Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
Mar 31, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/when-unions-are-strong-americans-enjoy-the-fruits-of-their-labor/
The only effective answer to organized greed is organized labor. Thomas Donohue, Former President AFL-CIO In the early 1980s Ricardo Levins Morales, an artist and labor activist in Minneapolis designed a bumper sticker with a simple eight-word message, “From the people who brought you the weekend. “ Since then, he’s sold tens of thousands. In… Continue reading
Featured
Article
filed under
Banking, The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
Mar 1, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/and-the-academy-award-for-cowardice-goes-to/
After winning an Oscar for Best Documentary for Inside Job, Charles Ferguson injected some much-needed real world relevance amidst the fabulously glitzy proceedings. Continue reading
Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
Feb 11, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/the-superbowl-is-over-now-the-real-battle-begins/
Dear football fan, The Superbowl is over. But the real combat is just beginning. This time it’s not Packers v. Steelers. It’s Workers v. Bosses. And for thousands of workers and millions of fans, this is the game that counts. In the game of football, the rules favor neither side. And they are enforced. Each… Continue reading
Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
admin
|
| Updated on
Feb 2, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/public-good-overview/
In the 1930s we expanded the concept of a public good and a public asset to the idea of social insurance, enacting programs like unemployment insurance and social security and in the 1960s health care for the elderly through Medicare. Continue reading
Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
Jan 26, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/the-state-of-the-union-president-obama-should-have-given/
I started to write a comment on President Obama’s State of the Union Address, and the Republican Party’s responses. But I quickly realized the difficulties in having to comment on someone else’s narrative. I’d end up with, at best, a worthy critique when what I wanted was an alternative narrative. So I decided to write one. Continue reading
Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
Jan 10, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/once-we-insisted-civility-reflections-tucson/
In the wake of the murders in Tucson, our leaders once again are calling for civility in public discourse. We forget that for almost 40 years we didn’t have to plead for civility. We demanded it. The story of how we did so, and why we stopped, illuminates the intersection of politics and culture. At the dawn of the broadcasting era, the government declared that the airwaves belonged to the public and fashioned rules to protect the public interest protect the public interest. Continue reading
Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
Dec 14, 2010
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/obama-vs-fdr-social-security/
Today, 75 years and 4 months since Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, a Democratic president is ignoring his wisdom and abandoning his strategy for protecting the program from shifting political winds. If congressional Democrats go along with Obama on this, it could mark the beginning of the end of Social Security as we have known it. Continue reading
Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
Dec 13, 2010
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/how-canadians-built-fair-health-care-system-bottom/
The seeds of the current Canadian health system were sown in rural Saskatchewan in the early 20th century when small cities with no doctorsbegan to subsidize a physician to come and set up practice. Several communities then joined together to open publicly-funded hospitals.
In the 1930s, a new Canadian political party, whose name reflected its philosophy, the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), came to powerin Saskatchewan.
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Rule
filed under
Banking, The Public Good
| Written by
Stacy Mitchell
|
| Updated on
Oct 26, 2010
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/rule/glass-steagall-act-the-volcker-rule/
The Glass-Steagall Act created federal deposit insurance and erected a strict barrier between commercial and investment banking activities. It was repealed in 1999. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, many people, including prominent economists, policymakers, and even bankers, have called for restoring Glass-Steagall. The Volcker Rule, a provision in the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, imposed some limits on the mixing of commercial and investment banking activities, but not the firm wall that Glass-Steagall had provided. Continue reading
Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
Oct 15, 2010
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/every-justice-judicial-activist/
Right-Wingers Just Don’t Like the Ones Who Don’t Agree with Them. In 1787, writing in the Federalist Papers in support of state ratification of the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton argued that the proposed Supreme Court “will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the constitution.” As for judicial activism, “contraventions of the will of the legislature may now and then happen; but they can never be as extensive as to affect the order of the political system.” Continue reading
