Monday, July 14, 2025

‘Incrementalism Is Not Helpful in This Moment’: Ocasio-Cortez Rejects Settling for Crumbs in Next Covid-19 Stimulus

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says the U.S. cannot afford another incremental stmulus bill that shovels massive bailouts to big businesses alone.

2:00PM Water Cooler 4/20/2020

Today’s Water Cooler: Let’s make Monday, Fun Day!

Great! If COVID-19 Doesn’t Get Me, Perhaps the Mercury Will: Trump EPA Rejects Justification for Pollution Rule

EPA rejects previous cost benefit analysis of mercury rule; meanwhile power industry has spent to comply with rule and opposes backsliding.

Tend Your Own Garden: Personal Food Security During the Age of COVID-19

Worries about food security have led me to send vegetable plants to Mom and a sister; this is a good year to plant a victory garden.

Links 4/20/2020

Wolf Richter: Coronavirus Drives Barrage of New Lobbying Activity

Follow the money – Congressional lobbying activity and who wins and who loses from coronavirus relief.

Who Benefits When the Price of Insulin Soars?

Contrary to pharmaceutical company claims, revenue from high insulin prices are going to shareholders, not R&D

Press Ferrets Out More Falsehoods by CalPERS CIO Ben Meng, Evidence of Poor Leadership, in Giving Up >$1 Billion Hedge Payday

CalPERS’ embattled CIO Ben Meng digs his $1 billion hole deeper with not-credible defenses. Tell the board not to cede more authority to him.

Links 4/19/2020

Oil, Gas, Petrochemical Financial Woes Predate Pandemic — And Will Continue After, Despite Bailouts, Report Finds

Problems with the oil, gas, and petrchemical industries predate the COVID-19 pandemic – and now will be even more difficult to rseolve.

Links 4/18/2020

How COVID-19 Showed America’s Dependence on Blue-Collar Workers

The outbreak of “hero” talk is a long-overdue admission that blue-collar workers are the backbone of the US economy. Time to pay them more.

#DemExit Now: How the Democratic Party Cheated Bernie Sanders Out of the Nomination

How the Dems played dirty with Sanders.

2:00PM Water Cooler 4/17/2020

Today’s Water Cooler: Festival of Biden (strange inactivity, SuperPAC, Michelle Obama, VP horserace), Sirota on civility, vote by mail, ballot marking devices, Howie Hawkins, employment situation, state budgets, gold, Amazon, #COVID19 (epidemiology, asymptomatic tranmission), time

CalPERS Staff Seeks to Strip Board of Remaining Authority Even as Press Exposes Multi-Billion Cost of Lack of Supervision; Elected Board Members Thumb Nose at Public by Seeking to Be Paid for Doing Almost Nothing

CalPERS staff is up to more dirty tricks. Push back by e-mail in public comments. Bad press already has them on the back foot.