Apr 29, 2010
Democrats in D.C. are going about this regulation thing all wrong.
Want to get Republican buy-in? Give Republicans the kind of regulation
they like. As usual in U.S. politics, the states provide the road map.
Take Arizona. There, the party of small government's just released
police to stop people on suspicion. Want to break GOP resistance to
financial regulation? Release the SEC to spot-check Wall Street. Anyone
who looks suspiciously likely to be hawking synthetic derivatives? Slap
'em in detention until their lawyers can prove they're innocent. It's
all in the interests of crime prevention.
Oklahoma's state legislature just overrode the governor's veto of two
laws related to pregnancy and abortion. Personal privacy's nice but
even good people sometimes make bad decisions, said legislators. Now
women who'd like to terminate a pregnancy will be subjected to mandatory
vaginal scans and forced to view fetal porn videos. Want to reduce
credit default swaps? Before they make another risky bet, let's force
traders to slap on a gown, step in those stirrups, and subject
themselves to a mandatory scan of their stock portfolios, while watching
American Casino or Plunder or listening to the live,
panicked heartbeat of manipulated mortgage owners.
Regulators need to remember that even the die-hardest conservative's
OK with some regulation. If it's good enough for the women of Oklahoma,
it's good enough for Wall Street. Right?
An Unconstitutional Rampage
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
© 2023 Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders interviews forward-thinking people about the key questions of our time on The Laura Flanders Show, a nationally syndicated radio and television program also available as a podcast. A contributing writer to The Nation, Flanders is also the author of six books, including "Bushwomen: How They Won the White House for Their Man" (2005). She is the recipient of a 2019 Izzy Award for excellence in independent journalism, the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award for advancing women's and girls' visibility in media, and a 2020 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship for her reporting and advocacy for public media. lauraflanders.org
Democrats in D.C. are going about this regulation thing all wrong.
Want to get Republican buy-in? Give Republicans the kind of regulation
they like. As usual in U.S. politics, the states provide the road map.
Take Arizona. There, the party of small government's just released
police to stop people on suspicion. Want to break GOP resistance to
financial regulation? Release the SEC to spot-check Wall Street. Anyone
who looks suspiciously likely to be hawking synthetic derivatives? Slap
'em in detention until their lawyers can prove they're innocent. It's
all in the interests of crime prevention.
Oklahoma's state legislature just overrode the governor's veto of two
laws related to pregnancy and abortion. Personal privacy's nice but
even good people sometimes make bad decisions, said legislators. Now
women who'd like to terminate a pregnancy will be subjected to mandatory
vaginal scans and forced to view fetal porn videos. Want to reduce
credit default swaps? Before they make another risky bet, let's force
traders to slap on a gown, step in those stirrups, and subject
themselves to a mandatory scan of their stock portfolios, while watching
American Casino or Plunder or listening to the live,
panicked heartbeat of manipulated mortgage owners.
Regulators need to remember that even the die-hardest conservative's
OK with some regulation. If it's good enough for the women of Oklahoma,
it's good enough for Wall Street. Right?
Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders interviews forward-thinking people about the key questions of our time on The Laura Flanders Show, a nationally syndicated radio and television program also available as a podcast. A contributing writer to The Nation, Flanders is also the author of six books, including "Bushwomen: How They Won the White House for Their Man" (2005). She is the recipient of a 2019 Izzy Award for excellence in independent journalism, the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award for advancing women's and girls' visibility in media, and a 2020 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship for her reporting and advocacy for public media. lauraflanders.org
Democrats in D.C. are going about this regulation thing all wrong.
Want to get Republican buy-in? Give Republicans the kind of regulation
they like. As usual in U.S. politics, the states provide the road map.
Take Arizona. There, the party of small government's just released
police to stop people on suspicion. Want to break GOP resistance to
financial regulation? Release the SEC to spot-check Wall Street. Anyone
who looks suspiciously likely to be hawking synthetic derivatives? Slap
'em in detention until their lawyers can prove they're innocent. It's
all in the interests of crime prevention.
Oklahoma's state legislature just overrode the governor's veto of two
laws related to pregnancy and abortion. Personal privacy's nice but
even good people sometimes make bad decisions, said legislators. Now
women who'd like to terminate a pregnancy will be subjected to mandatory
vaginal scans and forced to view fetal porn videos. Want to reduce
credit default swaps? Before they make another risky bet, let's force
traders to slap on a gown, step in those stirrups, and subject
themselves to a mandatory scan of their stock portfolios, while watching
American Casino or Plunder or listening to the live,
panicked heartbeat of manipulated mortgage owners.
Regulators need to remember that even the die-hardest conservative's
OK with some regulation. If it's good enough for the women of Oklahoma,
it's good enough for Wall Street. Right?
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.