A Progressive Blog that Discusses Current Affairs, Politics, Culture, and Global Issues

Our purpose is to carve out a more-factual, less-partisan, niche in the political blogging world. The intention is not to defend a particular political party, ideology, or a particular issue, but to challenge the established narratives that are spread via the corporate media and the interests they represent.

Corporations

Happy Labor Day, You’re Fired

Posted on by Jake White

Here’s an unfortunate Labor Day message. A new report by the Institute for Policy Studies found that CEOs who laid off the most workers made the most money over the past couple if years. No wonder the recession continues. View the report here: http://bit.ly/9PqMzv Take Action: Stop Executive Excess. Tell your friends that you won’t […]

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Conservatives

Glenn Beck’s Propaganda Fest

Posted on by Jake White

I have been trying to figure out what Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington was about (8/28/2010). “Faith, hope, and charity,” was the theme. It was a “wake up” call (literally) to call people to prayer and traditional values. It was basically a religious revival, with a strong emphasis on the greatness of Glenn Beck. He took a number of jabs at the media, hinting that they would underestimate the numbers of people in attendance. There were about 300,000 people in attendance. The whole event was an appeal to religious and patriotic emotions, tying together religious faith and American exceptionalism. This use of faith and patriotic sentiment is not new. Conservative politicians have used these emotions to stir up their base throughout our history. What was different is that Beck seems to be trying to connect conservatism with minority civil rights—never mind the fact that it was conservatives who fought against virtually every attempt to give additional rights to any group, from women and minorities to labor and immigrants.

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Conservatives

10 Worst Conservatives

Posted on by Jake White

Keith Olberman of MSNBC has a funny portion of his nightly show called, the “world’s worst person.” And of course, David Letterman has his top 10 lists.

I thought it might be time to have our own “top ten worst conservatives” list. Here is our list (explanations and video clips below).

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Equality

Women’s Equality Day

Posted on by Jake White

From the recent Presidential proclamation:
“As we celebrate 90 years of progress on Women’s Equality Day, we also recognize the realities of the present. Women comprise less than one-fifth of our Congress and account for a mere fraction of the chief executives at the helm of our biggest companies. Women hold only 27 percent of jobs in science and engineering, which are critical to our economic growth in a 21st-century economy. And, almost 50 years after the Equal Pay Act was enacted, American women still only earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn. This gap increases among minority women and those living with disabilities.”

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Foreign Policy, War

Acts of Peace

Posted on by Jake White

It is interesting to me that many in our country who scream the loudest for war are the same people who think we should be considered a “Christian nation.” Wasn’t the message of Christ about “turning the other cheek,” and of forms of peaceful resistance? Liberals and conservatives should unit to help end the immoral military interventions that we are currently engaged in. It is the courage of individuals, who stand up to the madness of corruption and war, who bring peace to our world.

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Foreign Policy, Latin America

U.S. Policy in Latin America

Posted on by Jake White

The history of U.S. relations with Latin America is a story of imperialism, exploitation, and crimes against humanity. Eduardo Galeano’s book, “Open Veins of Latin American,” is an excellent introduction to this history. Greg Grandin’s 2006 book, “Empire’s Workshop,” and Naomi Klein’s more-recent book, “The Shock Doctrine,” cover issues of modern economic and military imperialism in the region. From the Monroe Doctrine to the School of the Americas, the tax dollars of U.S. citizens have been used to sell arms to cruel militias, install and uphold brutal dictators, train anti-communist insurgencies in torture methods, implement trade policies that increase extreme poverty and inequality, and undermine democratic movements. But there are hopeful signs on the horizon.

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taxes

“Death Taxes” are for the Living

Posted on by Jake White

Currently, the richest 10% of households in the U.S. owns almost 70% of all private wealth, while the bottom 50% of households hold a meager 2.8%. This is hardly an even playing field for the market to give opportunity for the best ideas and talents to emerge. Renowned sociologist, Max Weber, said the revenues from the inheritance tax should be evenly redistributed among young members of society, so as to create equal starting conditions for the “market struggle.” Part of the objective of the tax is to even the playing field. In American political discourse, if we can’t agree on equal outcomes, surely we can agree on equal opportunity.

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Conservatives, Economic Policy, Policy

Do Tax Cuts Increase Revenue?

Posted on by Jake White

One of the fundamental differences between Republicans and Democrats is their view of taxes. Democrats believe in progressive taxation–that is, taxing the rich at a higher percentage because a flat tax would take a larger percentage of income from those with lower income. Republicans believe that reducing taxes for high-income earners is better for the economy because it will “trickle down” to the lower income workers in the form of jobs; and they believe that lowering taxes for the rich increases government tax revenues. But is this claim true?

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