April 24, 2012

Fewer Houstonians Striving To Own ‘That House In The Suburbs’

(Houston, TX — David Pittman, KUHF) The idea of having a house in the suburbs is rapidly losing its luster among folks in Houston. This year’s Houston Area Survey finds a significant increase in the number of people who are sick and tired of burning up their precious money and time on the road.

Thirteen years ago, the Houston Area Survey started asking people who lived in urban areas if they’d prefer to live in the suburbs. It also asked people in the suburbs if they’d like to move into the city one day. Survey founder Stephen Klineberg, a Rice University sociology professor, says the survey has revealed a clear shift in opinion.

“In 1999, twice as many people in the city said ‘I want to move to the suburbs,’ than people in the suburbs saying ‘I want to move to the city.’ Those lines have crossed now. And in this year’s survey, significantly more people in the suburbs said ‘I would be interested in, someday, moving to the city,’ than people in the city saying, ‘I want to move to the suburbs.’”

The most obvious reason is the rise in gasoline prices. But Klineberg says shifting demographics are also at play. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://transportationnation.org/2012/04/23/fewer-houstonians-striving-to-own-that-house-in-the-suburbs/

April 24, 2012

CSI Wall Street: The Economy Killer

Watch the full Keiser Report E279 on Tuesday. In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert discuss debt piles and thin dimes. They also discuss Christine Lagarde begging for money outside Penn Station while insider trading bankers 'charitably' talk to beggars at Grand Central. In the second half of the show Max talks to economist Michael Hudson about the austerity, debt and fraudulent conveyance.

April 24, 2012

Why the IRS should revoke Alec's charitable status

Why the IRS should revoke Alec's charitable status
Would the American Legislative Exchange Council tout its lawmaking influence to corporate backers if it wasn't a lobbyist?

Bob Edgar
guardian.co.uk, Monday 23 April 2012


You'd think that an American business taking part in a scheme to secretly lobby for the passage of state laws tailored to fattening its profits at the expense of the public good would be shunned by customers and marginalized in the marketplace.

But today, mega-companies like Walmart, Koch Industries, Pfizer and State Farm Insurance are openly, if quietly engaged in just such an effort. They call it the American Legislative Exchange Council, or Alec, cloak it in rhetoric about free speech and free markets, and whine like spoiled children when someone dares to tell the truth about what it's up to.

This Monday, Common Cause is announcing a whistleblower complaint against Alec filed with the Internal Revenue Service. We've submitted several thousand pages of Alec's internal records that we believe demonstrate, beyond debate, that Alec is evading federal taxes by masquerading as a charity and misleading the IRS and the American public about its activities.

We're asking the IRS to end this charade, cancel Alec's tax exemption, collect years of unpaid taxes and "impose necessary penalties". The complaint (pdf) includes Alec memos, emails, "issue alerts", "talking points" and draft press releases touting Alec's "model" bills. Lawmakers introduce Alec's legislation, which often is drafted for them by corporate lobbyists, without disclosing its Alec lineage; and they accept Alec's backroom coaching to guide it to passage. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/apr/23/irs-american-legislative-exchange-council-status

April 24, 2012

Yum.......

April 23, 2012

Social Model Is Europe’s Solution, Not Its Problem

(Bloomberg) In the wake of the financial crisis, Europe’s leaders are calling the continent’s social model into question -- it is “done,” according to European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. That’s a travesty.

The crisis is, above all, financial. Yet governments aren’t addressing the malfunctions that caused this problem. Instead, they are forcing ordinary people to pay and attacking the social systems that support them.

Take the example of Greece. The country is being pushed to accept an austerity plan of unprecedented severity, predicated on reducing public spending and slashing salaries, pensions and social systems in the most brutal way. This has forced the country into an economic, social and political crisis that will last for many years.

These policies are initiated not by Greeks but by European Union officials in Brussels, at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, or in London, where the U.K. government continues to block proposed measures to fund a recovery, such as a Europe- wide tax on financial transactions. These ideas are modeled on the austerity plans that were imposed on the countries of Latin America in the 1970s and ’80s, and they are suicidal. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-22/social-model-is-europe-s-solution-not-its-problem.html

April 23, 2012

John Nichols: The Power of the General Strike

The idea of a general strike might seem a little outdated for today's global economy, but general strikes nevertheless demonstrate not just the power but also the necessity of coordinated action for social and economic justice. In this video, John Nichols, who grew up in a factory town, offers a brief overview of the history of unionization and the general strike and the impact of both on workers' rights.

April 23, 2012

Guardian UK: Europe's elites feel the backlash

Europe's elites feel the backlash
A crisis of legitimacy looms as Europe's voters rebel against deficit-cutting diktats delivered in the name of the eurozone

Ian Traynor, Europe editor
guardian.co.uk, Monday 23 April 2012


For over two years, the mainstream political elites of Europe have been battling to save the single currency, seeking its salvation in a German-scripted programme of austerity and legally enshrined fiscal rigour that curbs the budgetary sovereignty of elected governments.

In elections in France on Sunday, in the Royal Palace in The Hague on Monday, and on Wenceslas Square in Prague on Saturday, a democratic backlash appeared to be gathering critical mass as the economic prescriptions of the governing class collided with the street and the ballot box. The collision looks likely to bring down three European governments.

Mark Rutte, the centre-right Dutch prime minister, threw in the towel on Monday, submitting his resignation to Queen Beatrix after seven weeks of fruitless haggling over colossal spending cuts, which are required to comply with new European rules he has done much to design.

After the biggest popular protests in Prague since the velvet revolution brought down communism, the rightwing government of Petr Necas, close allies of David Cameron, teetered on the brink, because of unpopular spending cuts as well as sleaze. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/23/europe-elite-democratic-backlash

April 23, 2012

After Its Subsidiary Bribed Mexican Officials, Wal-Mart Lobbies To Weaken Anti-Bribery Laws

After Its Subsidiary Bribed Mexican Officials, Wal-Mart Lobbies To Weaken Anti-Bribery Laws


This story was originally published at Republic Reports.


A blockbuster New York Times story published this weekend details how the Mexican subsidiary of retail giant Wal-Mart paid $24 million in bribes to Mexican officials — and subsequently top Wal-Mart officials allegedly decided to cover up these offenses.

The details of Wal-Mart’s complicity in bribery are shocking, but there is one important element that the Times did not report.

While Wal-Mart’s largest subsidiary spent millions of dollars systematically bribing Mexican officials, the company back home has been working, through big business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to weaken the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which renders it illegal for corporations to bribe officials in foreign countries.

The Chamber of Commerce made a major push in late 2010 to severely curtail the power of the FCPA. One of the revisions the business lobby wanted was to limit a parent company’s civil liability for the acts of a subsidiary. This lobbying also came shortly after it was revealed that the Chamber had been getting foreign funding from overseas corporations. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/907965/after_its_subsidiary_bribed_mexican_officials%2C_wal-mart_lobbies_to_weaken_anti-bribery_laws/

April 23, 2012

Europe’s Austerity Backlash Gathers Steam in Merkel Test

(Bloomberg) Europe’s backlash against austerity gained momentum, in a challenge to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s budget-cutting prescriptions for resolving the debt crisis.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy lost the first round of his re-election bid and a revolt against extra spending cuts in the traditionally budget-conscious Netherlands propelled Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s coalition toward an early breakup.

Together with anti-austerity rumblings in a campaign for elections in Greece, the shift in grass-roots sentiment at the heart of Europe generated fresh doubts about the German-driven strategy for getting to grips with the two-year-old crisis.

“We have organized the track of discipline, that’s very good and we have to continue on that, but we need desperately also to organize the second track, the track of growth, solidarity, investment,” former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, now a member of the European Parliament, said on Bloomberg Television’s “The Pulse.” ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-23/europe-s-austerity-backlash-gains-steam-in-challenge-to-merkel.html

April 23, 2012

John Nichols: The Power of the General Strike

The idea of a general strike might seem a little outdated for today's global economy, but general strikes nevertheless demonstrate not just the power but also the necessity of coordinated action for social and economic justice. In this video, John Nichols, who grew up in a factory town, offers a brief overview of the history of unionization and the general strike and the impact of both on workers' rights.