Daily Archives: January 19, 2016


Timothy Canova Challenges Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Tim Canova Democrat For Congress is challenging Debbie Wasserman Schultz in a primary election in Florida.

Tim Canova has been challenging Wall Street banks and political corruption for most of his adult life.

As an activist, attorney, educator, and frequent commentator on the rigged economic and political systems that put Wall Street and multinational corporations first while leaving ordinary Americans behind, Tim is uniquely positioned to shake up Congress.

If you thought you had no way to pay back Debbie Wasserman Schultz, head of the Democratic National Committee, for screwing up elections for Democrats nation wide, then you have thought wrong.

The Broward/Palm Beach New Times has the article Tim Canova, Onetime Bernie Sanders Adviser, Is Running Against Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

It’s time for the Bernie Sanders revolution to take action to make this a national campaign election to replace Bernie’s nemesis, DWS.


Goldman Sachs Funding Clinton Ads In Iowa

I just received an email from the Sanders campaign. Do you really expect Hillary’s supposedly more powerful Wall Street regulation plan to be more effective than Bernie’s plan?

Bernie’s plan is to break up the big banks so that no matter what nefarious scheme they come up with next, they won’t be big enough to be able to damage the country and the world like they did in 2008/2009. Hillary and her advisers seem to be under the delusion that they can anticipate the next scheme and put in specific regulations to prevent it. Even if that worked it would only be protection against that one scheme. Over thousands and thousands of years of human history, many nefarious schemes have been invented. That is why we need general laws about fraud, not just specific laws for each and every possible fraud. The laws against fraud won’t work, of course, unless we enforce them and mete out meaningful punishment for violators of the law. A fine that is a tiny fraction of the profits of the fraud is not a meaningful punishment.


Sovereign Spending in a Market Economy

Naked Capitalism has the post Sovereign Spending in a Market Economy.

My idea is this: if we did what I just suggested, then, when the next recession hits—and the central bank finds that its traditional strategy of lowering interest rates is still not available (which is likely to be the case) and Congress is thus forced—against all its entrenched phobias and market ideologies—to appropriate another huge chunk of emergency sovereign spending, we’ll have a long list of ideas about how those new dollars can be spent to rapidly put them exactly where they most need to go. And once we’ve experienced how well that works, once we see that sovereign spending can expand the market economy rather than destroy it, we’ll have made a big step toward a general acceptance of, and appreciation for, the realities of modern fiat money.

Sorry, you’ll have to read the post to find out what he suggested. The article is a bit like a shaggy dog story. It takes a while to get to the point, but there is one, and it is worthwhile to contemplate.


Activist Arrested at MLK Breakfast in Worcester

YouTube has the video Activist Arrested at MLK Breakfast in Worcester.

Published on Jan 18, 2016

The MLK breakfast at Quinsigamond Community College was interrupted when a man at the back of gathering began handing out pamphlets and was confronted by authorities.

Chris Horton, a Worcester resident and member of the Worcester Anti-Foreclosure Team, was escorted out in handcuffs after passing out pamphlets that read, “Bring Our Wealth Home!” and “Black and Brown Wealth Matters!” Mr. Horton was brought to the ground while being taken into custody. An ambulance was summoned.

Mr. Horton, of 10 Tower St., Worcester, was charged with assault and battery on a police officer. The arrest was made by the campus police. According to a QCC spokesman, Mr. Horton told officers “he had a previous injury and asked to be taken to the hospital.” He was transported to UMass Memorial Medical Center.

Video by Rick Cinclair


Do you think there may have been any witnesses as to what happened here? Do you suppose their testimony could clear up whether or not Chris assaulted a police officer? If we let police officers behave this way in front of a huge audience, but do not hold them accountable, what message is society sending to police officers?

I have been wondering, do you think that Martin Luther King, Jr. would have wanted his life’s work to be commemorated at decorous little breakfasts where someone would be arrested for standing up for the rights of the poor and the powerless?


Court case shows how health insurers rip off you and your employer

Public Integrity has the article Court case shows how health insurers rip off you and your employer.

The fees came to light when Hi-Lex Controls, an automotive technology company, took Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) to court in 2013 after becoming suspicious that the company had been systematically cheating it over 19 years. After reviewing evidence in the case, a judge ordered that BCBSM stop charging the hidden fees and pay Hi-Lex $6.1 million.
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The Court of Appeals affirmed the $6.1 million fraud judgment, agreeing with the lower court that “BCBSM committed fraud by knowingly misrepresenting and omitting information about the disputed fees in contract documents.” This misrepresentation, the court said, “helped sustain the illusion that BCBSM was more cost-competitive” than its competitors.

It seems obvious to me that employers (except for health insurance companies) should be thrilled at the idea of Medicare-for-all. It would relieve them of the burden of having to pay for employee’s health insurance to the tune that they already do. They wouldn’t have to do their own investigations and wage their own lawsuits to get back what they are losing to fraud by the insurance companies. Talk about waste, fraud, and abuse – many private companies seem to be masters at it.

You don’t suppose that Hillary Clinton understands this, do you? Neither answer you can give reflects well on Hillary Clinton. If the answer to the question is “No”, then what has she learned from her years of trying to “fix” the health care system? Why would we want a person who has learned nothing after years of deep involvement with the issue?

If the answer is “Yes”, she knows about this, but refuses to allow us to try to fix the problem, then why are we even thinking about electing her as President? Do you suppose Hillary gets some of her funding from the health insurance companies? Do you suppose bears do it in the woods?


FULL Democratic Debate [HD], NBC Democratic Presidential Debate 1/17/2016

The Democratic National Committee is trying to hide this from you, but you can take matters into your own hands by watching it here. You might call the act of watching this as part of the political revolution.

You might also want to thank Debbie Wasserman Shultz, chair of the DNC, for her deliberate mishandling of the debate schedule by reading The Hill article In primary challenge, Wasserman Schultz faces unprecedented test. It could be payback time for DWS if we all give her challenger all the financial support he needs. Don’t get mad; get even.