The New Bottom Line

Now that Governor Romney has picked Rep. Paul Ryan as his VP running mate for November’s election, the Republicans have made very clear that they are not on the side of restoring social services or redistributing wealth, but rather to serve the greed of the...

Needed: A New Way of Thinking

Geodesic Dome (Buckminster Fuller)The other day I went for my annual physical. A few days later the doctor called me to tell me that all my tests looked good, and that in fact my cholesterol and blood pressure had gone down. As the doctor knew, for the past several...
Taxes and Power

Taxes and Power

What do Warren Buffet, Alan Greenspan, Barack Obama and my father, a life long Republican, have in common? Normally this is a group that would have little they could agree on politically or economically. However, they all agree that in order to balance the national...
Madison and Why Unions Matter

Madison and Why Unions Matter

I have never been particularly strongly for or against unions. I knew that they had played an important role in creating a more humane workplace – 40 hour work week, child labor laws, work safety standards, Social Security, work benefits, and so on  – but...
Mad as Hell at Plutocracy

Mad as Hell at Plutocracy

At different times in this blog, I have referred to the US government as a plutocracy (rule by the wealthy) rather a democracy (rule by the people). Exhibit A of this reality is the current debate in Congress over whether or not to extend the Bush tax cuts to the...