Republican Nancy Argenziano knows her way around Tallahassee. She knows which rugs to look under and which closets to open. Of course she does: she served in Florida's Senate and House. More recently, she served on Florida's Public Service Commission: one of only two commissioners who consistently fought to protect us consumers against the state utitlity companies' ever-growing appetite for... Continue reading

Thursday, as you know, Wisconsin unions members threatened to remove their money from M&I bank, whose execs gave heavy campagin donations to Wisconsin's anti-middle-class governor, Scott Walker (who signed a bill Friday that reduces public employees' right to collectively bargain for decent benefits and wages). M&I's response to the boycott threat begins: "M&I has not taken, and will not take,... Continue reading

by D. Cupples | These days, fighting for the interests of folks who lack corporate-jet access seems about as fruitful as a jellyfish protesting the ocean that washed it ashore. Yes, my mind is on Wisconsin, where the anti-middle-class governor and his Republican cohorts in the legislature have declared war on people who depend on regular paychecks. Yesterday, it all... Continue reading

About an hour ago, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson (Orlando, Fl) conceded to his opponent, Daniel Webster. Alan was the one Dem I thought we'd actually get to keep. Before Congress, Alan spent years fighting government-contractor fraud, which has cost (and still costs) us taxpayers billions upon billions of dollars each year. [See Vanity Fair article.] Ironically, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel... Continue reading

by D. Cupples | I like Kendrick Meek for U.S. Senate (Florida). Check out the ABC-televised debate involving him and his two opponents, and you'll see that Kendrick is anything but meek. Friday, Congressman Meek spoke at the Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association luncheon in Gainesville. Having been a blogger (and a political candidate), I’m not wowed by political speeches.... Continue reading

by D. Cupples | The fraudulent billing of us taxpayers for health care costs is so widespread that one might call it a sport. Below are merely a few of the cases that the Justice Department mentioned just over the last week. They're small-timers, but it all adds up. And it all adds to our nation's staggering, aggregate health care... Continue reading

by D. Cupples | I've been on a break from feverishly following the (generally gut wrenching) goings on in our nation's capital. Occasionally, I've peeked out of my cave to see if there's solid cause for hope -- as opposed to those empty words that were filling the air like motes of dust a couple years ago. Today, I peeked... Continue reading

by Chris | Recently, residents of Gainesville and St. Augustine were victims of investment fraud. While neither of these incidents was of the scale and complexity of the Madoff case, with a little homework and some healthy skepticism, they may have been avoided. How do you protect yourself from investment fraud? I recommend that you visit www.saveandinvest.org this website contains... Continue reading

by D. Cupples | Via Memeorandum, the New York Times tells us: The Tea Party movement scored another victory on Tuesday, helping to propel a dissident Republican, Christine O’Donnell, to an upset win over Representative Michael N. Castle in the race for the United States Senate nomination in Delaware. Mr. Castle, a moderate Republican who served two terms as governor... Continue reading

by D. Cupples | We pay the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) billions each year. In exchange, the FDA is supposed to protect us consumer-taxpayers from unsafe food, drugs, cosmetics, etc. I didn't dream that up: the duty is stated on the FDA's Website. Despite that clearly articulated duty, the FDA's performance has been spotty for years--some would say... Continue reading

Deb Cupples | New Yorkers are celebrating (except certain religious leaders) because their governor finnnally signed into law a bill that provides for no-fault divorce. The State Assembly had passed the bill more than a month ago, and Governor David Paterson took his time signing it. According to the New York Law Journal, the new law will take effect in... Continue reading

by Deb Cupples | Paying close attention to the news can be downright dispiriting. For me, time to recharge was a must, so I took some weeks off from blogging. Easing back into it, my first stop today was Memeorandum, a site reflecting topics folks find important enough to blog about. At 5:40 pm (EST) the top story (and numerous... Continue reading

posted by Bill: Philadelphia blogger Will Bunch adds context to Shirley Sherrod's civil rights work. How much more amazing that she struggles for understanding and reconciliation after her father was murdered in a racially-tinged dispute... and no authority even opened a case to redress it. Steve Clemons also suggests Sherrod "kick the tires" of Tom Vilsak's new job offer. (Kavanagh... Continue reading

by Bill Kavanagh: As opposed to cutting back on aid to the unemployed or going soft on stimulating the economy, there are ways to begin changing the skew of who pays for the programs the country needs. ... In a Bloomberg News interview with Judy Woodruff, the former deregulator-in-chief said the following about what to do about the Bush Administration's 2001 tax cut: WOODRUFF: On those tax cuts, they are due to expire at the end of this year. Continue reading

Why should you care about appointments to Florida's Public Service Commission (PSC)? Because who gets appointed will directly affect your wallet for years to come (if you live in Florida, that is). The PSC is charged with protecting consumers from unreasonable prices and bad service from the utility companies that we depend on. As I've blogged about repeatedly over the... Continue reading

by Deb Cupples | It make no sense. In my North Florida town, gasoline prices were in the $2.90s in April; now, gas is in the $2.70s. What happened?Back in 2007, gas prices were near or above $4 a gallon nationwide. The public-relations people paid by oil companies habitually blamed it on "supply and demand" (i.e., lower supply or higher... Continue reading

by Bill Kavanagh: The Republican focus on the federal deficit as a primary issue in this year's Congressional election cycle makes little sense in the context of our real economic problems. Economist Brad DeLong uses a good metaphor in a response to Henry Blodget's questions about long-term federal debt: Think of it this way: our natural gas pipes are corroding,... Continue reading

posted by Bill: As if we had to ask, here's how bad it is (according to Annie Lowrie's piece in the Washington Independent): The joblessness crisis — in the average duration of unemployment, if not the absolute unemployment rate — is unprecedented in the postwar United States. Of the 15 million unemployed in America, over 7 million have been out... Continue reading

posted by Bill: Linda Greenhouse hopes that retired SC Justice David Souter will continue to share his thoughts in public as a guide to his thinking on the bench. His recent Harvard commencement address included the following statement on why the court does more than parse the Constitution for a "fair reading:" The reasons that constitutional judging is not a... Continue reading

Florida Governor Charlie Crist has announced that he is leaving the Republican party and running for U.S. Senate as an independent. A New York Times blog-post title says it all: "Crist to GOP: Drop Dead." Many Republicans, including Ex-Gov. Bush, don't seem too happy about it. This should be interesting. One thing that many of us Floridians agree on is... Continue reading

Posted by Bill: Readers interested in how to prevent another meltdown should check out Zephyr Teachout's great piece, "C'Mon— Break it Up!" Teachout makes the case for putting reasonable size limits on the megabanks and limiting the conflicts of interest that accrue to their present status as financial supermarkets. Continue reading

Posted by Bill: This could be a big development. According to ABC News, Senator Dodd has accepted as a part of financial reform Senator Blanche Lincoln's proposed ban on banks owning derivatives operations; this is a provision that would force the big banks to spin off the businesses that led them into the 2008 meltdown. Passage of such a proposal... Continue reading

by Bill Kavanagh: After the President's tough Cooper Union speech on financial reform, we're left with Senator Dodd's legislation— it helps in some ways, but doesn't stop "too big to fail" banks from dominating American finance for their own benefit, just as they did leading up to the meltdown. One sliver of hope for curbing future bubbles lies in a... Continue reading

Some people think that if you cave in to a toddler every time it shrieks, you'll become a hostage. I don't know whether that's true with respect to children, but I know that it's spot-on in terms of adults. That said, PR Web reports:"Los Angeles actor, D.C. Douglas, says he was dropped from the upcoming GEICO "Shocking News" campaign after... Continue reading

by Deb Cupples | Five days ago, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Goldman Sachs with fraud. The first paragraph of the news release:"The SEC alleges that Goldman Sachs structured and marketed a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) that hinged on the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). Goldman Sachs failed to disclose to investors vital information... Continue reading