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3901 [lbo-talk] uh-oh! too much regulation!! -- rank: 1000

So if the masses really love specific regulations, why is there almost no political evidence of that? Yeah, the elite really constrains democracy, but the system isn't totally closed. You'd think there might be some electoral punishments for opponents of reg and rewards for proponents. I don't see any. Sometimes I think that many on the left see the masses as some radical sleeping giant just waiting for an alarm to ring. They aren't, you know. Doug

Document Size:	5003
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 3 04:51:40 PST 2010

3902 [lbo-talk] a new low -- rank: 1000

Just when you think Melissa Harris-Lacewell has already written the worst political journalism ever, she outdoes herself: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/525166/end_don_t_ask_don_t_tell "Military service is at the heart of citizenship." The Nation's editor, Katrina vanden Heuvel, thought this worth a re- tweet, too: http://twitter.com/KatrinaNation/status/8546311575

Document Size:	4944
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Feb 2 20:38:14 PST 2010

3903 [lbo-talk] uh-oh! too much regulation!! -- rank: 1000

On Feb 2, 2010, at 9:10 PM, John Gulick wrote: > I'm not sure how politically meaningful the distinction is -- but to > what extent do you think > this sentiment is driven by ideologically reflexive anti-big guv'ism > (indeed deeply rooted) and > how much by the oddball conflation of Wall Street bailouts/insco > market guarantees etc. with > "regulation" or "socialism"? These are very long-standing positions that predate the bailouts. E.g., the "too ...

Document Size:	5365
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Feb 2 18:20:56 PST 2010

3904 [lbo-talk] uh-oh! too much regulation!! -- rank: 1000

On Feb 2, 2010, at 7:46 PM, James Heartfield wrote: > Regulation of business does nothing to enhance the lives of working > people. On the contrary, it only serves to reinforce the status quo. Oh really? Then wouldn't big business and big finance be lobbying for more of it? Regulation: no, bank, you cannot leverage yourself up with opaque products. Regulation: no, utility, you can't pollute the air. Regulation: no, food processor, you can't sell hamburger laced with E. coli. Or is that ...

Document Size:	5108
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Feb 2 18:06:09 PST 2010

3905 [lbo-talk] uh-oh! too much regulation!! -- rank: 1000

On Feb 2, 2010, at 6:38 PM, Lenin's Tomb wrote: > You're all taking this stuff far too seriously, in my unAmerican > opinion. > Most of those answering the poll probably haven't even thought about > it for > more than a few seconds, and all they have done is reflect the > impact of a > successful propaganda campaign. It's superficial, a snapshot of the > prevailing ideological breeze, and it tells you that the majority > prefer the > policy flavour that has been mo ...

Document Size:	6185
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Feb 2 18:00:50 PST 2010

3906 [lbo-talk] uh-oh! too much regulation!! -- rank: 1000

<http://www.gallup.com/poll/125468/Americans-Leery-Govt-Regulation-Business.aspx > Americans Leery of Too Much Gov't Regulation of Business Republicans in particular are worried about too much government regulation by Frank Newport PRINCETON, NJ -- At a time when the debate over the optimal role of government involvement in regulating business is a prominent policy debate, new Gallup polling shows that 57% of Americans are worried that there will be too much government regulation of bu ...

Document Size:	5399
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Feb 2 13:04:38 PST 2010

3907 [lbo-talk] the difference between the parties -- rank: 1000

Washington Post - January 30, 2010 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/29/AR2010012903259.html > Education Secretary Duncan calls Hurricane Katrina good for New Orleans schools By Nick Anderson Washington Post Staff Writer Education Secretary Arne Duncan called Hurricane Katrina "the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans" because it forced the community to take steps to improve low-performing public schools, according to exc ...

Document Size:	5611
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Feb 2 09:45:12 PST 2010

3908 [lbo-talk] move your money? -- rank: 1000

Freshly posted to the LBO website: on the loopiness of Huffington's "Move your money" campaign http://bit.ly/dzQfEL

Document Size:	4783
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Feb 2 09:27:06 PST 2010

3909 [lbo-talk] Enough With the China Shtick Already! -- rank: 1000

On Feb 2, 2010, at 10:53 AM, Marv Gandall wrote: > Chris' narrow preoccupation with ethnicity leads him to centrally > (mis)understand Trotsky as a "Jew" rather than as the revolutionary > leader of a multinational working class party having next to nothing > to do with his Jewish ancestry. This is how Trotsky defined himself > and how others, excepting for antisemites and confused innocents > like Chris, have properly contextualized his behaviour. What's disturbing i ...

Document Size:	5270
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Feb 2 08:28:50 PST 2010

3910 [lbo-talk] Adler, The Times, Sirica -- rank: 1000

Via The Awl. An apparent payback for yesterday's piece on Harper's in the NYT, the magazine posts its 2000 piece by Renata Adler on the paper's vendetta against her. Full of info on how alleged Watergate hero judge John Sirica was actually a mobbed-up moron. Long, but quite entertaining: http://harpers.org/archive/2000/08/0066912

Document Size:	5089
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Feb 2 08:14:58 PST 2010

3911 [lbo-talk] Just joined -- rank: 1000

On Feb 2, 2010, at 3:39 AM, Nelson Goodman wrote: > I'm a long-time lurker whose decided to take the plunge. Is there > any protocol on intros, etc.? None at all. You've already done more than the minimum. > One thing I'd like to say is that this list has been an incredibly > rich source of stimulation and company over the years. So thanks for > that. Glad to hear that! Doug

Document Size:	4845
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Feb 2 07:45:45 PST 2010

3912 [lbo-talk] Sigtarp -- rank: 1000

On Feb 2, 2010, at 8:10 AM, Carrol Cox wrote: > Mike Beggs wrote: >> > it's just a figure of speech for the effect expectation of a >> bailout has on attitudes to risk. > > Nothing is _ever_ JUST a figure of speech. I agree. The term reminds me of the passage Marx quotes from the Scottish financier G.M. Bell's The Philosophy of Joint-Stock Banking in K vol 3: " Banking establishments are moral and religious institutions. How often has the fear of being seen by the ...

Document Size:	5352
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Feb 2 07:42:45 PST 2010

3913 [lbo-talk] Prospects and consequences of a devalued USD -- rank: 1000

On Feb 2, 2010, at 12:23 AM, Joanna wrote: > brad writes > > "What is the reason that the bourgeois press is talking about the > inevitable > decline of the US dollar? Because it helps capital and hurts labour." > > How? Because it promotes the "need" for austerity. Tighter policy would presumably boost the dollar, though if it all went down the drain, it probably wouldn't.

Document Size:	5180
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Feb 2 04:39:34 PST 2010

3914 [lbo-talk] Sigtarp -- rank: 1000

On Feb 2, 2010, at 1:41 AM, Eubulides wrote: > Moral hazard is right up there with phlogiston. Really? You don't think that bailing out reckless financiers creates problems for the future?

Document Size:	4540
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Feb 1 19:53:07 PST 2010

3915 [lbo-talk] Enough With the China Shtick Already! -- rank: 1000

On Feb 1, 2010, at 9:54 PM, Chris Doss wrote: > BTW, the surreality in this thread has reached incredible levels. > "White people and black people are the same! Therefore, nobody ever > differentiates between them! The only people who think that Magic > Johnson is not a White person are racists!" Oh, gee, I hadn't thought of that. Following the lead of your Trotsky example, it's not whether Magic Johnson (and why did you pick him?) is black or white. It's whether he's an ...

Document Size:	5416
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Feb 1 19:04:20 PST 2010