“The top five U.S. banks paid staff a combined $119 billion for 2010, according to bank consolidated income statements.” from this Reuters article: Compensation seen rising among bankers: poll. Add in Goldman Sachs and the compensation comes to about $140 billion. According to Dollars&Sense Wall Street financiers received $20.8 billion in bonuses last year on…
Last weekend I hosted a free screening of the movie Inside Job at the Kent Library. This documentary shows us how the financial industry pillaged the American economy during the Banking Crisis of 2008. One of the key causes of the Great Recession was the transfer of assets from the balance sheet of banks to…
According to this LA Times article Deficit battle shaping up as GOP victory President Obama began his bargaining about raising the deficit limit from a position that already gave Republicans most of what they want: Â way more spending cuts than tax increases. Even if Obama were to gain all the tax-law changes he wants,…
Residents of King County should try to attend special public meetings of the county Transportation, Economy, and Environment Committee to discuss proposed cuts in bus and trolley service. Wednesday, July 6, 6:00 p.m. Kirkland City Council Chambers 123 Fifth Avenue, Kirkland Tuesday, July 12, 6:00 p.m. King County Council Chambers 516 Third Avenue, 10th Floor,…
While Republicans maneuver to slash social programs, they ignore the tax avoidance schemes that keep the rich rich. “America’s largest global corporations are holding $1.5 trillion dollars in profits overseas in order to avoid US taxes.” (source) After Taking A $10 Billion Bailout, Goldman Sachs Announces It Will Outsource 1,000 Jobs To Singapore. America’s largest…
Dennis Kucinich’s congressional district in Ohio is being dissolved, and Kucinich is apparently considering a run in Washington State. He has been visiting Washington State a lot recently giving speeches. But State Democratic Party Chair Dwight Pelz is opposed to Kucinich running here. “I am alarmed at the spoiler role Rep. Kucinich could play should…
I just finished reading Bev Harris’ book Black Box Voting: Ballot-tampering in the 21st Century — which you can read for free on the web: for example, here’s chapter 1. It lists numerous examples of miscounted votes; voting machines really are error-prone. It tells of suspicious discrepancies between polling data and election results. It tells…
Click here to hear Eisenhower’s warning about the military-industrial complex (105 seconds) Recording courtesy of Free Info Society.
Common Dreams is reporting that the berm around Fort Calhoun nuclear plant has breached. The story continues to be spun, suppressed, and misreported. I agree with many of the commenters who think this particular event may not be particularly dangerous. The coverage of the story is a bigger story. The dangers of building nuclear plants…
Chapter 2 of Bev Harris’s book Black Box Voting tells the story of former Nebraska Governor Chuck Hagel. Hagel won a surprise landslide election against a Democrat who had been leading in the polls. What’s suspicious is that the votes were counted by machines produced by Hagel’s former company, American Information Systems (later renamed ES&S)….