A trillion dollars for the banks: How about a second opinion?
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wants to have the government lend up to a trillion dollars to hedge funds, private equity, funds and the banks themselves to clear their books of toxic assets. The plan implies a substantial subsidy to the banks. It is likely to result in the disposal of these assets at far above market value, with the government picking up the losses.
No to nuclear power
ST. LOUIS — It has been more than 30 years since the last nuclear power plant was licensed for construction in the United States. Now Ameren — the largest electric utility in Missouri and the second largest electricity provider in Illinois — is lobbying for permission to build a second nuclear energy plant near Fulton, Mo., alongside its first nuclear facility.
LETTERS On taxpayers, Special Olympics, change, hope and life
On taxpayers Special Olympics Fed up and looking for change! Hope rising I need your help Good month for life
At issue: role of government
Today’s Republican right wants us to forget this concept. They persist in the discredited mantra, going back to Gingrich’s “Contract with America,” that what’s needed is to shrink government, deregulate Wall Street and corporate power, and have us all pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps.
Car talk: whats wrong, whos to blame?
President Obama’s auto task force is giving Chrysler 30 days to finalize a merger with Fiat, and General Motors 60 days to further consolidate brands, reduce debt and show additional plans to produce fuel efficient “green” cars. If they fail to comply, bankruptcy is left as the option.
At issue: the role of government
Government of the people, by the people, for the people. Abraham Lincoln, 1863. Today’s Republican right wants us to forget this concept.
It has to be built
Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman recently opined in his New York Times column that the about-to-be-released Obama plan to resuscitate a financial system on life support “is more than disappointing. In fact, it fills me with a sense of despair.”
Call for humanitarian signal on Cuba
On April 10, family members of the Cuban Five will again apply for U.S. visas. For Adriana Perez, it will be the 10th time she tries to obtain a visa to see her husband, Gerardo Hernandez, who has been serving an unjust sentence in U.S. prisons for nearly 11 years. Over that time, our government has denied this husband and wife any possibility of seeing each other. It’s time for a change.
The populist upheaval where is it headed and who can lead?
The populist outrage over AIG bonuses, and bailouts that seem to pay off the perpetrators of the financial crisis — while millions are left out of work with no medical benefits, and unemployment benefits running out long before job growth returns — is heading towards a social and political, not just economic, tipping point.
Bleeding communities dry: How local government aid cuts are hurting rural Minnesota
No group of Minnesotans are more qualified to comment on the challenges of delivering public services during a period of diminishing resources than our state’s city mayors. Minnesota 2020, in partnership with the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, and Macalester College, surveyed 43 greater Minnesota mayors about the critical issues facing Minnesota cities.
