Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Here's How Much QE Helped Wall Street Steamroll Main Street
Bloomberg | Simon Kennedy | 11/02/15

The wingnut myth that refuses to die: The one simple reason why there's no "liberal media conspiracy"
Salon | Conor Lynch | 11/02/15

During the third Republican debate, the winning strategy was not in attacking Hillary Clinton or calling out the absurd policy plans of Donald Trump and Ben Carson, but in slamming the mainstream media as a left wing mouthpiece of the Democratic party. And since the debate, the GOP has gone berserk over CNBC -- a business channel, mind you -- and it's supposed liberal bias. The Republican National Committee has even suspended its partnership with NBC News for its February debate, because, as RNC Chairman Reince Priebus writes, "CNBC's moderators engaged in a series of "gotcha" questions, petty and mean-spirited in tone, and designed to embarrass our candidates."

As Charles Pierce puts it in Esquire: I have come to the conclusion that it is very easy to be a Republican presidential candidate. First of all, to paraphrase J.R. Ewing, once you give up truth, the rest is a piece of cake. ... Read more

The Rigging of the American Market
HP | Robert Reich | 11/02/15

Much of the national debate about widening inequality focuses on whether and how much to tax the rich and redistribute their income downward. But this debate ignores the upward redistributions going on every day, from the rest of us to the rich. These redistributions are hidden inside the market.

... Add it up -- the extra money we're paying for pharmaceuticals, Internet communications, home mortgages, student loans, airline tickets, food, and health insurance -- and you get a hefty portion of the average family's budget. ... Read more

Stephen Cobert Asks Donald To Put His Millions Where His Mouth Is (10/30/15) [3:35]

The Curious Case of Ben Carson: How Did a Black Neurosurgeon Soar to the Top of the GOP Polls?
Salon & AlterNet | Chauncey DeVega | 11/01/15

While most campaign coverage has centered on Donald Trump, Carson's rise arguably says much more about the GOP.

In a primary season that has seen the most unlikely of candidates, Donald Trump, surge to the head of the GOP pack, perhaps the least surprising development is the ascendance of another political outsider: Dr. Ben Carson. But to understand why Carson's recent success in Republican polls makes so much sense, one must first take a closer look at the nature of the modern Republican Party.

In the Age of Obama, GOP elites routinely bloviate about their need to expand outreach to people of color, especially Hispanics and Latinos, given the United States' changing ethnic and racial demographics. Yet, the Party has consistently failed to leverage opportunities to that end. This could be a function of incompetence. Alternatively, such a lack of substantive efforts could simply be a reflection of a political party that is dedicated to white racial resentment and white identity politics -- and thus suppressing the votes of non-whites--as its primary electoral strategy. ... Read more

Is It Game Over for Jeb Bush?
AlterNet | Marty Kaplan | 10/31/15

It's the humane thing to do," said a participant following an emergency donor class conference call following the CNBC Republican debate in Boulder, Colo. "After Jeb criticized Rubio's attendance record, and Rubio broke his legs, you could just see it in his eyes," said the billionaire super PAC contributor, who did not want to be named because he never is named. "Poor Jeb's like a thoroughbred begging to be put out of his misery." ... Read more