This entry is eye witness to one of the demonstrations. I particularly liked this one.
James Pilant
The saying, attributed to Thomas Jefferson, that ‘the man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers,’ is as true a maxim today as it was in the eighteenth century. As the tensions on the ground in Dublin have reached fever pitch over the government’s austerity measures it has become clear that the wheels of the media are invariably driven by pro-government agendas. Various reports of demonstrations … Read More
The Irish Crisis. Homophilosophicus explains the unjust nature of the agreement saddling Ireland with debt for years to come. (I’ve reblogged this one before, but I want them all in order.)
It is very rare to see blogging on site in the middle of a crisis. This is good reading.
James Pilant
On Sunday 28th November 2010 the Fianna Fáil government of Ireland, which now governs without the mandate of the electorate, signed a contract with the International Monetary Fund which guarantees a crippling debt burden for the Irish taxpayer to bailout the financial institutions of this country. The government entered into such negotiations with the European Central Bank and the IMF in secret whilst denying the fact to the people of Ireland. Ev … Read More
I was disappointed by the results of the big “opt out.” The administration seemed on the verge of caving. So, did the airlines. They fear the public anger but seldom does that fear produce action and this was no exception.
The next invasion of privacy and dignity will occur with even less difficulty after the success of this one.
Supporters will shout “Why should you object if you haven’t done anything wrong?” That is not an American founding principle.
Power will be abused. That is the nature of power. There are few limitations now. We no longer know what information the government has or seeks. Where will it end? I am not a supporter of “slippery slope” arguments save in very special circumstances. I think this is one of them.
Read Rogue Columnist’s take on the situation.
From Rogue Columnist –
Unlike previous generations of Americans, we are largely an easily commanded people, rather like the Germans or Russians of old. Decades ago, Americans genially agreed to be drug-tested in order to get or keep a job, even though this “guilty until proven innocent” technique is of dubious constitutionality. We submit to hundreds of new national security agencies sucking at the taxpayer trough, not least one with the queasily un-American name of “the Department of Homeland Security.” Nary a peep about this in the land of the free and home of the brave. We meekly wait in lines, not least those at the airport. It’s difficult to imagine the World War II generation submitting to pat-downs, much less those that tamed/stole the frontier. But neither have the swindles of the banksters, widespread economic distress and the rule of the fatcats produced the protests of an older America. No, give us a Kinect or an iPad, a call-center cubicle and an H.R. rulebook, and we’re as happy as a baby with a pacifier.
This is serious stuff. Homophilosophicus is on the front lines in the Irish debt crisis. That means on the street. That takes guts. He is blogging regularly. I would like you to go and read his stuff as long as the crisis continues. He has very kindly given me permission to reblog his writings. I’ve just sent a further request to reblog all his posts while the crisis is ongoing.
This is stuff that will never see in the media. This is very close to the events as they are happening. You should read this. These opportunities do not come often.
James Pilant
Earlier this afternoon, Friday 3rd December 2010, two uniformed members of An Garda Síochána from the Bridewell Garda Station, were observed and overheard whilst clothes shopping in Penney's department store on O'Connell Street, Dublin. Both were male officers and were purchasing hooded sweatshirts and sweatpants, carelessly discussing their undercover work at the upcoming budget day protest (Tuesday 7th December) at Leinster House, the seat of D … Read More
I discovered this blog while looking for business ethics sites. He’s an author of a book called “Corruptions.” It all looks fascinating. There are two reasons to read the blog. One is that he is in the middle of the beginning of selling the book, signings and so forth. For the budding author out there, I’m sure this will be fascinating. The second reason is that this guy has a good grasp on politics and that is always welcome.
James Pilant
The flood of political advertisements on television and radio, combined with the nonstop "analysis" of the races, is making my head spin. So much of the analysis is just supporters of the right or left spouting gibberish about how well their side is doing or how horrible the other side is. And so much of the advertising — like the Sharron Angle ad about how Harry Reid wants to give Viagra to sex offenders — is such shameless drivel and so disg … Read More
Here are three commercials in favor of a “Robin Hood” tax. They are pretty good. The Bill Nighy one is my favorite.
If adopted in the United States, I would favor using it as a simple revenue method. Under this tax no consumer transaction would be taxed only speculative tranasctions.
Taxes should be raised on the socially useless speculations of the banking industry.
Here are three videos discussing the campaign for a financial transaction tax.
We should have a powerful discussion on this issue in the United States considering the behavior of the banks during the housing boom, the financial meltdown and the current mortgage crisis. They have abdicated any moral high ground they might have had and we need as a people, as a nation, to consider how to run our financial affairs. The middle class should not be a continual target for benefit cuts and tax increases. We have options.
The future of the Middle Class - ruins. From the BBC –
A presidential panel set up to help trim the US budget deficit has called for steep spending cuts and tax rises.
The proposal would cut defence, social security and other spending, slashing a total of $4.1tn (£2.62tn) from the budget deficit by 2020.
But analysts say the panel is unlikely to ratify the plan with a vote, calling into question whether the US Congress will act on its recommendations.
“The solution will be painful,” the plan reads. “There is no easy way out.”
The US had a budget deficit of $1.3tn in the year to September, and critics have said the government should do more to narrow the gap.
Social Security pays for itself for another twenty years and its surplus is used in the U.S. to fund things like defense. Social Security taxes are only taken out of the first, 100,000 dollars or so out of income. If we raised the limit even slightly the fund would be intact for many decades.
Why is social security under attack? It’s doctrinal. Friedman economics says that government can do nothing right. Therefore, social security must by its very government nature be a failure. The numbers, the facts, the experience, – mean nothing. It’s very similar to a religion.
It’s why instead of the military rebuilding the Iraqi infrastructure, we used private firms. By the Friedman doctrines, this colossal incompetence and theft of government funds would have been much worse if the government had done the job.
Private and public means to accomplish ends are choices. There is no complete superiority of one over another. There never will be. There are just tools to accomplish things, no more.
That people are able to build a strange worshipful doctrine toward “free enterprise” is a symptom of larger moral and ethical problems. But above all, it’s the result of a successful sales job paid for over decades with millions and billions of dollars and preached by dozens of well financed foundations and other advocacy organizations.
Let’s read another section from the BBC coverage –
The panel’s chairman, Mr Bowles, said the panel’s work had – at the very least – made America engage in substantive debate on the deficit issue.
“The era of debt denial and the denial of its consequences is over,” he said. “We have started an adult conversation that will dominate the debate until the elected leadership in Washington does something real.”
This is nonsense. These measures have been preached for decades by “free market” conservatives.
Besides the real issues aren’t even on the table. Why do we allow companies based and operating in the United States to offshore their tax burden? What is fair tax code and what do we need to do to enforce it? I could go on.
But if you want to quickly discover the intellectual and moral absence in the committee’s recommendations, you only have to examine the question of a bank tax.
Formerly, the United States was a manufacturing giant, so it gathered its taxes from a well paid middle class and by taxes on goods. Now we live in a nation based on finance and “play” money. Financial speculation is the rule of the day. Since our economy is now based on finance, doesn’t it make sense to change the nature of our tax structure to reflect our current realities? What we have now is a shrinking manufacturing base and a deteriorating middle class. We also have a banking and financial industry wedded at the hip to tax rescues and government guarantees. That merits taxation. Yet, a tax to raise a mere twenty billion dollars to help pay for another bailout was defeated in the middle of this year.
No one seems to talk about this one either. Did the debt commission talk about this for page after page? You’re going to read more about it here.
A report on this kind of tax suggests that even a small, simple tax will produce 100 billion dollars in revenue each. Obviously, a trillion in a decade.
That’s deficit reduction.
There is much more to talk about. But there seems little likelihood of a genuine discussion outside of the limits established by the beltway pundits. We can only talk about Medicare, Social Security and a PR campaign of little significance to rein in defense spending. I see nothing else in the proposals likely of actual action except the mortgage deduction.
President Obama stacked the committee with those who had long wanted to attack social programs. Those programs that benefit the middle class are those that will be successfully attacked. The middle class has been targeted for four decades with continued success. There is no reason for Washington to stop now.
My previous post (actually about twenty minutes ago) discusses the Irish debt crisis. But I am not on the scene, I don’t live in Ireland. But homopilosophicus is a citizen and writes from there. Here is his take on the crisis. It’s intelligent and it’s a person, not a media company, not a corporation. He’s not selling anything or wanting you to do anything except understand.
James Pilant
On Sunday 28th November 2010 the Fianna Fáil government of Ireland, which now governs without the mandate of the electorate, signed a contract with the International Monetary Fund which guarantees a crippling debt burden for the Irish taxpayer to bailout the financial institutions of this country. The government entered into such negotiations with the European Central Bank and the IMF in secret whilst denying the fact to the people of Ireland. Ev … Read More
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said the potential scale of 2010 bank bonuses remained “of considerable concern to the government”.
He added: “I’ve launched a consultation in my own department on corporate governance that takes in issues of remuneration and disclosure, and it may well be that that’s a better way of tackling it.
“I wouldn’t just cover banks, but highly paid executives in general. But we have to have a system whereby executive pay is available to shareholders so they can make proper decisions from it.”
Isn’t this something we should be talking about? Currently, business bonuses are at all time highs while the middle class barely hang on. Why don’t we talk about austerity for someone who isn’t a homeowner or a worker?
All over the United States, salaries have been stagnant for decades or even reduced. Some fields have diminished in size or virtually ceased to exist. Why should business bonuses be immune for the same kinds of cuts?
From further down in the article –
Mr Cable said he was “not persuaded” that banks realised they needed to limit bonuses, saying excessive remuneration in the sector remained a “major irritant”.
He added that if the banks gave out substantial bonuses at a time when the wider population faces the impact of austerity measures, it would be a “major provocation”, and that the government had the power of raising taxation to deal with the matter.
We’re not even having a discussion about this. Why is it always the middle class that gets hit? Why do they talk about Social Security and Medicare when there is so much money among so few who accomplish so little? How is it that Americans who paid into Social Security their entire working lives can be referred to as the “Greediest” generation as if they were two bit thieves?
This entry is eye witness to one of the demonstrations. I particularly liked this one.The saying, attributed to Thomas Jefferson, that ‘the man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers,’ is as true a maxim today as it was in the eighteenth century. As the tensions on the ground in Dublin have reached fever pitch over the government’s austerity measures it has become clear that the wheels of the media are invariably driven by pro-government agendas. Various reports of demonstrations … Read More
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