Archive for the ‘Commerce and its discontents’ Category

October 12th, 2011

The other day I received an invitation from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) for its annual fundraising dinner in Los Angeles.  But what struck my eye was the icon in the middle of the invitation: “Walmart: Gala Chair.” Let’s be clear what it means to be a gala chair: it’s essentially [...]

October 8th, 2011

It’s a bad sign for American punditry that George Will’s latest column slams Elizabeth Warren in such disgraceful fashion. It’s a good sign for American politics that the dean of patrician conservative columnists felt the need to do so.

September 20th, 2011

Good news from the Bay State, as PPP’s latest poll shows Elizabeth Warren up two points over Scott Brown. Bad news from Ron Suskind, who strongly suggests that Tim Geithner and White House officials undermined her, and didn’t like interference from women anyway. Well, there’s an obvious way to remedy any problems, and not-coincidentally move [...]

September 19th, 2011

As the U.S. debates the “Buffett tax” the LibDem party conference here in the UK is generating a series of proposals to address wealth inequality, from the inspired to the woolly-headed. Inspired: (not least because it’s so blinking obvious). Danny Alexander suggests hiring more Treasury auditors who are devoted to ensuring that wealthy people who [...]

September 15th, 2011

One of the most annoying things about the troglodyte right is its celebration of “Tax Freedom Day” where supposedly you are no longer working for the government.  As soon as they start saying that they don’t want to benefit from Social Security, Medicare, national security, food safety, environmental protection, education etc. etc. then we can [...]

August 27th, 2011

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July 21st, 2011

I remember seeing a cartoon years ago that portrayed a group of people at a self-service gas station. The cashier yells out “You, with the U.S. license plates, you pay BEFORE you pump!”. The caption read “On a recent trip to Canada, Howard discovered the shame of being from a debtor nation”. I thought of [...]

June 24th, 2011

Senator Chuck Schumer says about the deficit negotiations that “there needs to be revenues in any deal.”  Very true. What revenues might those be?  Well, the Democrats are talking about a lot of loopholes for the very wealthy.  Let me suggest one: treating the investment gains of hedge fund managers — mnay of whom make millions of [...]

June 13th, 2011

Watching the NBA Playoffs and Stanley Cup Finals on the web has introduced me to a relatively new and disturbing development: sweet, fruity distilled spirits. No, not a distilled spirit made out of fruit, such as applejack or grappa: the products I’m talking about are things like Jim Beam’s Red Stag, which is black cherry flavored, [...]

May 21st, 2011

One of the pleasures of living in the East Bay is the off-leash dog park at Point Isabel, where we will go with ours later today.  On the way home, the devil has placed a temptation. If there’s a parking place in the shade, we can stop at Costco and load up on staples at [...]