Erik Loomis — A Glimpse Into the Black, Shriveled Hearts of the Republican Class Warriors

Brad DeLong says this is a must-read. I agree. Bonus: It's short.

Sharpen the pitchforks.

Lawyers, Guns & Money
A Glimpse Into the Black, Shriveled Hearts of the Republican Class Warriors
Erik Loomis | Assistant Professor of History at the University of Rhode Island

See also

Naked Capitalism
Detroit: A Case Study of Oligarchs and Vigilantes Taking Over Public Safety in a Big City
Yves Smith

Two worlds.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. — Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Eric Dolan — Sen. Harry Reid: American politics is currently just a war between billionaires (via Raw Story )

Sen. Harry Reid: American politics is currently just a war between billionaires (via Raw Story )

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Tuesday said that billionaires controlled American politics because of the lack of campaign finance laws. “I’m here because of the flood of dark money into our nation’s political system poises the greatest…

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Angela Monaghan — Bank of England governor: capitalism doomed if ethics vanish

Capitalism is at risk of destroying itself unless bankers realise they have an obligation to create a fairer society, the Bank of England governor has warned. 

Mark Carney said bankers had operated a "heads-I-win-tails-you-lose" system. He questioned whether traders met ethical standards and said that those who failed to meet high professional standards should face ostracism.

Speaking at a City conference, the Bank's governor warned that there was a growing sense that the basic social contract at the heart of capitalism was breaking down amid rising inequality. "We simply cannot take the capitalist system, which produces such plenty and so many solutions, for granted. Prosperity requires not just investment in economic capital, but investment in social capital."

In a strongly worded critique of City behaviour in the run-up to the financial crisis, Carney said market radicalism and light-touch regulation had eroded fair capitalism, while scandals such as the rigging of Libor markets had undermined trust in the financial system.....

No mention of jail time for perps, though.

The Guardian
Bank of England governor: capitalism doomed if ethics vanish
Angela Monagha
(h/t Jan in the comments)

Michael McAuliff — Republican Outrage At IRS Is All About Protecting Karl Rove, Dark Money, Dems Say

The GOP hidden agenda is beginning to surface about the IRS scandal. Again, follow the money. It leads to Karl Rove and Crossroads GPS.

The Huffington Post
Republican Outrage At IRS Is All About Protecting Karl Rove, Dark Money, Dems Say
Michael McAuliff

Don Quijones — Rent-A-Cop: The Rise of the Mercenary Police State

Alternate title: The Rise of Neo-Feudalism and Neo-Fascism.

Raging Bull-shit
Rent-A-Cop: The Rise of the Mercenary Police State
Don Quijones

John Nichols — How a Koch Brothers 'Business League' Spent 6 Million to Frame the Debate

A previously unknown “secret bank” funds massive projects to overturn Obamacare, mangle Social Security and advance austerity.

The Nation
How a Koch Brothers 'Business League' Spent 6 Million to Frame the Debate
John Nichols

Yves Smith — Secret “Free Trade” Negotiations Will Gut Regulations, Further Enrich Multinationals and Big Financial Firms

It’s a sign of the times that a reputable economist, Dean Baker, can use the word “corruption” in the headline of an article describing two major trade deals under negotiation and no one bats an eye.

Naked Capitalism
Secret “Free Trade” Negotiations Will Gut Regulations, Further Enrich Multinationals and Big Financial Firms
Yves Smith

Natasha Lennard — Meet the GOPer Who Worked With Monsanto to Sneak the "Monsanto Protection Act" into Law

Big Ag friend Sen. Roy Blunt [R-KS] has said he introduced the biotech rider and "worked with" Monsanto to do it.

Anger at the so-called “Monsanto Protection Act” — a biotech rider which protects genetically modified seeds from litigation in the face of health risks — has been directed at numerous parties in Congress and the White House for allowing the provision to be voted and signed into law. But the party responsible for anonymously introducing the rider into the broad, unrelated spending bill had not been identified until now.

AlterNet
Meet the GOPer Who Worked With Monsanto to Sneak the "Monsanto Protection Act" into Law

Natasha Lennard | project officer for the International News Safety Institute

Monsanto is making a serious play to control global seed-grown food stock.

Mike Konczal — How an anti-rentier agenda might bring liberals, conservatives together

Rent-seeking is becoming the new "big issue." Left and right anti-establishment activists agree on the problem, but disagree over solutions. Mike Konczal is on it.

However, I would put it as "progressives" rather than "liberals." The traditional liberal wing of the Democratic party is allied with the establishment, while the progressive wing is focused on reform. I would also say "Libertarians" rather than "conservatives." It's the Tea Party Libertarians who are agitating for reform in the GOP and traditional conservatives who are allied with the establishment.

This looks like an Progressives and Libertarians agreeing that rentierism is a problem, and that government is a major factor in the generating artificial monopoly power. However, Progressives see this as a corrupt crony alliance between government and business, whereas Libertarians lay it all to the intervention of government in the private sector. Hence, the approaches to resolving the issues are entirely different.

I suspect that a lot of the debate over policy in future elections is going to be over these approaches, although the progressive wing in the Democratic Party and the Libertarian wing in the GOP are still in the minority in their caucuses. However, I expect to see them gaining ground since these idea have youth-appeal.

Wonkblog

How an anti-rentier agenda might bring liberals, conservatives together
Mike Konczal | Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute
(h/t Mark Thoma at Economist's View)

Linda Beale — The Evils of Corporatism

What we have today is not capitalism but corporatism, the alliance of Big Business and Big Finance with government through cronyism and corruption in form of legalized bribery and the revolving door. Worse, it is the foundation of empire, and thus closely approximates Mussolini's definition of fascism as corporate statism, but behind the facade of democracy.

Angry Bear
The Evils of Corporatism
Linda Beale

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell — The secret: Why Obama really, really wants to cut Social Security

Some of you may be amazed that a Democratic President has, for many years, been so insistent on cutting Social Security. He’s made you believe he is “giving in” for the sake of “compromise,” but in fact, he is as right-wing-ruthless as the Republicans, when it comes to cutting benefits to the middle-and lower-income groups.
It’s no compromise. He actively want’s cuts. Further, this self-anointed “friend of the middle class” could hardly wait to raise FICA, the most regressive tax in American history.
So what motivates this right-winger in left-wing clothing? Here’s a clue:

Monetary Sovereignty
The secret: Why Obama really, really wants to cut Social Security
Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Bill Black — “Pervasive” Fraud by our “Most Reputable” Banks

A recent study confirmed that control fraud was endemic among our most elite financial institutions. Asset Quality Misrepresentation by Financial Intermediaries: Evidence from RMBS Market. Tomasz Piskorski, Amit Seru & James Witkin (February 2013) (“PSW 2013”).

The key conclusion of the study is that control fraud was “pervasive” (PSW 2013: 31).

“[A]lthough there is substantial heterogeneity across underwriters, a significant degree of misrepresentation exists across all underwriters, which includes the most reputable financial institutions” (PSW 2013: 29).

Finance scholars are not known for their sense of humor, but the irony of calling the world’s largest and most harmful financial control frauds our “most reputable” banks is quite wondrous. The point the financial scholars make is one Edwin Sutherland emphasized from the beginning when he announced the concept of “white-collar” crime. It is the officers who control seemingly legitimate, elite business organizations that pose unique fraud risks because we are so loath to see them as frauds.

New Economic Perspectives
“Pervasive” Fraud by our “Most Reputable” Banks
William K. Black | Professor of Economics and Law, UMKC

Mike Whitney — Obama, Housing and the Next Big Heist

Obama doesn’t care if struggling homeowners get a break on their refis or not. It’s all a joke. He’s just helping his bank buddies cut their losses while they set the stage for their next big heist.

Counterpunch
Obama, Housing and the Next Big Heist
Mike Whitney
(h/t Naked Capitalism)

Charles Hugh Smith — The Neoliberal Financial Skim

The perfection of the Neoliberal order is a parasitic financial sector protected by the Central Bank and State.
Of Two MInds
The Neoliberal Financial Skim (short  with charts)
Charles Hugh Smith

Linda Beale op-ed on the dysfunctional politics of the US economy

Telling it like it is. Bravo.

Angry Bear
Linda Beale op-ed on the dysfunctional politics of the US economy
Linda Beale

Michel Bauwens — Towards a Global Commons of Truth

Privately funded new organization are funded by advertisers and influenced by them. Publicly funded news organizations are government controlled and subject to political pressure. News organizations funded by the public report to the public without influence.

P2P Foundation
Towards a Global Commons of Truth
Michel Bauwens

ProPublica — How Dark Money Helped Republicans Hold the House and Hurt Voters

In the November election, a million more Americans voted for Democrats seeking election to the U.S. House of Representatives than Republicans. But that popular vote advantage did not result in control of the chamber. Instead, despite getting fewer votes, Republicans have maintained a commanding control of the House. Such a disparity has happened only three times in the last century.

Analysts and others have identified redistricting as a key to the disparity. Republicans had ayears-long strategy of winning state houses in order to control each state’s once-a-decade redistricting process. (Confused about redistricting? Check out our song.)

Republican strategist Karl Rove laid out the approach in a Wall Street Journal column in early 2010 headlined “He who controls redistricting can control Congress.”

The Raw Story
How Dark Money Helped Republicans Hold the House and Hurt Voters
Olga Pierce, Justin Elliott and Theodoric Meyer | ProPublica

Fabius Maximus — We are all Republicans now

Summary:  America has a broken OODA loop. Dozens of posts here have documented it, but this past month provided ample more evidence. From both Left and Right. Today we look at the Right: their indifference to the real world, their eagerness to believe lies by their leaders, and steadfast adherence to failed strategies. On another day we’ll discuss the similar traits of the Left.  Led by these two groups, American’s crash on the rocks seems guaranteed.

Fabius Maximus
We are all Republicans now

The "moron meme" is catching on.

Ann Pettifor — Mark Carney's 'shock' appointment means more of the same

Osborne's choice for governor of the Bank of England will do nothing to prevent the next collapse of the financial system...

Carney is a central banker steeped in the culture and practices of Goldman Sachs's investment banking arm. Before becoming Canada's central bank governor, he spent 13 years with Goldman Sachs in its London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto offices. He held a range of senior positions. The most significant was as managing director of investment banking.

In a speech made recently Carney made the right noises. He complained of "a system that privatises gains and socialises losses" and endorsed the approach that sets capital and leverage ratios for banks. He's even commended the Occupy movement for being "constructive".

But there is nothing in his speeches that indicates that he will help give Britain's real economy the protection it needs from its over-mighty – and still very dangerous – banking sector. Nothing, in other words, that indicates the real economy – the productive sector – will be given priority over the City's preference for reckless global speculation.

The Guardian (UK)

Mark Carney's 'shock' appointment means more of the same
Ann Pettifor | Director of Prime: Policy Research in Macroeconomics and a fellow of the New Economics Foundation

Mark Ames — When Congress Busted Milton Friedman (And Libertarianism Was Created By Big Business Lobbyists)

I hate to stir up a fire storm (wink, wink) but here it is. Definitely a bombshell, if the author has the facts correct, and I see no reason to doubt that he does. As always, follow the money.

The author exaggerates the origin of libertarianism and libertarianism in the US. Libertarianism left and right had a long history in Europe before it migrated to the US.

However, the author is correct in the narrow sense of Libertarianism in the US being organized and funded as a political lobby in the 1950's. But it is also not true that all who identified with Libertarianism (libertarianism of the right) were involved in the business conspiracy or took money "under the table," even if they were fellow-travelers in other ways. It is possible that some did not even know about the organized effort, but it would have required blinders not to see.

In fairness, too, to many that self-identify as Libertarians, it must be acknowledged that many Libertarians do not consider Milton Friedman a Libertarian but rather a neo-liberal. I agree that the author does not pay enough attention to this distinction. At the same time, Friedman did self-identify as libertarian: "My philosophy is clearly libertarian." — Milton Friedman in Reason magazine (June 1995)

nsfwcorp.com
When Congress Busted Milton Friedman (And Libertarianism Was Created By Big Business Lobbyists)
by Mark Ames
(h/t John Zelnicker in the comments)