Jim Hightower from Creators Syndicate

Big Bankers Mounting Sneak Attack on Consumers for 07/08/2009

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Have you received your thank-you note? I'm still waiting for mine.

More than a year into the Wall Street bailout, I've yet to get any sort of "thank you" from even a single one of the big banks that you and I propped up with $12 trillion in direct giveaways, indirect giveaways, government guarantees and sweetheart loans. You'd think their mommas would've taught them better. But ...

Updated: Wed Jul 08, 2009

Free Food Can Be Yours for the Picking for 07/15/2009

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Years ago, a young, sorta-hippyish couple who lived nearby knocked on my front door. They had noticed that fig trees in my side yard were laden with ripening fruit. "If you're not going to pick all the figs for yourself," asked the couple, "could we harvest some of them?" Sure, I said, have at 'em. About a week later, to my delight, I found at my doorstep a nice surprise: tw ...

Updated: Wed Jul 15, 2009

Real Competition Can Stop Health Insurance Gouging for 07/22/2009

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama is all for the congressional effort to produce health-care reform — as long as the legislation we end up with doesn't contain any actual reform.

Indeed, the senator gets fainting spells at the mere mention of Barack Obama's proposed reforms, gasping that they add up to socialized health care. He recently stammered that the president's plan would destr ...

Updated: Wed Jul 22, 2009

Look Out! The Circus Has Come to Town for 07/30/2009

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Who doesn't love a parade? And here comes a big one! You can feel the beat of the drums, hear the trumpeting of elephants and the melodious call of the calliope — all of which announce that the circus is back in town.

But, wait, why aren't the people happy about the arrival of the Big Show? There is no cheering because this is the Circus of the Bankers, arriving in Washington, D.C. ...

Updated: Thu Jul 30, 2009

Non-Organic Organic Food for 08/05/2009

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

When it comes to a healthy diet, I am not a purist. Too late for that because I grew up eating such culinary concoctions as toasted sandwiches constructed of Spam, white bread and that oddly orange, oddly spongy cheeselike stuff known as Velveeta.

As an adult, I even have been irresponsible enough to serve as a taster, judge and promoter of Spam creations that were served at a now-defunc ...

Updated: Wed Aug 05, 2009

The "Anti-Starbucks" Starbucks for 08/12/2009

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

There's a joke going around that Starbucks has so saturated the coffee market that it is now opening new Starbucks stores inside its old stores.

Well, not quite — not yet — but the corporate coffee colossus is presently trying to expand through an equally bizarre marketing strategy: By disowning its globally ubiquitous brand name.

With Starbucks' sales declining as mor ...

Updated: Wed Aug 12, 2009

Taking Us for a Ride on Health Care for 08/19/2009

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

If you get a thrill from taking a white-knuckle ride on a loop-the-loop, you don't have to wait for the state fair — just hop onto the right-wing express, which is plunging into ludicrous levels of loopiness in an effort to kill Barack Obama's health care reform plan.

You'll shriek with astonishment as alarmist right-wing pundits and politicos hurtle you past reality, past credulit ...

Updated: Wed Aug 19, 2009

Raising Astroturf for 08/26/2009

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

"Hey, Hey, what do you say? Make some noise, seize the day!"

Protests are back! All across America, angry demonstrations are popping up like mushrooms on moldy Astroturf.

Similar to the plastic "grass," political astroturf is the corporate version of grassroots — instead of ordinary citizens organizing and mobilizing themselves for political action, astro ...

Updated: Wed Aug 26, 2009

Holding Wall Street Bankers Accountable for 09/02/2009

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Don't you wish that someone in authority, someone with an ounce of chutzpah, someone with his or her head screwed on right, would direct a few obvious, pointed, even rude questions to the Wall Street honchos who have ripped off America?

Questions like: Who, exactly, in your bank directed the rip-off? Who made these stupid decisions? Who — by name — is accountable for this mes ...

Updated: Wed Sep 02, 2009

The Reality of Economic Recovery for 09/09/2009

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Great news, America! Having just celebrated Labor Day, we can now bask in the revelation that our long economic nightmare is over. Forget recession, much less a depression, our country is poised to spring into a new era of financial prosperity!

We know that this is so because we're being told so by top economists, Wall Street bankers and others in the know. To put the icing on this happy ...

Updated: Wed Sep 09, 2009

A "Smart Choice" That Isn't for 09/16/2009

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Smart is the new cool thing. There's a smart car, cities now tout smart growth, and you can buy a smart refrigerator. Now comes another breakthrough: Even your breakfast cereal has gotten smart.

At least that's what we consumers are being told by a group of major food corporations that are hoping to cash-in on the growing public concern about nutrition. Your concern is their concern, the ...

Updated: Wed Sep 16, 2009

"Local" Goes Loco for 09/23/2009

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

In "Through the Looking Glass," Humpty Dumpty declared, "When I use a word, it means what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less."

Mr. Dumpty would have loved living in our era of corporate-speak, when even a plain word of obvious meaning can be dumped down the semantical rabbit hole to be swirled and twirled by marketing meisters.

Then — sproing! &md ...

Updated: Wed Sep 23, 2009

Wall Street's New Halloween Trick for 09/30/2009

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Halloween is still a month away, but ghouls, ghosts and other grotesque creatures are already roaming America's streets, possibly preparing to knock at your door. What makes them so scream-out-loud horrifying is that they are the newly issued spawn of — shriek! — Wall Street.

The very same greed-fueled bankers who brought us the disaster of 2008's financial crash hav ...

Updated: Wed Sep 30, 2009

Goofing up Health Care Reform for 10/07/2009

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

America's shouting match over health care reform has turned completely goofy — and I'm not talking about confused seniors at teabag rallies getting red-faced with anger after being told by the right-wing scare machine that "government is trying to taker over Medicare." No, I'm talking about our United States senators.

Take Max Baucus. Please! He's the lightweight Montana ...

Updated: Wed Oct 07, 2009

Obama Must Get Going on Jobs for 10/14/2009

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Five days before taking the oath of office, Barack Obama called on the millions of people who had actively campaigned for him to be the engine for real change in America: "I don't want them to just sit around and wait for me to do something. I want them to be pushing their agendas."

He asked for it, so let's shove this agenda into his line of vision: jobs. Middle-class jobs. Jo ...

Updated: Wed Oct 14, 2009

A Corporate Monster v. "The Vermonster" for 10/21/2009

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Where are those lawsuit abuse groups when you really need them?

Chance are that you've seen ads, letters-to-the-editor, op-ed pieces and other materials put out by outfits with such civic-sounding names on Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse. By whatever name, the message is always the same, usually delivered in a sort of urgent, basso profundo voice saying something like this: "Bloodsuc ...

Updated: Wed Oct 21, 2009

Healthcare Hypocrites for 10/28/2009

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

How do you spell "hypocrisy"?

Try this: "H-Y-P-O-C-O-N-G-R-E-S-S." The hypocongress consists of those Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats who have risen up on their hind legs in recent weeks to snarl and howl at any mention of a government role in meeting America's health care needs. "Socialism," they bark — we won't allow Barack Obama and the liberals ...

Updated: Wed Oct 28, 2009

Who Deserves Wall Street Bonuses? for 11/04/2009

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Wall Street bankers are really mad these days — in both senses of that word!

You'd think these whizzes of speculative finance would be ecstatically happy and filled with gratitude, not anger. After all, having crashed our economy, they were allowed to keep their cushy jobs, get bailed out with trillions of our tax dollars, and permitted to go right back to playing the same old casi ...

Updated: Wed Nov 04, 2009

Real Recovery Is Easy to Spell: J-O-B-S for 11/11/2009

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The recession is over! The economy is growing! The Dow Jones is above 10,000! Bankers are pocketing profits and fat bonuses! Happy days are here again!

Unless, of course, you're just a regular working stiff struggling with falling income and rising unemployment — and sensing that your family's grip on middle-class life is steadily slipping away. Welcome to America's tinkle-down eco ...

Updated: Wed Nov 11, 2009

The Worthiness of Banker Charity for 11/18/2009

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

"Repent," the preacher cried out, startling those who heard him.

This was no street evangelist ranting at the passing crowd, but the archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Church of England. His sharp admonition was pointed directly at a particular set of sinners, who undoubtedly had never given any thought to the morality of their actions: the barons of global banking.

Updated: Wed Nov 18, 2009