Nader: Implement speculation tax to stave off 'fiscal cliff'

By Ralph Nader
In the debate over the “fiscal cliff,” President Obama and congressional Republicans have returned to the proposals that they were sparring over before the election. They remain at odds over key elements of revenue and spending. Yet both sides are unwilling to consider a minuscule tax on financial transactions that could be a major source of income.
A financial transaction tax would apply to purchases and sales of derivatives, options and stocks. The tax would be small, half a penny or less on each dollar of the transaction value, depending on the product. This idea is often called a “speculation tax,” because it would hit hardest at frothy high-volume trading as opposed to sober long-term investment.

Holiday link dump

I can always tell when a holiday weekend is coming up because hits on Politizine just drop off the face of the earth. I can only assume that people are actually doing something other than looking at blogs. Imagine that. Wow.
For example, over the last 12 hours, the blog has exactly two hits on it and one of those was me. Usually, overnights, I get about 10 and change. Sometimes less, sometimes more. Some of them are overseas folks or night owl political junkies. But when those holiday weekends come, look out. The hits just drop off the face of the earth. And, ya know, that's kind of a good thing. It actually shouldn't be that surprising, especially with summer ending and all.
Since it is the Labor Day weekend, I will be doing the same thing other people seem to be doing: I'm going to be staying away from the computer for a bit. I will probably be back on Monday sometime, when I will be working for at least a few hours. Monday holidays are the worst for the publishing industry because it means you lose one of your key days to get things done.
However, Rory, one of my co-workers, came up with a cool idea: He is going to drive around in the town he covers and find people working on Labor Day. I think I may steal that idea, too, just because the holiday means were a little short on stories for the week [I can almost see the headline: Working on the worker's holiday ...].
So, for your reading pleasure, here is a holiday link dump, essentially sharing some interesting things which I haven't had a chance to post until now. Obviously, if our government attacks Iran or some other strange thing happens, I may jump back on. But for now, spend a few minutes here and then join me in shutting the computer off and living your life for a bit.

Other Smithfield boycotts and protests
This caught my eye while breezing through the Somerville Journal this week: ["Protest centers on Market Basket selling Smithfield products"]. I lived in Somerville for a few years and still like to keep up with what is going on there.
As previously noted, I and others are actively boycotting Smithfield products for other reasons: ["Boycott Smithfield Foods"].
Interestingly, or not so, I never did receive a response from Smithfield after emailing the company's corporate customer service department. I guess they don't really care about how I feel as a customer [or now, former customer, actually]. I mean, not even a form letter? Wow.
Although, they do seem to care about their corporate image: Politizine was visited by both a big law firm based out of Virginia and a corporate branding firm from Wisconsin after I posted the boycott blog entry. The corporate branding firm specifically searched "smithfield foods" on Google's blogsearch and spent just under 8 minutes checking out the site. One of their corporate links states the following: "Managing Issues: Focuses on protecting reputations and managing perceptions." Gee, how about not treating your corporate neighbors like sh*t, literally, for starters? It's interesting that Smithfield can spend time doing this but can't simply respond to my boycott email or spend the money they are spending on lawyers and corporate branding firms to clean up their messes. What backward corporate thinking in this alleged age of corporate enlightenment. Onward.

Campaign 2008
It was only a matter of time: ["Stop Her Now!"].
And, it was only a matter of time: ["Run Ralph, Run!"].
Former President Jimmy Carter gives John Edwards a wink but not a nod: ["Carter embraces Edwards on poverty, environment"].
An interesting dual endorsement here by the machinists: ["Trade unions back Clinton, Huckabee, Edwards"].
The Dems' 1988 nominee wonders about the party's chances: ["Dukakis, Once Burned, Refuses to Be Optimistic About 2008"].
Richardson, Dodd, and Biden sign onto DNC pledge: ["Democratic candidates asked to take primary pledge"].
More "proof" that Bloomberg probably won't run: ["Rather Says Bloomberg Ruled Out White House Bid"].
The Unity 08 group held an online talk about ballot access: ["Chat Transcript"].

Fox attacks Iran
I've never been a big fan of Robert Greenwald ever since I spent money on his "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's war on journalism" DVD and realized that it was full of inaccuracies and half-truths [Plug: I've commended for being one of the only people in the media world to point out these inaccuracies, as noted here: "'Outfoxed' film misfires"]. While it is important to have the Greenwalds of the world out there watching the watchers, they need to get the story right.
However, this clip of compiled comments about the coming war with Iran he has put together is totally hilarious:

Short cuts
* Vince McMahon seems to want to do something about 'roid use in the wrestling world: ["WWE suspends TEN superstars"]. It's about time, frankly, considering all the deaths involved in the wrestling world of late. And, yes, I admit it, I will actually sit and watch wrestling for a bit if I find it out. Since I downsized to the basic cable service to save money, I don't get to watch it much. But, it is fun for a laugh or two. I joke to my wife, who still watches the soap opera she watched as a teen, that wrestling is like a soap opera geared towards males.
* For those of you who follow Boston media, you might be interested in reading this long piece from Boston Magazine: ["...And Now a Few Words from the Hosts"].
* More on the media, this link about the fabulous American Journalism Review: ["Journal's Pains Reflect Media's Malaise"]. This magazine, as well as the Columbia Journalism Review, is a must read and not just for people involved in the profession. However, I will admit that I often don't have time to read through CJR, never mind AJR. For this reason, I have never subscribed to AJR and only usually pick it up when I find it for free. It is work, if you will, to find the time to update yourself about your work! I would add that it is "big journalism" that is a dying format, it seems. Small micro publishers and local blogs are a rapidly growing sector and may be the wave of the future.
* Two important things from Dan Kennedy. First, this column from The Guardian: ["The dogs of war"] and this: ["Robert Dushman"]. Dushman was a stand up guy and I will always be grateful to him for his assistance in getting public documents when I was editor of The Winchester Star. Granted, it was what my company paid him to do. But, he was a great help.
* Lastly, I meant to post this a couple of weeks ago: ["Pentagon Paid $999,798 to Ship Two 19-Cent Washers to Texas"]. So, there is a million dollars for this but not for all kinds of other things which need to get paid for. Unbelievable.

President's Day post
It is interesting to ponder the consolidation of these two important holidays in February - Washington's Birthday and Lincoln's Birthday - into one generic "President's Day." Was this an anti-union conspiracy? A way of taking a holiday away from the average working man [or woman]?
In the rage to name everything after Ronald Reagan, where is the "Reagan's Birthday" holiday, along with Washington and Lincoln? Not that I think the guy should get a day of his own but I'm just surprised his fans haven't tried to promote it. You can almost hear how that would go over in the halls of Congress: 'Oh, well, we can't do that, it would go against capitalism, forcing companies to offer a paid holiday on Feb. 6, blah, blah, blah ...' [and what's with the February birthdays?].
Andy Rooney had a great bit on "60 Minutes" last night lamenting that naming the holiday after all the presidents insinuates that they have all been worthy of a holiday. It was a good point; made all the more relevant when you think how great Lincoln was compared to recent batch of boneheads we've had in the Oval Office.

Speaking of presidents, has anyone else been watching this issue of handing over our ports to a company owned for a foreign government, specifically, the UAE ["Democrats plan bill to block Dubai port deal"]? What good is a War on Terror if we are handing over regulation of some of our biggest ports to company which could be potentially infiltrated by terrorists? It almost seems as though the administration is trying to allow a dirty bomb into the country! They are doing nothing about the porous borders; they are doing nothing about trying to heal the problems our nation has with the Muslim world; now, they want to hand over operation of our biggest ports to a strange company owned by an unstable Middle Eastern country? Insane. At least that is what one dad of a 9-11 victim thinks: ["'President's gone insane' - 9/11 dad "].

"'I'm a lifelong Republican and I think the President's gone insane,' said Gadiel, 58, who heads 9/11 Families for a Secure America.
Two of the 19 9/11 hijackers were citizens of Dubai, the Arab emirate whose bid to run ports in New York, New Jersey and four other cities was okayed by the White House even though investigators have found signs that money used to finance terrorism flowed through Dubai banks."

Well, yeah, insane just about nails it, eh? No true conservative and no one in their right mind would allow this to happen. But without checks and balances, without fighting opposition parties, this kind of stuff is bound to happen. Thankfully, some folks seemed to be trying to stop it.

Speaking of the "fighting opposition," here is interesting column by another Nader defender - Bob Koehler, of Tribune Media Services - about his problems with some folks on the Web: ["The Nader Effect: Democrats are chasing ghosts instead of Republicans"]. I especially like this:

"While the ghost of McGovern, who was mauled by Richard Nixon in 1972, is the most deeply ingrained and enfeebling, seeming to guarantee uncritical Democratic support ("we love America, honest") for every cynical Republican military or civil-liberties outrage concocted in the name of national security, the ghost of Nader is the most life-threatening. Its effect is emetic, causing an immediate discharge of rationality among the party faithful at every hint of a challenge from the party's values base. The Nader Effect causes Democrats to upchuck the very medicine that will save it."

Exactly. The medicine is simple: Stand for something. Imagine, that a column entitled "Give Peace a Vote," would garner such madness from those people who propose to be the saviors of the nation? Koehler's offense, of course, was suggesting that someone better could represent the 8th District of Illinois instead of the incumbent Democrat. And, with Democrats like this - she voted for the bankruptcy bill, the estate tax repeal, CAFTA, the AHP bill that guts state healthcare protection laws, the Enron/Halliburton energy bill, the PATRIOT Act, the Real ID Act, the Iraq War, another bloated defense budget, the flag desecration amendment, and the recent leave-no-millionaire-behind "tax relief" bill, according to Independent candidate Bill Scheurer's Web site [winwithbill.com] - who needs Republicans?
Plus, why are they eating their own ["Backroom Battles "]? This is the kind of potential candidates the Democrats need:

"Hackett, an Iraq War combat veteran, was hailed last summer as just the kind of “fighting Democrat” the party needed to reinvigorate its base and end its years in the congressional wilderness. After narrowly losing a race for Congress in a lopsidedly Republican district outside Cincinnati last August, the telegenic veteran—famous for dissing President Bush as a “chickenhawk” and “sonuvabitch” while on the stump—was courted heavily by Democratic leaders, including Sens. Charles Schumer and Harry Reid, to take on DeWine. But no sooner did Hackett enter the Senate race last October than Brown announced his candidacy for Senate, reversing an earlier decision he had made to stay out of the race."

Now don't get me wrong, Rep. Sherrod Brown doesn't sound like a bad guy. But why should Schumer and Reid even be involved in this? They are from New York and Nevada, respectively, not Ohio.

Retirement. Once you hit 40, you start thinking about it. You may not be doing much about it, but you are starting to think about it. I worry about it too and not just because I have a very young son and I am wondering about all those things he may need in the future. But, I wonder if I will ever see retirement and whether or not that is such a bad thing.
And, this isn't just about Social Security solvency or beach homes, this is about retirement in general ... the act of not working ... on something. I wonder if I will really ever be able to retire. Not just because I may not have the money to retire, but the fact that I probably won't be able to stop working.
I like working. I like working hard. I always have even when I was doing menial things like washing dishes. There is no indignity in work and the more fulfilling, the better. Plus, what can you do in retirement when you have done almost everything you've ever wanted? Can you spend the whole rest of your life living on a beach catching up on your reading? I go stir crazy after a week away from work. How am I going to handle not working at all?
Anyhow, this whole thread of thought recently came to me after I read this article: ["Retirement age 'should reach 85'"]. Hey, I'm all for working late in life ... but 85? That seems a bit much. I might not fully retire but I don't want to wait until 85! Come on.

2008. Interesting articles in the Sundays this week about 2008: ["Primary buzz is building early"] and this: ["Pols lining up at the gate for 2008"]. As well as this from earlier in the week: ["Conservatives Divided on '08 Candidate"].