The fundamental law of capitalism is that if workers have no money, businesses have no customers. That’s why the extreme, and widening, wealth gap in our economy presents not just a moral challenge, but an economic one, too. In a capitalist system, rising inequality creates a death spiral of falling demand that ultimately takes everyone down.

Low-wage jobs are fast replacing middle-class ones in the U.S. economy. Sixty percent of the jobs lost in the last recession were middle-income, while 59 percent of the new positions during the past two years of recovery were in low-wage industries that continue to expand such as retail, food services, cleaning and health-care support. By 2020, 48 percent of jobs will be in those service sectors.

Policy makers debate incremental changes for arresting this vicious cycle. But perhaps the most powerful and elegant antidote is sitting right before us: a spike in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

via The Capitalist’s Case for a $15 Minimum Wage – Bloomberg.

This is what we are gong to have to do one way or another as more and more labor is replaced by “working capital” (i.e. automation).   The question, as per, is how long we are going to fight against the obvious before it hits.

(Reuters) – China made its first substantive comments on Monday to reports of U.S. surveillance of the Internet, demanding that Washington explain its monitoring programs to the international community.

Several nations, including U.S. allies, have reacted angrily to revelations by an ex-CIA employee over a week ago that U.S. authorities had tapped the servers of internet companies for personal data.

“We believe the United States should pay attention to the international community’s concerns and demands and give the international community the necessary explanation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily briefing.

via China asks U.S. to explain Internet surveillance | Reuters.

China has been all over this things.  Snowden completely changed the conversation.  Where we had recently started to get data about China’s effort[1] in this regard…now the entire playing board has been upended.

Snowden has also crossed a line (for many) as he is now trying to curry favor with the Chinese government by revealing this information.

To try and get a sense of how big a deal this is…imagine if we had someone defect from China and reveal just exactly how the unit I mentioned previously functioned.  And if you think Snowden isn’t trying to defect…you aren’t paying attention.  

HONG KONG — Political pressure is growing here for the Hong Kong government to protect Edward Snowden, who has said he will remain in the city and allow the people here to “decide his fate.”

Yet Snowden is depending on a place that isn’t in control of even its own destiny.

Hong Kong has a separate legal system from mainland China and an avowed devotion to free speech, but the city ultimately answers to Chinese leaders in Beijing, who may be wary of a confrontation with the U.S. government.

 

“Even we cannot decide our own fate,” said Jerry Chan, 26, at a rally Saturday near the U.S. Consulate to support Snowden.

Unfortunately I don’t see a rational national conversation going on domestically about these programs.  Already we’ve seen the “IRS Scandal” debunked in hearings…and then the Chairman of those hearings refused to release the testimony.  There is *very little desire* to get to the bottom of these things, if there even is a bottom, and a *great deal of desire* to try and make political hay out of the situation.

Obama has already tried to begin the conversation on scaling back the war-time footing we’ve been on for over a decade.

Rather than have that conversation, Republicans would rather fault him for using the powers granted Obama, that Obama himself is trying to set aside.

President Obama drew sharp criticism from Republican senators Thursday for urging the repeal of the 2001 law that effectively authorized the war on terror.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., claimed the president was assuming Al Qaeda is “on the run,” calling that mindset “really incredible.”

The president addressed the law, known as the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), toward the end of an hour-long speech largely devoted to explaining and defending his administration’s lethal drone program. He even referenced the fact that America is at war in defending the legality of the drone strikes.

 

But Obama made clear that his ultimate goal is to update, and then repeal, the use of force law, saying he wants to fight terrorism without keeping the country on a “perpetual war-time footing.”

[1]

The building off Datong Road, surrounded by restaurants, massage parlors and a wine importer, is the headquarters of P.L.A. Unit 61398. A growing body of digital forensic evidence — confirmed by American intelligence officials who say they have tapped into the activity of the army unit for years — leaves little doubt that an overwhelming percentage of the attacks on American corporations, organizations and government agencies originate in and around the white tower.

“For the last 30 years, I’ve been for abolishing the IRS and establishing a fair tax,” King said. “A national sales tax on sales and service to give us back our freedom. And every time that little Johnny or Sally puts a — buys their baseball cards or their Barbie doll clothes, they put a couple dimes on the counter for Uncle Sam.”

“And every time they do that with a national sales tax, they are reminded how expensive our federal government is. And we will turn this society and culture over and we will raise generations of conservatives that love this country, that understand free enterprise, demand less from government, not more from government.”

via Steve King: Secret income is ‘part of freedom’ | The Raw Story.

BTW…this is how far the derp goes…recall…this is a rally about ignoring that the reason Tea Party groups were “targeted” by the IRS has already been revealed (i.e. it has to do with tax laws and “social welfare” organizations).    And here’s the derp position…

“I don’t need them poking through my books, I don’t need them telling my pastor or my priest what he’s going to be able to preach from the pulpit,” he continued. “In fact, it’s not even the government’s business how much money you make. That’s a part of freedom.”

Please know that I am deeply sorry. I am sorry for the pain and hurt many of you have experienced. I am sorry that some of you spent years working through the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn’t change. I am sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized parents. I am sorry that there were times I didn’t stand up to people publicly “on my side” who called you names like sodomite—or worse. I am sorry that I, knowing some of you so well, failed to share publicly that the gay and lesbian people I know were every bit as capable of being amazing parents as the straight people that I know. I am sorry that when I celebrated a person coming to Christ and surrendering their sexuality to Him that I callously celebrated the end of relationships that broke your heart. I am sorry that I have communicated that you and your families are less than me and mine.

via Leading ‘Ex-Gay’ Organization Closes, Apologizes To LGBT Community | ThinkProgress.

This is about the only good way these groups can “end”.    Good on this one for finally realizing what they were doing (hint: it wasn’t love).

Of the 435 districts that constitute the chamber, 242 tilt toward Republicans while 185 favor Democrats (another eight are evenly divided). In November, Mitt Romney – despite getting shellacked nationally – won 21 more congressional districts than President Barack Obama.

It’s for that reason that Democrats, who are 17 seats shy of the majority, start out the midterm season at risk of losing ground. While there are 15 Democrats residing in GOP-tilting districts, only four Republicans are in Democratic-friendly ones. And the Cook Political Report lists 37 Democratic-held seats as being competitive, compared to just 28 Republican ones.

Redistricting is the single biggest factor driving the GOP’s congressional power. When the process came to an end last year, 109 Republican seats were made safer as opposed to 67 Democratic seats. And 109 Democrat seats became more competitive, compared to just 96 Republicans.

via The Democrats’ lost decade? – Alex Isenstadt – POLITICO.com.

We saw this same thing just now in Texas.   Despite crying on the national stage about not getting a federal bailout for a private company that killed over a dozen people thanks to lax regulation and oversight, the Texas Legislature didn’t take a special session to focus on solutions to that problem…oh no*…they’re spending the special session trying to get biased re-districting maps passed (and restrict women’s rights, since that’s a big GOP priority).

* “Gov. Rick Perry has told The Associated Press he is comfortable with the current oversight, and doesn’t believe spending more money on inspections could prevent an explosion such as the one that occurred in West.”

Sen. Jeff Flake’s (R-AZ) high school aged son, Tanner, repeatedly published racial, homophobic and anti-Semitic slurs on his personal Twitter account, Buzzfeed reported on Wednesday.

On his Twitter account earlier this year, which has since been locked, Tanner threatened the “faggot” who stole his bike, writing I “will find you, and…will beat the crap out of you.” He also called someone a “Jew” for stealing people’s ideas and went by the name “n1ggerkiller” in an online game, which he posted screenshots of on his Twitter account.

via Sen. Flake Apologizes For Son’s Offensive Slurs On Twitter | TPM LiveWire.

I wouldn’t have brought this up…but this is the kid in question…

Pretty much an IRL Joffrey, with a Senator Dad.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3424166?ref=topbar

“Although the Committee interviewed a self-identified ‘conservative Republican’ who denied any White House involvement or any political motivation for screening Tea Party cases, Chairman Issa now appears to be going back on his promise to release the full interview transcripts of IRS employees,” said Cummings, in a statement. “Chairman Issa changes his mind so fast that even when I agree with him, we’re not on the same page. I fully support responsible oversight, but cherry picking transcript excerpts to fuel partisan and unsubstantiated claims is not a credible or effective way to investigate.”

Issa promised to release full transcripts, finds out it wasn’t a conspiracy planned by Obama, releases partial transcripts trying to say it was….lies about everything.

Its almost like this guy is slimy as all hell.

Well, not “almost”.