Political Ideas

A long, long time ago…
I can still remember
Seeing houses used to make me smile.
And I knew if I got a loan
That I could call some house my own
And, maybe, we’d be happy for a while.

But the predatory lies and fees
Left me shaking on my knees
Locked out on the doorstep;
I couldn’t take one more step.

I can’t remember if I cried
When we first had to sleep outside,
But something touched me deep inside
The day Hank Paulson lied.

So bye-bye, oh America why?
For jobs, health, and education,
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By David Swanson

Today’s vote on the Paulson Plunder Act of 2008 may fail. It should. You should help block it by phoning your representative right now at (202) 224-3121 and promising to vote for them in November only if they vote NO on this grand larceny today. We do have a chance at winning on this and blocking this bill. Here’s why.

First, the corporatists have put a bunch of true believers in office. They thought it’d be really clever to convince people that government read more

The House of Representatives voted down Paulson’s Plunder on Monday, 225 to 208. Here’s why: http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/36420

We demanded a No vote and for the first time in recent memory we were listened to. Thank you! Three cheers for the American people!

Now is not the time, however, to rest on our laurels. Speaker Pelosi is almost certain to dig deep in her purse for a different shade of lipstick she can smear on this pig in preparation for a re-vote, and it might be read more

Rep. Baldwin Introduces Bill to Undo and Prosecute Bush-Cheney Crimes

Baldwin Calls for Executive Accountability To Reverse Illegal Actions and Prevent Further Abuses

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin has introduced the Executive Branch Accountability Act of 2008, calling on the next President to reverse the damaging and illegal actions taken by the Bush/Cheney Administration and to collaborate with Congress to proactively prevent any further abuses of executive branch power.

“Over the past several years, read more

By David Swanson

I just read an interesting new book by Alicia Morgan called “The Price of Right: How the Conservative Agenda Has Failed America (and Always Will)” — a timely message right now, but let’s hope it does not remain so always.

If you read a lot of progressive political books, this one may seem a bit repetitive. Chapter One retells a Thom Hartmann theory about liberals as hunters and conservatives as farmers. Chapter Two is the early development of advertising read more

By David Swanson

There are probably three things necessary if the United States government is to better provide for the American people: First, expose as baseless and harmful the pseudoscientific theories that claim to show that helping people actually hurts them, that charity is cruelty, that a higher minimum wage hurts workers, that health coverage leads to poor habits and health, that altruism doesn’t “really” exist and therefore should not be engaged in, etc. Second, recount read more

By David Swanson

Actions mean more to me, and to the millions affected by them, than words. If Obama had voted to toss out the Fourth Amendment and Clinton had voted to keep it PRIOR to the primary in Virginia, I would have voted for Clinton. Yes, I know, Obama didn’t vote to invade Iraq, but that is because he was not in the Senate at the time. As soon as he got there, he voted hundreds of billions of our dollars to fund what he supposedly opposed, as of course did Clinton who had also read more

By David Swanson

Here are two upcoming live online radio shows you can participate in:

Monday, June 30, 8-9 p.m. ET: Jesse Ventura, Former Governor of Minnesota, Wrestler, and Navy SEAL, and author of new book “Don’t Start the Revolution Without Me,” in which he asks whether he should run for president this year.

Tuesday, July 8, 8-9 p.m. ET: John Dean, whose latest book is “Broken Government,” and whose past works include “Worse Than Watergate.”

Go to read more

By David Swanson

Michael Waldman, former Bill Clinton speech writer and current director of the Brennan Center, has a new book called “A Return to Common Sense: 7 Bold Ways to Revitalize Our Democracy.” He intends “Common Sense” as a reference to Tom Paine, but after reading the book it takes on another meaning, namely rehearsal of the ideas any slightly left of center Democratic partisan would have been expected to espouse.

Don’t get me wrong. I like a lot of ideas read more

The Bilderberg Group brings together these representatives of corporate and financial and military power, to meet in secret without any interference from YOU. This year’s meeting will be held on June 5-8, 2008, at the Westfields Marriott hotel at 14750 Conference Center Drive near Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia, which is handily located read more

By David Swanson

Former Republican Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee on Tuesday evening called George W. Bush the worst president in U.S. history and the occupation of Iraq the worst foreign tragedy in U.S. history. Chafee said Bush deserved to be impeached.

Chafee served in the U.S. Senate from 1999 to 2006 and credits his defeat in 2006 – as do most analysts – to his membership in the party of Bush and Cheney. In 2003 Chafee was the only Republican senator to vote against authorization read more

By David Swanson

Rep. Robert Wexler (Dem., Florida) has written a book, soon to be released, that is as different from most congress members’ books as Wexler is from most congress members. He’s titled it “Fire-Breathing Liberal: How I Learned to Survive (and Thrive) in the Contact Sport of Congress.” Wexler is depicted on the cover with the Capitol in the background and his fists in the air.

Wexler is a fighter and a liberal, and – yes – one CAN be both. read more

By David Swanson

The Republican Party as a national mainstream organization began with Abraham Lincoln and ended with Lincoln Chafee. Before and after those Lincolns, the party was not something that most Americans could relate to, was not something that many people could imagine offered any sort of benefit to all people as opposed to particular types of people.

Former U.S. Senator from Rhode Island Lincoln Chafee served in Washington, D.C., from 1999 to 2006. He was the only Republican Senator read more

By David Swanson

“Jacked: How ‘Conservatives’ Are Picking Your Pocket (Whether You Voted for Them or Not)” is a short book by Nomi Prins that makes an excellent education for those remaining Americans who still do not understand that right-wing politicians take from those who work and give to those who live in luxury off the sweat of others.

At the end of World War II, corporations paid half the cost of the federal government. They now pay 7 percent, and many of them pay read more

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By David Swanson

A friend is drafting a proposal for the first 100 days of a new administration. I sketched out a dream scenario below. What do you think?

Day 1: Renounce wars of aggression and apologize to the world for those in the past. Anounce the complete withdrawal from Iraq over the next 6 months.

Day 2: Announce the complete withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of the year.

Day 3: Commit to ending the U.S. military occupation of nations around the world and present a plan for closing read more