Over the past few years we have faced the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression. Americans across the nation are suffering from weak home prices unemployment and little accumulated savings. These factors forced two administrations to take unprecedented action to free up a catastrophic lending stall. The roots of this crisis can easily be traced back decades to specific legislative missteps but in general we simply grew complacent and preoccupied, compensating on Main St. for the reckless policies of Wall St. At some of our most sophisticated financial firms, risk management didn’t keep pace with the complexity of the new financial products. The lack of standards and transparency in evaluating loans weakened underwriting standards. Sound market principles broke down as investors continued relying on deceptive credit ratings enabled by having no externally reliable referee. Compensation practices that rewarded short term profit rather than long term value spread through the highly competitive system like a virus. It was a text book example of the principles set out in “The Tragedy of the Commons“
While this crisis has many explanations it is perfectly clear now that it is our governments responsibility to put standards and regulations in place to insure it doesn’t happen again. Our government must act to restore confidence in the integrity of our financial and regulatory agencies. We must build a new foundation for financial regulation that insures sustainable growth by protecting consumers and investors at the foundation of our economic system. There is no more basic responsibility of governance than to protect the sustainability of our economic commons.
“Computers can remember accurately and can cope with and integrate vast amounts of all known, relevant information on complex problems, uncopeable with prior to the computer. What we had prior to the computer were respected opinions and only selfishness conditioned reflexes on how to cope. Though an opinion might be wrong, there was no practical and convincing way to prove it. Unchallenged, the opinions became respected precedent, then exceptionless concepts, and even civil and academically accepted social law.” -Buckminster Fuller
An essential process in representative democracies are freedom of political expression, freedom of speech and freedom of the press so that citizens are well-informed and able to engage in the process in a way that accurately reflects their interests. The major problem with representative democracies is low voter participation. This difficulty in the process often means that our elected officials are in power without mandates, and rather than troubling him or herself to go find the true will of the “apathetic” average everyday Americans our representatives often assumed the majority opinion based on the most convenient source, the Washington corporate lobbyist. Their perception of an issues popularity was easily clouded by carefully crafted polling that is reported by “fair and balanced” news outlets. Other media picks up the “polling” story and precedence is established. The scattered, disconnected citizens, on the receiving end of this propaganda, without broader contradicting information assume that his or her view is the minority opinion. Reinforcing an apathetic, cynical attitude about the entire process. To overcome this an open, popular platform was needed to gather and discuss an issue openly so that everyone can know the will of the people and everyone can know that everyone knows the will of the people.
The new social media provides this forum with instant access to unlimited amounts of relevant information on any particular piece of legislation or candidate. We can organize and share information in a transparent, engaging way to an unlimited audience in real-time independent of the restricted, exclusive, one-way corporate media. We can see the effect reflected instantly through legitimate polling, knowing it will be considered valid and that the representative will be held accountable to it. The new social media provides the ability to have a real-time national discussion and reduce it to a valid, actionable consensus in a completely transparent and inclusive process. It’s like having a daily town hall meeting on the national level. The new media puts more tools of persuasion, perception and validation in the hands and minds of more people to effect more change, in less time than has ever before existed or even imagined and opens up a new paradigm of political functionality. No longer can restricted access between the two be an excuse for apathy by the voter or plausible deny-ability of the popular demand of an issue by the representative. As people become more informed and more aware of their power to effect change, being politically engaged I believe will become second nature.
Acorn
ACORN is the nation�s largest grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people with over 400,000 member families organized into more than 1,200 neighborhood chapters in about 75 cities across the country.
Michael Moore
“Michael Moore’s Action Plan: 15 Things Every American Can Do Right Now” Friends, It’s the #1 question I’m constantly asked after people see my movie: “OK — so NOW what can I DO?!”
ONE
ONE is a grassroots campaign and advocacy organization backed by more than 2 million people who are committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease.
Blogroll
Conscience of a Progressive By Ernest Partridge
“Progressivism,” to put it simply, is “liberalism,” free of the slanderous connotations heaped upon it by contemporary right-wing propagandists.
Michael Moore
“Michael Moore’s Action Plan: 15 Things Every American Can Do Right Now” Friends, It’s the #1 question I’m constantly asked after people see my movie: “OK — so NOW what can I DO?!”
Mud Puddle
Just some odds and ends from the progressive periphery.
Contact
Cogressman Vic Snyder -AR 2nd District
Arkansas Office 1501 North University, Suite 150 Little Rock, AR 72207 Phone: 501-324-5941; TDD: 501-324-5922; Fax: 501-324-6029
Media Matters for America
Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.
OpenSecrets.org
OpenSecrets.org is your nonpartisan guide to money’s influence on U.S. elections and public policy. Whether you’re a voter, journalist, activist, student or interested citizen, use our free site to shine light on your government. Count cash and make c
Online Progressive Policy Discussion
Bill Moyers Journal
An intellectual watering hole for those parched travelers of the barren corporate media wastelands.
Conscience of a Progressive By Ernest Partridge
“Progressivism,” to put it simply, is “liberalism,” free of the slanderous connotations heaped upon it by contemporary right-wing propagandists.
Crooks and Liars
John Amato’s virtual online magazine…OK, It’s a blog!
FDL (Firedoglake)
Firedoglake is an online news site featuring political reporting and blogs including Emptywheel, TBogg, Christy Hardin Smith, Laura Flanders, Spencer Ackerman (Attackerman), the Seminal, and La Figa. The FDL Book Salon also features online discussion wi
Social Policy
“SOCIAL POLICY asks what is to be done to secure basic structural changes in American society.
Scientific Social Research and Analysis
Conscience of a Progressive By Ernest Partridge
“Progressivism,” to put it simply, is “liberalism,” free of the slanderous connotations heaped upon it by contemporary right-wing propagandists.
President Obama wants to gradually transform 80% Wall St /20% Mn St to a 80% Mn St w/o anyone getting thrown permanently overboard #p2#tcot15 hours ago
#YouMightBeaRWNJ if u live in a constitutional republic after a win and a representative democracy after a loss 17 hours ago
Over the past few years we have faced the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression. Americans across the nation are suffering from weak home prices unemployment and little accumulated savings. These factors forced two administrations to take unprecedented action to free up a catastrophic lending stall. The roots of this crisis can easily be traced back decades to specific legislative missteps but in general we simply grew complacent and preoccupied, compensating on Main St. for the reckless policies of Wall St. At some of our most sophisticated financial firms, risk management didn’t keep pace with the complexity of the new financial products. The lack of standards and transparency in evaluating loans weakened underwriting standards. Sound market principles broke down as investors continued relying on deceptive credit ratings enabled by having no externally reliable referee. Compensation practices that rewarded short term profit rather than long term value spread through the highly competitive system like a virus. It was a text book example of the principles set out in “The Tragedy of the Commons“
Wes
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