Gaius Publius: The Goal of the Neo-Liberal Consensus Is to Manage the Decline

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Wednesday March 09, 2016 · 10:45 PM PST

2016/03/09 · 22:45

Do these two wealthy couples look like adversaries to you?

The author Gaius Publius is one of my favorites in the blogosphere. He covers subjects near and dear to my heart. Climate change, income inequality, neoliberalism, trade deals, and the character and limits of “progressive” politics. If he did nothing else except coin the terms “Open Rebellion” caucus of progressive Democrats in Congress fed up with the establishment’s centrism, he would have done Progressives a great service. Not only has he done this great feat, but he has also been in the forefront of popularizing the importance of March 15th to the Democratic primary. He has also termed this particular election year as being a “Great Unmasking” in which politicians, partisans, and pundits will reveal their true motivations through their actions.

Illinibeatle

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Wednesday March 02, 2016 · 9:25 PM PST

2016/03/02 · 21:25

Democratic Presidential candidates Bernie Sanders (L) and Hillary Clinton (R) talk to each other on stage prior to the start of the Democratic presidential candidates debate at Wynn Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 13 October 2015.

Corey Robin, a professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York published a piece earlier today at his blog entitled, “Super Tuesday: March Theses.” It is certainly worth a read. The essay has also appeared over at Salon and Jacobin. In this piece, Professor Robin examines five theses being advanced by pundits and partisans as they attempt to spin the results of the contests so far. The subjects he examines have been discussed both at this site and within various media outlets.

Illinibeatle

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Thursday February 25, 2016 · 9:47 PM PST

2016/02/25 · 21:47

Ashley-Williams-v.-Clinton-800x430.jpg — Civil Disruption : 21st Century Style

By now you’ve see the video of Ashley Williams courageous act to push America forward by demanding moral accountability from a person asking to be elected to the highest office in the land. You’ve seen the pictures of the racial composition of the audience attending the fundraiser. By now you’ve read the various stories written about the incident.

I ask you to ponder the words that Martin Luther King wrote in solitary while incarcerated for an act of civil disobedience. There is a popular crime procedural show on television which uses the tag “Ripped from the Headlines.” But the past is talking to us, if we bother to listen.

Illinibeatle

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Monday February 22, 2016 · 1:25 AM PST

2016/02/22 · 01:25

“Politics makes strange bedfellows,” a nineteenth century essayist named Charles Dudley Warner once wrote. As I ponder those words, I feel as if he were talking about the current Democratic contest to be the party’s Presidential nominee. The Nevada caucuses are over and Hillary Rodham Clinton has the state’s labor unions to thank for her narrow four point victory. Unions, which once opposed capital for the working man, served as a firewall for a candidate who once served as a board member of the nation’s most anti-union corporation,Walmart. A candidate who helped to craft anti-teachers union education “reform” in Arkansas, a candidate who supported NAFTA, TPP, welfare reform, and the notorious bankruptcy bill. Labor unions saved the day for the candidate of Goldman Sachs. Let me repeat, “Labor unions saved the day for the candidate of Goldman Sachs.” Strange bedfellows indeed.

Illinibeatle

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Friday February 19, 2016 · 12:21 AM PST

2016/02/19 · 00:21

David Sirota has penned an important piece of investigative journalism over at International Business Times.

I think it is safe to say that many of the readers here at Daily Kos are politically aware. An intelligent group of well informed voters who really wish to end the Age of Reagan and make America a better place. As such, many of you are following a debate ranging within the Democratic party over the feasibility of Bernie Sanders’ economic plans. Hillary Rodham Clinton, after leading by huge amounts in the polls, has seen her lead evaporate into a tie in Iowa and a loss of historic proportions in New Hampshire. No one really knows what is going to happen in Nevada. So it wasn’t really all that surprising that Clinton would characterize Sanders’ plans to have a universal single payer healthcare plan and tuition free college as budget busters. So in a debate on February 11th, Clinton stated that Sanders plan would increase the size of government by “40 percent.”

Illinibeatle

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Thursday February 18, 2016 · 11:03 AM PST

2016/02/18 · 11:03

Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, speak during the CNN Democratic presidential debate Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Matt Karp, an historian at Princeton, is rapidly becoming one of my go to sources on the dynamics of the current Democratic primary. Unlike Nate Silver, he’s been right. For example work over at Jacobin has been way ahead of the curve. Karp was right about Bernie having an appeal beyond liberals and the wealthy before the mainstream media caught wind. I want to direct you to his latest piece entitled, “Why Bernie Can Win” because it is well written, data driven, and has no BS.

Illinibeatle

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Wednesday February 17, 2016 · 10:34 PM PST

2016/02/17 · 22:34

They aren't really attacking him for wanting to raise the minimum wage.

Last evening, delver rootnose had a short post last evening that asked who was behind an attack ad against Bernie Sanders. One of the first commenters mentioned that Ken Griffin, the richest resident of the state of Illinois, was one of the main principals of the SuperPAC behind the ad. Zaid Jilani of the Intercept has published a piece in The Intecept entitled “Hedge Fund Billionaires Fund Super PAC Ad Against Bernie Sanders and the Minimum Wage Hike” In this article, Jilani details just who is behind this Super PAC.

Progressives and others interested in good government should learn Ken Griffin and his record. He doesn’t have as high of a profile as the Koch brothers, but he is just as dangerous to the progressive agenda. Perhaps you know that billionaire Ken Griffin made a $2.5 million dollar donation to fellow billionaire Bruce Rauner which an Illinois newspaper termed the largest single donation in an Illinois governor’s race in the post-Watergate era. Perhaps you’ve heard about how he provided his private jet for candidate Bruce Rauner to use in his gubernatorial campaign in 2014. Don’t believe for a moment that he did this out of the goodness of his heart. Ken Griffin stands to make lots of money if Rauner’s right to work “reforms” get passed. Ken Griffin is also one of the billionaires behind Karl Rove’s American Crossroads Super PAC.

Clearly Ken Griffin is a plutocrat interested in thwarting democracy. As a hedge fund owner he stands to lose some of his profits if Bernie Sanders’ 0.5% speculation fee is passed to make public colleges and universities tuition free. Take the time to read Zaid Jilani's piece it’s a short piece and worth the effort. But I want to direct you to a 2012 interview that Ken Griffin gave to the Chicago Tribune’s Melissa Harris which shows just how much our democracy has been corrupted by money.

Illinibeatle

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Tuesday February 16, 2016 · 10:18 PM PST

2016/02/16 · 22:18

635904440891856823-AP-DEM-2016-DEBATE-SANDERS-CLINTON-79423204.JPG — A choice or an echo.

How many of you out there foresaw that a 700 page book on wealth inequality written by a French economist would become the runaway bestseller of 2014? Why that is about as likely as the most accomplished, non-incumbent, well funded Establishment candidate finding herself in a real dogfight with a “fringe” candidate from Vermont who refuses corporate and SuperPAC campaign contributions. Thomas Piketty, the author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century has written a piece assessing the success of the Sanders’ movement and its prospects for ending the Age of Reagan.

Illinibeatle

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Sunday February 14, 2016 · 10:28 PM PST

2016/02/14 · 22:28

Chris Hedges has a provocative piece up over at Truthdig. Entitled “Bernie Sanders' Phantom Movement” it has several pointed critiques that should make partisan pause to ponder. What kind of party should the Democratic party aspire? Do we exist simply to win elections? Readers may not agree with Hedges’ arguments, but one should ignore them at their peril.

Illinibeatle

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Wednesday February 10, 2016 · 10:25 AM PST

2016/02/10 · 10:25

With last night’s truly historic win in the New Hampshire primary by Bernie Sanders, the Hillary Clinton campaign now finds itself in the position of attempting to become the first Democrat since Adlai Stevenson to lose the New Hampshire primary by over twenty percentage points and be the nominee. Clinton’s incrementalism, appeals to her resume, being the most well funded, most endorsed Democratic candidate in history has done her no good as yet another fifty point lead in the polls just months ago has again evaporated, leading this time to a large defeat. To make matters worse, her opponent who eschews the traditional method of fundraising that is taking money for the wealthiest one percent, took crowdfunding the Presidency to a new level by holding a one minute fundraiser and broke the internet.

There is one more mode of attack that the Clinton camp and the Establishment can take. Single payer health care and free college tuition at public universities, how dare he! They are going to attack that crazy “socialist” and his utopian pipe dreams by using the old Reagan tactic of asking how he’s going to pay for it.

Illinibeatle

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Tuesday February 09, 2016 · 11:04 AM PST

2016/02/09 · 11:04

Gawker has just published a piece detailing how Hillary Clinton’s press team insures that certain favored reporters give her positive coverage. Using a Freedom of Information Act request, J.K. Trotter shows how the exact wording from e-mails sent by Clinton spokeman Philippe Reines shows up in stories written by journalists. The article details how the game of providing “access” to the media is exchanged for positive spin by our establishment politicians.

Illinibeatle

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Monday February 08, 2016 · 9:51 AM PST

2016/02/08 · 09:51

In the last few days, a new narrative is being peddled. First, there were those nasty Bernie Bros who if they aren’t policed soon will bring down the Bernie Sanders insurgency. Then this weekend, we had the Gloria Steinem kerfluffle and Madeline Albright invoking hell fire for women who don’t support the female candidate in the Democratic primary. Now, the Big Dog himself, Bill Clinton is on the campaign trail to reinforce this narrative that sexism is behind criticism of Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Doesn’t this seem familiar? If only there was a wayback machine? Something that could preserve a record of events. If only there was some sort of network of computers with an ability for ordinary citizens to search it.

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Gaius Publius: The Goal of the Neo-Liberal Consensus Is to Manage the Decline

Corey Robin's Analysis of Super Tuesday

Letter from a Birmingham Jail: Still Relevant Today

Clinton, Unions, and the Death of the Liberal Class

David Sirota on the Critics of Bernie Sanders' Economic Plan

Matt Karp: Why Bernie Can Win

Guess Who is Behind the Future 45 Attack Ad?

Thomas Piketty on the Sanders' Phenomenon

Hedges: Bernie Sanders' Phantom Movement

Bernie and Taxes: How the Clinton Campaign Self Destructs

How Hillary Clinton Gets Positive Press Coverage

Playing the "Sexism" Card 2.0