Tag: Progressives

A 10 Point Progressive Plan

College of Political Knowledge

2024 Election Series

As the election slowly grinds into the minds of our fellow citizens I would like to offer up a quote for them to consider…..

Political parties exist to secure responsible government and to execute the will of the people.

From these great tasks both of the old parties have turned aside. Instead of instruments to promote the general welfare, they have become the tools of corrupt interests which use them impartially to serve their selfish purposes. Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people.

To destroy this invisible government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.

The deliberate betrayal of its trust by the Republican party, the fatal incapacity of the Democratic party to deal with the new issues of the new time, have compelled the people to forge a new instrument of government through which to give effect to their will in laws and institutions.

Unhampered by tradition, uncorrupted by power, undismayed by the magnitude of the task, the new party offers itself as the instrument of the people to sweep away old abuses, to build a new and nobler commonwealth.

That is a quote from 1912 Progressive Party (Bull Moose)….it rings even more true today than in those days.

As the Congress slowly returns to what they pretend is normal…. Progressives in the country have released a 10 point plan going forward……list of 10 policy objectives….as usual Progressives have some great ideas but the so-called ‘centrist’ Dems will fight this plan tooth and nail and then there is the Repubs who cannot get behind anything that would benefit us peasants.

The plan is ambitious and very based on reality…..

A coalition of national progressive advocacy groups on Monday released a list of 10 policy objectives that it believes President Joe Biden should embrace to consolidate support for his high-stakes electoral rematch against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.

The platform—released by Our Revolution, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), and the State Democratic Party Progressive Network—frontloads the threat that Trump and the fascist movement at his back pose to basic freedoms and democracy itself.

“The 2024 presidential election presents a challenge for progressives to preserve and amplify our voice while fighting the most dangerous threat to U.S. democracy in our nation’s history,” reads the platform’s introduction. “Our best strategy to advance both goals is to become state and national Biden delegates at the state and national Democratic Party conventions, and to elect Joe Biden for a second term. Throughout this process, we must advocate for a progressive policy agenda that builds and expands upon progressive elements of President Biden’s original Build Back Better (BBB) plan.”

“With our support and voice,” the document adds, “progressives may persuade and enable President Biden to achieve more progressive policy objectives during his second term and prevent a fascist takeover.”

The first plank of the agenda urges Biden and the Democratic Party to “develop and repetitively use more aggressive messaging against and educate the public about the dangers of fascism including exposing and condemning Project 2025, the fascist blueprint for a second Trump administration.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/progressive-coalition-platform

Like I said an ambitious plan and one that I will endorse whenever I can….but the real test will be those Progressives in Congress will they go bold or will the wimp out as they have done so many times before?

Then there is the ‘Progressive Promise’ from the Progressive Caucus in the House….

  1. Advancing justice, dignity, and peace for all. 

At the Progressive Caucus, we believe that government must be the great equalizer of opportunity for everyone. We are committed to passing legislation that advances justice, dignity, and peace for all people. 

  • Realizing the goal of a universal, high-quality, Medicare For All health care system for all. 

  • Advancing the right of every American to retire with security and dignity.

  • Ending poverty and income inequality and securing a living wage for all people.

  • Protecting the fundamental right to organize. 

  • Ending mass incarceration and advancing equal justice under the law.

  • Taking urgent, inclusive, and transformative action on climate change. 

  • Upholding the fundamental reproductive rights of all people. 

  • Ending our forever wars, cutting the bloated Pentagon budget, and prioritizing diplomacy.

  • Advancing humane, fair and just immigration laws.
  • Advancing racial justice and equity. 

There is more so read on…..

For me these principles are more in line with my thinking than the mainstream Dem which is a little better than a conservative.

Sadly there is no major candidate that will fight for these principles in 2024…..instead we will have the usual corrupt POS that has plagued our system for 40+ years.

Will I have to go in search of an alternate candidate?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

I Hate The Word ‘Progressive’

Let me explain.

I hate it when a politician or for that matter the media use the word to describe a democrat.

There is nothing progressive about the Dems….the closest there is is Bernie and the ‘Squad’ but they are a mere reflection of true progressivism.

Of course these days we change the definition of words to put ourselves in a more favorable light.

For those no sure what I am going on about….I wrote about it earlier….

What Is A Progressive (Redux)

Like I said there are some that are holding some progressive ideas…but bow to political pressure to tow the line….

Maybe the so-called progressives should read some and learn some progressive history so they can finally get it right.

“Medicare for All.” “The Green New Deal.” Calls to overhaul the Supreme Court and replace the Electoral College. Many activists today are heralding a new progressive movement—a successor to the vibrant reform coalition that swept both major political parties in the early years of the 20th century.

There’s more than a little truth to this comparison. America’s current reality—marked by rising income inequality, the concentration of political and economic power and changing patterns of work and leisure—bears uncanny similarity to conditions that produced a burst of reform activity more than 120 years ago, including measures to improve urban health and safety standards, ameliorate labor conditions and introduce more efficiency and transparency in state and local government.

But if contemporary progressives aspire to drive the same degree of change as the progressive movement of the early 20th century, they might take a cue from their ideological forebears.

Many of today’s progressives define their movement by commitment to a specific menu of policies, and those who don’t share this very specific set of goals are easily read out of the progressive movement, typecast as “neoliberals” or “corporate liberals.” This kind of rigidity is something that their progressive forerunners never exhibited. The progressive movement of the early 1900s was successful precisely because it was flexible and incorporated a wide range of views—so much so that the movement defies easy definition.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/06/01/progressives-history-227037/

This is just a suggestion that will go unrealized….money kills all great ideas….and our government is all about the cash and not so much the people.

As a Progressive I would like to see Progressives that do not bow to pressure or the almighty dollar….but that too will go unrealized.

True Progressives need their own party.   Period!

And then others will have more people to blame their loss on….it has nothing to do with crappy candidates and this myth of a ‘spoiler’ vote.

Keep reading for I will be posting on this ‘spoiler’ myth in the coming weeks.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

As A Progressive

As the 2024 election creeps in at its petty pace I thought I would put down a few of my thoughts.

The mid-terms have happened and the inevitability of a new direction for the Congress and the nation has passed.

I read an article that thinks there is a new direction for the congressional Progressives….

The much predicted and by some feared red wave turned into, as people are saying, a splotch of ketchup on the wall at Mar-A-Lago. Instead of overwhelming Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, the November 8 election produced a return to Democratic Senate control with prospectively a one-seat gain depending on December runoff results in Georgia. As of this writing, the House is still up in the air, but the best the Republicans can expect is a several-seat majority. It was a better result for Democrats than almost anyone expected, running against the tide of high inflation and the usual losses of a first term president’s party in the midterms.

It is clear Roevember happened, that women enraged by the Supreme Court’s overturning Roe v. Wade abortion rights came out in numbers not captured by polls. In addition, younger people, also underrepresented in polls, swung heavily toward the Democrats. Trump’s presence in the election turned into a minus for Republicans, as extreme right candidates endorsed by him were defeated across the country. This election very likely signals that the kind of far right politics signified by Trump has reached its high water mark and is receding in a demographically changing nation.

Midterms Reveal Progressive Possibilities in a Changing Nation

To be honest I do not see it.

First of all I am old and I am NOT a liberal! To me that is an insult. I am not necessarily a Dem either…to me most are just as sick and lazy as the GOP….when in power they accomplish little and bitch a lot.

I am a Leftist or better these days a Progressive. I believe it should always be about the country and its people. The government should not be held captive by the oligarchs that want it all and give nothing in return.

As a Progressive I am very disappointed in our country and its people we have such potential and we never build on that potential…..so what is it that I and others like me want?

Given his political leanings, Ellinger described himself as a “Silent Generation progressive.” But that’s not the norm for voters his age. In fact, Americans in Ellinger’s age group — those over the age of 65 — were the most likely of any age group to say that they approved of former President Donald Trump’s job performance, and registered voters from his generation were the most likely to favor Republican candidates, according to the Pew Research Center. And among registered voters, Silent Generation men were more likely than women of the same age to favor Republicans as well.

This is in line with the conventional wisdom that there’s a consistent age gap in our politics today, where older voters vote red and younger voters veer blue. And there are myriad reasons why this is the case. For one, older Americans are more likely to be white and religious — two demographic groups that also tend to vote Republican. They’re also more likely to favor less government intervention and are more prone to believing that increased diversity isn’t a good thing for the country — which is in line with many Republicans’ way of thinking.

But these sentiments weren’t shared by the four voters older than 50, including Ellinger, whom I spoke with for this piece. In fact, many were closer to younger generations — like Gen Z or millennials — when it came to their political beliefs; climate change, racial justice, abortion access and higher wages were among some of the top policy priorities they listed, even if they were skeptical that Congress would address these things in their lifetime. Moreover, even though almost everyone I talked with said they wished the Democratic Party would go further left and support policies championed by, say, members of “The Squad,” a progressive group of Democratic lawmakers made up mainly of women of color, they didn’t begrudge President Biden for not pushing forward a more progressive political agenda, as he once promised. Rather, several applauded him for the work he’s done in office post-Trump, but wished the Democratic Party itself would invest more in building a younger, more liberal bench of successors. 

“I do feel like the lack of constant generation change has left Democrats a little stuck,” said Pamela M., a 52-year-old from rural Maryland who preferred to use only her first name and last initial for privacy. “They don’t know how to advertise and haven’t had a great ground-game strategy in a way that a wide swath of people respond to.”

What Do Older Progressive Voters Want?

My political views have not changed since I was 17 years old…that is damn near 60 years I have held my principles and have been for the most part disappointed by the lack of progress for this country.

What is it that you want in this coming election?

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Progressives Are An Embarrassment….

Yes I am a Progressive (if you need more info try the search feature here on IST) and I was offended when Dems started using the term liberally, which is a lie they are just trying to sound as if they actually care about this country or its people…..and then there were some candidates that weer ‘true’ Progressives that won their local elections…..and then they went to DC and became what we now know as the “Squad”.

When they began in DC I was proud of the policies they were following and introducing into the process…..slowly they started showing signs of caving to the pressures of special interests and cash…..and now their decline has almost become complete……

They recently had a letter that voiced their displeasure with the Biden and his cronies over the war in Ukraine and the wasting of cash……but they pussied out…..

Progressive Democrats in the House have retracted a letter to President Biden calling for talks with Russia after facing backlash for suggesting the idea of pursuing diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine.

The letter was signed by 30 lawmakers and was led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. In a statement, Jayapal said the letter was drafted several months ago and blamed its release on her staff.

“The Congressional Progressive Caucus hereby withdraws its recent letter to the White House regarding Ukraine,” Jayapal said. “The letter was drafted several months ago, but unfortunately was released by staff without vetting. As Chair of the Caucus, I accept responsibility for this.”

A source familiar with the matter contradicted the statement in comments to Politico, saying the letter’s release was personally signed off by Jayapal. The letter was initially drafted in June, and some signatories publicly said they wouldn’t have endorsed it today.

“I signed this letter on June 30, but a lot has changed since then. I wouldn’t sign it today,” Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) wrote on Twitter Tuesday. “We have to continue supporting Ukraine economically and militarily to give them the leverage they need to end this war.”

In the letter, the lawmakers made clear that they support the Biden administration’s policy of shipping tens of billions of dollars in weapons to Ukraine but said diplomacy should be pursued due to the risk of nuclear war and “catastrophic escalation.”

Jayapal said it was retracted because it was being conflated with comments made by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who said a Republican-controlled House wouldn’t be willing to write a “blank check” for Ukraine.

“Because of the timing, our message is being conflated by some as being equivalent to the recent statement by Republican Leader McCarthy threatening an end to aid to Ukraine if Republicans take over,” Jayapal said.

Jayapal pointed out that there has been no opposition to the Biden administration’s Ukraine policy from Democrats in Congress. She said Democrats “have strongly and unanimously supported and voted for every package of military, strategic, and economic assistance to the Ukrainian people.”

Jayapal said that the war in Ukraine will only end with diplomacy after “a Ukrainian victory.” According to the Ukrainian government, victory means driving Russia out of the territories it has captured since February 24, all of the Donbas and Crimea.

(antiwar.com)

By the time I learned that the Progressive Caucus had issued a letter calling on Biden to pursue negotiations with Putin for a path toward ending the Ukraine war, the letter had already been withdrawn, retracted and renounced. There wasn’t even a momentary endorphin rush that at last someone in Congress had shown a little fortitude. Like a V-2 rocket, the Ukraine letter had exploded in the Democrats’ faces before most people had even heard the sound of its flight.

It got worse–or at least more absurd–when Progressive Caucus head Pramila Jayapal came forward to explain the inexplicable. Jayapal promptly turned the Caucus’s about-face into a faceplant when she graciously “accepted responsibility” for the near instantaneous retreat and then promptly blamed the entire episode on the Caucus’s staff. Talk about displaying the cowardice behind the lack of your convictions!

Then along came Bernie Sanders to lend his sanctimonious imprimatur to this bizarre charade. Asked about the Progressive Caucus’s Ukraine letter, Sanders snorted: “I don’t agree with that, and they don’t agree with it, apparently. It was withdrawn today, so it becomes a non-issue.” A non-issue!

These ‘Progressives’ are an embarrassment because they have now compromised their principles in the name of politics and cash (no doubt).

The ‘Squad’ is  nothing but a typical Dem now….NO SPINE!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Conservatives In Progressive Clothing

As Congress slips out of DC they abandon policies to rush home to suck off the high dollar donors….so the country will come to a standstill for a couple of weeks.

Next year is an election year and the Dems will try to do what they always do……

Every year, election year that is, Dems put on their progressive clothing to win votes and have NO intention of carrying the principles of progressivism forward once elected……what I am saying is that if the voter is looking for a conservative party then look no further the the Dems.

I recently read an article that talks about the media’s hatred for Biden (more on that shortly)……..there seems to be some that thinks the media is trying to undermine the Biden agenda…..

Why does the media hate Joe Biden? This is a question that has been puzzling me. Why would Joe Biden, who represents the same neoliberal order the corporate media does, be a target of hysterical disdain? It is certainly not because Mr. Biden is taking us too far to the left. Even by the standards of corporate media, Mr. Biden hasn’t taken any serious steps to address our climate apocalypse or any other aspects of our quick march to the end of society as we know it.

Framing Joe Biden as a tool of the left is a narrative used by the fascist right in their conspiracy to erode democracy but why would the supposedly liberal media be joining in? A “return to normal” as represented by the corporate bipartisan neoliberal management of the underclass into the end times is exactly what Mr. Biden represents, and exactly what the media claimed they wanted.

The criticism of Donald Trump, much like the criticism of Joe Biden, frames him as a leftist. Mr. Biden is framed as a woke socialist while Mr. Trump is framed as a revolutionary populist. It is at least true that Mr. Trump wants to end bourgeois democracy. And it is true that Donald Trump used every opportunity to eliminate the free press. This was in theory at least the reason for and the limit of the media’s criticism of him.

Even if the media was incapable of representing the realities of 99% of the population it made sense they would be critical of Donald Trump, regardless of his corporate policies outside of his attitudes about the media. But it seems they dislike Joe Biden even more than the man who was seeking to destroy the very existence of journalism.

Biden’s Imaginary Leftism Is Not Why The Media Hates Him

I agree that Biden’s agenda is imaginary Leftism…..but I do not see the hatred that the writer of the article sees…..

The media helps promote the repressive pro-war agenda of Biden…..the media helps promote the ‘compromise’ myth…..I just do not see the hatred…..if anything the media promotes the spineless policies of both parties.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Destruction of Progressive Politics

I am an unashamed Leftist and have been since 1964.

I also admit that when I realized that drastic change was not in the cards I became an unapologetic Progressive…..and in those years I have watched progressive politics become corrupted….corrupted to the point that it has become today.

The ideological divide between the working class and ruling elite continues to widen as the rich become richer and the poor become poorer. The pandemic threw the economy into recession and at least 20 million Americans into unemployment; in April 2020 the federal government reported a record 14.9% unemployment rate while others estimated a true rate of 32.4%. In America, over 10 million people are still unemployed and over 600,000 deaths have been sustained from the pandemic. How do we deal with this reality?

A panicked, shallow reckoning has arisen in Philadelphia and nationally in the form of “new progressivism,” an organized political force made up of young, university-educated people, which is ideologically misguided and antithetical to actual progressive change. The practice of “new progressivism”, which manifests through electoral politics, leftist activism, charity and identity politics, attempts to handle issues of poverty and racism without an understanding of the worldview of the people. Ignorant of the spirit and traditions of working people, new progressivism’s primary contradiction is the assumption that ordinary people are insignificant to and incapable of progressively remaking society.

The ideology of false progressivism preys on the confusion of young, mostly well-intentioned people who are unprepared to critically examine reality. False progressivism obscures the real issues of humanity, war, and poverty; buries the genuine threads for revolutionary change in our times; and ultimately aligns with the consensus of the ruling elite.

Philadelphia: The Gentrification of Progressive Politics

The young are the key and so far that key does not fit the lock for a better country.

Unless there is a change of attitude and thinking then there will be NO blue wave in 2022 or 2024.

As the rich continue to takeover what has been called the ‘progressive movement’ the more things will not change….no health improvement, no police reform, no social change, no….well you get the picture…..

As an example….single payer health care or Medicare For All (M4A)…..lots of talk and promises and now it is off the table……

“Nobody in Congress can be counted on to stand with what the people need as opposed to caving to the demands of party leadership,” warns veteran single-payer activist Amy Scheetz.

… their supporters inside the beltway have taken single payer off the table.

Instead of pursuing Medicare for All they are pursuing incremental improvements in Medicare—also known as Medicare for Some.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/10/09/democrats-have-taken-medicare-all-table-and-its-shame

The only thing you can depend on from Dems is they will always do what their corporate owners wants them to do.

If you want change then for Christ sake find a true progressive….or continue to bitch and whine and things remain the same….the rich get richer and you go hungry.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Progressive Response.

Biden made his speech to the joint session and then we had the GOP’s response given by Sen. Scott of South Carolina…and now there is a “progressive’ response to the Biden speech given by Jamaal Bowman of New York…..

And his response went something like this…..

Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman of New York responded to President Joe Biden’s address Wednesday night with a rousing call for transformational change, arguing that the path the president charted during his speech and first 100 days in office is not sufficiently bold to tackle the immediate and long-term emergencies of climate change, soaring wealth inequality, and racial injustice.

“The crises we’re facing go well beyond the Covid-19 pandemic,” Bowman said in an address delivered on behalf of the Working Families Party. “While the richest billionaires got one trillion dollars richer during the pandemic, more than ten million families are behind on rent today, and there are eight million fewer jobs than a year ago. The climate crisis continues to ravage our communities, and scientists tell us we’re running out of time to act.”

“Every week,” Bowman continued, “we see an unconscionable new video of police violence against Black and brown men, women, and even children.”

While applauding Biden’s recent infrastructure, green jobs, and safety-net proposals as “important steps,” Bowman argued the president’s plans “don’t go as big as we’d truly need in order to solve the crises of jobs, climate and care. We need to think bigger.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/04/29/we-need-think-bigger-jamaal-bowman-delivers-progressive-response-biden

I do not go as far as to call Bowman a progressive but he does have the ear of a massive population….and the DNC was afraid to use a true progressive because of the blow back they fear would bite them min the ass at election time.

I like some of the ideas…but I feel they are not big enough….and as I keep saying to ALL Dems….”Go Big Or Go Home”

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

How About That ‘Green New Deal’?

I have writing about the offering of them Progressive Dems and trying to educate my readers o9n what is what with this proposal……https://lobotero.com/2018/12/06/the-green-new-deal/

Now that we have a new president and maybe a way forward with this proposal…..but first….99% of the Progressive co-sponsors of the Green New Deal won their re-election…..

Shedding more light on a significant electoral trend that progressives have drawn attention to in the aftermath of the 2020 U.S. election, a new analysis by Earther found that of the 93 House co-sponsors of the Green New Deal resolution who ran for reelection this year, only one lost their congressional race. 

“Simply put,” wrote journalist Brian Kahn in Earther, “the Green New Deal is not a political loser,” including for representatives in swing districts. 

Kahn identified four House co-sponsors who represent districts that “range from very slightly Democratic to moderately Republican,” according to Cook Political Report’s Partisan Voting Index. 

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/09/99-green-new-deal-co-sponsors-won-their-races-cycle-analysis…but for more in-depth look at those races and people…..https://earther.gizmodo.com/the-green-new-deal-didnt-sink-democrats-1845619942

To put this all simply….the Green New Deal is not the political loser that Centrist Dems and the GOP would have you believe…..but will it ever see the light of day with a Biden presidency….not likely!

While the president-elect, Joe Biden is a Centrist and in my mind a coward…there are a few things he could do to help our climate problems….just 10 things offered up by Naomi Klein…..

  • Declare a national climate emergency under the National Emergencies Act, which would “unlock specific statutory powers to help accomplish the necessary response.” Biden would be able to direct federal agencies to reverse all of President Donald Trump’s regulatory rollbacks.
  • Keep fossil fuels in the ground, halting fossil fuel permits and lease sales, banning fracking on federal lands, and issuing stringent pollution rules for oil and gas companies.
  • Stop fossil fuel exports and infrastructure approvals through executive orders.
  • Shift financial flows from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources through an executive order that would promote new investments and phase out old ones.
  • Using the Clean Air Act, set a science-based national pollution cap.
  • Power the electricity sector with 100% clean and renewable energy by 2030. Pursuant to the National Emergencies Act, Biden could direct the secretary of defense to redirect a portion of military spending to carry out a rapid construction program of renewable energy projects to meet a significant portion of the nation’s power needs. The president-elect could also provide loan guarantees to clean energy developers and utilities that use renewable energy.
  • Issue an executive order creating an inter-agency just transition task force to implement a national program guaranteeing support for communities and workers affected by the halting of fossil fuel extraction.
  • Direct federal agencies assess and mitigate environmental harms that disproportionately impact Indigenous, Black, brown, and low-income communities. 
  • Investigate and prosecute fossil fuel polluters and commit to vetoing all legislation that grants legal immunity to big polluters. 
  • Rejoin the Paris climate agreement and increase the United States’ emissions reduction commitment to slash greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by at least 70% by 2030 and reduce them to near zero by 2040.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/09/biden-urged-be-climatepresident-taking-these-10-game-changing-steps-first-10-days

While I like most of this proposal…I just do not see a spineless politician doing them….too much corporate cash in his pocket.

Any Thought?

Be Smart!

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I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Case For Public Banking

Finally a goddamn great idea……..but the Centrists will beat it back to make their owners, the banks, happy.

I have been railing against the bankers and their rape of the American society…..bitching for decades and most Americans know that these robbers are corrupt and yet we seem to not care…..

Finally someone in Congress has stepped up to offer a new way of banking….we can always pretend the the Obama admin did some good but any progress has overturned and the problems with banks have returned and gotten worse.

Like I said a new way of banking…..but what is Public Banking?

Public banking is banking operated in the public interest, through institutions owned by the people through their representative governments. Public banks can exist at all levels, from local to state to national or even international. Any governmental body which can meet local banking requirements may, theoretically, create such a financial institution.

Public banking is distinguished from private banking in that its mandate begins with the public’s interest. Privately-owned banks, by contrast, have shareholders who generally seek short-term profits as their highest priority. Public banks are able to reduce taxes within their jurisdictions, because their profits are returned to the general fund of the public entity. The costs of public projects undertaken by governmental bodies are also greatly reduced, because public banks do not need to charge interest to themselves. Eliminating interest has been shown to reduce the cost of such projects, on average, by 50%.

But we already have banks…why do we need a “public bank”?

Today, cities and states put their money in Wall Street banks, allowing those banks to leverage our public funds in order to dominate the financialized speculative economy rather than reinvesting them in our communities. At the same time, cities and states borrow money from Wall Street institutions and bondholders at high interest rates and pay large fees to keep money in their banks. This is not a cost-effective way to do business. Cities and states could be keeping their public dollars and leveraging them for their own community needs.

With city and state-owned banks, we cut out Wall Street middlemen. Our community’s cash stays home to benefit us! Bank fees are eliminated, interest costs drop, and public bank profits are reinvested into our communities.

Public banks can help us create the communities we want. We want parks, good roads, safe bridges, clean energy, and housing we can afford. We want lower interest rates for local small business loans, local control of our tax dollars, investment in our local communities, and ethical and transparent financial institutions managing our public funds. Public banks can be the financial engine that makes this happen for our communities.

There a few facts that need to be shown why a public bank is a better idea than the robbers we have to deal with today….

  1. Are owned by the people of a state, city, community, or nation;
  2. Serve as the depository for local government funds (city or state taxes, fees, etc.);
  3. Are required to benefit the public by serving local community needs;
  4. Can save state and local governments millions or even billions of dollars, by cutting out middlemen and private shareholders, eliminating fees, and financing projects at lower interest rates;
  5. Reinvest bank profits into the community, providing a new source of income for cities and states and a source of funding for projects such as infrastructure, renewable energy and affordable housing;
  6. Are run, not by politicians, but by qualified bankers serving a public mission;
  7. Provide accountability and transparency to the public for bank decisions, avoiding the risks of Wall Street’s speculative gambling;
  8. Create new jobs and spur economic growth by supporting local small businesses;
  9. Partner with and support rather than competing with local community banks;
  10. Can lend during times of stress and crisis, helping to sustain a healthy local economy.

Now a couple Progressives in the House are offering up a plan for an expansiom of public banking…..

A public option, but for banking. That’s what Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are proposing in a new bill unveiled on Friday.

The Public Banking Act, first shared with Vox, wouldn’t create those options by itself, but would foster the creation of public banks across the country by providing them a pathway to getting started, establishing an infrastructure for liquidity and credit facilities for them via the Federal Reserve, and setting up federal guidelines for them to be regulated. Essentially, it would make it easier for public banks to exist, and it would give some of them grant money to get started.

While it sounds a little wonky, the basic idea is to make it possible for state and local governments, local businesses, and people to do business with public banks, which theoretically would be more motivated to do public good and invest in their communities than private institutions, which are out for profit. One public bank exists in North Dakota, and there is a growing movement to create more of them across the country. California recently passed a law allowing cities and counties to create and sponsor public banks.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21541113/rashida-tlaib-aoc-public-banking-act

Another great idea but the Centrists will kill this before it has a chance…..Citibank and others will NOT allow this to move forward.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

We Need A Reason!

I am not a supporter of Joe Biden and do not think he will get my vote…..but that could change.

I vote for my principles and a change in the White House is a superficial reason to vote for Biden…..

Bernie is making the case that Biden and Harris need to pay attention or they could go down in defeat just like the other Centrist in 2016.

Bernie Sanders is warning that if onetime rival Joe Biden doesn’t do more to promote his own policies and reach out to Latino voters, the Democratic presidential nominee is at risk of falling short to President Trump this November, the AP reports. Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist who left the primary race in the spring and has worked to shift Biden to the left on key issues, has made the warnings in public and private in recent days. Most recently, he went on MSNBC on Sunday to express concerns that Biden wasn’t speaking up enough about his economic proposals. “I think Biden’s in an excellent position to win this election, but I think we have got to do more as a campaign than just go after Trump,” he said.

“We also have to give people a reason to vote for Joe Biden,” he added. “And Joe has some pretty strong positions on the economy, and I think we should be talking about that more than we have.” In a Friday interview with PBS, Sanders was more blunt: “Am I here to tell you absolutely, this is a slam dunk, no chance that he will lose? That is not what I’m saying.” Sanders used his MSNBC appearance to urge Biden to speak more about some of his kitchen-table economic policies: raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, lowering prescription drug costs, and expanding health insurance coverage. His comments follow a week when Biden campaigned with union workers in Michigan and released a tax plan focused on boosting US manufacturing by punishing businesses that take jobs overseas.

Good advice…so far I have NO reason to vote for Biden…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”