Les Leopold - Five Ways that Financial Elites are Destroying Democracy

By Les Leopold, AlterNet

Posted on November 21, 2011, Printed on November 22, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/153169/five_ways_that_financial_elites_are_destroying_democracy

Is democracy compatible with a financial system run by billionaires? Maybe not. Here are five ways that high finance is undermining democracy: 

1. Billionaires replace one person, one vote.

Ask any American what’s wrong with our country and they will say that money rules politics. And they are correct. It’s obvious that major political donors and lobbyists for the super-rich have more political influence than we do. As the top 1 percent gains more and more of the nation’s income, the 99 percent effectively become disenfranchised. And of course, the Citizens United Supreme Court decision makes it even easier for the rich to buy political power. Lopsided campaign contributions by and for the super-rich are making a mockery out of elections. In 2010, for example, business outspent labor by a factor of 14 to 1. 

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Public Citizen - Reform Groups Urge Congress to Prohibit Congressional Insider Trading

CONTACT: Public Citizen

Legislation to Rein in Abuse Is Moving Rapidly Through Both the House and Senate

WASHINGTON - November 18 - Seven reform groups sent letters today urging members of both the House of Representatives and Senate to join in the legislative drive to pass the “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge” (STOCK) Act. The measures – one in the House sponsored by Reps. Timothy Walz (D-Minn.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) and two similar versions in the Senate by Sens. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) – would prohibit members of Congress and their staffs from using information gleaned in the course of their official duties for insider trading in the stock market.

The Campaign Legal Center, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Common Cause, Democracy 21, Public Citizen, the Sunlight Foundation and U.S. PIRG sent letters to Congress expressing dismay that congressional insider trading is not already illegal and encouraged passage of the reform measures.

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Lynn Parramore - Why the Super Committee is Super Illegitimate

By Lynn Parramore, AlterNet

Posted on November 21, 2011, Printed on November 22, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/153152/why_the_super_committee_is_super_illegitimate

Another day, another tiresome piece of political theater come to an end.

This time the dog-and-pony show is the super committee, whose members were given the right to decide where government spending will be slashed over the next decade. Only they couldn’t seem to decide. So today, the committee is likely to throw in the towel, and its unfinished business will set up more battles to come over automatic cuts in defense and domestic programs scheduled to go into effect in 2013 in the absence of a deal.

Newt Gingrich recently said that the super committee was “the dumbest idea I've seen in a very long lifetime."

That might be the most intelligent thing Newt has said in a very long lifetime.

Let's start with the premise of even having a deficit super committee in the first place. Basic macroeconomics tells us that trying to reduce the deficit before you have tackled the jobs crisis is great recipe for making things worse, largely because the lack of tax revenue that comes with high unemployment is a primary contributor to the deficit, and slashing government spending does not create jobs—quite the opposite. The idea that you can slash-and-grow the economy is an economic fairy tale that has been thoroughly debunked and has demonstrably failed in places like the U.K. Sensible approaches to the deficit from reality-based economists like Joseph Stiglitz (i.e. reduce unemployment and tax the top) have been around for some time, but they can't seem to penetrate the bubble of economic delusion that is Washington, D.C.

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Bernie Sanders - Democrats, Stop Caving In!!

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Democrats-Stop-Caving-In-by-Bernie-Sanders-111119-961.html

November 19, 2011 By Bernie Sanders If Obama and Dems on the super committee go along with cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the three pillars of the New Deal and the Great Society, and permanently extend the Bush tax breaks for the wealthiest 2 percent, the American people will shake their heads in disbelief. They will arrive at the valid conclusion that there are no significant differences between the two corporate interest controlled parties Here is something we all can agree on: Federal deficits are a serious problem. Here is something no one seriously disputes: Today's big deficits were caused mainly by big tax cuts for the wealthy, two unpaid-for wars, a horrible recession caused by Wall Street greed, and an expensive prescription drug program rigged to favor pharmaceutical companies. Here is something we should not agree to do: Cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits. There is surprisingly broad consensus among Americans (except inside the corporate-dominated D.C. beltway) on what to do about deficits. In poll after poll, strong majorities favor making the wealthiest Americans, who, in many cases, have never had it so good, share the sacrifice and pay a little more in taxes. Increasing taxes on the wealthy is overwhelmingly supported by Democrats and independents. A majority of Republicans and people in the Tea Party movement also support taxing millionaires to help bring down deficits. Even many millionaires say they should be paying higher taxes. At a time when many profitable corporations pay nothing in federal income taxes, there also is widespread support for closing corporate tax loopholes. Taking a hard look at mushrooming defense spending also enjoys widespread support. For far too long, the Washington agenda has been set by powerful corporate interests and a right wing that do not represent the needs and aspirations of most Americans. For too long, the Democrats have gone along with Republican demands and caved in to these powerful special interests. The American people are frustrated and disgusted. They want Democrats to fight back.

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The Hill - Justice Breyer warns of Orwellian government

The Hill - 11/08/11 04:13 PM ET

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/192445-justice-breyer-warns-of-orwellian-government 

A Supreme Court justice on Tuesday expressed major concerns that the government would engage in round-the-clock surveillance reminiscent of the totalitarian world of the George Orwell novel 1984 if the court ruled in the government's favor.

The court heard oral arguments in the Jones case, in which the outcome will determine whether warrantless GPS tracking by law enforcement is an invasion of Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

Justice Stephen Breyer questioned what a democratic society would look like if people believed the government was tracking them for days at a time.

"If you win this case, then there is nothing to prevent the police or the government from monitoring 24 hours a day the public movement of every citizen of the United States,” Breyer said. “So if you win, you suddenly produce what sounds like 1984 from their brief."

U.S. Deputy Solicitor General Michael Dreeben contended that if all Americans viewed warrantless tracking as an Orwellian invasion of privacy, Congress would step in with a legislative solution.

Chief Justice John Roberts said that unlike earlier technology, GPS tracking gives law enforcement a “mosaic” that gives them the “whole picture” rather than just a slice of it.

Police suspected D.C. nightclub owner Antoine Jones of dealing cocaine and used a GPS tracker over the course of a month to trace his movements to a stash house in Maryland. Their warrant was expired when they installed the tracker.