US Military Spending Is No Longer A Sacred Cow

Word is out all around Washington that the Obama Administration plans to cut US defense programs by $78 billion and 70,000 troops by 2015. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a holdover from the Bush Administration with credibility within the military community, is spearheading the administration’s press on this issue. Separately, Eric Cantor, the new majority leader

The Effort to Claim that Economists Support Obama’s Capitulation on Tax Cuts for the Wealthy

by William K. Black You know the administration is desperate when it creates a web page citing economists who support its capitulation on taxes. The web page cites the support of five economists. Peter Cardillo, the Bank of America, Greg Mankiw, and Wells Fargo (are the second through fifth economists on Obama’s list). Who are

Obama in his own words on the proposed tax cut deal

Obama’s Bushism

I almost feel naïve for being so angry at President Obama’s betrayal of his campaign promises regarding taxes. I had never harbored much hope that he actually intended to enact the reforms that his supporters expected – not after he appointed the most right-wing of the Clintonomics gang, Larry Summers, then Tim Geithner, Ben Bernanke and other Bush neoliberals.

But there is something so unfair and wrong that I could not prevent myself from waking up early Tuesday morning to think through the consequences of President Obama’s sellout in the years to come. Contrary to his pretense of saving the economy, his action will intensify debt deflation and financial depression, paving the way for a long-term tax shift off wealth onto labor.

A few thoughts on the tax cut compromise

The tax cut deal is in. I would agree with Felix Salmon’s take, that "this is tax cutting, Oprah-style: you get a tax cut! And you get a tax cut! And you! And you! You all get a tax cut!" Since Democrats and Republicans were never going to agree on which tax cuts were a

Whose Side is the White House On?

In a speech given on November 20, 2010 at the ADA Education Fund’s Post-election Conference at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Professor James K. Galbraith asks for whom President Obama is really working

On Knowing When To Be An Asshole And Other Links

I caught this post by Greg Sargent at the Washington Post, "The Plum Line – Obama: GOP successfully outplayed us on health reform", which shows Obama realizing he screwed up last year by bending over backwards during the healthcare debate to get Republicans like Olympia Snowe on side. Sargent quotes from Richard Wolfe’s book on

Mr. Obama’s Most Recent "2%" Sellout is his Worst Yet

by Michael Hudson Now that President Obama is almost celebrating his willingness to renew the tax cuts enacted under George Bush for the super-rich ten years ago, it is time for Democrats to ask themselves how strongly they are willing to oppose an administration that looks increasingly like Bush-Cheney III. Is this what they expected

Taiwanese Animation: US-Sino Currency Rap Battle

Another economic parody

Obama’s economic agenda for re-election

US President Barack Obama was on "60 Minutes" last night in an interview taped on Thursday. He gave a synopsis of his thinking about the recent US mid-term elections. Here is a bit of what he had to say as written by CBS which televised the interview (see "Obama and the GOP Prepare for the

A few comments about Tuesday’s election’s impact on the economy

I have been meaning to put together a few comments about the election on Tuesday but I haven’t had the time to string anything together. But an enlightening video from Tech Ticker with Jamie Galbraith provides some good fodder. So let me say a few lot of words now. Here’s the story: Obamanomics is a

No Mr. President, Larry Summers Did Not Resolve the Financial Crisis for a Pittance, He Just Papered Over the Problem

by William K. Black William K. Black is an Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is a white-collar criminologist and was a senior financial regulator. He is the author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One. I passed up the obvious title: "Heckuva