Top Ny Times News

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Tuesday, 4 June 2013

The Benign Sounding Trans-Pacific Partnership Is NAFTA On Steroids

Posted on 14:00 by Ashish Chaturvedi

Obamabots sometimes waste their time sending me letters asking me to stop exposing negative crap about Obama. Why don't they just write to Obama and ask him to stop generating so much negative crap? When I was deciding the reasons why I wouldn't be voting for Obama in 2012-- which was a big deal to me since it was the first presidential election in my life in which I didn't vote for the Democrat-- one of the many bullet points was his anti-working family trade policies. There were at least a dozen other reasons on the list, but Obama's catastrophic trade policies-- basically the same as Clinton's and both Bushs'-- was enough of a reason to vote against him alone. Megan Wilson interviewed Alan Grayson this week for The Hill about one aspect of Obama's latest folly on trade. Obama's Wall Street allies kicked down $6,376,619 for 2012 (and $16,924,110 in 2008), so about $23 million towards his presidential campaigns. This newest proposal he's making is a big fat wet kiss to these special interests.
The proposed U.S.-EU trade deal includes an investor-state dispute resolution that would enable companies to directly sue foreign governments involved in a treaty. It has been standard fare in trade deals for decades and is intended to hold governments accountable for reneging on contracts or agreements and changing regulations.

“This is one of the tools you could use... to get bad governments to do what they've committed to do,” said William Reinsch, the president of the National Foreign Trade Council, a business trade group dedicated to trade and investment issues that boasts members such as Boeing and Caterpillar.

Opponents have long railed against the trade courts, arguing that giving multinational corporations the ability to directly challenge a foreign government in an international tribunal threatens public and environmental safeguards.

Laws and regulations “reflect the actions of democratic government,” Grayson told The Hill, calling the provision “an organized assault against middle-class Americans and against democracy.”

The cases in the tribunals created by these investor-state disagreements are decided by three attorneys, who public interest groups say shuffle from acting as judges and representing corporations.

Corporations should not “get the right to sue in front of a rigged system where the outcome is preordained,” Grayson said.

...In the letter, Grayson says the investor-state negotiation provisions “undermine sovereignty without significantly increasing trade.”

“These kinds of provisions have been used to undermine country-of-origin meat labels, dolphin-safe tuna labeling requirements, regulation of hydraulic fracking,” he said. “These are not fundamentally questions of trade; why are they governed by so-called ‘trade agreements?’”

...“The issues [Congress] addresses falls into two categories: High-profile issues and low-profile issues,” Grayson said. “Lobbyists are very effective at influencing lawmakers on low-profile issues, like isolating one provision out of a 600-page bill.”

He said he wants to “change the category” of the investor-state dispute resolution by sharing his views.

“If not for this kind of effort, members would be able to support a bill like this because the public wouldn't know about it. ... Lawmakers will know that people will be judging them on this issue.”
Yesterday Grayson wasn't the only one talking about our elite's economy-destroying trade policies. Curtis Ellis explained the significance of the U.S. selling off productive parts of our economy to China in return for cheap manufactured goods and 21st Century trinkets. Curtis used Smithfield's sale to China's Shuanghui Group as the example and he asserts it's even worse than just finding antifreeze and other toxins in our Christmas hams from now on.
Smithfield's sale to Shuanghui is a direct result of our trade deficit with China, which was $295 billion in 2011. We send boatloads of money to China every day in return for the cheap consumer merchandise filling our store shelves and shopping malls. Apologists say we should send China a thank you note for 'everyday low prices,' but we don't need to-- we send them the money they use to buy our productive enterprises.

As long as we continue to run persistent trade deficits with China we'll see more deals like Smithfield and Nexteer, the one-time GM and Delphi steering operation controlled by China's biggest aerospace company. And while the doctrine of shareholder value pretty much shredded the social contract between corporations and the communities in which they operate, the rise of absentee landlords like Shuanghui takes it to the next level, with even less commitment to an American workforce being paid a living wage.
Smithfield does more than pack meat-- it's a vertically integrated operation that raises 15 million pigs a year in industrial hog operations that feed its slaughterhouses. If, as analysts say, the Smithfield sale is about supplying pork to China, we can expect a hundred factory farms to bloom and a further crackdown on efforts to regulate them and the toxic waste they produce. Industrial ag sponsors gag laws to criminalize documenting what goes on inside its operations. Now, the hands holding the gag and paying the lobbyists will be Chinese, if that makes any difference.

We don't know if China's abysmal record in food safety will become the benchmark for Smithfield. But it's safe to say that top management is not steeped in a culture of high standards-- just two years ago, Shuanghui was accused of feeding a dangerous additive to pigs destined for human consumption. Don't expect Smithfield's new owners to champion higher standards in the industrial food chain.

The FDA and food safety regulators have been captured by industrial agribusiness (a complex which includes Big Pharma, since factory farms are the largest customers for antibiotics made in China). U.S. government regulators will now be getting their marching orders from Chinese bosses. You could argue this will make little difference considering the lack of patriotic identity in the corporate suites of American-in-name-only companies. But if there's a choice between supplying more hog carcasses to China or preserving the health of Americans, you can be sure the decision will be made in a Shanghai minute.

When government regulators answer to those they are tasked to oversee and those in control are of foreign agency, the situation bears more than a passing resemblance to a banana republic.

The pliant governments of the original banana republics served foreign corporations. Today, our elected representatives prostitute themselves to those who can finance their campaigns and provide lucrative employment upon retirement from public office.

We've been accustomed to the paymasters having American monikers. No more. Now, they could be a state-owned enterprise from Henan, China as well as a private equity firm from Manhattan (or both at the same time).

In this late stage of globalization, stateless corporations with no loyalty to any country call the shots the world over, all nations reduced to virtual banana republics. Arrangements such as the TransPacific Partnership make this understanding explicit as they seek to bring national representative governments to heel under global corporatist rule.

We may not be able to do anything about Smithfield, but to preserve the promise of representative self-government in the USA, we must stop the TransPacific Partnership.
So who in Congress is backing Obama's disastrous TransPacific Partnership scheme that will be so destructive to ordinary working families? Well, basically all the Republicans and the entire Republican wing of the Democratic Party (the New Dems). Actual Democrats-- not the "New," corrupt right-wing iteration-- are opposing the latest corporate bag of tricks.

Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chairs Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) pointed out last week that "[a]t a time when our efforts should be focused on putting people back to work, the Trans-Pacific Partnership will send American resources and jobs overseas, forcing working families already hurt by the Great Recession to get by on less and less. The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a free trade agreement of unprecedented size and scope, easily dwarfing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Since the passage of NAFTA in 1994, U.S trade policy has relied almost exclusively on free-trade agreements to gain foreign access for American businesses. The result has devastated the wages of working Americans, as corporations flee the United States to employ low wage workers abroad. The Trans-Pacific Partnership is NAFTA on steroids. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 5 million Americans have lost manufacturing jobs since the passage of NAFTA. Americans who are unable to go to college lose $3,300 of income every year due to NAFTA-induced trade and offshoring. TPP does not reverse this trend. It will export NAFTA’s failures across the Pacific and put more Americans out of work. There is a reason Washington wants to keep the Trans-Pacific Partnership secret from the American people. This agreement could be the biggest destroyer of American jobs coming out of Washington this year. We should encourage real fair trade, not the destruction of American jobs and communities.”


And last week, Jim McDermott, one of the clearest and strongest progressive voices advocating Fair Trade policies penned an OpEd for Roll Call on the subject of how Big Pharma and it's lobbyists have captured captured the Trans-Pacific Partnership for its own purposes. Those purposes don't bode well for... anyone else, and especially not for poor sick in need of medical care.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is being negotiated right now. It includes 10 countries of the Pacific Rim, including developing countries such as Peru, Malaysia and Vietnam. If the TPP agreement is done right, it will encourage and support American exports and create needed jobs in the United States. The critical intellectual property provisions of the pact should protect inventors and developers of breakthrough innovations, but they cannot be so restrictive that they cost millions of lives in less developed countries.

At the beginning of TPP negotiations two years ago, for reasons that are unclear, the U.S. asked the other 10 countries to accept new and very rigid intellectual property measures that would greatly limit availability of the affordable generic medicines that the success of U.S.-supported global health programs require. For example, more than 98 percent of HIV/AIDS medicines used to fight AIDS in Africa are generics, mostly made in Asia.

The United States is currently party to many international agreements that include strong intellectual property protections. These agreements protect innovation, including 20-year patents on new drugs, but they also allow enough flexibility for poorer countries to respond to public health needs with accessible, low-cost drugs. We worked hard to get these rules in place and they are working well.

But the U.S.’ current TPP proposal on medicines upends the present well-structured balance by extending monopoly protections much further. It would force people in developing countries to wait longer for affordable medicines, if they can access them at all. It would extend patents beyond the current 20-year norm and block national regulators from using existing clinical trial data to approve the production of generic or “bio-similar” drugs.

Alarmingly, the proposal also outlaws “pre-grant opposition” that allows doctors and patients to provide information to their governments about patents they believe do not meet national rules, an important democratic safeguard. The proposal also requires the patenting of new versions of old medicines, even when the new versions offer no additional therapeutic benefits. It even requires patenting of surgical, therapeutic and diagnostic methods, which not only is unethical but also could increase medical liability and the cost of practice.
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Posted in Alan Grayson, Big Pharma, Jim McDermott, Keith Ellison, NAFTA, Raul Grijalva, trade policies, Trans-Pacific Partnership | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • Another Manifestation Of The GOP Civil War: Utah's 2 Republicans Parted Ways On Immigration Reform
    Mike Lee & Orrin Hatch What's a Republicano to do? The racist, hate-filled base they've nurtured equates comprehensive immigrat...
  • How Badly Will Obama's Chained CPI Error Hurt Democrats In The Midterms?
    Social Security has long been the third rail of American politics. It has generally kept Republican predators, fearful of losing their caree...
  • Sunday Classics (double) preview: Enter the bird-catcher; exit Sir Colin Davis
    Colin Davis (1927-2013) at home by Ken As I must have mentioned, one of my core LPs in the early getting-to-know-music stage was a budget Se...
  • New York GOP: Cruzin' For A Bruisin'
    I know that the New York State Republican Party had a golden age... but it wasn't during the 20 years I lived in New York-- nor in the d...
  • New Dems Vs Actual Democrats-- Chained CPI
    The Blue Dogs are a discredited, spent force, essentially wiped out in the Great Blue Dog Apocalypse of 2010 when Democratic voters in their...
  • Mark Smith, Democratic Candidate For Pennsylvania Lt Governor, Rocks... In More Ways Than One
    I've only been to the Bahamas once; it was to visit the legendary, now shuttered, Compass Point Studios in Nassau, where one of our band...
  • EMILY's List Up It Its Old Tricks Again... Trying To Slip In A Corrupt Conservative Over A Progressive Because They Like The Plumbing's Better
    Except when it's bad women candidates like Michele Bachmann, Colleen Hanbusa or Katherine Clark  I got into a friendly Twitter argument ...
  • "Free" Trade-- Another Way For Conservatives To Undermine Democracy
    In the closing to his brilliant book, The Fifteen Biggest Lies About The Economy , Joshua Holland takes on the misleading notion of 'fre...
  • Will Hanabusa's Political Cowardice on LGBT Issues Come Into Play In The Hawai'i Senate Race?
    Last week we took a look at a contentious Senate race shaping up in Hawai'i between progressive incumbent Brian Schatz and more conserv...
  • The new Men's Wearhouse slogan: "You're going to look like crap probably, but now that the old guy's history, see if we care"
    "You're going to like the way you look. I guarantee it." by Ken Ah, so that's what it was. It seems that in the three mont...

Categories

  • 1848 (1)
  • 1896 presidential election (1)
  • 2012 congressional races (2)
  • 2014 congressional races (34)
  • 2014 gubernatorial races (8)
  • 2016 presidential race (6)
  • 9/11 (1)
  • Aaron Schock (1)
  • abortions (1)
  • accountability (1)
  • ACLU (1)
  • Adam Schiff (3)
  • affirmative action (3)
  • Afghanistan (3)
  • Afghanistan War spending (2)
  • Agriculture Committee (2)
  • Al Kamen (3)
  • Alabama (1)
  • Alan Grayson (19)
  • Alaska (4)
  • Alito (3)
  • Allen West (1)
  • Allyson Schwartz (3)
  • Amnesty International (1)
  • Andrew Hounshell (10)
  • Andrew Maguire (1)
  • Andy Borowitz (2)
  • Ann Callis (1)
  • Ann Coulter (2)
  • Ann Kirkpatrick (1)
  • Ann McLane Kuster (3)
  • Anthony Kennedy (1)
  • Anthony Weiner (1)
  • anti-Semitism (2)
  • Antonin Scalia (2)
  • Appalachian Trail (1)
  • Apple (2)
  • Arizona (6)
  • Arkansas (2)
  • arms trade (1)
  • Army Wives (1)
  • Art Pope (2)
  • Asa Hutchinson (1)
  • Ashburn (3)
  • Asheville (2)
  • austerity (7)
  • Ayatollah Khamanei (1)
  • Ayotte (1)
  • Baca (2)
  • bankruptcy (1)
  • banks (1)
  • banksters (5)
  • Barack Obama (2)
  • Barbara Buono (5)
  • Barney Frank (1)
  • Barrow (6)
  • Bartiromo (1)
  • Beethoven (5)
  • Beltway Dems (1)
  • Beltway journalism (1)
  • Berlioz (1)
  • Bernie Sanders (12)
  • Beyonce (1)
  • Big Oil (7)
  • Big Pharma (1)
  • bigotry (7)
  • Bill Johnson (1)
  • Bill McKibben (2)
  • Bill Moyers (1)
  • bipartisanship (3)
  • Blanche Lincoln (1)
  • bloggers (1)
  • Blue America (1)
  • Blue Dogs (5)
  • Bob Graham (1)
  • Bob Lord (1)
  • Bob Mankoff (3)
  • Bob Scheer (1)
  • Boehner (4)
  • Boehnerland (1)
  • Boston Marathon (6)
  • Brian Schatz (7)
  • bribery (3)
  • Brownback (1)
  • Bruno Walter (3)
  • Bryan Fischer (1)
  • Buck McKeon (11)
  • budget cuts (3)
  • budget deficits (1)
  • Burgess (1)
  • Bush library (1)
  • Bush Regime law-breaking (2)
  • Bush trade policies (1)
  • Bush v. Gore (1)
  • CA-25 (2)
  • CA-45 (1)
  • Calhoun (1)
  • California (7)
  • campaign finance reform (1)
  • Canada (1)
  • Cantor (3)
  • Carl Levin (1)
  • Carl Sciortino (4)
  • Carol Shea-Porter (1)
  • Catholic Church (1)
  • CDC (1)
  • Cecil Bothwell (1)
  • certifiably insane Republicans (2)
  • Chaffetz (1)
  • Chamber of Commerce (1)
  • Charlie Crist (3)
  • Chellie Pingree (1)
  • Cheri Bustos (1)
  • Chicago (2)
  • Chile (1)
  • Chimpy the Prez (1)
  • China (4)
  • Chocola (1)
  • Choice (3)
  • Chris Christie (8)
  • Chris Hayes (7)
  • Chris Matthews (1)
  • Chris Van Hollen (1)
  • CISPA (5)
  • civil rights (4)
  • Clarence Thomas (1)
  • class war (1)
  • clean energy (1)
  • climate (1)
  • climate change (5)
  • Club for Growth (1)
  • Coal (1)
  • Coffman (1)
  • Colbert (6)
  • Collin Peterson (1)
  • Colorado (1)
  • comedy (1)
  • Congress (1)
  • Congressional Budget Office (1)
  • congressional ethics (1)
  • conservadems (5)
  • Conservative Consensus (2)
  • conspiracy theories (1)
  • Constitution of the U.S. (1)
  • contest (3)
  • Corey Robin (1)
  • corporate governance (1)
  • corporate welfare (2)
  • corrupt Democrats (1)
  • Cory Booker (3)
  • Cory Gardner (1)
  • cost of Iraq war (1)
  • courageousness (2)
  • cowardly Dems (1)
  • crack use by Republicans (1)
  • crazy extremists (3)
  • crime and punishment (1)
  • Cuba (1)
  • Culture of Corruption (13)
  • Cyprus (4)
  • DADT (1)
  • Dan Maffei (1)
  • Dana Milbank (4)
  • Darrell Issa (7)
  • David Bowie (1)
  • David Cameron (1)
  • David Chase (1)
  • David Cicilline (2)
  • David Frum (1)
  • David Gill (1)
  • David Neiwert (2)
  • David Vitter (1)
  • Daylin Leach (13)
  • DC (1)
  • DCCC (24)
  • DEA (1)
  • Dean Baker (1)
  • Debbie Wasserman Schultz (6)
  • DEBKA (1)
  • debt ceiling (1)
  • Dede Scozzafava (1)
  • deficits (1)
  • DeMint (2)
  • Democrats (1)
  • derivatives (2)
  • DesJarlais (1)
  • Dianne Feinstein (1)
  • Diaz-Balart (1)
  • Dick Armey (2)
  • Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (1)
  • Difference between 2 parties (1)
  • digital dementia (1)
  • disappointment with Obama (1)
  • Dolce & Gabbana (1)
  • DOMA (5)
  • domestic spying (8)
  • domestic terrorism (1)
  • Don Young (1)
  • Donna Edwards (1)
  • DREAM Act (1)
  • drones (4)
  • DSCC (4)
  • E. J. Dionne Jr. (2)
  • E.W. Jackson (1)
  • economic bubbles (1)
  • economic inequality (4)
  • economic sabotage (1)
  • Ed Markey (4)
  • Ed Marksberry (1)
  • Education (2)
  • Edward Snowden (4)
  • Egypt (5)
  • Eisenhower (1)
  • election integrity (1)
  • election theft (1)
  • electronic surveillance (2)
  • Elijah Cummings (1)
  • Eliot Engel (1)
  • elites (2)
  • Elizabeth Warren (8)
  • Ellen Corbett (1)
  • Elvis Costello (1)
  • EMILY's List (5)
  • eminent domain (1)
  • energy policy (1)
  • Enron (1)
  • environment (7)
  • EPA (2)
  • Eric Garcetti (3)
  • estate tax (1)
  • Etzioni (1)
  • European Union (3)
  • Evangelicals (1)
  • evolution (2)
  • extraterrestrials (1)
  • Ezra Klein (2)
  • FAA (1)
  • fake moderates (1)
  • Far Right (1)
  • Farm Bill (3)
  • fascism (5)
  • fast food (1)
  • FDR (1)
  • FEC (1)
  • federal regulatory agencies (3)
  • filibuster (2)
  • financial reform (1)
  • financial-services industry (1)
  • Fincher (2)
  • firefighters (1)
  • Florida (15)
  • Food Network (2)
  • food safety (1)
  • food stamps (3)
  • Fox Noise (2)
  • fracking (1)
  • France (1)
  • Frank Lautenberg (2)
  • Frank Luntz (1)
  • Frank Pallone (2)
  • Fred Upton (2)
  • free trade (3)
  • freedom (1)
  • FreedomWorks (1)
  • freshmen (1)
  • fundraising (2)
  • Gabby Giffords (1)
  • Gail Collins (1)
  • Gallego (1)
  • Garamendi (2)
  • Garrett (3)
  • Gary Miller (2)
  • Gatsby (1)
  • gay equality (5)
  • gay Republicans (10)
  • gender gap (1)
  • genocide (1)
  • Georg Solti (2)
  • George Carlin (1)
  • George Steinbrenner (1)
  • George Szell (1)
  • Georgia (6)
  • Germany (1)
  • Glenn Beck (1)
  • Glenn Greenwald (3)
  • Global Peace Index (1)
  • global warming (2)
  • Gloria Negrete McLeod (2)
  • GOP homophobia (5)
  • GOP racism (4)
  • Grassley (1)
  • Greece (2)
  • Greed and Selfishness (1)
  • Greg Sargent (1)
  • Greg Walden (2)
  • Guantanamo (2)
  • Guatemala (1)
  • gun control (15)
  • Haaretz (1)
  • Hanabusa (5)
  • Handel (2)
  • Harry Reid (1)
  • Hate Talk Radio (1)
  • Hawaii (5)
  • HBO (1)
  • health care (3)
  • health care reform (1)
  • health insurance (1)
  • healthy food (2)
  • Heather Mizeur (1)
  • Heidi Heitkamp (1)
  • Heritage Foundation (2)
  • higher education (3)
  • Hill (The) (1)
  • Hillary Clinton (3)
  • Hispanic voters (3)
  • History Channel (1)
  • homophobia (8)
  • Hong Kong (1)
  • hospitals (1)
  • House Agriculture Committee (1)
  • House Financial Services Committee (3)
  • House of Lords (1)
  • Howard Ahmanson (1)
  • Howard Dean (1)
  • Huffington Post (1)
  • hunger (1)
  • Hypocrisy (2)
  • Ian Welsh (1)
  • Iceland (1)
  • IL-13 (1)
  • IL-17 (1)
  • Illinois (3)
  • immigration (34)
  • income disparity (1)
  • infrastructure (1)
  • Inhofe (1)
  • Inland Empire (1)
  • internalized homophobia (1)
  • Internet (2)
  • Iowa (1)
  • IQ (1)
  • Ira Glass (1)
  • Iran (4)
  • Iraq War (1)
  • IRS (3)
  • Israel (4)
  • Italy (3)
  • Jack Eichenbaum (1)
  • Jack Kingston (2)
  • James Dobson (1)
  • James Surowiecki (1)
  • Jamie Oliver (1)
  • Jane Jacobs (1)
  • Japan (1)
  • Jared Huffman (1)
  • Jay Stamper (9)
  • Jay-Z (1)
  • Jeanne Shaheen (1)
  • Jeff Flake (4)
  • Jeff Merkley (1)
  • Jeff Sessions (2)
  • Jeffrey Sachs (1)
  • Jeffrey Toobin (2)
  • Jennifer Brunner (1)
  • Jennifer Garrison (1)
  • Jerry Nadler (2)
  • Jim Cooper (1)
  • Jim DeMint (1)
  • Jim Graves (5)
  • Jim Himes (2)
  • Jim McDermott (1)
  • Jimmy Carter (1)
  • Jindal (1)
  • Jobs Bill (1)
  • Joe Barton (3)
  • Joe Conason (2)
  • Joe Manchin (1)
  • Joe McNamara (1)
  • Joe Miller (2)
  • Joe Sestak (1)
  • John Aravosis (1)
  • John Barrow (2)
  • John Birch Society (1)
  • John Campbell (1)
  • John Conyers (1)
  • John Cornyn (1)
  • John Delaney (1)
  • John Fleming (2)
  • John Hanger (2)
  • John Kline (3)
  • John Nichols (1)
  • John Paul Stevens (1)
  • John Roberts (2)
  • John Shimkus (1)
  • Jon Vickers (2)
  • Jordan (1)
  • Josef Krips (3)
  • Joseph Crowley (2)
  • Joseph E. Stiglitz (1)
  • Joshua Holland (3)
  • Julian Assange (1)
  • Justin Amash (2)
  • Kansas (1)
  • Karl Boehm (2)
  • Keith Ellison (5)
  • Ken Calvert (1)
  • Ken Cuccinelli (5)
  • Ken Sanders (1)
  • Kentucky (2)
  • Kevin McCarthy (1)
  • Kevin Strouse (1)
  • Keystone XL Pipeline (6)
  • Kibbe (1)
  • Kirsten Gillibrand (1)
  • Klaus Tennstedt (1)
  • Kobach (1)
  • Koch (3)
  • Koch Industries (2)
  • Kolbe (2)
  • Korea (1)
  • Kyrsten Sinema (3)
  • L.A. Times (1)
  • Labor (1)
  • Lady Gaga (1)
  • Larry Flynt (1)
  • Lawrence O'Donnell Jr. (4)
  • Lawson (1)
  • Leadership (1)
  • Lee Fang (9)
  • Lee Rogers (5)
  • Leonard Bernstein (2)
  • LePage (2)
  • LGBT community (10)
  • LGBT equality (11)
  • Libya (1)
  • lies (1)
  • Limbaugh (1)
  • Lindsey Graham (13)
  • Lipinksi (1)
  • Liszt (1)
  • lobbyists (6)
  • Long Island (2)
  • Los Angeles (5)
  • Lou Vince (3)
  • Louie Gohmert (4)
  • Louisiana (2)
  • Mac Thornberry (1)
  • Macklemore (1)
  • Mad Men (1)
  • Magic Flute (2)
  • Maher (3)
  • Mahler (2)
  • Maine (2)
  • Malcolm Smith (1)
  • Malek (1)
  • Marc Maron (2)
  • Margaret Thatcher (4)
  • Marijuana (2)
  • Mark Begich (5)
  • Mark Foley (1)
  • Mark Kirk (1)
  • Mark Pocan (1)
  • Mark Pryor (2)
  • Mark Sanford (7)
  • marriage equality (10)
  • Martha Robertson (1)
  • Maryland (1)
  • Massachusetts (4)
  • Masterpiece Classic (1)
  • Matheson (4)
  • Matt Cartwright (1)
  • Matt Salmon (2)
  • Max Baucus (1)
  • Max Blumenthal (1)
  • Maxine Waters (1)
  • Mayors Against Illegal Guns (1)
  • McCain (2)
  • McCain's vindictiveness (1)
  • McCaul (1)
  • McClintock (1)
  • McCranky (1)
  • McCrory (2)
  • McDonnell (2)
  • McKeon (4)
  • media (2)
  • medical-industrial complex (1)
  • Medicare (1)
  • Melissa Harris-Perry (2)
  • Menendez (1)
  • Mica (3)
  • Michael Bennet (1)
  • Michael Bloomberg (5)
  • Michael Froman (1)
  • Michaud (1)
  • Michele Bachmann (9)
  • Michelle Nunn (4)
  • Michigan (2)
  • Middle (The) (1)
  • Mike Honda (4)
  • Mike Lee (1)
  • Mike Lux (2)
  • Mike McIntyre (7)
  • Mike Obermueller (1)
  • Mike Rogers (2)
  • Mike Ross (1)
  • military industrial complex (4)
  • minimum wage (2)
  • Minnesota (3)
  • Minutemen (1)
  • misogyny (2)
  • Mississippi (1)
  • Mitch McConnell (5)
  • Modern Family (1)
  • Molly Ivins (1)
  • Montana (1)
  • moral clarity (1)
  • Morning Sedition (2)
  • Morrissey (1)
  • Mozart (10)
  • Municipal Art Society (1)
  • Musharraf (1)
  • Music Business (1)
  • Muslim Brotherhood (1)
  • NAFTA (1)
  • Nan Rich (3)
  • Nanci Griffith (1)
  • Nancy Pelosi (1)
  • national parks (1)
  • National Security (3)
  • Nationals Park (1)
  • Neocons (1)
  • Nevada (1)
  • New Dems (20)
  • New Hampshire (2)
  • New Jersey (11)
  • New York (6)
  • New York Review of Books (1)
  • New York State (2)
  • New York Transit Museum (1)
  • New Yorker (The) (5)
  • Nick Ruiz (11)
  • Norman Solomon (1)
  • North Carolina (10)
  • NRA (17)
  • Nurse Jackie (1)
  • Obama's cabinet (1)
  • Obama's stimulus package (1)
  • Obamacans (1)
  • obesity (2)
  • obstructionist Republicans (12)
  • OccupyWallStreet (1)
  • offshore drilling (1)
  • OH-08 (2)
  • Ohio (5)
  • oil spill (1)
  • Oklahoma (1)
  • Olympia Snowe (1)
  • Orange County (1)
  • Orlando (2)
  • Orrin Hatch (1)
  • Otto Klemperer (3)
  • oversight (1)
  • PA-13 (3)
  • PA-17 (1)
  • Pakistan (1)
  • Palast (1)
  • Palin (2)
  • Pam's House Blend (1)
  • patent reform (1)
  • Patrick Murphy (5)
  • Patsy Keever (1)
  • Paul Broun (6)
  • Paul Clements (2)
  • Paul Kane (2)
  • Paul Krugman (3)
  • Paul Ryan (7)
  • Pennsylvania (7)
  • Pentagon (2)
  • perfidious Republicans (1)
  • Peter King (3)
  • PFAW (2)
  • Phil Gingrey (2)
  • plutocracy (2)
  • polling (1)
  • pollution (2)
  • Pope Francis (3)
  • post office (1)
  • Priebus (1)
  • primaries (6)
  • Pritzker (2)
  • Prop 8 (1)
  • public education (6)
  • Rachel Maddow (13)
  • racism (4)
  • Rafsanjani (1)
  • Rahm Emanuel (1)
  • Rana Husseini (5)
  • Rand Paul (1)
  • rape (5)
  • Raul Grijalva (4)
  • reactionary Democrats (1)
  • regulation (1)
  • Religionist bigotry (3)
  • religious bigotry (2)
  • religious fanatics (2)
  • renewables (1)
  • Renzi (1)
  • Republican brand (1)
  • Republican civil war (15)
  • Republican governors (1)
  • Republican hypocrisy (3)
  • Republican War on Science (2)
  • Republican War on Women (10)
  • retirements (2)
  • Richard and Mildred Loving (1)
  • Richard Mourdock (1)
  • Rick Perlstein (1)
  • Rick Perry (2)
  • Rick Santorum (1)
  • Rick Scott (2)
  • Rick Weiland (2)
  • right-wing bulllies (1)
  • Right-Wing Noise Machine (3)
  • Rivera (1)
  • Rob Ford (1)
  • Rob Portman (2)
  • Rob Zerban (4)
  • Robert Naiman (1)
  • Robert Reich (5)
  • Roberts Court (1)
  • Rodgers and Hammerstein (1)
  • Rohrabacher (2)
  • Ron Barber (3)
  • Ron Paul (2)
  • Ros-Lehtinen (2)
  • Rossini (1)
  • Royce (1)
  • Rubio (11)
  • Rudolf Serkin (1)
  • Rush Holt (2)
  • Russ Feingold (1)
  • Russia (1)
  • Ruth Bader Ginsburg (2)
  • Ryan Lizza (1)
  • same-sex marriage (1)
  • Sandy (2)
  • Sarah Palin- Attack Dog (1)
  • SB 1070 (1)
  • school lunches (1)
  • Schweitzer (1)
  • Science (1)
  • Scott Brown (1)
  • Sean Patrick Maloney (3)
  • secession (1)
  • Seinfeld (1)
  • Senate (1)
  • Senate 2014 (28)
  • Senate 2016 (2)
  • sequester (6)
  • sexism (2)
  • Shameless (1)
  • sheriff (3)
  • Sherrod Brown (1)
  • Simcox (1)
  • Social Security (20)
  • solar energy (2)
  • South Carolina (16)
  • South Dakota (3)
  • Spain (2)
  • special election MA (3)
  • special elections (2)
  • Spitzer (1)
  • Springsteen (1)
  • State Dept (1)
  • Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (2)
  • Stephen Colbert (1)
  • Stephen Lynch (1)
  • Steve Cohen (1)
  • Steve Israel (7)
  • Steve King (5)
  • Steve Stockman (1)
  • stolen valor (1)
  • student loans (6)
  • Sunday Classics (27)
  • Supreme Court (13)
  • Sviatoslav Richter (1)
  • Swalwell (1)
  • Sweden (1)
  • Syria (9)
  • TARP (1)
  • tax havens (1)
  • tax policies (2)
  • tax scofflaws (1)
  • Tea Party (5)
  • teabaggers (5)
  • Ted Cruz (8)
  • Ted Haggard (1)
  • Tennessee (2)
  • terrorism (1)
  • Terry McAuliffe (2)
  • Tesla (1)
  • Texas (4)
  • the nature of conservatism (12)
  • The Sopranos (1)
  • The South (1)
  • ThinkProgress (1)
  • Tim Johnson (2)
  • Tinker (1)
  • tobacco (1)
  • Todd Akin (2)
  • Toledo (1)
  • Tom Coburn (1)
  • Tom Cole (1)
  • Tom Corbett (2)
  • Tom Kean (1)
  • Tony Soprano (1)
  • Toomey (2)
  • Toronto (1)
  • trade policies (4)
  • Trans-Pacific Partnership (1)
  • Trent Franks (1)
  • triangulation (1)
  • Turkey (3)
  • TV Watch (12)
  • twitter (1)
  • U.S. attorneys (1)
  • U.S.-attorney purge (1)
  • UK elections (1)
  • UKIP (1)
  • Umair Haque (1)
  • UN (1)
  • unemployment (3)
  • union-busting (1)
  • unions (1)
  • Urban Gadabout (1)
  • Utah (1)
  • Van Jones (2)
  • violence against women (4)
  • Virginia (5)
  • voter suppression (1)
  • voting records (1)
  • voting rights (7)
  • wacko birds (1)
  • Wagner (4)
  • Wall Street (2)
  • Wall Street bailout (3)
  • Wall Street Journal (1)
  • Wall Street reform (5)
  • war on drugs (1)
  • War on Terror (1)
  • war powers (1)
  • Washington Post (4)
  • water resources (1)
  • Wendy Davis (1)
  • West Virginia (2)
  • Weyrich Lunch (1)
  • WI-1 (4)
  • Wisconsin (4)
  • women's equality (7)
  • work (1)
  • xenophobia (1)
  • Young Republicans (1)
  • youth vote (3)

Blog Archive

  • ▼  2013 (500)
    • ►  July (35)
    • ▼  June (150)
      • People For The American Way Makes The Case For Def...
      • The Supreme Court sends a message to would-be job ...
      • Sunday Classics: In "The Flying Dutchman" Wagner s...
      • Digital Dementia-- Is It For Real?
      • FEC Quarter Ends Today; Should You Care?
      • Does Steve Israel Understand How To Make GOP Racis...
      • TV Watch: I'm going to try again, but I still won'...
      • Court And Spark
      • Right To Vote/Right To Marry: The Red States
      • Bipartisanship... The Good Kind
      • Sunday Classics preview: A little more of "The Fly...
      • Now that we've heard from everyone else about marr...
      • Arizona’s Freshmen Reps: What’s Going On Here?
      • Wendy Davis For Governor Of Texas?
      • A Note From DCCC Chairman Steve Israel: "Top Race ...
      • Can Boneheaded Florida Republican Tom Rooney Keep ...
      • Could Morris Bender have diagnosed what's wrong wi...
      • Comprehensive Immigration Bill Passed The Senate.....
      • Hanabusa at a Crossroads-- Will It Lead Back to Co...
      • Minutemen-- Liars, Rapists, Murderers, Nazis... An...
      • Your Supreme Court at work and play -- as same-sex...
      • Republican SuperPACs Aren't Bringing In The Cash T...
      • Barbara Buono's Lesbian Daughter Is In A Very Diff...
      • Democratic Senators Who Voted To Confirm Fascists ...
      • Ed Markey Won The Senate Seat-- Now Let's Make Sur...
      • OMG, Anthony Weiner is now the NYC mayoral front r...
      • Another Manifestation Of The GOP Civil War: Utah's...
      • Chamber Of Commerce Moves To Bolster Their Boy Rub...
      • Is It Political Suicide For Paul Ryan To Still Be ...
      • Is It Worth It For The Democrats To Try Winning Th...
      • So you think it's a piece of cake being a far-righ...
      • One Final Kaddish For The Farm Bill... And John Bo...
      • Guess What Blanche Lincoln Has Been Up To To Make ...
      • Morsi's New Governor Of Luxor Resigns Amid Growing...
      • Dan Lipinski Joins The Blue Dogs As They Gasp Thei...
      • How Do You Figure Out Who To Vote For? How Do You ...
      • Behind the scenes with the Gang of Eight -- with a...
      • Tomorrow Is A Big Day For Miss McConnell
      • Sunday Classics: "In the lilt of Irish laughter, y...
      • I Got A Call From A New Dem Friday
      • TV Watch: James Gandolfini (1961-2013)
      • Dolce, Gabbana and... Rick's Auto Body
      • Paul LePage, What A Goober!
      • It's Almost As Though The Georgia GOP Has Figured ...
      • Things Are Bleak In Boehnerland This Week
      • Sunday Classics preview: You know who this famous ...
      • To reduce litter, you get rid of the trash recepta...
      • In 10 Days The Republicans Will Force Student Loan...
      • Progressives Break With The Clinton-Bush-Obama Tra...
      • DCCC-- No Shame Whatsoever In Exploiting Women
      • Threats Of Primaries By GOP Racists Make It Harder...
      • "Why America Still Needs Affirmative Action" (John...
      • SNAP! Agricultural Subsidies For Wealthy Republica...
      • CONTEST TIME: Nick Ruiz Is Into The Cult
      • Rick Weiland Guest Post On His Take It Back Campai...
      • A Perspective Of Gezi Park From An Old Turkish Hippie
      • The new Men's Wearhouse slogan: "You're going to l...
      • So Even a Pathetic Pipsqueak Like Dana Rohrbacher ...
      • Hanabusa Cozies Up to Defense Contractors
      • When Did The GOP Become The Party of Unrelenting M...
      • The World Is Less Peaceful In 2013
      • When we make "tradeoffs" for "national security," ...
      • Begich Admits What His Voting Record Proves: At He...
      • When Will The Republican Party End It's Sick Jihad...
      • Big Business Has A Friend-- Congress
      • Is Debbie Wasserman Schultz Maneuvering To Get Cha...
      • A spokesman clarifies Pope Francis's announced con...
      • Will We Have To Go Back To Drinking Wine Instead o...
      • We Need A Nobel Peace Prize Winner In The White Ho...
      • New Jersey Has A Senate Front-Runner Nearly As Sic...
      • Oh no, Pam Spaulding is closing down "Pam's House ...
      • Can Florida Democrats Blow The 2014 Gubernatorial ...
      • Reactionary New Dems Help GOP Pass A Fatally Flawe...
      • Sunday Classics: Father's Day special -- Wagner's ...
      • Does The Pope Refuse To Live In The Papal Apartmen...
      • TV Watch: Maybe "Graceland" only seems "formulaic"...
      • Rightists Have Always Been Obsessed With Homosexua...
      • The House Finally Voted To End The War In Afghanistan
      • Iran, Syria, Obama-Bush and... Alan Grayson
      • Will Glenn Greenwald Run For Congress Against Pete...
      • Sunday Classics preview: Father's Day special -- m...
      • Who was who in the Iranian presidential election? ...
      • Steve Israel And The Gatsby Curve-- If The Music I...
      • Lindsey Graham Wants War-- War Against American Ci...
      • Heather Mizeur: Not Interested In Business As Usua...
      • Is "system" really the word for our two-party, er,...
      • DeMint Is Ready To Go To War-- Against Conservativ...
      • Solar Energy In L.A.-- And Japan
      • Former Republican Congressman Rick Renzi Is Finall...
      • Yes, There Are Still NRA Shills Among Congressiona...
      • Republican Anti-Immigration Filibuster Is Defeated...
      • Is he a hero or not a hero? No, not the NSA guy! I...
      • Does The DCCC Actually Care About Immigration Policy?
      • Corrupt New Jersey Machine Dems Gravitate To Chris...
      • Conservative Men Further Ramp Up Their War Against...
      • Isn't it time we all got our priorities on NSA sur...
      • The Banksters Know Just How To Fix Spain's Economy...
      • Republican Hatred Of Science (And Reality) Lends I...
      • O Hillary
      • Lunch Anyone? How DC Works... At Least On The Righ...
    • ►  May (153)
    • ►  April (148)
    • ►  March (14)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

Ashish Chaturvedi
View my complete profile