PAUL STREET – Out of the Blue: Hillary’s Sociopathy Revealed in Des Moines

Hillary Clinton said something remarkable and out of the blue during the second Democratic Party presidential debate in Des Moines, Iowa, last Saturday – something that ought to lead to the suspension of her quest for the White House. The comment came in response to a CBS debate moderator and Bernie Sanders pointing out that her campaign had received millions …

Leid Stories – 11.16.15

Terrorist Attacks in Paris and the Rise of the Orwellian State;
Democratic 2016 Candidates Go Blank on Foreign Policy and Rise of ISIS
French journalist Gilbert Mercier, cofounder and editor in chief of the independent online magazine News Junkie Post, says that Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris that claimed the lives of more than 130 people will be used by France and other global powers to justify unprecedented authoritarian rule. Mercier recently published The Orwellian Empire.
The second Q&A session (not “debate”) with Democratic presidential hopefuls Saturday—featuring former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley—astutely avoided making any connection between U.S. foreign policy and the rise of ISIS.

Ralph Nader – The Democrats’ Presidential Debates: Underway and Underwhelming

Who thought this up – Giving a  private corporation (CNN) control of a presidential debate? In the most recent Democratic presidential debate, CNN controlled which candidates were invited, who asked what questions, and the location, Las Vegas – the glittering, gambling center of America. This is a mirror image of the control Fox News exercised during their Republican candidates’ circus. …

Matt Taibbi – Hillary Clinton’s Take on Banks Won’t Hold Up

The inaugural Democratic debate Tuesday night was a strange show. It felt like two different programs. One was a screwball comedy starring red-faced ex-Marine Jim Webb and retired Keebler elf Lincoln Chafee, whose Rhode Island roots highlighted the Farrelly brothers feel of his performance. The latter’s “I voted to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act because it was my first day at …

MATT TAIBBI – Hillary Clinton’s Take on Banks Won’t Hold Up

The inaugural Democratic debate Tuesday night was a strange show. It felt like two different programs. One was a screwball comedy starring red-faced ex-Marine Jim Webb and retired Keebler elf Lincoln Chafee, whose Rhode Island roots highlighted the Farrelly brothers feel of his performance. The latter’s “I voted to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act because it was my first day at …

Leid Stories – 08.24.15

St. Louis Police Killing of Mansur Ball-Bey: We Reveals New Details

Party Pooper?: Biden’s Possible Run Confirms Hillary Clinton’s Vulnerability

Mansur Ball-Bey, 18, was shot dead by police Aug. 19 during a house raid. Two police officers involved in the shooting say he aimed at them with a gun and they fired in self-defense. Witnesses, however, have said the Ball-Bay was not armed. The killing has reignited tensions locally and nationally about police use of force.

The deck’s getting stacked against Hillary Clinton. A campaign scrambling to hold itself together in the face of self-inflicted political wounds, the upsurge in Bernie Sanders’ popularity, a growing unease about her among highly placed fellow Democrats, and the wait-and-see attitudes of major endorsers is now rattled by the possibility that Vice President Joe Biden will run.

Leid Stories says that whether he runs or not, the mere discussion of a Biden candidacy confirms the Democratic Party’s recognition that Clinton is carrying way more baggage than it can carry.

Leid Stories – 08.03.15

Powerful Symbols, But Symbolism Isn’t Power On Aug. 1, in Selma, Ala., the NAACP launched its “America’s Journey for Justice March”—a 40-day, 860-mile trek to the nation’s capital. The civil-rights organization’s president and CEO, Cornell William Brooks, said the march is meant to dramatize America’s persistent, race-based inequities That same day in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the National Urban League wrapped …

Fossil Fuel Funding Boycott Puts Spotlight on Clinton Campaign – Lauren McCauley

Progressive groups have a challenge for presidential hopefuls: Put your money where your mouth is on the climate, and swear off contributions from fossil fuel companies. To affirm their commitment to taking on the climate crisis and “standing up to the corrupting influence of fossil-fuel companies,” the campaign, launched on Monday by The Nation and 350 Action, is calling on 2016 presidential …

Meet the New Shadow Bank (It’s a Lot Like the Old Shadow Bank) by Tracy Alloway

Good definitions of shadow banking — the ominously-titled corner of the financial system — are hard to come by. One of the more broader definitions used by the Financial Stability Board includes any vehicle that provides credit and leverage and which falls outside the realm of traditional regulated banking. That would mean anything from hedge funds and private equity to non-bank mortgage lenders. A more narrow definition suggest that …

As Corporate Forces Push Fast Track Bill, Progressives Draw Battle Lines – Deirdre Fulton

Warning that passing Fast Track legislation would amount to rubber-stamping corporate trade pacts like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, progressives are vowing to hold members of Congress accountable for their votes on the compromise bill announced Thursday—and reminding them of how dangerous such trade policies are for the public, workers, and the planet. “[T]he big deal is that Fast Track sets the stage for …