Of all the candidates, bills, and proposals on ballots around the
country yesterday, one of the most exciting is a proposition that
didn't pass.
On Tuesday night, US Undersecretary of Defense Shay Assad, the
Pentagon's top contracting official, sent a memo to the commanders and
directors of all branches of the military instructing them to cease all
business with the embattled community organization ACORN and to take
"all necessary and appropriate" steps to prevent future contracts with
the organization.
The official photo gallery of Elinor Ostrom, joint winner of this
year's Nobel memorial prize in economics, says it all. In one picture,
she stands behind a lectern in a tie-dyed T-shirt, gesticulating wildly
with her right arm. In another, she squats for a portrait in
traditional Nepalese garb in an otherwise male group studying local
irrigation systems.
It is no coincidence the same
year that brought us the global financial crisis brought us the first
female winner in the prize's 41-year history. Economics is changing.
Acorn is a poor people's grassroots organization.
Earlier this month, some of it's employees were caught on tape giving advice to two young right-wing activists posing as pimp and prostitute.
Pfizer is a wealthy and powerful multinational corporation.
Earlier this month, a Pfizer unit pled guilty to a felony in connection with a major health care fraud and paid $2.3 billion in fines.
So, if the Democratically controlled Congress were to vote to either:
a) strip federal funding from the grassroots group Acorn, or
