These excerpts from President Obama’s speeches explain why people trusted him to bring real change. Was he forced to renege on his promises? Or was he lying when he made these promises?

All told, the federal government provides $65 billion a year in food stamps to almost 46 million Americans. While that sounds like a lot of money — maybe it’s something Republicans in Congress would like to cut out — it comes down to $118 a month for each recipient. And it pales next to the…

I’ve been getting invitations to events organized by “Seattle Transpartisan Alliance” (also here). They wish to find common areas of agreement across the political spectrum, between libertarians and liberals, in particular. For example, they aim to “Reconcile regulation and cooperation with individual liberty, innovation, entrepreneurship and healthy competition.” My first impulse is to reject the…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On Sunday Washingtonians took to the air, land and sea to challenge Washington’s wealthiest corporations and individuals to share the economic sacrifices with working families. Joggers, picnicking families and boaters visiting Seward Park were greeted with an unusual sight Sunday afternoon. Huge banners, launched with helium balloons, visible from Paul Allen’s Mercer Island estate,…

When last we met, it was to discuss a Big Idea that the Obama Administration might apply to get some job creation going, despite a difficult Congress; the Big Idea was to look at the “Buy American” provisions that exist in our laws, regulations, and Executive Orders and see if we could practice a bit…

RSA – Ideas and Actions for a 21st Century Enlightenment Uh-oh, it’s a marxist analysis. Hey, can Marx have things figured out correctly from time to time? Thanks to Austin K for passing this one on

(Editor’s note. With this posting, we introduce “quickies”: short blurbs or summaries that are quick to read and — hopefully — dense in content. Links to interesting external content also count as quickies. Often readers lack time to read longer articles.  Hop over to http://waliberals.org for a nice quickie!) I really want the Democrats to…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shared Sacrifice My Ass Regatta! This Sunday at Seward Park, Seattle 11:30am. View Map Bring your voice, your dancing shoes, inner tubes watercraft to join the flotilla. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Remember the Target Ain’t People video after last years Localize This! camp? Well, here is your chance to get in on the fun this year. Backbone…

The stock market continues to be on a roller coaster ride as it slides and then rebounds as traders engage in fishing the bottom and making trading commissions, sliding a few bucks out of the pockets of the marks. Prez Obama is on the road in his magic bus talking about jobs and job creation….

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Quotes-economics.htm The Adam Smith that everyone knows: Every individual… intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his original intention. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of society more effectively than…