It had been a dark and stormy month of financial collapse, culminating in an attempted power grab. Pushed by his fellow Wall Street Ponzi schemers, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson -- a former Goldman Sachs CEO -- was threatening Armageddon unless Congress ratified his pamphlet-size decree for a no-strings-attached bank bailout. The straightforward proposal, backed by President George W. Bush and President-to-be Barack Obama, would have...]]> Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:00:00 -0700 UPDATE: I'm scheduled to be on CNN Monday morning, 9/7, at 8:30am ET to discuss this post. Tune in.

My newspaper column this week was about the difference between a political party and a political movement - and I can't say I'm happy to see the lessons of that difference being highlighted so intensely and so negatively as they are with today's news that Van Jones was forced out of the Obama administration (and let's be real clear, despite the "resignation" billing, the White House's pathetic behavior this week makes clear Jones was forced out by the higher ups). This is a serious tragedy for the progressive movement on three levels.

First and foremost, Jones was one of the...]]> Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:00:00 -0700 For those still clinging to quaint notions of the American ideal, these have been a faith-shaking 10 years. Just as evolutionary science once got in the way of creationists' catechism, so has politics now undermined patriots' naive belief that the United States is a functioning democracy.

The 21st century opened with a handful of Supreme Court puppets appointing George W. Bush president after he lost the popular vote -- and we all know the costs in blood and treasure that insult wrought. Now, the decade closes with another cabal of stooges assaulting the "one person, one vote" principle -- and potentially bringing about another disaster.

Here we have a major congressional...]]> Sat, 25 Jul 2009 22:00:00 -0700 July 25, 2009 | Here's a truism: The wealthiest 1 percent have never had it so good.

According to government figures, 1-percenters' share of America's total income is the highest it's been since 1929, and their tax rates are the lowest they've faced in two decades. Through bonuses, many 1-percenters will profit from the $23 trillion in bailout largesse the Treasury Department now says could be headed to financial firms. And most of them benefit from IRS decisions to reduce millionaire audits and collect zero taxes from the majority of major corporations.

But what really makes the ultra-wealthy so fortunate, what truly separates this moment from a run-of-the-mill Gilded Age,...]]> Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:00:00 -0700 The prophet of hope now doesn't even bother with explanations when he reneges on his campaign pledges.

By David Sirota

Read more: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Joseph Lieberman, Opinion, Barack Obama, David Sirota

Reuters/Jeff Haynes

Barack Obama, left, announces in Chicago that Hillary Clinton is his choice for U.S. Secretary of State, Dec. 1, 2008.

June 6, 2009 | Though not (yet) having children of my own, I often consider what my future offspring won't know about and will find humorous. I fantasize that they will have no idea...]]> Fri, 29 May 2009 22:00:00 -0700 Forget the loss of investigative journalism. The passive American public is the biggest threat to democracy.

By David Sirota

Read more: Wall Street, Opinion, Recession, Dick Cheney, Barack Obama, David Sirota

Salon

May 30, 2009 | Without a bailout, newspapers will lay off staff, fewer journalists will report important stories, there will be no Fourth Estate check on state and corporate power, and the country will suffer. So goes the pro-democracy case for government and/or altruistic investors to save the newspaper industry with an infusion of...]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:00:00 -0700 In 2006, journalist Christopher Hayes wrote a little-noticed article for In These Times magazine about a proposal in Oregon to crack down on predatory lending. The initiative had become so popular that conservative legislators supported it fearing that if it were put on the state's ballot, the resulting gusher of grass-roots support would not only ratify the measure, but depose the bank-allied Republican Party, too.

Hayes' piece was titled "Economic Populism Proves Popular," the headline a sarcastic middle finger flashed at a political and media Establishment that portrays policies "supporting the rights and power of the people" -- i.e., the dictionary definition of "populism" --...]]> Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:00:00 -0800 Sat, 17 Jan 2009 22:00:00 -0800 Jan. 17, 2009 | The veto is the legislative equivalent of a nuclear warhead -- a rarely used instrument of devastating force that singularly vaporizes the votes of 535 elected representatives. So when a president-elect issues a veto threat before being sworn into office, it sets off a particularly big explosion because it is a deliberate agenda-setting edict about priorities for the next four years.

That's why every American who isn't a financial industry executive should be nervous.

After President Bush this week asked Congress to release the bank bailout fund's remaining $350 billion, Obama pledged to veto any bill rejecting the request, meaning he is beginning his...]]> Thu, 01 Jan 2009 22:00:00 -0800 Conservatives' newest talking point -- designed to stop Congress from passing an economic stimulus package -- is breathtaking.

By David Sirota

Read more: Economy, Opinion

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

President Franklin D. Roosevelt in December 1938. Some conservatives say his New Deal caused a recession that year.

Jan. 2, 2009 | If you're like me, you sometimes find yourself speechless when confronted with abject insanity.

If you're like me, for instance, you were dumbfounded when "Forrest...]]> Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:00:00 -0800 Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:00:00 -0800 Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:00:00 -0800 Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:00:00 -0800 Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:00:00 -0700 Fri, 24 Oct 2008 22:00:00 -0700 Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:00:00 -0700 Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:00:00 -0700 Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:00:00 -0700 Let's say - for sheer argument's sake, of course - all of this is true. What, then, of the substance? Stripping away the partisanship, passion and propaganda, what about the veracity of the claim that the GOP puts this country first?

Well, let's just say it's a little dicey.

On national security, the Republican Party advocates continuing to force thousands of young Americans to risk life and limb refereeing Iraq's civil war. Though the party's slogan hearkens back to conservatives' "America First" isolationism, the GOP nonetheless supports spending $12 billion a month on the war - money needed at home.

Same story on economics. In 2004, the Republican White House called...]]> Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:00:00 -0700 Thu, 29 May 2008 22:00:00 -0700 Mon, 26 May 2008 22:00:00 -0700 Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:00:00 -0700