Media

One grievance of the protesters targeting Wall Street is that financial elites wield way too much power in our democracy. That complaint is hardly new, but the latest figures on money in politics tells a truly troubling story about the vast resources that Wall Street has put into shaping both the legislative process and elections.

Last month, the White House introduced a program that would effectively overhaul the tax code and, as Robert Kuttner put it, "locked [Obama] in as a defender of social insurance and working Americans." The five-pronged tax plan would cut rates and inefficient and unfair tax breaks, increase investment and growth in the United States, reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years and -- most contentiously -- institute the "Buffett rule."

The latest example of conservative economic philosophy comes courtesy of Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) who stated, “We can’t compete with China to make solar panels and wind turbines,” implying we shouldn’t even try.

Pop quiz: What’s so bad about the financialization of the U.S. economy over recent decades?

If you’re like most people who are uneasy with the outsized power of finance, chances are you can’t boil down your concerns to a pithy sound bite. So why is there such ridicule of the protesters “occupying” Wall Street for lacking a coherent message?

Mississippi Solar LLC and Electrical Contracting Enterprises LLC install solar panels on poultry houses

As the protests against Wall Street enter their third week, community groups and unions are beginning to join the demonstrations. The diverse group has staged almost daily marches and has been pretty much spontaneous and leaderless. Some protesters want the group to have specific goals.

Republican leaders have been directing intense fire at Barack Obama's plan to raise taxes on the richest Americans, including on millionaires and billionaires who now pay a relatively low rate on income from capital gains and dividends.

As it happens, though, rank-and-file Republicans think that Obama's proposals make a lot of sense. That's the finding of a poll released last week, funded by the SEIU and Daily Kos.

A week after the White House released its jobs bill, Paul Ryan took Fox News to say this:

The current attack on regulations in Congress poses a serious threat to public safety and should be rejected.