Oakland, California, the fifth-most crime ridden city in America, has laid off 80 police officers, citing budget concerns. Negotiations between the city and the officers’ union collapsed earlier this week over the issue of job security. According to the city’s website, Oakland’s final offer to the Oakland Police Officers Association guaranteed one year of no layoffs, [...]

Well – House Republicans weren’t willing to even pass what was described as tax cuts on the bottom 99.41% of Americans and yesterday House Speaker John Boehner called off a vote on his “Plan B” proposal to increase taxes on millionaires.  House Republicans would not stand against their wealthy donors; you can read all about [...]

“Now it is up to the president to work with Senator Reid on legislation to avert the fiscal cliff.  The House has already passed legislation to stop all of the January 1 tax rate increases and replace the sequester with responsible spending cuts that will begin to address our nation’s crippling debt. The Senate must [...]

We’ve covered the fiscal cliff in depth; you can read about President Obama’s offer on the debt ceiling along with a comparison of what the Republicans proposal HERE. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has come up with a “Plan B” that he proposed in the event of gridlock on the issue of taxes.  Remember – [...]

We are in the middle of a big economic recovery underneath the surface.  The housing market is coming back big time.  This is the result of both the general economy getting better under the Obama administration but also courtesy of major initiatives instituted by the Federal Reserve.  Re-Max put out their National Housing Report HERE; [...]

“I’ve already cut a trillion dollars in spending.  I’m willing to do a lot more cuts in spending. We also need to pair it up with a little more revenue.” ~President Obama  President Obama is taking his case to the public.  Republicans continue to block an extension of the Bush tax cuts for the middle [...]

“No answer ever since the Geithner meeting.  To date <Republicans> have been unwilling or able to identify a list of specific cuts or changes they would like or a single loophole they are willing to close.” ~Anonymous official told Greg Sargent  This is classic.  It’s pretty brazen of Republicans to ask President Obama to detail [...]

The Federal Reserve announced big, big news yesterday.  Moving forward – they are going to take steps to stimulate the economy via asset purchases and other methods unless either unemployment reaches 6.5% or inflation reaches 2.5%.  If one of those measures is met – they will dial back any stimulus they inject into the economy; [...]

prima nocta Web definitions Droit de seigneur (“the lord’s right”, often conflated with the Latin phrase “Jus primae noctis”), is a term now… Republicans are playing a very dangerous game with the American economy.  For the first time in history – last year Republicans told President Obama and the Democratic party that they had better [...]

Edward Wolff – an economist at New York University – has produced a working paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research highlighting the implosion of net worth for the middle class courtesy of the Bush economic crisis.  He found that the average net worth for the middle class fell by 47% within three years [...]