SiCKO: Ronald Reagan On the Evils of Socialized Medicine

Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States: Season Premiere

great series on showtime suggest folks watch note- copyright owned by showtime

Obama Tax Cuts - Worse Than Bush Plan?

Canning Food: "Miracle of the Can" circa 1956 American Can Co

Why 2013 is going to be awful

Why 2013 is going to be awful

click link

snip

 Austerity

It’s coming. Congress will obsess over crafting a long-term deficit deal no matter what happens with the tax rates and the sequester. In all likelihood, we’ll get regressive budget cuts at all levels of government, plus, for good measure, tax hikes not just on the rich but on working people. The well-funded “Fix the Debt” monsters will still demand massive cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Republicans are justifiably confident that they can use the debt ceiling to force more spending cuts less than a month from now. If all of this sinks the still-sluggish economic recovery, that’ll be just one more sign that we need to cut more, and “tighten our belts.” Plus the debt ceiling fight might just crash the world economy anyway.

Congress Isn’t Going to Do Anything

As historically unproductive as the 112th Congress was, there’s not much reason to expect more from the 113th. The Senate has gotten marginally more liberal and the House has gotten marginally less Republican, but the basic makeup of both is the same. It’s still the case that House Republicans have no incentive to compromise on anything, while Senate Democrats live to compromise.

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kt me add one

if the president and dems in general keep up their stellar deal making, it is going to be a long next two years.

if they did the deal making for labor, we would all be on food stamps, without insurance and pension

10 states set for minimum wage hike

10 states set for minimum wage hike

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snip

 CNN:

An estimated 855,000 workers will be directly affected by the wage changes, while another 140,000 are projected to be indirectly affected by the changes as employers readjust their pay scales to accommodate the new minimum, according to analysis by the Economic Policy Institute.

The new hourly rates will range between $7.35 in Missouri and $9.19 in Washington state, which has the highest minimum wage in the nation.

Workers may not notice much of a change in their paychecks, though, if lawmakers do not extend the payroll tax cut first enacted in 2010. Without the tax cut in place, workers would pay 6.2% instead of 4.2% — an amount that could wipe out most of the wage boost.

According to National Employment Law Project (NELP) statistics cited in the article, the minimum wage is an increasingly relevant figure in the country’s economic life

“The majority of jobs created during the economic recovery have been low-wage positions that pay $13.83 an hour or less,” according to an August NELP report. The group also found that “72 percent of the employees set to be affected by the wage increases are adults 20 years or older.”

Senate clears fiscal cliff deal 89-8 | NJ.com

Senate clears fiscal cliff deal 89-8 | NJ.com:

 click link

 snip

 The measure, which would raise tax rates for families making more than $450,000 and delay deep across-the-board spending cuts for two months, cleared the Senate by an overwhelming 89-8 vote shortly after 2 a.m. The Republican-controlled House could take up the pact in a rare New Year's Day session, though the timing of that chamber's vote was not clear.

The $620 billion agreement was a major breakthrough in a partisan standoff that has dragged on for months, spooking Wall Street and threatening to hobble the economic recovery. It turned back the GOP's two-decade-long refusal to raise tax rates, delivering a major win for the president.

But as big a deal as it was, it did little to address the nation's long-term deficit problem -- there's nothing in it to pare back entitlement spending -- or to defuse a potential crisis over raising the debt ceiling that could come as early as February.

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pretty gutless of dems whom did hold most of the cards.

also note, changes to 401s---pensions also in this deal and we have not  a clue to what it is and how it will effect folks