corporate greed

Everyone hates corporate healthcare– now, public demand could really change it

June 2009

Now is the time for boldness! Instead, we’re getting Baucusness. Sen. Max Baucus, that is–Montana Democrat, chair of the Senate Finance Committee,... Read more...

Populism is not a style, it’s a people’s rebellion against corporate power

May 2009

When I lived in Washington, DC, in the 1970s, I got a call from a friend of mine who worked... Read more...

Name those greedheads!

April 2009

Last month, I asked my radio listeners to come up with new words to describe the abominable sense of self-entitlement... Read more...

Q: What made Wall Street implode? A: They were making too much money to stop

April 2009

Did you have a piggy bank when you were a child? Mine was a cheery, round pig–made of brown pottery, as... Read more...

Time for real workplace democracy– not the phony company version

March 2009

Last October, Home Depot cofounder Bernie Marcus blew a gasket, spewing outrage in all directions. “This is the demise of civilization,”... Read more...

Union faces down banker greed

January 2009

IRONICALLY, AT THE VERY TIME that boneheaded senators in Washington were working furiously to impose their anti-union extremism on our country, most... Read more...

Congress gives Citi all it wants

January 2009

A DECADE AGO, CITIGROUP led a full-court lobbying press on Washington, ultimately winning what big bankers, insurance giants, and high-rolling investment... Read more...

Senators bail out their banker buddies but stiff workers and their unions

January 2009

THE 8,000-MEMBER GREATER GRACE TEMPLE in Detroit is the home church of many autoworkers, and its Sunday service on December 7... Read more...

Derivatives: What are these things?

November 2008

Derivatives amount to a casino game. They are pieces of paper whose only real value is derived from the anticipated... Read more...

The five most wanted men from Wall Street and Washington

November 2008

What the hell’s happening here? Why is my bank in the tank? And my house and job? And my retirement money?... Read more...

The bailout bonanza

October 2008

The Bushites’ trillion-dollar giveaway started out as a bailout for banks with big holdings of investment schemes based on home mortgages.... Read more...

Why the McCain drill-more-oil campaign is pure flim flam

September 2008

Here they come–America’s Drill Team! Out front are the two high-strutting leaders, John McCain and George W, thrusting their drum-major batons... Read more...

Who are the big-money givers behind the candidates?

June 2008

Dallas Oilman H.L. Hunt was a billionaire in a time when such massive wealth was unusual, back in the 1950s and... Read more...

What 8 years of BushCheney have done to our economy

April 2008

Harry Truman said, “No man should be allowed to be president who doesn’t understand hogs.” That’s never been more true... Read more...

Checks for $600 won’t fix our economy–let’s have a real stimulus package

March 2008

  WASHINGTON WAS EXCITED. The media establishment applauded. Wall Street smiled. Somewhere, a bluebird of happiness chirped. In a celebrated display... Read more...

Immigrants come here because globalization took their jobs back there

January 2008

THE WAILING IN OUR COUNTRY ABOUT the “invasion of immigrants” has been long and loud. As one complainant put it, “Few... Read more...

This is the Marx Brothers, bumbling around Animal Farm!

September 2007

A FRIEND OF MINE TELLS A STORY about the political demise in the 1950s of an entrenched Oklahoma state representative,... Read more...

Loan sharks wreak havoc on Main Street and Wall Street

August 2007

ONE OF THE MOST DRAMATIC STORIES from the New Testament is of the time that Jesus encountered money changers in the... Read more...

Politicians are selling our bridges rather than building them

July 2007

WILL ROGERS SOMETIMES TUCKED little moral messages into his one-liners. For example: “I’d rather be the man who bought the... Read more...

Corporations that paid-to-play in the last election

April 2007

FROM THE “LAND OF THE CLUELESS AND CONNIVING,” meet a couple of gentlemen who insist that America’s political funding system is... Read more...

Why Wal-Mart is still one down and dirty corporation

January 2007

“You can’t create a team spirit when the situation is so one-sided, when management gets so much and workers get... Read more...

Let’s look at our economy by the numbers

July 2006

George W keeps buzzing around like a maniacal mosquito on a hot summer night, pestering us with speeches and photo... Read more...

The four Big Lies about universal health care

June 2006

How messed up is America’s health-care system? Consider the case of the Leavitts. Anne and her husband Dixie, both in... Read more...

Our oldest mountains are being blown away

November 2005

Many of you Lowdowners have told me that you often share the newsletter with your teenagers—and even younger children. Therefore,... Read more...

More brand names behind the Bush agenda

February 2005

Did you catch George W’s pep rally just before Christmas? The White House solemnly billed it as a two-day “summit”... Read more...