Roubini: Marx Was Right - Capitalism Can Destroy Itself

LAST WORD
Mainstream Economist: Marx Was Right. Capitalism May Be Destroying Itself (AlterNet) Wall Street Journal interview with Nouriel Roubini is a mainstream economist who teaches at New York University and may be best known as one of the early predictors of the '08 crash.  "Karl Marx had it right.  At some point, Capitalism can destroy itself.  You cannot keep on shifting income from labor to Capital without having an excess capacity and a lack of aggregate demand.  That's what has happened."

Talk Talk: Who is Obama in 2012?

Every week CUIP's president Jacqueline Salit and strategist/philosopher Fred Newman watch the political talk shows and discuss them. Here are excerpts from their dialogues compiled on Sunday, February 28, 2010 after watching selections from "Hardball with Chris Matthews," "The Charlie Rose Show," "Tavis Smiley" and "Meet the Press."  

Newman: So choosing comprehensive healthcare reform as their dominant cause meant that the partnership, such as it is, between Obama and the Democratic Party, was going to be dominated by the Democratic Party.

Salit: So, it's not that Obama turned the issue over to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. It's that it came from them.

Newman: Yes. I don't know that Obama fully agreed to that part but I don't think he had much choice. The party did win that "internal" fight.

Salit: Yes.

Newman: And now Obama is obliged to lead this fight.

Salit: I'm assuming the Democrats have a Plan B.

Newman: Of course. The Democratic Party are not dumbbells.

Read Talk/Talk in its entirety here.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 9/7/09

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

According to the polls, independents are abandoning unions, Obama and the progressive agenda. Or did the unions, Pres. Obama and progressives abandon independents to the right?

• Labor Day, support for unions plunges to all-time low (By: BYRON YORK, Chief Political Correspondent, Washington Examiner) Broken down by political party, Gallup found support for unions has fallen the most among critically-important independent voters. Last year, 63 percent of independents said they approved of unions. Now, just 44 percent say the same thing.
• Labor Unions See Sharp Slide in U.S. Public Support-For first time, fewer than half of Americans approve of labor unions (by Lydia Saad, Gallup)
• Obama is fast losing white voters' support (By Peter Wallsten, LA Times) New surveys show steep declines in Obama's approval ratings among whites -- including Democrats and independents -- who were crucial elements of the diverse coalition that helped elect the country's first black president. Pew Research crosstabs
• Bleeding Independents (by Charlie Cook, National Journal) Indies support Obama's foreign policy, not so much domestic...

OPEN PRIMARIES

Good news for Idaho independents (and all voters)! California referendum in June 2010.

• Federal judge wants trial in election suit (By REBECCA BOONE - Associated Press, KBCI-CBS News) Harry Kresky, the New York-based attorney representing the Independent groups who intervened in the case, said he was pleased with Winmill's ruling, because it means that the Idaho Republican Party will be held to a higher standard of proof if they want to win the case.
• Judge sets trial on Idaho primaries (Betsy Z. Russell, Spokesman Review)
• Judge Says Trial Needed in Idaho Republican Party Case Against Open Primary (Ballot Access News)
• California Election Law Bill News (Ballot Access News)
• Open primary could help ease Sacramento gridlock (Martin Wisckol, Columnist: The Buzz, The Orange County Register)

GOVERNORS RACES

Chris Daggett is giving them a run for their money in New Jersey. Redux on toll road in Texas?

• A positive campaign in the race for governor? (Press of Atlantic City/ Carla Linz Callaway's Blog)
• NJ governor's race gets down and dirty (by Politico.com in Star Ledger)
• Texas gov's opponent uses toll road plan as ammo (By KELLEY SHANNON, Dallas Morning News)

BLOOMBERG 09

Colin Powell and Mike Bloomberg marched at the front of the Caribbean West Indian Day Parade today in Brooklyn; Lenora Fulani and the Independence Party are supporting Bloomberg for re-election on the Independence Party line Column C. The Independence Party is the third largest party in New York.

• Colin Powell Endorses Bloomberg at West Indian Day Parade (By KAREN ZRAICK AND JENNIFER 8. LEE, NY Times/City Room)
• Hankster VIDEO from Caribbean West Indian Day Parade with a statement by Lenora Fulani
• The Leonard Lopate Show - Underreported: The Fight for the Independence Party (WNYC radio broadcast)

HEALTH CARE DEBATE

Socialism or capitalism? What about having a developmental conversation?

• Obama’s in the ER but he’ll get his reforms: The right’s healthcare scare tactics are hitting home – but to little purpose (Andrew Sullivan, Times Online - UK)
• David Axelrod on "Meet the Press" (TRANSCRIPT on RealClearPolitics)
• TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads (Jason Linkins, Huffington Post EXCERPT) Obama's approval rating among independent voters is slipping. Gregory's assumption is that independent voters=centrist democrats. I have to imagine that independent voters are souring on Obama's health care maneuvers because he DOES NOT SEEM TO WANT TO FIGHT FOR THE REFORM FOR WHICH THEY VOTED.
• The Obama Slide (By DAVID BROOKS, NY Times)

Talk Talk: Labor, Capital and Consistency

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Every weekend CUIP's president Jacqueline Salit and strategist and philosopher Fred Newman watch the political talk shows and discuss them. Here are excerpts from their dialogues compiled on Sunday, May 24, 2009 after watching selections from "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," and several Charlie Rose interviews. Read the entire Talk Talk here. Salit: How would you characterize what is going on in the world?   Newman: That's what I'm characterizing, what's going on.   Salit: Are you agreeing that it will work?   Newman: I'm not agreeing that it's going to work.   Salit: OK.   Newman: But that's what's going on. And it might work for some time, and I'm even agreeing that it might be what's needed right now to get the world over the hump of the current crisis. But I don't know that it's where things have to wind up. I think the interests of capital are, in some fundamental sense, antithetical to the interests of labor.   Salit: So, in other words, it's not clear there can be a workable synthesis?   Newman: Yes. But that's a different discussion.    Read Talk Talk in its entirety here.

Talk Talk: Pirates, Policy and a Pooch

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Every weekend CUIP's president Jacqueline Salit and strategist and philosopher Fred Newman watch the political talk shows and discuss them. Here are excerpts from their dialogues compiled on Sunday, April 19, 2009 after watching selections from "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," "The Chris Matthews Show," a Charlie Rose interview and "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."    Newman: When you look at the picture on the front page of the Times where Chavez and Obama are shaking hands, it seems to me that the first thing you see is that two people of color are shaking hands.   Salit: Yes.   Newman: And that overwhelms any of the substantive issues that they may or may not discuss in Trinidad. It's a very big change for them. And for us. That's a big cultural, human, psychological factor.   Salit: I had a similar thought when I looked at the photograph.   Newman: One's a communist. One's part socialist, part capitalist. But they're both people of color. One has enough oil. One has too little oil. But that's not the issue.   Read Talk Talk in its entirety here.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Gary Andres says independents could save the Repubs... [Reminder: Gary doesn't believe in independents]
  
• Andrew Sullivan talks about the Pew Polarization factor
  
• Capitalism 35, Socialism 27
  
• Crain's New York confuses Nassau with NYC Independence Party...
  

Business as Usual or Capitalist Greed?

Any blog that quotes John Steinbeck, Karl Marx and B.C. Forbes can't be all bad, right? Especially when the post is on Wednesday... Check out Jack Jodell at The Saturday Afternoon Post!

Talk Talk: Out of Chaos Comes...

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Below are excerpts from this week's Talk Talk, Out of Chaos Comes... .  Every Sunday CUIP's president Jacqueline Salit and strategist and philosopher Fred Newman watch the political talk shows and discuss them. Here are excerpts from their dialogue on Sunday, December 21, 2008 after watching "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer", several Charlie Rose Interviews" and "The Chris Matthews Show".   Newman: I'm the world's most outspoken advocate for that position. That's been true for nearly the entirety of my life. But it doesn't follow that opportunity will win out. You have to appreciate that chaos might win in different cases.   Salit: That chaos might win out over the creation of a new system which is stable and progressive?   Newman: Yes. It might prove that no such system is creatable. History might tell us that.   Salit: But, we don't know.   Newman: Right. Is this a situation that is ultimately unmanageable or is it one of those manageable dialectical situations Kissinger is so fond of? I don't know. I don't think he knows. I don't think anybody knows.   Salit: So, progress and development can emerge out of chaos but are not a necessary outcome of chaos.   Newman: Yes. But, I would go so far as to say that it's only possible out of chaos.   Read Talk Talk in its entirety here.