2024 Archives

Is America in the final stage of the 40-year transition from a forward-looking & still-evolving democratic republic into a white supremacist ethnostate ruled by a small group of fascist oligarchs? The headline in this week's Fortune reads: "Billionaire investor Ray Dalio warns U.S. is 'on the brink' and estimates a more than 1 in 3 chance of civil war" Billionaires and civil war? A billionaire-funded Supreme Court Justice flew the American flag upside down outside his house after January 6th in apparent support of Donald Trump's attempt to overthrow our government. Americans for Tax Fairness reports that 50 billionaire families have, at this early stage, already injected almost a billion dollars into our political system — the overwhelming majority of it going to Republicans and in support of Donald Trump — in an effort to maintain enough control of our political system that their taxes won't go up. And that total is just what's reported: it doesn't count the billions in unknowable dark money that's sloshing around the system thanks to Citizens United.

Congress must stand up for what’s right and consistent with American values: Legally bribed politicians and judges isn’t that... Is there a way to reverse the decision by five Republicans on the Supreme Court that it’s OK for billionaires and big corporations to bribe politicians? Americans are watching with increasing shock and dismay: — President Biden tried to knock up to $20,000 off the debt of every person in the country with a student loan. Republicans decided this might somehow, someday mean fewer profits for banks — who financially support the GOP — so they sued at the Supreme Court. The Republican appointees on the Court, over the objections of the three Democratic appointees, killed the president’s effort without providing any cogent constitutional rationalization.

Fully 20% of American business is now controlled by private equity, which is draining billions out of our economy every week to stash in the money bins of its morbidly rich owners... The last time Louise took one of our pets to the vet, there was a cute little dog running around the clinic as if he owned the place. She asked about him, and it turned out that somebody had brought him in for a medical problem but then wasn't able to pay the vet's bill; they simply left the dog behind. The cost of veterinary medicine has been exploding since 2020, in large part because that was the year private equity firms began buying up vet clinics across the country. Once acquired, the clinics and pet hospitals are drained of assets by some of America's most morbidly rich individuals. The simple result: higher prices for pet care. Most people think private equity is essentially the same as venture capital, the business/investment model you see on TV shows like Shark Tank. Venture capitalists invest their own (or their company's) money in startup companies so the recipient company can use that money to bring a new product to market, expand operations, and generally grow the business. The venture capital investors make their return by the company growing and thus increasing the value of its stock. Private equity, however, is an entirely different animal, borne out of Reagan era deregulation, lowering of capital gains taxes, and lobbying — facilitated by five Republicans on the Supreme Court legalizing billionaires buying legislation from members of Congress — that even created an entirely new income tax loophole called "carried interest" just for private equity managers.

The Best of the Rest of the News. — World’s top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5° C target and say we’re heading for 2.5° C. Why isn’t this all over the media? — Vermont may become the first state to bill big oil for climate damage. — MAGA is already doubting the 2024 election. — Right-wing backlash around the world? — Chaplains could soon show up to “counsel” children in Florida public schools. — Good News Alert — Trump promised Wisconsin jobs, but he lied (surprise!); President Biden actually delivered them... — Crazy Alert! Republican Senator Katie Britt proposes a national registry of pregnant women. — Hunter in a Farmer’s World Alert: ADHD: The Conversational Power of Listening — Wisdom School Alert! Discovering How the World Really Is