by Gaius PubliusSomething fun. Lately I've been inundated with ads for something called "FitBit" — a health toy that sits on your wrist and, apparently, talks to the Health app on your iPhone. Or something. The problem is the song. It's catchy, yes, very earwormy. But if you know your punk (or "parody punk") French popular music, it's also way too familiar.Bear with me; this will be worth it.
by Gaius Publius I've been writing about the "billionaire class" lately, trying to characterize them, give them names, faces and wealth numbers. For example, we know that the Top 20% owns 85% of American wealth, as of 2009.
How the Very Very Rich Fly to St. Andrewsby Gaius Publius Thom Hartmann has a TV show, The Big Picture, which airs every weekday. Often The Big Picture includes a segment called "Conversations with Great Minds," an excellent watch if you're as much a fan of thoughtful talk as I am.
The very very richby Gaius Publius I wrote recently about the lame-duck battle-- behind the scenes and in the press-- being waged over end-of-year "tax extenders." I offered a progressive strategy (repeated below) for maximizing the number of "good" tax credits that would be extended ("renewed"), like credits for renewable energy and expiring-in 2017 expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit
Trouble for AmericaJohn Nichols post-election piece for The Nation, Democrats: The Party of Pablum, is pretty harsh... but completely on track, a track the geriatric, sclerotic Democratic congressional leadership is now utterly incapable of dealing with.
by Gaius PubliusWe don't need much comment here. Harry Reid has just said he will surrender to most things the Senate Republicans want to do, if they have the votes to do them. The Hill (my paragraphing):
by Gaius Publius There will be much analysis of the 2014 election (including here), but I want to add a few preliminary notes of my own.1. DC insiders and corporatists have increased their hold over the House and the Senate. It took a joint, bipartisan effort, but the effort paid off on election day.
-by Gaius Publius As we move to election day, I'd like to offer the following as a quick scorecard, a list of Senate races to watch. In the following table, the first seven races (bolded) are those marked "competitive" by the New York Times in an interesting interactive write-up. The second group (Roman font) lists races I'm interested in, for a variety of reasons. In some, the Republican is likely to win (for example, McConnell, Collins, Capito). In others, the Democrat is given at least a chance (Pryor, Landrieu).
