REWIND - A Week of Quotes & Cartoons

SUNDAY

Quote of the Day
August 7, 2011

'But the arc of history does not bend toward justice
through capitulation cast as compromise. It does not
bend when 400 people control more of the wealth than
150 million of their fellow Americans. It does not bend
when the average middle-class family has seen its
income stagnate over the last 30 years while the
richest 1 percent has seen its income rise
astronomically. It does not bend when we cut the fixed
incomes of our parents and grandparents so hedge fund
managers can keep their 15 percent tax rates. It does
not bend when only one side in negotiations between
workers and their bosses is allowed representation. And
it does not bend when, as political scientists have
shown, it is not public opinion but the opinions of the
wealthy that predict the votes of the Senate. The arc
of history can bend only so far before it breaks.'

What Happened to Obama?
By Drew Westen
New York Times
August 7, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/45ycf5b

Toon of the Day
http://tinyurl.com/4yj9mbj
Congressional Recall
Mike Luckovich

MONDAY

Quote of the Day
August 8, 2011

'I think he sometimes underestimates the force of the
other side, how tenacious they are in their ideology. A
few weeks ago, during the debt ceiling negotiations,
Obama went golfing with John Boehner, the Republican
speaker of the House. Afterwards, they said their
differences are not ideological, not philosophical.
Really? If Republicans say they want to cut public
spending drastically, they want to cut social security
and Medicare and the social safety net for poor and
working families, and cater to the wealthiest
Americans, then that is a different philosophy. If the
Tea Party is determined to kill the New Deal and Great
Society programs we won in the past, that is a
different ideology. And if the right wing of the
Republican party is determined to shield themselves
from tax obligations or to fight the Civil War again by
pushing voter suppression legislation to take away
minority voting rights across the country, that is also
a very different ideology.'

'Jesse Jackson on Obama'
Spiegel (Germany)
August 8, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3vw8t59


TUESDAY

Quote of the Day
August 9, 2011

'But having spent far too long haggling over the
margins of the Republican agenda to reduce the deficit
with only spending cuts, the president needs to move to
a very different set of priorities. He should start
making the case that it is foolish to focus the
nation's attention solely on debt, where the
Republicans want it, and instead shift every available
resource toward jobs.

'If he becomes passionate about the government's
ability to think creatively about a turnaround, he
might just inspire a few Americans - some of them
lawmakers - to join with him. If he stays locked into
the arid agenda of the Republicans, the economy will
remain as dormant as his speech on Monday, which is
just where his rivals hope it will be in November
2012.'

Editorial
New York Times
August 9, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3w2wqug

Toon of the Day
http://tinyurl.com/3hzy4xa
A Few Eggs
Tony Auth - Philadelphia Inquirer

WEDNESDAY

Quote of the Day
August 10, 2011

'Optimists argue that the short-run macroeconomic
impact of the deal to raise America's debt ceiling and
prevent sovereign default will be limited-roughly $25
billion in expenditure cuts in the coming year. But the
payroll-tax cut (which put more than $100 billion into
the pockets of ordinary Americans) was not renewed, and
surely business, anticipating the contractionary
effects down the line, will be even more reluctant to
lend.

'The end of the stimulus itself is contractionary. And
with housing prices continuing to fall, GDP growth
faltering, and unemployment remaining stubbornly high
(one of six Americans who would like a full-time job
still cannot get one), more stimulus, not austerity, is
needed-for the sake of balancing the budget as well.
The single most important driver of deficit growth is
weak tax revenues, owing to poor economic performance;
the single best remedy would be to put America back to
work. The recent debt deal is a move in the wrong
direction.'

Economist Joseph Stiglitz
Sydney Morning Herald
August 9, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3jgxg4r

Toon of the Day
http://tinyurl.com/3n58jmt
No Taxes
Dan Wasserman - Boston Globe

THURSDAY

Quote of the Day
August 11, 2011

'So there is no single meaning in what is happening in
London and elsewhere. But there are connections that we
can make, and that we should make. We have a major
problem with youth unemployment. There have already
been cuts in services for young people. State education
in poor areas is sometimes shockingly bad. Young people
cannot afford adequate private housing and there is a
shortage of council-built stock. Economic inequality
has reached quite startling levels. All this is the
consequence of decisions made by governments and there
is little hope of rapid improvement. The same
politicians now denouncing the mindless violence of the
mob all supported a system of political economy that
was as unstable as it was pernicious. They should have
known that their policies would lead to disaster. They
didn't know. Who then is more mindless?'

Dan Hind, author of The Return of
the Public and The Threat to Reason
and this year's winner of the Bristol
Festival of Ideas Prize.

Al Jazeera
August 9, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/42x4tgm

Toon of the Day
http://tinyurl.com/3n6jmdn
The Rack
Ed Stein

FRIDAY

Quote of the Day
August 12, 2011

'What is keeping people on the streets is the question
that if we are all having a hard time and we are all
working and paying taxes, who is making the profits? We
know there are certain families that have a lot of
money and a lot of influence and there is no
transparency. People feel deceived.'

Daphni Leef, the 25-year-old Israeli
filmmaker who began the protest
movement with a Facebook posting.

New York Times
August 12, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3nc5wnb

Toon of the Day
http://tinyurl.com/3ng3zpl
At the Vineyard
Pat Oliphant


SATURDAY

Quote of the Day
August 13, 2011

'...an anti-Keynesian, budget-balancing immediacy
imparts a constrictive noose around whatever demand
remains alive and kicking. Washington hassles over
debt ceilings instead of job creation in the mistaken
belief that a balanced budget will produce a balanced
economy. It will not.'

Bill Gross, founder and co-chief
investment officer of the investment
management firm Pimco

Washington Post
August 10, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3l86u72

Toon of the Day
http://tinyurl.com/449zkou
Got to Stop
Jeff Danziger

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