New York’s top one percent has an income share that one and a half times as high as the 23.5 percent historically-high national level….The city used to have a broad middle class, rooted in a vast manufacturing sector and mid-level positions in corporate headquarters as well as in education, government, construction and other good-paying blue-collar jobs. But manufacturing is about one tenth the size it used to be, and the city’s labor market has seen the disappearance of thousands of middle-paying jobs and the growth in their place of moderate- to low-paying jobs, mainly in services.
Given its degree of inequality, if New York City were a nation, it would rank 15th worst among 134 countries with respect to income concentration, in between Chile and Honduras. Wall Street, with its stratospheric profits and bonuses, sits within 15 miles of the Bronx—the nation’s poorest county.
And if you think that the rising tide of burgeoning financial services profits has improved the living standards of those at the bottom, think again:
The concentration of income growth at the top does not necessarily mean that those below the top are not experiencing real income gains and generally rising living standards… However, over the period from 1980 to 2007 in New York, when total inflation-adjusted income in the state grew an average of 2.1 percent a year after adjusting for population increase, incomes for those in the bottom half of the income spectrum generally declined while those in the middle income range rose but at only a fraction of the pace of total income growth.
This Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of a decision by five Supreme Court justices that handed the presidency of the United States to George W. Bush—the decision that exposed a legal system so complicated, contradictory, and shot through with fundamentally clashing political ideologies, that almost any controversial political question will generate plausible claims that a particular policy or course of action is prohibited by our laws.
So it was perhaps fitting that, on the day after Bush v. Gore’s 10th birthday, a federal judge ruled that a crucial provision of the most important piece of domestic legislation in several decades was unconstitutional. Henry H. Hudson ruled that the individual mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act—the part of the law that requires Americans to pay a tax if they fail to be covered by health insurance—goes beyond Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce.
As a law professor, I’m expected (at least by my students) to declare whether Judge Hudson’s ruling is a correct interpretation of the Constitution’s commerce clause. The answer to that question is fairly simple: The decision is obviously correct if one interprets the commerce clause as Justices Scalia and Thomas do, and just as obviously incorrect if one interprets the commerce clause as Justices Ginsburg and Breyer do. These various interpretations have plenty of Supreme Court precedents to support them.
Of course this is a somewhat unsatisfactory answer, since what students want is not merely a prediction of how particular judges will decide an issue, but whether their particular decisions are correct “as a matter of law.” But in the end that question is quite meaningless: as both a practical and theoretical matter, at this stage in American legal history, the meaning of the Commerce Clause in particular, and the Constitution in general, is simply identical to the beliefs authoritative legal actors, such as Supreme Court justices, hold about that meaning.
Yep. Like it or not, this is the way it is and has been (not only with respect to the Commerce Clause, but other provisions of the Constitution) since the Marbury decision, which gave birth to our system of “Judicial Review”as we understand it.
The most striking thing about George W. Bush being installed as president in 2000 was the fact that if any third world country was having an outcome like we saw in Florida at their voting polls, we would be the first ones there yelling how unfair and undemocratic their voting process was shown to be.
Let’s review shall we? Baby brother is governor in the deciding state, the woman who certified the vote worked on GWB’s campaign, and the justices were the cherry on top. Hmmmmmm…….
What I find to be so outrageous is when these Republicans loudly proclaim about free trade and capitalism, they always fail to mention the fact that in many cases the evil government is giving those businesses tax breaks and/or subsidies to make their profits.
I don’t care what people do on their own dime- but don’t preach about capitalism and free trade while you have your hand out for taxpayer money.
We deserve the government we get when we continue to live in a fantasy world of God, Flag, Democracy, Yankee Doodle Dandy and mom’s apple pie.
Both sides are rotten to the core of those apples – but Republicans continue to drag God’s name through the mud in their unquenchable thirst for power.
Then they have the nerve to sing the song ‘God Bless America’. Just once I would love to see God reach down and smack them all.
But…but…Yankee Doodle Dandy is one of my favorite movies! I do prefer cherry pie to apple though, and as for God and the flag…I won’t go there. The morning has been bad enough.
Georgia-Pacific’s familiar consumer brands in North America include Quilted Northern®, Angel Soft®, Brawny®, Sparkle® , Soft ‘n Gentle®, Mardi Gras®, Vanity Fair®, and the Dixie® brand of tabletop products. The company’s leading European brands include Lotus®, Colhogar®, Delica®, Tenderly® and the Demak’Up® brand of facial cleansing products. The company also markets paper towel, napkin and soap dispensing systems used in commerical settings.
Angel Soft toilet paper
Brawny paper towels
Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups
Mardi Gras napkins and towels
Quilted Northern toilet paper
Soft ‘n Gentle toilet paper
Sparkle napkins
Vanity fair napkins
Zee napkins
PrairiePopulistsAndProgressives.net 
were a banana republic
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/12/banana-republic-watch-new-york-city-more-unequal-than-chile.html
New York’s top one percent has an income share that one and a half times as high as the 23.5 percent historically-high national level….The city used to have a broad middle class, rooted in a vast manufacturing sector and mid-level positions in corporate headquarters as well as in education, government, construction and other good-paying blue-collar jobs. But manufacturing is about one tenth the size it used to be, and the city’s labor market has seen the disappearance of thousands of middle-paying jobs and the growth in their place of moderate- to low-paying jobs, mainly in services.
Given its degree of inequality, if New York City were a nation, it would rank 15th worst among 134 countries with respect to income concentration, in between Chile and Honduras. Wall Street, with its stratospheric profits and bonuses, sits within 15 miles of the Bronx—the nation’s poorest county.
And if you think that the rising tide of burgeoning financial services profits has improved the living standards of those at the bottom, think again:
The concentration of income growth at the top does not necessarily mean that those below the top are not experiencing real income gains and generally rising living standards… However, over the period from 1980 to 2007 in New York, when total inflation-adjusted income in the state grew an average of 2.1 percent a year after adjusting for population increase, incomes for those in the bottom half of the income spectrum generally declined while those in the middle income range rose but at only a fraction of the pace of total income growth.
Yep! Wonder when it will be acknowledged openly? Interesting graphs at this link.
http://ecolocalizer.com/2010/04/12/plutocracy-reborn-wealth-inequality-gap-largest-since-1928/
Statistics only prove what we already know.
“Let ’em eat cake!”
That was GREAT!! My very first laugh of the day. May be the last laugh, but I’ll take what I can get. 😉
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-12-14/health-care-overturned-by-judge-was-it-a-liberal-victory/?cid=hp:mainpromo6
Yep. Like it or not, this is the way it is and has been (not only with respect to the Commerce Clause, but other provisions of the Constitution) since the Marbury decision, which gave birth to our system of “Judicial Review”as we understand it.
The most striking thing about George W. Bush being installed as president in 2000 was the fact that if any third world country was having an outcome like we saw in Florida at their voting polls, we would be the first ones there yelling how unfair and undemocratic their voting process was shown to be.
Let’s review shall we? Baby brother is governor in the deciding state, the woman who certified the vote worked on GWB’s campaign, and the justices were the cherry on top. Hmmmmmm…….
What I find to be so outrageous is when these Republicans loudly proclaim about free trade and capitalism, they always fail to mention the fact that in many cases the evil government is giving those businesses tax breaks and/or subsidies to make their profits.
I don’t care what people do on their own dime- but don’t preach about capitalism and free trade while you have your hand out for taxpayer money.
We deserve the government we get when we continue to live in a fantasy world of God, Flag, Democracy, Yankee Doodle Dandy and mom’s apple pie.
Both sides are rotten to the core of those apples – but Republicans continue to drag God’s name through the mud in their unquenchable thirst for power.
Then they have the nerve to sing the song ‘God Bless America’. Just once I would love to see God reach down and smack them all.
But…but…Yankee Doodle Dandy is one of my favorite movies! I do prefer cherry pie to apple though, and as for God and the flag…I won’t go there. The morning has been bad enough.
TGIF
“The morning has been bad enough”
Sorry to hear, maybe the day will improve
I am saddened and horrified to find out that, every time I have used toilet paper I have funded the brown shirts.
http://www.kochind.com/IndustryAreas/forestry.aspx
Georgia-Pacific’s familiar consumer brands in North America include Quilted Northern®, Angel Soft®, Brawny®, Sparkle® , Soft ‘n Gentle®, Mardi Gras®, Vanity Fair®, and the Dixie® brand of tabletop products. The company’s leading European brands include Lotus®, Colhogar®, Delica®, Tenderly® and the Demak’Up® brand of facial cleansing products. The company also markets paper towel, napkin and soap dispensing systems used in commerical settings.
Koch Industry Gasoline:
Chevron
Union
Union 76
Conoco
Koch Industry/Georgia-Pacific Products:
Angel Soft toilet paper
Brawny paper towels
Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups
Mardi Gras napkins and towels
Quilted Northern toilet paper
Soft ‘n Gentle toilet paper
Sparkle napkins
Vanity fair napkins
Zee napkins
Koch Industry/Invista Products:
COMFOREL® fiberfill
COOLMAX® fabric
CORDURA® fabric
DACRON® fiber
POLYSHIELD® resin
SOLARMAX® fabric
SOMERELLE® bedding products
STAINMASTER® carpet
SUPPLEX® fabric
TACTEL® fiber
TACTESSE® carpet fiber
TERATE® polyols
TERATHANE® polyether glycol
THERMOLITE® fabric
PHENREZ® resin
POLARGUARD® fiber and
LYCRA® fiber
Georgia Pacific Building products:
Dense Armor Drywall and Decking
ToughArmor Gypsum board
Georgia pacific Plytanium Plywood
Flexrock
Densglass sheathing
G/P Industrial plasters (some products used by a lot of crafters)-
Agricultural Plaster
Arts & Crafts Plaster
Dental Plaster
General Purpose Plaster
Glass-reinforced Gypsum (GRG)
Industrial Tooling Plaster
Investment Casting Plaster
Medical Plaster
Metal Casting Plaster
Pottery Plaster
FibreStrong Rim board:
G/P Lam board
Blue Ribbon OSB Rated Sheathing
Blue Ribbon Sub-floor
DryGuard Enhanced OSB
Nautilus Wall Sheathing
Thermostat OSB Radiant Barrier Sheathing
Broadspan Engineered Wood Products
XJ 85 I-Joists
FireDefender Banded Cores
FireDefender FS
FireDefender Mineral Core
Hardboard and Thin MDF including Auto Hardboard,
Perforated Hardboard and Thin MDF
Wood Fiberboard –
Commercial Roof Fiberboard
Hushboard Sound Deadening Board
Regular Fiberboard Sheathing
Structural Fiberboard Sheathing
frago, look at it this way instead: You’re wiping your @ss with them. 😉
So am I.
And copy paper needs to be added to the Georgia Pacific list. 😦 At least I recycle the majority of it.
Wal-Mart owns it, or so I was told they had bought it and they also make white cloud disposible diapers.
Geez,
No wonder these 2 morons can piss away 100 million dollars on wingnut causes. Just think about how much cash Koch has made from the two wars.
Think about how much it costs the taxpayers to haul a load of soft n gentle to this place. I saw this movie on netflix the other day.
Ice covered lighthouse
http://www.weather.com/outlook/videos/cool-video-lighthouse-covered-in-ice-19056#19056