The 6 Biggest Lies About the U.S. Debt

As Congress nears a vote on the various debt ceiling deals, let’s look at the lies and misinformation that got us into this mess. By Arun Gupta AlterNet, July 28, 2011 There is one simple truth about the discussion of the looming U.S. debt crisis: it is largely a compendium of half-truths, ... Read more

Deficit Debates vs. Jobs Report-Left Hook and Right Cross to the US Economy

By Jack Rasmus July 27, 2011 COMMENTARY: While everyone is focusing on the August 2 debt ceiling default deadline looming behind the current deficit cutting debates in Congress, the real blow to awareness how weak the US economy is today may come with the date of August ... Read more

Interest Payments Are At Historic Lows, Paying Debt is Not the Problem

In this interview on Real News, Robert Pollin makes the point that interest payments on U.S. debt well below average because the cost of money is so inexpensive. As a result there is no immediate debt crisis, there is time to deal with long-term debt. <iframe ... Read more

Monsanto Nation: Taking Down Goliath

“If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it.” – Norman Braksick, president of Asgrow Seed Co., a subsidiary of Monsanto, quoted in the Kansas City Star, March 7, 1994 By Ronnie Cummins CommonDreams.org, July 28, 2011 After two decades ... Read more

Washington Lunacy

By Robert Weissman Public Citizen, July 29, 2011 Washington is in the grip of a fever. It’s hard to find a word other than lunacy to describe what’s going on. We are veering toward potential economic catastrophe. And Congress is hung up on a debate that shouldn’t be occurring. It is debating an imaginary problem that conjures ... Read more

Debt Debate Shows Need to Re-make Control of Money Supply

The United States Should Not Have a Debt Ceiling

Smash the Ceiling by James Surowiecki The New Yorker, August 1, 2011 In the past few years, the U.S. economy has been beset by the subprime meltdown, skyrocketing oil prices, the Eurozone debt crisis, and even the Tohoku earthquake. Now it’s staring at a new problem—a failure to raise the debt ... Read more

Rural Americans face greater lack of healthcare access: report

Reuters July 27th, 2011 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Rural Americans are more likely to suffer from chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart problems and cancer, and face greater difficulty accessing quality healthcare than urban counterparts, according to a report released ... Read more

Whistleblowers are Good for Weeding Out Corruption, Reducing Spending and Improving Government

Here is one case that makes the point . . . Courage and Persistence Pays Off Whistleblower Beats Halliburton and Federal Government I am a big believer in the motto of Wikileaks: “Courage is contagious.” Therefore, I want to highlight a story that ... Read more

The NYT is Wrong: Officials Do Not Say That Medicare Is Not Sustainable In Its Current Form

By Dean Baker Center for Economic and Policy Research, July 22, 2011 That is what Republicans say. Officials, like the Medicare Trustees, say that the program faces a modest shortfall over its 75-year planning horizon. The projected shortfall is ... Read more