Looks like the "ladder out of poverty" Obama handed to the poor is missing a few rungs.

Looks like the "ladder out of poverty" being provided to the poor by Obama and the Democrats is missing a few rungs:

http://rankingamerica.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/the-u-s-ranks-2nd-in-child-poverty-2/

Interesting; Finland has top notch health care (free) and top notch education (including through university all free). Too bad Finland also has mega multi-national Pory (http://www.poyry.com/) advising the Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan DNR's on power generating, mining and forestry issues when we should be learning about health care and education from Finland. Perhaps the politicians being bribed by Poyry could at least ask them for connections about how to solve poverty, better our schools and reform health care? 

I wonder what percent of their budgets Iceland and Finland spend on militarization and wars?

Perhaps when Van Jones comes to town he will have some comments on this Minnesota Arms Spending Alternative Project:

http://www.mnasap.org/

I wonder why Democratic Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton hasn't taken the initiative to get all the Governors together to tell Obama we need a war on poverty not drone wars killing poor children?

I wonder where child poverty stands in relation to these other Nations for the sovereign Indian Nations? Probably would be way off the chart.

Wouldn't it be something if we could see countries rated on where they stack up when it comes to "democracy?" No doubt the United States and Canada would be tied for first place. Too bad boasts of "democracy" can't fill the bellies of hungry children.

Something to think about:

Poverty wages and racist discrimination in employment cause poverty.

-- 

Alan L. Maki

Director of Organizing,

Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

58891 County Road 13

Warroad, Minnesota 56763

Phone: 218-386-2432

Cell: 651-587-5541

Primary E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net

E-mail: alan.maki1951mn@gmail.com

Blog: http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/

The time is now for the creation of a National Public Bank.

The Obama-loving foundation flower Amy B. Dean is claiming the "far left" and the "far right" agree that the big banks should be busted up.

It is interesting to note that Amy Dean considers Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown to be "far left."

What a convenient way to write off the ideas of real liberals, real progressives and real leftists by calling Sherrod Brown "far left."

What foundation flower Amy B. Dean is also doing in writing off real liberals, real progressives and real leftists by calling Sherrod Brown "far left" is writing off what many of us liberals, progressives and leftists propose as the solution to the banking crisis brought on by corruption and a collapsing international capitalist economy--- nationalizing the entire banking industry by bringing the banks under public ownership.

Foundation flower Amy Dean and her "far left" buddy Senator Sherrod Brown--- along with conservative George Will and a bunch of right wing members of Congress--- propose busting up the banks in the way "Ma" Bell Telephone was "busted up: "bad for workers and bad for consumers and bad for society.

Ma Bell should have been nationalized and brought under public ownership; not busted up into uncontrollable and unmanageable rackets now ripping off consumers and driving down the standard of living of workers employed in the industry.

What we need is a National Public Banking System similar to the State Bank of North Dakota with corresponding State Banks as proposed by our friend Virg Bernero during his campaign for Michigan Governor.

United States Postal Outlets could become the branch offices along with automated banking machines in all public facilities and everyone would have convenient access to banking through their home computers. This is not some kind of sci-fi dream; in the United Kingdom the private banking industry is already operating this way through their postal system so there would be no problem with a public banking system providing the same kind of services.

I addition, we would be getting a handle on the real wealth created by workers now being horded by these Wall Street banksters and financial parasites.

We simply don't need these "money managers;" put them to work at a teller window in the United States Post Office or put them in jail where they really belong.

It would be foolish and stupid to bust up the banks and create even more of these crooked and corrupt banksters and allow them to feed like parasites of the wealth created by workers as they manage an expanding corruption of their creation of our political and economic system.

Union pension funds, Social Security, Rail Road Retirement, veterans and unemployment benefits as well as food stamps and Medicare/Medicaid and all kinds of government funds could be the financial foundation for a National Public Banking System--- why would we want to bust up the banks making it even more difficult to gain control over the wealth created by the working class?

To begin with, Congress should pay back the more than three-trillion dollars it has stolen from the Social Security Trust Fund--- this public capital could then be used to build a National Public Health Care System and a National Public Child Care System and unlike the money stolen from the Social Security Trust Fund which these "far right" and "far left" Republicans and Democrats have squandered on wars for which we get not one single penny in return, "we the people," would at least be left holding two universal social services of benefit to everyone instead of the body count from wars.

The "Peace Dividends" derived from electing a real liberal, progressive and left electoral coalition backed by a "People's Lobby" bringing an end to these unending dirty imperialist wars being waged in our name and paid for by our tax-dollars and the blood of so many innocent people in other lands would constitute the largest deposit in the National Public Banking System which could then be used to fund everything we know we need as a people for the benefit of society instead of using tax-dollars trying to bolster and salvage the "free market economy." 

Let Amy B. Dean and her fellow foundation flowers wilt on the stem so we can pick off the dead-heads and properly dispose of the diseased seeds so they don't get carried off by corrupt political winds like Monsanto's genetically modified seeds.

If we as real liberals, real progressives and real leftists begin to advance these kinds of ideas and organize for real change we will grow a political and economic system worthy of being branded as "democracy."

A National Public Banking System will pave the way for a real "people's recovery" from this economic mess Wall Street has saddled us with that is wreaking so much havoc in the lives of working people.

Wall Street gives us the shaft while shoving austerity measures down our throats--- thus making huge profits each way using the private banking system to carry out its reactionary agenda.

When public infrastructure goes private

Mr. Hiltzik,

I found your article very interesting:

http://articles.latimes.com/print/2013/apr/12/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20130412

What I don't understand is why, after bringing the U.S. Postal Service into this discussion, you fail to advocate the obvious...

The United States Postal Service should be providing us with internet service which would result in lower rates for users while providing revenue the U.S. Postal Service needs and it would have the advantage of saving and creating jobs.

A publicly owned national fiber-optic data network is what we really need.

Alan L. Maki