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3316 [lbo-talk] Krugman: The Zombies Who Ate Alan Simpson's Brain -- rank: 1000

On Jun 23, 2010, at 12:15 PM, Michael Pollak wrote: > Isn't it possible to cast it in terms of outrage? If the borrowing > of money from the SS fund was a massive fraud that stole from the > poor and gave to the rich and didn't create one dime of security for > our pensions -- which it was -- isn't it worth making a big issue > about? I think that's what Krugman is essentially sayin I'm all for that, but I didn't see Krugman making that argument. Doug

Document Size:	5289
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 23 09:24:12 PDT 2010

3317 [lbo-talk] Krugman: The Zombies Who Ate Alan Simpson's Brain -- rank: 1000

On Jun 23, 2010, at 12:13 PM, Max Sawicky wrote: > Why disparage the defensive institutions and benefits won by the > working > class? The whole idea of accumulating assets in the SS Trust Fund is a concession to bourgeois finance on the private pension-fund model: pre- funding liabilities. It also concedes that SS faces a long-term crisis, when at worst it's a solvable problem. There's no reason that SS can't pay benefits out of current revenues for as long as the USA keeps both no ...

Document Size:	6999
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 23 09:23:27 PDT 2010

3318 [lbo-talk] Krugman: The Zombies Who Ate Alan Simpson's Brain -- rank: 1000

On Jun 23, 2010, at 11:47 AM, Max Sawicky wrote: > Granted repayment or default on the bonds is a political matter, hence > 'money of the mind,' but as Daniel Moynihan said in one of his > infrequent > spasms of lucidity, if people believe the Trust Fund is meaningless > and the > program broken, it's easier to take it away. > > Ergo dogging the Trust Fund is unhelpful. So let's lie about it instead?

Document Size:	5269
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 23 09:01:15 PDT 2010

3319 [lbo-talk] new radio product -- rank: 1000

BEHIND THE NEWS with Doug Henwood "Best Music on an Economics & Politics Radio Show" Village Voice Best of NYC 2005 opening commentaries at: <http://doughenwood.wordpress.com/> -------------------------------------------------- Just posted to my radio archive (and apologies for the delay) <http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html>: June 17, 2010 Gary Rivlin, author of Broke USA, on how sleazy businesses make bundles by lending to the poor Sarah Ellison, author ...

Document Size:	8676
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 23 08:49:03 PDT 2010

3320 [lbo-talk] Krugman: The Zombies Who Ate Alan Simpson's Brain -- rank: 1000

On Jun 23, 2010, at 9:35 AM, Shane Mage wrote: > And in what way does that make T-Bonds in the trust fund any > different from all other T-Bonds that come due for redemption? A private holder can sell a bond to someone else for cash. The Treasury can't sell one to itself for cash. Doug

Document Size:	5072
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 23 08:38:20 PDT 2010

3321 [lbo-talk] Krugman: The Zombies Who Ate Alan Simpson's Brain -- rank: 1000

On Jun 22, 2010, at 10:38 PM, socialismorbarbarism wrote: > Has the the US Government de facto > defaulted on its bond obligations to Social Security? The Treasury will either have to pay off the T-bonds held by the SS Trust Fund using new taxes, money repurposed from elsewhere, or freshly borrowed. In any case, one branch of the gov can't lend to another in any meaningful way. The SS Trust Funds assets are pure money of the mind. Doug

Document Size:	5229
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Jun 22 20:11:30 PDT 2010

3322 [lbo-talk] Krugman: The Zombies Who Ate Alan Simpson's Brain -- rank: 1000

On Jun 22, 2010, at 7:13 PM, Michael Pollak wrote: > Alternatively, you can look at Social Security on its own. And as a > practical matter, this has considerable significance too; as long as > Social Security still has funds in its trust fund, it doesn't need > new legislation to keep paying promised benefits. What's it going to do with the useless T-bonds it owns? They can't be sold to the public - they're legally nonmarketable. Cash them in at the Treasury? What will the ...

Document Size:	5449
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Jun 22 18:01:03 PDT 2010

3323 [lbo-talk] Cato vs. McChrystal -- rank: 1000

[every now & then, Cato is a very pleasant surprise] CATO INSTITUTE McChrystal Flap Puts Civilian Control of Military at Issue Christopher Preble, director of foreign policy studies and author of The Power Problem: How American Military Dominance Makes Us Less Safe, Less Prosperous, and Less Free: The unfortunate truth is that McChrystal's comments would not get this much media traction if the Obama administration were not so concerned about maintaining a positive spin on this unpopular ...

Document Size:	8398
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Jun 22 08:42:23 PDT 2010

3324 [lbo-talk] more on Walmart moms -- rank: 1000

They don't care much about immigration, abortion, or gay marriage: http://www.politico.com/static/PPM136_100621_walmart_schedule.html

Document Size:	4707
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Jun 22 07:19:59 PDT 2010

3325 [lbo-talk] the thinking of "Walmart moms" -- rank: 1000

Economically stressed, voted for Obama, now leaning Rep: http://www.politico.com/static/PPM136_100621_walmart_schedule.html

Document Size:	4757
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Jun 22 07:15:50 PDT 2010

3326 [lbo-talk] Fwd: New on-line journal -- rank: 1000

belatedly... Begin forwarded message: > From: Loren Goldner <lrgoldner at yahoo.com> > Date: June 21, 2010 1:40:33 AM EDT > To: dhenwood at panix.com > Subject: New on-line journal > > Hi Doug- > > Can you announce this on your list for us? > > Thanks > > Loren > > The first issue of Insurgent Notes, an on-line journal put out by > the Insurgent Notes collective is now up at > > http://insurgentnotes.com > > Comments are welcome thro ...

Document Size:	7101
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Jun 22 06:47:32 PDT 2010

3327 [lbo-talk] Liu on Eurozone austerity -- rank: 1000

On Jun 21, 2010, at 7:39 PM, Max Sawicky wrote: > I offered to smoke the peace pipe with him; he refused. Yeah. He's a dick. He makes buckets of money running a hedge fund and lives in a townhouse on the East Side of Manhattan. Which isn't a problem for me, really - you gotta do what you gotta do to get by in this shitty society - but he should've come off his high horse. Doug

Document Size:	4949
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Jun 21 17:06:20 PDT 2010

3328 [lbo-talk] hastily constructed review of Richard Seymour's "The Meaning of David Cameron" -- rank: 1000

On Jun 21, 2010, at 3:54 PM, Bhaskar Sunkara wrote: > http://theactivist.org/blog/thoroughly-modern-tory > > I also recommend *Capitalist Realism *by Mark Fisher, which was also > published by Zero Books this year. Nice review. It inspired me to get Richard on the radio. He's so modest - he doesn't self-promote enough. Doug

Document Size:	5393
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Jun 21 13:37:40 PDT 2010

3329 [lbo-talk] QUESTION/ANSWER -- rank: 1000

On Jun 21, 2010, at 2:43 PM, Carrol Cox wrote: > Wojtek S wrote: >> >> [WS:] So when the revolution finally comes, with what would your >> replace >> the professional police force? Most people do not appreciate being >> beaten >> by thugs, robbed by thieves, > > Any collecti e defends itself against pathogens within. Why should I > dictate what our great-great-grandchildren should do undere > circumstances that neither you nor I can even guess ...

Document Size:	5198
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Jun 21 11:48:45 PDT 2010

3330 [lbo-talk] Andy goes corporate -- rank: 1000

<http://www.marketwatch.com/story/andy-stern-joins-sigas-board-of-directors-2010-06-21 > June 21, 2010, 8:32 a.m. EDT · Recommend · Post: Andy Stern Joins SIGA's Board of Directors NEW YORK, Jun 21, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- SIGA Technologies, Inc. (SIGA 6.78, -0.02, -0.29%) , a company specializing in the development of pharmaceutical agents to combat bio- warfare pathogens, announced today that Andy Stern, labor leader and prominent advocate for reform, joined SIGA's board o ...

Document Size:	6684
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Jun 21 11:31:01 PDT 2010