Black History 360*

Arrogance, judgement, power. Can’t the Street change its values and culture and still make money? The Salomon brothers did for years. With humility and service.

Isn’t mutual aid and service better than the implied demands of the “unconvinced,” whose attitudes speak more about their parochial demands than the mayor’s views?

mr. walterhett – i’m sorry but that utopia you speak of never existed. in their day all the wealthy have had complaints against them throughout history.

How quick you offer evidence of my view! Au contraire, I offered as evidence a vaulted Wall St. name, a firm of three brothers once the premier traders of Treasuries, whose quotes were considered the market prices (both buy and sell). Offered not as proof of a “utopia” (your exaggeration!) but of common sense.

But as in the example I described, the evidence falls on deaf ears and is overlooked. Alas!

(#2 ranked comment /wr)

Wall Street, 1774. Bird’s-eye view. Courtesy of New York Public Library Digital Gallery.

One dishonest campaign meme Lonegan hasn’t used is going strong: that the ACA is a parallel to slavery. The gifted pediatric neurosurgeon, Ben Carson, is the latest to draw the parallel but not to be outdone, George Will cited the law for fugitive slaves.

Who thought slavery would be a part of conservative name dropping–who can’t seem to recall paragons of individual responsibility like Condoleezza Rice or Colin Powell, or the names of African-Americans elected the US House during Reconstruction–who apparently think the way to confirm their anti-slavery legacy is by comparing it to their opposition to the ACA,. Yet, turning down invitations to speak at the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, they never affirm the progress since its end!

The “holla-at-slavery” movement is dishonest (emancipation was “property taking” by the govt without reimbursement, a more apt comparison to GOP logic about the ACA!). The end of the institution and its laws led to rights advances. The ACA, which expands the right to healthcare, is a real part of its progressive legacy.

That progress, at its heart, was truly about morality, not politics. Ending slavery was a moral issue with a political solution. So is providing healthcare. Some rights are universal.

Creating dishonest analogies or opposing either freedom or healthcare (by consignment to free market principles!) is wrong. The right to freedom and the right to healthcare are on the same moral side.

Rare Senegalese 19th Century Engraving, From My Collection.

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Carvillememo 100313 final (Click for the pdf, downloadable report.)

The post below is an extraordinary document. It is a letter from groups who frequently find their interests at odds, even in direct conflict, and fight vociferously legislation in every field. Yet the three organizations have chosen to come together in a single cause–to urge the President and the Congress to work together to reopen the government and to insure the nation will not default on its debt. 

AFL, UW, Chamber Letter To Congress on The Shutdown of Government 10 11 2013 (Click to open the pdf).

In the side showof shutdown, debt, and blame–the 3 rings of GOP dishonesty–one is telling: many of the tea partiers represent rural farm districts. Whether livestock or crops, farmers are unable to receive the crop reports that only the government is able to collect and aggregate–reports farmers depend on for verified market prices for their commodities. Nor are farrmers receiving the global weather reports that are used in world markets (Brazil’s beef, oranges and coffee, for example) to determine current and future pricing. “We have no idea what the price of hogs are, or the price of pork,” reports one Illinois farmer.

Caught off guard, an early blizzard killed thousands of  cattle in South Dakota. The unpassed farm bill doesn’t give farmers the five year guidance needed to know what to plant by identifying what programs are available for crop insurance and other farm safety nets. Government payment for federal farm support programs are being delayed, without any indication when these funds will be paid even when government reopens.

These representatives are forcing farmers in their own districts to lose income over single issue politics! Farm families–and our food supply and stable market prices–are at risk!

Government is tied and engages in the free market, provides vital information that levels the playing field for smaller farmers, and maintains an orderly market, while supporting farmers facing extraordinary natural conditions. It is exactly what government is supposed to do!

The tea party has never understood that government is the partner of business, workers, and consumers–no business exists without the legal structure and safeguards of government (we’ve seen the exceptions!), workers depend on government for fair treatment, consumers need to know products are safe. Right now, the tea party is using the efficiency of govt against itself, claiming all is well as it saws off the limb.

But shipping is stacking up, sales have slowed, bottlenecks are building. Because we are a $16 trillion economy the shocks are hidden, but the tea party persists in sawing.

The anger at workers, both public and private, makes no sense. Shutting down the govt didn’t reduce its size, it only put breadwinners out of work. The attempt to exert partisan leverage over an issue that is saving lives resulted in those who say they want to reduce waste and spending, adding to the expense sheet (for nothing received expect the indulgence of their egos) $300 to $160 million a day!