Finance : a return to regulation

By Christian Chavagneux

The US and Europe have revealed their plans to regulate the finance industry.  The principals of both plans are good, but the true test will come in their implementations.

On June 18th of last year, Barack Obama presented his plan for the reform of American finance regulation at the same time as the European heads of state revealed their plan with the same objective.  The political dynamic instilled by the G20 conference of last April was still in effect; on both sides of the Atlantic, the rulers took strong positions on taking the finance industry in hand.  The vigilance of these plans depends solely on their implementation; there may be a gap between

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By Lindsay Beyerstein, TMC MediaWire Blogger

The House Democrats unveiled their eagerly anticipated healthcare bill on Tuesday. That's right, three key committees managed to agree on a single bill. Beltway insiders think this show of unity is a big deal. But remember, the House Dems can be expected to pass whatever legislation is put in front of them because they have a healthy majority and no filibuster. The real challenge is getting the bill through the Senate.

The House bill would create an insurance exchange where the self-employed and small employers could order off a "menu" featuring a public plan and various private options. The hope is that insurance companies would offer better rates in order to put their plan on the national menu. Private options would also compete against the public plan.

Healthcare reform could look very different by the time the Senate gets through with it, but that's not slowing down the prognosticators. In the Prospect, Dana Goldstein considers what the new bill might mean for reproductive

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by Zach Carter, TMC MediaWire blogger

The U.S. economy is in big trouble right now, and the reform process may be missing a key point. When banks ran into severe trouble late last year, the government responded quickly with a massive bailout, but very little has been done to address a major structural flaw that has left our economy so vulnerable: rampant income inequality. In a system based on consumer spending, we have stretched consumers beyond their limit.

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich argues that we are in for a long period of economic woe over at Talking Points Memo. Consumer spending accounts for about 70% of the U.S. economy, so when consumers go broke, everything shuts down. Ordinary Americans' wages have been declining for decades, and the collapse of the housing bubble wiped out roughly $14 trillion in household wealth. Simply rebooting in the hopes that our simultaneous assault and dependence on consumer pocketbooks will work again will not be effective.

"This economy can't get back on track because the track we were on for years—featuring flat or declining median

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Pro-Development Legislation Repealed in Peru Following Indigenous Protests

by Jacquie Simone

Thousands of indigenous Amazonian protesters in Peru succeeded in forcing the government to repeal legislation that would have increased foreign-led development plans and extractive industries, such as logging, oil drilling and mining.

Indigenous Peruvians began blockading roads, rivers and railways April 9 to protest this legislation, which was passed to implement the 2007 U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement. Police forces attacked nonviolent protesters June 5 outside the city of Bagua, in the northern Peruvian Amazon. An estimated 60 indigenous protesters and 24 police officers were killed in the ensuing conflict.

Facing international criticism, the Peruvian Congress voted 82 to 12 to repeal the Forestry and Wildlife Law. The government also revoked a reform that permitted changes in land use without full prior consent of indigenous peoples. This means that indigenous groups have the right to be consulted before their traditionally held lands are developed.

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Quimby's and the Alternative Press Center Welcome Paul Buhle at the
Alternative Press Center Open House

Date: Sunday, July 12th
Time: 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Fee: FREE EVENT
Location: Alternative Press Center / 2040 N. Milwaukee, 2nd floor.
      (Take the Blue Line to O'Hare, exit at Western stop)
Note: the location is not handicap accessible

Paul Buhle will discuss the legacy of alternative media and underground press as well as his contemporary work in graphic adaptation of left history at the new location of the Alternative Press Center (APC). Buhle's most recent work, Studs Terkel's Working: A Graphic Adaptation, has been described as "a visual palette of influences from Mexican, African American, superhero, and feminist art, each piece an electric melding of artist and subject. This is a book that will both delight Terkel fans and introduce his work to a whole new audience—a fitting tribute to an American [...]More