I’m starting this blog feature to share what’s on my mind, and see if anything shakes loose. Comment freely! If it doesn’t fit, try the “contact” link. Tell me what you think.
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It’s an election season. I’m knocking doors in Philadelphia trying to get out the vote. Even as I packed to leave Deborah Emin blogged about 2044. More is on my “reviews” page but this matters now:
“Eric has nailed us and what we are fighting for right now in the most and best Orwellian terms.” This is a 2044 election. Can corporations buy democracy? Stay tuned.
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I’ll soon be leaving the Campaign for America’s Future to work for a labor union. This final (?) piece poses as a conference summary, but really it presents a concise statement of what ails the US economy and how to fix it. Don’t believe me? Read more. China, manufacturing, currency and exports — it’s all in there.
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I published this piece on Huffington Post a few days ago, and just now realized I should share. “The coalition of blacks, Hispanics, youth and women worked to elect democrats a few years ago” but now they’re “out of work and low on hope.” Fight for us, Ds! Use us or lose us. Fight for us so we have a reason to fight for you. Avoid 2044 before it’s too late. Read more.
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The good folks at Free Speech for People are promoting a resolution that Jamie Eldridge just introduced in the Massachusetts legislature. It calls on Congress to start the process of amending the constitution “to restore the First Amendment and fair elections to the people.”
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The Supreme Court makes it official: Corporations Rule! The decision in Citizens United comes down decisively on the corporate side. “It gives advertisers more power than voters, and tilts the balance of power even farther towards wealthy and corporate interests.” Read more.
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What Barack Obama said about this Supreme Court decision, before it was made and before he was president:“To my mind there’s a difference between a corporate lobby whose clout is based on money alone, and a group of like-minded individuals … coming together to promote their interests; between those who use their economic power to magnify their political influence far beyond what their numbers might justify, and those who are simply seeking to pool their votes to sway their representatives. The former subvert the very idea of democracy. The latter are its essence.” (The Audacity of Hope, p. 116 in my paperback Three Rivers edition). Read more.
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A Publishing Innovation: Bookies.” Deborah Emin of Sullivan Street press has a new way to sell books. Called the “Itinerant Book Show,” The basic idea is for book lovers to sell books to their friends, and take a commissioned cut of the sale. Had I not been already set up with Amazon and scribd, I might have partnered in her direction! Read more.
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Oh, by the way, the US Chamber of Commerce is destroying capitalism. Defending big business instead of competitive free enterprise, the Chamber is sinking capitalism in the name of defending it. Read more.
2044 