REWIND - A Week of Quotes and Cartoons
SUNDAY
Quote of the Day
March 3, 2013
'Justice Antonin Scalia quite deservedly came under fire yesterday for his claim that a key provision of the Voting Rights Act is a " perpetuation of racial entitlement." If the justice were looking to confirm every suspicion that conservative opposition to the law that broke the back of Jim Crow voter exclusions is rooted in white racial resentment, he could hardly have picked a better way to do so.
'Viewed in context, however, Scalia's quote is actually even more disturbing than the initial headlines suggested. Beyond whatever resentments Justice Scalia may hold, his "racial entitlements" statement was also part of a broader theory about the proper role of judges in society. And if that theory were taken seriously by a majority of the justices, it would potentially undermine Medicare, Social Security and countless other programs.'
Ian Millhiser, Policy Analyst on
legal issues at the Center for
American Progress
Think Progress
February 28, 2013
Toon of the Day
The Injustice
Brian McFadden - New York Times
MONDAY
Quote of the Day
'... although experts estimate that sequestration could cost the country about 700,000 jobs, Wall Street does not expect the cuts to substantially reduce corporate profits - or seriously threaten the recent rally in the stock markets.
'"It's minimal," said Savita Subramanian, head of United States equity and quantitative strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Over all, the sequester could reduce earnings at the biggest companies by just over 1 percent, she said, adding, "the market wants more austerity".'
New York Times
March 4, 2013
Toon of the Day
String Theory
Tom Toles - Washington Post
TUESDAY
Quote of the Day
'I'd make clear to the American people that they made a choice in 2012 but that right-wing House Republicans have been blocking that choice, and the only way to implement that choice is for Congress to pass the Build America's Future Act.
'If House Republicans still block it, I'd make 2014 a referendum on it and them, and do whatever I could to take back the House.
'In short, the President must reframe the public debate around the future of the country and the investments we must make together in that future, rather than austerity economics. And focus on good jobs and broad-based prosperity rather than prosperity for a few and declining wages and insecurity for the many.'
Robert B. Reich, professor of Public Policy
at the University of California at Berkeley,
secretary of labor in the Clinton Administration
blog
March 4, 2013
Toon of the Day
Italian Poll Message
Parash
WEDNESDAY
Quote of the Day
'And that is the irony: Washington's never-ending battle against Venezuela has, in some ways, made the Chavez government and its political party stronger, by helping to infuse the left v right political contest there with an anti-imperialist dimension that would put most of the world's governments on the side of Chavez.
'Of course, the most important source of [Hugo] Chavez's continued electoral success has been the improvements in living standards that the majority of Venezuelans have experienced over the past decade: poverty reduced by half, extreme poverty by more than 70%, unemployment cut by half, a tripling of people eligible for public pensions and vastly increased access to healthcare and education.
'In the New York Times' debate, historian Miguel Tinker-Salas made the best contribution - as he often does - by emphasizing the centrality of who controls Venezuela's oil reserves:
"Control of the government implies control of the oil industry and the ability to dictate whether it benefits society at large or small, privileged sectors, as it did in the past."
'Indeed it does, and will.'
Economist Mark Weisbrot
The Guardian (UK)
January 9, 2013
Toon of the Day
Good Ole Stuff
Ben Sargent
THURSDAY
Quote of the Day
'Many African descendants in the region are certainly mourning the passing of President Chavez. He represented a refreshing lesson on upholding human rights, rather than talking about them, through his prioritisation of African descendent issues and politics, not only within Venezuela, but also outside of Venezuela.
'Many of us will remain attentive to what the near future of Venezuela holds for it in the next few days and months, to view and see how either a continuum of the current government and leadership or a new government will continue to uphold the strides that were accomplished by President Chavez.
'And although he has left this life to join the ancestors, we know that he will always be with us. We are proud of this "African-American" president and with his example we will continue to uphold the principles that he stood for as we struggle for a new world free from domination and oppression.'
Janvieve Williams Comrie, executive
director of the Latin American and
Caribbean Community Center,
formerly with the Office of the
High Commissioner of Human
Rights Central America Regional Office
and the US Human Rights Network
aljazeera
March 7, 2013
Toon of the Day
Dow Jones & the Rising Tide
Stuart Carlson
FRIDAY
Quote of the Day
'I join with millions of Venezuelans, Latin Americans, Caribbeans, fellow U.S. citizens, and many more millions of freedom-loving people around the world who embraced Hugo Chavez as a social champion of people-centered democracy, material development, and spiritual well-being.
'As his ideological and political opponents continue to wrangle, I ask all honest proponents of equality, justice, and peace in Venezuela and across the world to temper divisive disputes and find genuine ways to support those Venezuelans who seek to continue the course of participatory democracy and programs of social development, social security, and efforts to achieve equality that were and continue to be the goals of Hugo Chavez's policies of education, health, and a livable income for all. I ask everyone to listen to and respect the expressed democratic will of the Venezuelan people who supported, in unprecedented numbers, the recent re-election of Hugo Chavez.
'There is no doubt some will continue to vilify Hugo Chavez in death as they did during his governance and his terrible illness. Others, inside and outside of Venezuela, will unfortunately seek to overturn his progressive national political development agenda and the policies of solidarity and internationalism he established and sought to extend. This, despite the fact that programs like Petro-Caribe, the Bank of the South, and the New Community of Latin American and Caribbean Nations have so greatly benefited the region, as has Chavez' emphasis on South-South cooperation.'
Actor/Activist Danny Glover
Cuba News
March 8, 2013
Toon of the Day
Obama's Dinner Guests
David Horsey - Los Angeles Times
SATURDAY
Quote of the Day
''For college-educated workers under age 25, the jobless rate has averaged 8.1 percent over the past year, compared with 5.4 percent in 2007, before the recession. For for those over age 25, it was 3.8 percent in February, compared with 2 percent before the recession. That is a strong indication that unemployment is elevated not because workers are unskilled, but because there is still not enough consumer demand to make hiring worthwhile.'
Editorial
New York Times
March 9, 2013
Toon of the Day
Bankers Too Big to Jail
Jeff Danziger
Spread the word