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Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | 1 Comment | Updated on Aug 8, 2012

(Corporate) Crime Most Definitely Pays

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/corporate-crime-pays/

The New York Times reports that on August 7 a federal judge approved a settlement between the Justice Department and Morgan Stanley. Here’s the crime. In 2006 Morgan Stanley entered into a complex swap agreement with the New York electricity company KeySpan that gave it a stake in the profits of a competitor, enabling both… Continue reading

standard and poor
Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | 1 Comment | Updated on Aug 12, 2011

S&P Says Microsoft More Creditworthy than US Government

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/sp-says-microsoft-more-creditworthy-than-us-government/

Two days after Standard and Poor’s downgraded US government bonds, David Llewellyn-Smith, writing in The Sydney Morning Herald noted, “We now face the ludicrous circumstance in which the United States government holds … a lower (credit) rating than Microsoft, despite issuing its own currency (the world’s reserve), being able to raise taxes when it chooses,… Continue reading

Oscar Statue
Featured Article filed under Banking, The Public Good | Written by David Morris | 5 Comments | Updated on Mar 1, 2011

And The Academy Award for Cowardice Goes To….

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 | 5 Comments | Updated on Jan 26, 2011

The State of the Union President Obama Should Have Given

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

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Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Jul 27, 2010

ACORN deserves an apology, too

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/acorn-deserves-apology-too/

Shirley Sherrod has her job back and a presidential apology. ACORN is still waiting. The cases are remarkably similar. Both Sherrod and ACORN were demonized by highly edited videos appearing on right-wing websites and widely publicized by Fox News and conservative radio hosts. In both cases the mainstream media and the federal government rushed to… Continue reading

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Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Sep 23, 2009

ACORN: Federal Government’s Best Investment Ever

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/acorn-federal-governments-best-investment-ever/

To understand the current attacks on ACORN, and the organization itself, we need to go back more than 60 years, to the 1930s and the New Deal, when for the first time, the federal government accepted responsibility for directly helping the non-working poor. These programs were expanded in the 1940s, but in the 1950s, a… Continue reading

Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Apr 21, 1998

Size Matters

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/size-matters/

Size Matters by David Morris Institute for Local Self-Reliance April 21, 1998 – published in St. Paul Pioneer Press The announced marriage of Travelers Group and Citicorp, and the wave of megamergers it inspired, once again puts size into the policy spotlight. Size matters. But contrary to what the bolsters of bigness promise, when it… Continue reading

Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Nov 21, 1995

Would Republicans Destroy Even Good Government Programs?

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/would-republicans-destroy-even-good-government-programs/

Would Republicans Destroy Even Good Government Programs? by David Morris November 21, 1995 When President Clinton assumed office he promised to reinvent government by making it smaller, more efficient and more responsive. Washington skeptics laughed. Undaunted, Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore set about their task. And although they would be the first to… Continue reading