Economy

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WI Recall Petitions Under Guard as "GAB CAM" Goes Live

by Mary Bottari — January 18, 2012 - 11:16am
  • Topics: Democracy, Economy, Politics, Real Economy Project

    • So many signatures were delivered demanding the recall of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and other state officials, that one scribe dubbed it the "greatest popular democracy movement in Wisconsin history." Over 30,000 volunteers collected over 1.9 million signatures and delivered them to the state's nonpartisan elections board on January 17.

    Volunteers exceeded all expectations, delivering 1 million petitions for the recall of Scott Walker, an amount equivalent to 46 percent of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial race. Never had so many, in the history of the United States, petitioned for the recall of a governor.

    News

    Indiana Workers Stand against the ALEC Agenda and the Anti-Labor Bill Called the "Right to Work" (for Less)

    by Lisa Graves — January 5, 2012 - 8:20am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Right Wing, Front Groups, Corporations, Democracy, Economy, Energy, Labor, Lobbying

    • Thousands of Indiana workers rallied outside, and inside, their state capitol on Wednesday to speak out against Governor Mitch Daniels' renewed effort to force through so-called "right to work" legislation designed to undermine labor unions and workers' rights protected by collective bargaining.

    News

    Impunity Reigns and Death Threats Rise in Colombia

    by Sara Jerving — December 31, 2011 - 12:00pm
  • Topics: Corporations, Democracy, Economy, International

    • Truth telling in Colombia, a nation that bears the scars of politically motivated violence lasting half a century, has become increasingly difficult in response to new legislation intended to help heal the wounds of this Latin American nation, says one of the nation's renowned documentary film makers.

    Op-Ed

    When Medicare Isn't Medicare

    by Wendell Potter — December 27, 2011 - 9:31am
  • Topics: Corporations, Economy, Health

    • Let's say you have a Ford and decide to replace everything under the hood with Hyundai parts, including the engine and transmission. Could you still honestly market your car as a Ford?

    That question gets at the heart of the controversy over who is being more forthright about GOP Rep. Paul Ryan's plan to "save" Medicare, Republicans or Democrats.

    If you overhaul the Medicare system like you did your Ford and tell the public it's still Medicare, are you doing so honestly?

    News

    Spinning the Occupation

    by Anne Landman — December 20, 2011 - 9:04am
  • Topics: Activism, BanksterUSA, Corporations, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • As winter sets in and Occupy Wall Street (OWS) encampments contract, the three-month old movement continues to have a big impact on the campaign trail. President Obama as well as some GOP candidates have adopted OWS concerns and language, while big bank lobbyists and GOP spinmeisters work hard to hold the line, defending U.S. economic institutions and the American "free market" system against what they fear could be a broad-based populist uprising.

    News

    "Solidarity Sing-Along" Tests Wisconsin Capitol Protest Policy

    by Brendan Fischer — December 20, 2011 - 8:48am
  • Topics: Activism, Corporations, Democracy, Economy, Wisconsin Protests

    • Hundreds of "solidarity singers" congregated in the Wisconsin capitol Monday to sing politicized Christmas songs and challenge new Walker administration rules for protests in the building.

    Op-Ed

    JPMorgan Chase Greedwashes Reputation with "American Giving Awards"

    by Anne Landman — December 15, 2011 - 3:34pm
  • Topics: BanksterUSA, Corporations, Economy, Ethics

    • As the New York Times media reporter, Brian Stelter, noted on Saturday, December 9, NBC agreed to broadcast a two-hour television show fully funded and sponsored by JPMorgan Chase called the "American Giving Awards." The program showcased solely recipients of charitable donations from Chase, featured commercials for Chase and reminded viewers constantly throughout the broadcast that the entire event was "presented by Chase."

    News

    FOX News, OWS, Banksters, and Bombs

    by Mary Bottari — December 11, 2011 - 9:49pm
  • Topics: BanksterUSA, Economy

    • Last week, tragedy was averted when savvy security at Deutsche Bank (DB) in Frankfurt, Germany, spotted a suspicious package and sequestered a letter bomb intended for the DB CEO. This was the second time Deutsche Bank was attacked in this manner. In 1989, their CEO was killed by a bomb later traced to violent extremists in Germany's Red Army Faction.

    Scanning the horizon for someone to blame for the latest attack on Germany's largest bank, FOX news pundit Dan Gainor worked "the Internets." Did he detail Deutsche Bank's track record of making friends by ripping off consumers and foreclosing on their homes? Did he mention that Deutsche Bank stirred public ire when it was bailed out by multiple governments, including two billion from the U.S. Federal Reserve? Did he even bother to notice that it was widely reported that an Italian anarchist group had already claimed responsibility for the attack?

    Op-Ed

    OWS: Real Grassroots vs. Astroturf

    by Anne Landman — December 6, 2011 - 2:33pm
  • Topics: Activism, Economy, Politics

    • The "Occupy Wall Street" movement is providing a real-time case study of the difference between a true grassroots movement and a corporate-backed astroturf movement.

    Americans in recent years have been besieged by industry-funded astroturf efforts masquerading as real grassroots movements. One example is the "Hands off my Healthcare" national roadshow, which was backed by the Koch-funded group, Americans for Prosperity. Another is the Tea Party, which got a corporate-sponsored media boost from the Fox News Channel and benefitted from the the efforts of a Sacramento, California-based Republican PR firm, Russo Marsh & Rogers. Astroturf uses manufactured spin and messaging that requires real money for things like media buys, front groups, mass-broadcast faxes, telemarketing-generated petitions, glossy postcards, form letters and talk radio-inspired phone calls.

    News

    ALEC Sparks Uprisings in Wisconsin and Ohio

    by Mary Bottari — December 5, 2011 - 8:57am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Democracy, Economy

    • On the one-year anniversary of an important American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) meeting in Washington D.C., Wisconsin's public safety officers gathered to prepare for the next stage in the fight for labor rights.

    Some 250 police and firefighters signed recall petitions, loaded up on maps and assignments and to listened to guest speakers at a "Recall Walker" gathering at Madison's South Central Federation of Labor. Mark Sanders, President of the Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters, was there to pass the torch and Harold Schaitberger, National President of the International Association of Professional Firefighters (IAFF), was there to reminded the crowd about the critical role ALEC played in the Wisconsin and Ohio uprisings.

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