, say, old-guard companies like HP, Intel, Cisco, and Apple.

Silicon Valley’s Future Superstars

The three hottest tech companies today are Facebook, Twitter, and Zynga. What, exactly, do they do? Facebook lets you keep in touch ... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Sunday, September 26, 2010

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2010/08/net-neutrality-a-buzzword-that-fools-almost-everyone.html

It's a nightmare scenario: One day, you log on to the Web, and only 20 or 25 Web sites built by brand-name Net companies fire up quickly. Everything else -- all the mom-and-pop sites, all the niche retailers, all the alternative blogs you read -- dribble out onto your screen like it's 1996 all over again.

But this is a nightmare, too: You log on to the Web after work, and nothing seems to be working. That's because the people living in the three other apartments in your building are busy downloading one pirated Blu-ray movie while watching another. Or spammers have taken control of your neighbors' machines and are pumping out millions of e-mails, totally clogging your Internet pipe. You call your ISP and complain. An operator there says, "Sorry, those pirates and spammers have just as much right to the network as you do."

The important debate on net neutrality is perhaps the most misunderstood technology argument of our time. Sure, neutrality is good and discrimination is bad. And of course, it's terrible that companies like Google and Verizon seem to be holding secret meetings that will decide the future of our beloved free Internet. It's a shame that this important debate has been dragged down by sloganeering and extremism. Here are two important points everyone should understand about this fight.

1. This is not the fight of big companies vs... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Sunday, August 8, 2010

It's a nightmare scenario: One day, you log on to the Web, and only 20 or 25 Web sites built by brand-name Net companies fire up quickly. Everything else -- all the mom-and-pop sites, all the niche retailers, all the alternative blogs you read -- dribble out onto your screen like it's 1996 all over again.

But this is a nightmare, too: You log on to the Web after work, and nothing seems to be working. That's because the people living in the three other apartments in your building are busy downloading one pirated Blu-ray movie while watching another. Or spammers have taken control of your neighbors' machines and are pumping out millions of e-mails, totally clogging your Internet pipe. You call your ISP and complain. An operator there says, "Sorry, those pirates and spammers have just as much right to the network as you do."

The important debate on net neutrality is perhaps the most misunderstood technology argument of our time. Sure, neutrality is good and discrimination is bad. And of course, it's terrible that companies like Google and Verizon seem to be holding secret meetings that will decide the future of our beloved free Internet. It's a shame that this important debate has been dragged down by sloganeering and extremism. Here are two important points everyone should understand about this fight.

1. This is not the fight of big companies vs. little people that it has been cast to be. It is big companies vs. other big companies. It's Web content s... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Sunday, August 8, 2010

By DAVID STOCKMAN

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/opinion/01stockman.html?_r=3&pagewanted=all

Published: July 31, 2010

IF there were such a thing as Chapter 11 for politicians, the Republican push to extend the unaffordable Bush tax cuts would amount to a bankruptcy filing. The nation’s public debt — if honestly reckoned to include municipal bonds and the $7 trillion of new deficits baked into the cake through 2015 — will soon reach $18 trillion. That’s a Greece-scale 120 percent of gross domestic product, and fairly screams out for austerity and sacrifice. It is therefore unseemly for the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, to insist that the nation’s wealthiest taxpayers be spared even a three-percentage-point rate increase.

More fundamentally, Mr. McConnell’s stand puts the lie to the Republican pretense that its new monetarist and supply-side doctrines are rooted in its traditional financial philosophy. Republicans used to believe that prosperity depended upon the regular balancing of accounts — in government, in international trade, on the ledgers of central banks and in the financial affairs of private households and businesses, too. But the new catechism, as practiced by Republican policymakers for decades now, has amounted to little more than money printing and deficit finance — vulgar Keynesianism r... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Sunday, August 1, 2010

As the Senate appears ready... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Lobbyist Says It’s Not About Influence

By ERIC LICHTBLAU

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/02/us/02podesta.html?_r=4&hp=&pagewanted=print

WASHINGTON — On the eve of a critical Congressional vote last week on a sweeping measure to regulate Wall Street, the prominent lobbyist Tony Podesta met with one of the lawmakers to go over some final language and discuss the effect it could have on his many corporate clients.

Once that was over, Mr. Podesta pivoted back to another client, BP, to help the company navigate Congressional waters and, in short, try to prevent an ugly situation from getting even uglier.

For weeks now, the two biggest issues in Congress have been cleaning up Wall Street and cleaning up the Gulf Coast. To the surprise of no one in the capital’s K Street corridor, Mr. Podesta — Democratic fund-raiser, avid art collector and member of a family brand in Washington — has had a big hand in both. And medical companies have also been drawn to his firm, particularly in the wake of the health care legislation.

In a remarkable season of lobbying, business is booming for the Podesta Group, already one of Washington’s biggest players. It has become particularly lucrative for firms like Mr. Podesta’s that are skilled at wielding influence in Congress, the center of epic debates on health care, bailouts and financial regulations.... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Saturday, July 3, 2010

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi

Acceptance message for the 1990 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought (July 1991)

• It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.

• It would be difficult to dispel ignorance unless there is freedom to pursue the truth unfettered by fear. With so close a relationship between fear and corruption it is little wonder that in any society where fear is rife corruption in all forms becomes deeply entrenched.

• The effort necessary to remain uncorrupted in an environment where fear is an integral part of everyday existence is not immediately apparent to those fortunate enough to live in states governed by the rule of law. Just laws do not merely prevent corruption by meting out impartial punishment to offenders. They also help to create a society in which people can fulfil the basic requirements necessary for the preservation of human dignity without recourse to corrupt practices. Where there are no such laws, the burden of upholding the principles of justice and common decency falls on the ordinary people. It is the cumulative effect on their sustained effort and steady endurance which ... [more]

  Bruce Schuman
  Wednesday, June 23, 2010

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How broken is our democracy? And how can we fix it?

http://www.everyday-democracy.org/en/Article.1177.aspx

by Martha McCoy

June 1, 2010 | | Washington, D.C.

Everyday Democracy's Executive Director Martha McCoy gives her remarks at the Brookings event, "How Broken is Our Democracy? And How Can We Fix It?”

On June 1, 2010, Demos, AmericaSpeaks, Everyday Democracy, the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School, and the Brookings Institution hosted a half-day conference to discuss the key issues at stake in our democracy. Panelists explored the priorities that should be front and center over the coming year; examined possibilities of a unified agenda for democratic reform; and discussed ways of creating and strengthening a movement for a vibrant and inclusive democracy.

Everyday Democracy's Executive Director Martha McCoy spoke about issues related to talking about participation and collaboration. To see the video, click here. McCoy appears at about 8 minutes into the video.

The Open Government Directive that the president issued his first day in office was hopeful and exciting for many across the country. The 3 commitments in that directive – to transparency, participation, and collaboration – are critical aspects of the democracy reform movement.

The challenge with talking about participation ... [more]

Bruce Schuman
Wednesday, June 23, 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSxFNaX6uFc&feature=player_embedded

Bruce Schuman
Thursday, June 17, 2010