Hightower Lowdown

Everyone hates corporate healthcare-- now, public demand could really change it

Jim Hightower — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 20:34:44 -0700

Everyone hates corporate healthcare-- now, public demand could really change it

Now is the time for boldness! Instead, we're getting Baucusness. Sen. Max Baucus, that is--Montana Democrat, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and frequent spear-carrier for the corporate agenda. He has now been tapped to handle Obama's promised rewrite of America's warped, ineffective, and exorbitantly expensive health-care system.

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Populism is not a style, it's a people's rebellion against corporate power

Jim Hightower — Thu, 07 May 2009 09:06:38 -0700

Populism is not a style, it's a people's rebellion against corporate power

When I lived in Washington, DC, in the 1970s, I got a call from a friend of mine who worked for the Congressional Research Service--a legislative agency that digs up facts, prepares briefing papers, and otherwise does research on any topic requested by members of Congress. My friend could barely speak, because he was hooting, howling, and guffawing over a research question he'd just received.

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Q: What made Wall Street implode? A: They were making too much money to stop

Jim Hightower — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:00:53 -0700

Q: What made Wall Street implode? A: They were making too much money to stop

Did you have a piggy bank when you were a child? Mine was a cheery, round pig--made of brown pottery, as I recall. For parents of that time, having their children feed pennies, nickels, and the occasional dime into these toy banks was a sweet lesson in frugality--a Kodak moment for many families. Today, though, the term "piggy bank" has a wholly different connotation. America's leaders are stuffing trillions of our tax dollars into such voracious Wall Street piggies as Bank of America, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs, and there's nothing sweet about it.

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Time for real workplace democracy-- not the phony company version

Jim Hightower — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 17:39:12 -0800

Time for real workplace democracy-- not the phony company version

Last October, Home Depot cofounder Bernie Marcus blew a gasket, spewing outrage in all directions. "This is the demise of civilization," he exploded. "This is how a civilization disappears. I'm watching this happen and I don't believe it!" Bernie's outburst came during an hour-long conference call with various other corporate executives and their political operatives. The purpose was to collect industry funds for a campaign to kill a piece of legislation called the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

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Team Obama's plan for Afghanistan is a disaster in search of a strategy

Jim Hightower — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 05:32:14 -0800

Team Obama's plan for Afghanistan is a disaster in search of a strategy

Sorry to interrupt the Obama celebration even before the man gets settled into the Oval Office, but--what the hell is he thinking!?! About Afghanistan, I mean. Why begin the most exciting, most important administration in decades with yet another misguided military mission that promises to be a sinkhole for our troops, our treasury, our country's good name, and the world's hopes for this historic presidency?

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Senators bail out their banker buddies but stiff workers and their unions

Jim Hightower — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Senators bail out their banker buddies but stiff workers and their unions

THE 8,000-MEMBER GREATER GRACE TEMPLE in Detroit is the home church of many autoworkers, and its Sunday service on December 7 spoke directly to their troubles. The tone was set by the choir's opening selection, "I'm looking for a Miracle." The Pentecostal pastor kept the spirit moving with a sermon he titled "A Hybrid Hope," after which the congregation joined in a full-throated, hallelujah version of the gospel classic, "We're Gonna Make It." For the men and women who actually do the work in automobile manufacturing (America's quintessential industry), the only hope left for dealing with a catastrophic economic meltdown seems to be prayer.

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The many REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL after Election Day 2008

Jim Hightower — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:58:04 -0800

The many REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL after Election Day 2008

After casting her ballot for Barack Obama, Amanda Jones said simply, "I feel good about voting for him." Ms. Jones, of Cedar Creek, Texas (a town just south of Austin), is African-American, and what gives her vote some historic punch is that she's 109 years old. Her father was a slave. Her mother was born right after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. She's been through it all--Jim Crow segregation, women's suffrage, the Great Depression, the poll tax, FDR, the civil-rights movement, desegregation, 13 years of George W (five as guv, eight as prez), and now: Barack Obama. This last change fills her with joy, she says.

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The five most wanted men from Wall Street and Washington

Jim Hightower — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 05:00:00 -0700

The five most wanted men from Wall Street and Washington

What the hell's happening here? Why is my bank in the tank? And my house and job? And my retirement money? Even my state's teetering on the brink of broke! Who did this to us? Fair questions, but we're not getting honest answers.

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Political outsiders are the only change we can count on

Jim Hightower — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:52:30 -0700

Political outsiders are the only change we can count on

At a time when We The People have been vociferously and unequivocally demanding that our political aspirants offer Big Ideas on America's Big Issues (good jobs, health care for all, the wars, Wall Street greed, our collapsing infrastructure, big-money corruption of government, etcetera), the presidential campaign has taken a dive into the politics of lipstick and other smears./p>

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Why the McCain drill-more-oil campaign is pure flim flam

Jim Hightower — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:42:06 -0700

Why the McCain drill-more-oil campaign is pure flim flam

Here they come--America's Drill Team! Out front are the two high-strutting leaders, John McCain and George W, thrusting their drum-major batons and chanting "Drill! Drill! Drill!" Right behind them are the famous Marching Lobbyists of Big Oil, and--look!--prancing alongside are House minority leader John Boehner and the Merry Pranksters of the Republican caucus, doing a precision routine of call and response

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