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REWIND - A Week of Quotes & Cartoons SUNDAY Quote of the Day April 10, 2011 'Instead of taxing the superrich on the bonuses dispensed by top corporations such as Exxon, Bank of America, General Electric, Chevron and Boeing, all of which managed to avoid paying any federal corporate taxes last year, the politicians of both parties in Congress are about to accede to the Republican demand that programs that help ordinary folks be cut to pay for the programs that bailed out the banks. 'It is a reality further obscured by the academic elite, led by economists who receive enormous payoffs from Wall Street in speaking and consulting fees, and their less privileged university colleagues who are so often dependent upon wealthy sponsors for their research funding. Then there are the media, which are indistinguishable parts of the corporate-owned culture and which with rare exception pretend that we are all in the same lifeboat while they fawn in their coverage of those who bilk us and also dispense fat fees to top pundits. Complementing all that is the dark distraction of the faux populists, led by tea party demagogues, who blame unions and immigrants for the crimes of Wall Street hustlers.' Columnist Robert Scheer The Nation April 6, 2011 http://tinyurl.com/3tgcoyd Toon of the Day http://tinyurl.com/3tppp7g Magic Beans David Horsey - Seattle PI MONDAY Quote of the Day April 11, 2011 'It is hard to exaggerate the disaster that passes for American democracy these days. Have a look at today's news. A "historic" cut in spending has been achieved, the "largest in history," $38.5 billion. Yet what is actually in this spending cut? There is no report of that. You can't find the list of cuts in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, or anywhere else. The negotiations are a show, a TV cliffhanger, not a negotiation over actual programs affecting 300 million Americans. 'Does the list of budget cuts even exist? Were the negotiations about a number ($38.5 billion, or $61 billion, or something else) but not specific programs? If there was no list, how did the negotiators decide on how much to cut? If there is a list, why haven't the American people seen even a glimpse of it all week, even after the negotiations have been concluded? ' Jeffrey Sachs, economist and director of the Earth Institute, Columbia University Huffington Post April 11, 2011 http://tinyurl.com/3nhbtyu Toon of the Day http://tinyurl.com/3vtalrp Suffering a Complex Khalil Bendib TUESDAY Quote of the Day April 12, 2011 'The rich are already at the table, as are the Democrats, the Republicans, the Tea Party and the unions, the business interests and the money interests. The poor can't afford for you to forget about them, and you cannot afford it either. Of all Americans, the poor are not just the real victims of this recession; they are the victims of a 30 year campaign of smear and neglect, to strengthen the rich on the backs of the rest of America in the dim and ultimately futile fantasy that the rich getting richer will somehow "trickle down." Well, it hasn't trickled down. While middle class wages have declined in the face of unparalleled wealth and technology creation since the 80's, the poverty rate in our country is the highest it has been in 51 years-that takes us to the early 1960's. Shame on all of us who otherwise take pride in the achievements of this rich and powerful nation. 'If you don't put the poor at the heart of your policies for the next two years, with the interests aligned in favor of the rich, too many of the middle class will join them in their suffering. That is the "trickle up" of poverty that has impoverished nations with unfair concentrations of wealth at the top. That is what destroys great nations.' Hip-hop producer, entrepreneur and activist Russell Simmons 'Dear Mr. President, Forget The Poor, Lose Your Soul ' blog Global Grind April 12, 2011 http://tinyurl.com/42mrmar Toon of the Day http://tinyurl.com/3k69r3e Head for the Exits Pat Oilphant WEDNESDAY Quote of the Day April 13, 2011 'In Portugal's fate there lies a clear warning for other countries, the United States included. Portugal's 1974 revolution inaugurated a wave of democratization that swept the globe. It is quite possible that 2011 will mark the start of a wave of encroachment on democracy by unregulated markets, with Spain, Italy or Belgium as the next potential victims. 'Americans wouldn't much like it if international institutions tried to tell New York City, or any other American municipality, to jettison rent-control laws. But that is precisely the sort of interference now befalling Portugal - just as it has Ireland and Greece, though they bore more responsibility for their fate. 'Only elected governments and their leaders can ensure that this crisis does not end up undermining democratic processes. So far they seem to have left everything up to the vagaries of bond markets and rating agencies.' Robert M. Fishman, a professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame, is the co-editor of "The Year of the Euro: The Cultural, Social and Political Import of Europe's Common Currency." New York Times April 13, 2011 http://tinyurl.com/3qy7pqq Toon of the Day http://tinyurl.com/3h6x7tk Swipe Fees Signe Wilkinson THURSDAY Quote of the Day April 14, 2011 'The report pulls back the curtain on shoddy, risky, deceptive practices on the part of a lot of major financial institutions. The overwhelming evidence is that those institutions deceived their clients and deceived the public, and they were aided and abetted by deferential regulators and credit ratings agencies who had conflicts of interest.' Sen. Carl Levin (D.-Mich), co-chair Senate Permanent Subcommittee, on Investigations on the panel's report: 'Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: Anatomy of a Financial Collapse.' 'Naming Culprits in the Financial Crisis' http://tinyurl.com/3g8bsks & 'In Financial Crisis, No Prosecutions of Top Figures' http://tinyurl.com/3kvcqsq By Gretchen Morgenson and Louise Story New York Times April 14, 2011 Toon of the Day http://tinyurl.com/43uyaq8 Good Shooting Jim Morin - Miami Herald FRIDAY Quote of the Day April 15, 2011 'You control our world. You've poisoned the air we breathe, contaminated the water we drink, and copyrighted the food we eat. We fight in your wars, die for your causes, and sacrifice our freedoms to protect you. You've liquidated our savings, destroyed our middle class, and used our tax dollars to bailout your unending greed. We are slaves to your corporations, zombies to your airwaves, servants to your decadence. You've stolen our elections, assassinated our leaders, and abolished our basic rights as human beings. You own our property, shipped away our jobs, and shredded our unions. You've profited off of disaster, destabilized our currencies, and raised our cost of living. You've monopolized our freedom, stripped away our education, and have almost extinguished our flame. We are hit. we are bleeding. but we ain't got time to bleed. We will bring the giants to their knees and you will witness our revolution! 'Sincerely, The Serfs.' 'Letter to the Ruling Class' Jesse Ventura April 1, 2011 http://tinyurl.com/3r24fkr Toon of the Day http://tinyurl.com/3s38lns IRS Siege Pat Oliphant SATURDAY Quote of the Day April 16, 2011 'Do you wonder (like I do) what the tax accountants and executives are doing over at GE this weekend? Frantically rushing to fill out their IRS returns like the rest of us? 'Hardly. They're taking the weekend off to throw themselves a big party and have a hearty laugh at all of us. It must really crack them up to see us like suckers scurrying around to make sure we report everything to Uncle Sam -- and even send him a check, if necessary.' Filmmaker Michael Moore Common Dreams April 16, 2011 http://tinyurl.com/3b5utaq Toon of the Day http://tinyurl.com/3zhxwxc Dear Mr CEO Ed Stein ___________________________________________ Portside aims to provide material of interest to people on the left that will help them to interpret the world and to change it. 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