June 2017 – American Delusions

The Rule of Law, Justice, American Delusions

June 27, 2017 Comments Off

Fairness, an equal shake, blind justice, jury of peers, rule of law…Amendments IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, and XIV…. these are all ubiquitous and universally applauded features of American life. Like blind lady justice they are ubiquitous in every area of our culture. This system of justice makes us superior --->> read more -->>

Healthcare and Markets – why don’t they work together?

June 26, 2017 Comments Off

A consistent chattering point in American discussions of healthcare is the claim that if we can only bring transparency and competition to healthcare we will drive prices down and bring sanity to healthcare. The rest of the world knows that this is not the answer but we seem to remain --->> read more -->>

The Democratic Party and Healthcare – Preserving Obamacare Cannot Be The End Game

June 24, 2017 Comments Off

While our current attention is on the Republican Party’s transfer of wealth to the rich and corporations through the charade of a healthcare reform, the Democratic Party needs to face up to its future and the future of our healthcare system in particular. The Global Context The chart shown here --->> read more -->>

The Republican Party – vicious at the edges

June 23, 2017 Comments Off

A brief review of how the so-called moderates and the fundamentalist right wing of the Republican Party are reacting to the Senates healthcare bill demonstrates how fundamentally vicious and immoral the whole party is. Though facts may be out of style lets just take note that we live in one --->> read more -->>

Vicious Republicans Not Trump Are The Problem

June 22, 2017 Comments Off

With today’s release of the Senate’s version of the Republican healthcare bill we see clearly that the Republican Party is a vicious, immoral pack of angry white people – mostly men it would appear from the faces representing the party in the media (see below). No matter how you slice --->> read more -->>

Recently Noted – about healthcare

June 21, 2017 Comments Off

from the New York Times an article that covers some earlier history of the US healthcare industry. How Did Health Care Get to Be Such a Mess? By CHRISTY FORD CHAPIN “The problem with American health care is not the care. It’s the insurance. Both parties have stumbled to enact comprehensive health --->> read more -->>

racism

Slavery in Hudson and nearby – continued

June 18, 2017 Comments Off

My earlier post on this topic was picked up by Gossips of Rivertown. That brought a reference from David Marston to a new source: Radical Cartography where the results of the 1790 Census (the first census) provided further data on slavery in our region and elsewhere. Here are a few --->> read more -->>

Recently Noted – free-market capitalism

June 17, 2017 Comments Off

Companies must externalize as many costs as possible in free-market capitalism. Without adequate government protections you will end up with this kind of environment. from the New York Times: Nearly 14,000 Companies in China Violate Pollution Rules By EDWARD WONG “Environmental inspectors in northern China have found that nearly 14,000 companies, or --->> read more -->>

Slavery in Hudson and Columbia Cty NY

June 14, 2017 1

It is doubtless a fact that most Northerners, including the writer, think that slavery in America was a Southern problem. In the North slavery was an occasional institution, or so we think. A week ago on Thursday 6/8/17 I attended a program at the library, “Abolition and Women’s Rights in --->> read more -->>

Trump’s Innovations in Governing – the cabinet meeting

June 12, 2017 Comments Off

Just when you might be thinking that Trump should be paying attention to the burgeoning scandals and corruption that surround him; perhaps today he might be thinking about his next Twitter storm; how he might respond to the forthcoming lawsuits from folks in DC and Maryland claiming that he is --->> read more -->>

Recently Noted – in free-market capitalism and US economy

June 7, 2017 Comments Off

Giving tax breaks to the rich and corporations has been basic to every Republican since Hoover. President Reagan piled on with trickle-down economics. I wrote about it here: Trickle-Down Returns to Enrich the Rich. Now the great state of Kansas proves again the tax breaks do not generate more jobs or --->> read more -->>

The Environment, Trump, Koch Brothers & Big Money

June 5, 2017 Comments Off

Trump’s recent announcement that he is leaving the Paris Climate Accord and his ongoing gutting of the Environmental Protection Agency should come as no surprise given his billionaire class Cabinet and advisers. Now it is clear that the Koch brothers have been at work. They are notorious for their Libertarianism, --->> read more -->>

Neoliberalism Revisited

June 3, 2017 Comments Off

A return to a topic first posted 2/10/2017. Neoliberalism – a term that needs never to be used February 10, 2017 Dollars and Sense has been around since the 1970s. Always a source of well researched critiques of capitalism. I recently, after a more than 30 year hiatus, re-upped a --->> read more -->>