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Stephen Pizzo has been published everywhere from The New York Times to Mother Jones magazine. His book, Inside Job: The Looting of America's Savings and Loans, was nominated for a Pulitzer.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Oh So" now THEY want choice...
So, have you been watching the slow boil that's just now beginning to rattle the lid on the health insurance/birth control ruling issued by the HHS? It requires any organization or company that provides health insurance to its members/employees to cover birth control as well.
Thursday, December 8, 2011 The Corporate Embryo Solution (2 comments)
I have cracked the biggest social/political problem facing the American Right and they are going about it all the wrong way. It's so simple it's stunning.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 To Vote or Not to Vote... (3 comments)
You might have noticed that there's an election coming up in less than a year. Counting both parties, including the least likely winners, there's maybe twenty people to choose from. One Democrat and a gaggle of Republicans.... But do any of them even matter any longer?
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 In Search Of A New Center (1 comments)
"Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction,
while the worst Are full of passionate intensity"
-- William Butler Yeats
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction,
Saturday, October 22, 2011 The Numbers Racket (1 comments)
The GOP's politics by the numbers.
Sunday, September 11, 2011 Don't Tell Us...SHOW Us. (3 comments)
I am convinced that the best way -- maybe the only way -- to bring this march of madness on the right to a dead stop is to insist they be specific about just what is they want done, or undone.
Monday, September 5, 2011 Wikileaks and the Red Coats (2 comments)
I've been watching the fresh pissing match that has broken out over Wikileaks. This time it's not just embarrassed governments and public officials condemning Wikileaks, but the media as well.
Saturday, August 20, 2011 The Coming Dim Ages (1 comments)
The Dark Ages lasted almost 700 years. We may be approaching a new epoch.. our own. Future historians may well end up dubbing it, "The Dim Ages." How long will this one last? Your guess.
Monday, June 20, 2011 Id Like to Report a Crime (3 comments)
Hello, 911, Id like to report a crime...
Friday, May 20, 2011 Fixing The Middle East
I listened to the President's address on the Middle East and all the guff he got for it afterwards.I had no particular problems with what Obama said yesterday, I just would have gone farther.
Sunday, May 15, 2011 How Crazy is Too Crazy to be President? (14 comments)
How crazy must a candidate's personal/religious beliefs be before he/she is deemed too crazy to run the most powerful nation on the planet?
Saturday, December 4, 2010 Are we still "better than them?" (3 comments)
During the Iran/Contra investigations, Reagan Secretary of State, George Schultz, said something that everyone who works in Washington should have tattooed on their forehead:
"Anyone who thinks they can keep a secret in this town should have their head examined."
Sunday, November 28, 2010 WikiLeaks v. Cone of Silence (7 comments)
So, here we are again, another WikiLeaks "event." Serious people can argue both sides of this matter; that such leaks put sources and lives at risk, or that it puts those who wield power on notice that their actions and decisions may not go un-accounted for -" that there may be accountability.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010 Wrong-Way Barry
So, how you doin'? I only ask because I am checking to see how the whole "trickle-down" thing is working for you. Because, if the news in today's Wall St. Journal is true, those of us down here must be just about due for a real soaker. Because the folks at the top are really raking it in -- again.
Thursday, October 7, 2010 Slouching Towards Austerity (1 comments)
It's a term sweeping the developed world -" "austerity." It's not the way the 21st Century was supposed begin, at least not for Western countries who, since the end of World War II have enjoyed one hell of run. That's about to change.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010 Waiting For The Great Pumpkin
History will record it as the greatest con in history. A con that has made a handful wealthy beyond belief, while impoverishing an entire nation. And they did it with our help.
Saturday, September 18, 2010 Disengagement (3 comments)
As I watched the whole Tea Party victory bandwagon rolling across my TV screen this week, I thought to myself, "Hey, what the left needs is its own Tea Party movement.. you know, a progressive tea party.
Monday, September 13, 2010 Been Here -- Done This
Question: What's the difference between the American Party of 1850 and the Tea Party of 2010?
Answer: Polyester.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 Reasoning? What Reasoning? (3 comments)
We gave them $1.6 trillion in tax cuts, and they were supposed to create jobs with it. Now they want to make those cuts permanent, "so they can create jobs with it." Really?
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 From Alice's Restaurant to Dante's Cafe (6 comments)
These days, when I pick up my morning paper, I feel like I'm reading a surreal menu of woe penned by Dante Alighieri himself.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010 It's About Character, Stupid! (5 comments)
How will we ever get to a post-racial society if those who have suffered most use race to excuse bad behavior? Just asking.
Thursday, July 22, 2010 The New Rightwing-nut Anti-Obama Narrative (2 comments)
Did you hear? Obama is a closet socialist and he's out to ruin big business. Is that why big business just keeps getting bigger?
Thursday, July 15, 2010 Secrets Kill Too (6 comments)
I was listening to a discussion on NPR yesterday about Wikileaks.com, the web site that allows people who have secret information. Secrecy proponents claim this can get people killed.
Saturday, June 26, 2010 Memo To Barack Obama (5 comments)
Barack, Barack, Barack. Don't just change generals, change course.
Monday, May 31, 2010 So, Now What? Now Who? (2 comments)
When Bush was in his final months every day was "November dreamin'". Now it's November dreadin'
Monday, May 24, 2010 Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed (2 comments)
Well, it appears unanimous. Whether you look right, straight down the middle or left, there's agreement: it's broke. The e whole damn thing is broken, busted, kaput.
Monday, May 17, 2010 Another Day, Another Lie (8 comments)
Republicans hate regulations. And top of their list of regulations they hate involve guns.
Thursday, May 13, 2010 If Not Now, When? (9 comments)
I know -- we're not supposed to "look back but ahead." That's become a virtual bi-partisan mantra.
Republicans don't want to look back because, "back there" is all the stuff that got their party run out of power.
Democrats don't want to look back because they fear it would only make already unpleasant Republicans angry.
Saturday, May 8, 2010 Curse of the Flat Learning Curve (4 comments)
The most depressing thing about getting older is loss of innocence. I can no longer find comfort in the belief that "those in-charge" must be smarter than the average bear.
Not true. Not even close.
Where's my proof?
Wednesday, May 5, 2010 The Root of All Evil (7 comments)
Each passing day I wonder more and more, when will enough be enough? I wonder what it will take before we realize that we are no longer in control of events, even as a growing list of events spiral out of control all around us.
Sunday, May 2, 2010 Darwin Awaits (5 comments)
We have a "can't see the forest for the trees," problem on our hands when it comes to energy. The "we" of which I speak is the universal we. Time to step back and take in the Big Picture.
Monday, April 19, 2010 What Exactly DO They Want? (5 comments)
They don't trust government. They don't trust politicians. They don't trust science or scientists. They don't even trust an official birth certificates when they the issuing state provides a photocopy. You know who I'm talking about.
Saturday, April 3, 2010 Single-Payer: Ten Years and Counting (7 comments)
Why did I, and many other progressives, just suck it up and accept this skim-milk disguised as cream?
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 America's Kristallnacht (5 comments)
What has the GOP, desperate to build a new constituency after a decade of failed governance, unleashed on us?
Thursday, March 18, 2010 New Rules Won't Be Enough
Nearly a quarter century after I and my co-authors detailed the causes of the S&L debacle, here we were again....
Thursday, March 11, 2010 Hey, you. Yeah, I'm Talkin' to YOU (5 comments)
Excuse me, but can I have a word with the 70% of Americans who continuing keeping their money in big banks, like Bank of America, CitiBank, Wells Fargo and such? Come closer. A little closer. I want to be able to give you a well-earned dope-slap while I ask;
Saturday, February 20, 2010 Governance Per Mac The Knife
Obama's real failure has been his belief that the fundamentals of human nature have changed. Mac would disagree.
Monday, January 11, 2010 Mainstream Media's Systemic Failure (1 comments)
As a retired investigative journalist I remember that "back in the day," reporters ferreted out hot stories like pigs find truffles. You gotta move some dirt, but we learned it was worth the mucking around. No longer.
Thursday, December 3, 2009 What's the Damn Hold Up? (3 comments)
How long should it take to train fresh Afghan troops? Too damn long, apparently. Longer even than it takes to train our own. Why's that?
Friday, October 30, 2009 Sauce for the Goose AND the Gander (2 comments)
As health care reform gets closer to passage with some form of public option, anti-reform forces are retreating behind their final line of defense – abortion.
Friday, October 9, 2009 Knee-Capped by Capitalism (1 comments)
I look forward to the day when I can sit down at this keyboard in the morning and, looking ahead, write a column while humming “Zippity Do Dah, Zippity Day.” Instead I find myself spending a lot of time worrying. I only mention this because lately the focus of my worries has been the economy. Not the US economy, but the global one
Monday, October 5, 2009 Tale of Two Plane Trips
Funny how objects can play repeat roles in history.
When President Truman flew to Wake Island in 1951 for a showdown Korean War policies with General MacArthur, the general had his pilot fly in circles until Truman's plane landed. His intent was to keep the President of the United States cooling his heels on the tarmac until MacArthur was ready to grace him with his presence.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009 The Best Defense Is Offense (4 comments)
The best defense is a good offense. It's always been so (except for Democrats, apparently.)
I only mention this because I've been watching Republicans since Obama was sworn in and, by golly, they're good. They're REALLY good at it.
Thursday, September 3, 2009 Different? Or "Here We Go Again."
There are some claims that have become so knee-jerk they are dismissed out of hand as political cliches or demagoguery. Calling someone a Nazi , for example, is one. Another is claiming that every foriegn military action by the US is "another Vietnam." So I'm not going to say that about our current entanglement in Afghanistan.
Monday, August 24, 2009 One Wrong Move and Your Credit Score Gets It (4 comments)
Ever see one of those shock-belts they use to make sure prisoners behave while in court? Just one wrong move and a deputy with a remote can bring the biggest, meanest hunk of crook whimpering to his knees.
Well, you can't see it, and you can't feel it – exactly – but if you're American and over 18 you've got one of these things strapped around you too.
Saturday, August 22, 2009 Liberals Have Guns Too, Ya Know... (18 comments)
Right wingers are always fretting about how liberals are on the verge of taking their guns away. Which makes me wonder if they realized how many liberals out here are just as well armed as they are? Because we are.. We're just more polite about it.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 Profile in Courage Time for Big O (2 comments)
On July 2, 1964 a southerner, President Lyndon B. Johnson, signed the Civil Rights Act into law. I only mention this because right now, this month and next month are President Barack Obama's Lyndon B. Johnson moment. He will either do the right thing, and go down in history alongside Johnson and Lincoln and FDR, or he won't.
Monday, August 17, 2009 Co-Ops: The Three-Card Monte of Health Reform (3 comments)
Feel the fool? Well, you should. Or at least you will if you let them get away with the latest health care reform bait and switch.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 Health Care Guide for Complete Dummies (10 comments)
Frankly it really pisses me off that I even have to waste our time discussing these non-issues. But, if you have one of these right wingnuts in your family or on your email list, send them this cheat sheet.
Thursday, August 6, 2009 I Was At the Birth... (11 comments)
I was there when it began, the ugliness, the ever-so thinly-veiled racism, the attacks on the press. It was August 1992....
Monday, August 3, 2009 GOP to America: Be Afraid... Please. (9 comments)
America is in a real pickle. No, actually in a jar of pickles -- deadly pickles. If the terrorists don't get you, your own government will track you down and have your doctor kill your ass.
Friday, July 10, 2009 No Public Option, No Re-election, NO KIDDING (19 comments)
Suddenly when it comes to health care reform, "how are we going to pay for this" has become a consuming question on Capitol Hill. Why now?
Monday, July 6, 2009 Speaking Ill of the Dead
This August I turn 64. In 1965 I lost my student deferment and ended up in the US Marine Corps. That makes me a Robert McNammar survivor.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 No Longer Your Father's GOP (3 comments)
The GOP, once the party of rational, intelligent beings such as Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Ike, has been taken over by America's lowest common denominator-types.
Saturday, July 4, 2009 Iraq, Bush I, and BNL and Barack Obama's DOJ
I wrote the story that appears below a decade and half ago. Why am I reposting it here, now? It has to with those pesky non-existent WMD and what the George H. Bush administration knew and what they did about it. And, since they knew a lot, if what they told sonny, W. Bush, when as he greased up the wheels of war.
Thursday, June 11, 2009 Our Own Harvest of Ignorance (5 comments)
While much of the Middle East struggles with its harvest of ignoramuses, America is just beginning to notice we have our own crop of under-educated morons. They are weeds and they are spreading at an alarming rate. Should we leave them untended much longer, they will strangle all that is good, useful and progressive.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009 Dying for Change (5 comments)
Over the past few months my wife, Susan, and I have been right up to our chins in elder-care issues. My father is 90, my mother is 87 and Sue's mom is 99 heading straight for the century mark. And it's been a real eye opener!
Sunday, May 31, 2009 Intervention (4 comments)
Repeatedly we, and almost every other country on earth, have asked, even pleaded, with Israel to stop building settlements on Palestinian land and to stop expanding those already built.
And just as repeatedly one Israeli government after another have thumbed their nose at those pleadings.
Thursday, May 14, 2009 Capitalism's Greatest Hits (6 comments)
As Americans we've have had it drilled into our heads that there are only three kinds of economic models: capitalism,communism and socialism. Really?
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 Serious Lapse in Judgment Indeed (4 comments)
Here's a bit of change we didn't bargain for:
DOJ: Torture Memos Just "Serious Lapses of Judgment"
New York Times - An internal Justice Department inquiry has concluded that Bush administration lawyers committed serious lapses of judgment in writing secret memorandums authorizing brutal interrogations but that they should not be prosecuted, according to government officials briefed on its findings. (Full Story)
Sunday, May 3, 2009 News Blues
Cable news is nothing like the news business I was in before hanging it up. First of all, we didn't try to keep a story alive beyond its natural life. We just reported the damn thing with as little la-de-da as possible.
Thursday, April 30, 2009 Whose "Day of Reckoning?" (3 comments)
Here's a question to ponder this morning. It's one I've been pondering for some weeks now:
Is it worth your time and effort trying to engage in rational discussions with the increasingly nutty and frantic mouth-breathers on the political right? Or are were they all genetically wired at birth to become hybrids of Grandpa Simpson and Mr. Burns?
Wednesday, April 29, 2009 Who You Callin' a Minority? (2 comments)
The conservative-leaning Court has slowly chipped away at the Voting Rights Act, under constant prodding from white conservative groups and organizations. Which leads me to issue this warning:
Memo to White Conservatives: Better be careful what you wish for, you may just get it.
Saturday, April 25, 2009 What's In a Name? Just Everything (10 comments)
Hey, did ya hear the latest idea from Republicans to revive their moribund party. Here it is:
Demand that the Democratic National Committee AKA, the Democratic Party change its name to are you ready for this? The Democrat-Socialist Party, the DSP.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009 They Are Too Big to WHAT? (5 comments)
The concept of "too big to fail" is costing us trillions of dollars, and counting. How much will the politically charged decision that some in America are "too big to jail," cost us?
Monday, April 20, 2009 America High, 90210
Ever wonder what the world would be like if it were run by those who were popular in high school? Well, I have...
Monday, April 20, 2009 America High, 90210 (1 comments)
Ever wonder what the world would be like if it were run by those who were popular in high school? Well, I have...
Monday, April 20, 2009 America High, 90210 (2 comments)
Ever wonder what the world would be like if it were run by those who were popular in high school? Well, I have...
Monday, April 13, 2009 One Wrong Move and the Bank Gets It !
This is a form of combat, and should not be entered into by borrowers unless they are ready, willing and able to endure the rigors of a fight. But if they fight -- if lots of them start fighting back Washington will have to act, and this time in interest of average Americans.
Monday, April 13, 2009 One Wrong Move and the Bank Gets It !
This is a form of combat, and should not be entered into by borrowers unless they are ready, willing and able to endure the rigors of a fight. But if they fight -- if lots of them start fighting back Washington will have to act, and this time in interest of average Americans.
Monday, April 13, 2009 One Wrong Move and the Bank Gets It !
This is a form of combat, and should not be entered into by borrowers unless they are ready, willing and able to endure the rigors of a fight. But if they fight -- if lots of them start fighting back Washington will have to act, and this time in interest of average Americans.
Monday, April 13, 2009 One Wrong Move and the Bank Gets It !
This is a form of combat, and should not be entered into by borrowers unless they are ready, willing and able to endure the rigors of a fight. But if they fight -- if lots of them start fighting back Washington will have to act, and this time in interest of average Americans.
Monday, April 13, 2009 One Wrong Move and the Bank Gets It !
This is a form of combat, and should not be entered into by borrowers unless they are ready, willing and able to endure the rigors of a fight. But if they fight -- if lots of them start fighting back Washington will have to act, and this time in interest of average Americans.
Monday, April 13, 2009 One Wrong Move and the Bank Gets It ! (1 comments)
This is a form of combat, and should not be entered into by borrowers unless they are ready, willing and able to endure the rigors of a fight. But if they fight -- if lots of them start fighting back Washington will have to act, and this time in interest of average Americans.
Friday, April 3, 2009 Call Me Crazy, But... (11 comments)
This morning flipped on CNN, as I do every morning over my coffee and paper. A live broadcast was already in progress of a live town hall meeting of Obama in France.
As it turned out, I never even glanced at my paper. From the get go I was riveted.
Monday, March 30, 2009 Think Globally -- But Bank Locally (2 comments)
I voted for Barack Obama, and I continue to wish him nothing but success. But I have to admit, his and Tim Geithner's solution to the banking crisis is exactly the wrong solution. The administration seems to believe the best thing to do is to throw the drunken "money center" bankers into detox, hose them off and put them back in the game.
Thursday, March 19, 2009 Retention Attention (1 comments)
I watched the entire Senate/AIG hearings yesterday on C-Span, where I learned that retention bonuses are a good thing, not a bad thing.
I learned that, even if someone creates a gargantuan mess, he/she needs to be encouraged to stick around because, how can a failed company get back on its feet without the help of the people who mugged it in the first place. Duh.
Monday, March 16, 2009 Inflation: The Magic Cure-all? (1 comments)
'm not saying it's a good thing. I'm just saying it's the only thing left that can get us out of our current financial system death spiral.
I'm am also saying that both Fed Chief Ben Bernanke and President Obama know it's the only way.
Thursday, March 12, 2009 In Search of "Moderate Talibaners"
Now, don't get me wrong. I think Obama has been right about Afghanistan all along. We should have finished the job there and not let bin Laden and gang escape while we were occupied occupying Iraq.
But now I'm scratching my head. Word out of the administration is that Obama wants to open a dialog with "moderate elements of the Taliban."
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 A Real Stem-Cell Twister
So, Obama reverses Bush's ban on funding fetal stem cell research and the religious right (along with the sycophantic pols whose only vote-getting trick is to pander to them) came out of the woodwork.
Monday, March 2, 2009 Follow The Numbers
Let's talk about numbers. Big numbers. Huge numbers. Numbers that have gotten so humongous Carl Sagan could build a PBS show around them. But let's put those numbers in some perspective.
Monday, February 23, 2009 Open Memo to Eric Holder (1 comments)
The good news is we have a new US Attorney General. The bad news is he isn't prosecuting criminals.
Thursday, February 19, 2009 Dems Hanging by a weak Reid (4 comments)
Quiz Question: Who's the bigger waste of skin --former Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich or the guy he appointed to fill Barack Obama's senate seat, Roland Burris?
Actually it's a trick question, because the right answer is: Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid.
Friday, February 13, 2009 It's Called, "Misprison of a Felony." And it's a felony too.
Knowledge of a crime can really put a guy on the spot. Failure to report that crime or, if you're, say in charge of those who commit a crime, is a crime. Rumsfeld got a memo informing him of a crime. And he did noting about it. Guilty as charged.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 Geithner's Federal Bank of Chernobyl (3 comments)
I have sympathy for Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner. As I listened to him unveil the latest iteration of the bank rescue plan this morning an image flashed into my head. It was the image of Soviet troops, dropped by helicopter onto the smoking roof of the Chernobyl reactor, furiously dumping ton after ton of sand onto the molten reactor below
Friday, February 6, 2009 Panetta: "Just Following Orders, Okay." (3 comments)
The problem is that at least two of the West's most fabled democracies, the US and Great Britain, have utterly lost their ability to be true to themselves, about themselves and about the crimes they committed together in recent years.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 Failed Banks Wants MORE Porridge?! (3 comments)
So there I was yesterday, sitting in front of my computer innocently opening freshly arrived email. That's when this 48-point bold headline smacked me right between the eyes:
"Bank bailout could cost $4 trillion"
Friday, January 23, 2009 Take off those inauguration beer goggles
Whoa! What a bash, huh? We liberal/progressives have been dry for so long that all that Obama bubbly went straight to our heads. By the time the oath of office was administered I was already a blubbering goner.
Three days later it's all blur. I've completely sobered up and I'm back to normal.
I said, I'm back to "normal." My inauguration day beer goggles are off and jeezusholychit! what's that ugly thing my bed?!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009 Inauguration Day 2009
The old structures can no longer stand -
their very foundations are shifted -
And men run forth in terror from the old before they can yet find firm ground for the new.
Friday, January 9, 2009 Two Changes the World Could Live With (9 comments)
Among the things that need change when Obama takes office are the current US positions on both Cuba and the Israeli/Palestinian never-ending piss-fight.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009 Orangutans Hate Changes in Their Cages (4 comments)
If Barack Obama's economic team wants to make changes in how American businesses do business, there are two relatively simple changes that, if made, could change everything.
Monday, December 29, 2008 Through a Glass, Darkly (10 comments)
The end isn't near -- the end is here. No, not the end of the world, though for Americans and Europeans it may begin to feel that way.
I'm talking about the end of the age of superabundance. Those of us of a certain age we Baby Boomers and our spawn have known nothing else. It has been our singular reality from birth.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 Hoping for Three "Good" Bubbles
Can there be such a thing as a "good" bubble? I think so. In fact, I'm lobbying for the creation of three investment bubbles: health care, infrastructure and green technologies.
Thursday, December 18, 2008 America's Acid Test (1 comments)
We're just getting out of a decade of out of power, and it's been tough. But now I'm wondering. Now that Dems are back in power, they forgotten, or simply decided to chuck, all that gushy, flowery stuff our founders put in the Constitution. Have Democrats become like religious folk who pay lip serv
Monday, December 15, 2008 Swindler Nation (4 comments)
As I read the story of the latest Wall Street fraudster, Bernard Madoff, I was struck by something interesting. Over the years as I covered mobsters and other white collar criminals, I was surprised to discover they all had the same weakness. They're all suckers.
Thursday, December 11, 2008 Hey Buddy, Can You Spare a Billion? (1 comments)
So far the first batch of free money being handed out by Uncle Sam comes to around $750 billion, leaving up to $2 trillion to go. And, oh yes, they will hand it out. Because the only the elected officials want is to, as Mel Brooks put it in Blazing Saddles, "keep our phony baloney jobs."
So, how would you spend $2 trillion?
