“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.
Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.
The Sunday Talking Heads:
Up with Chris Hayes: If you are an earlier riser on weekends or, like me, up all night working, I’ve heard that Hayes is a good watch and has had some very interesting guests and discussions. Guests are not announced adding to the spontaneity of the format.
“Up w/ Chris Hayes” focuses on politics including the day’s top headlines, newsmaker interviews, and panels of pundits, politicos and voices from outside the mainstream. It is live on Saturdays from 7:00 – 9:00 a.m. ET and Sundays from 8:00 – 10:00 a.m. ET.
This Week with Christiane Amanpour:House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) for a one-on-one and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has a book. The round table guests are the usual suspects: George Will, political strategist Matthew Dowd, Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post and Niall Ferguson, author of “Civilization,” debates the fallout for the Cain campaign and the rest of the Republican field and then take on the Greek economic crisis.
Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer:Guests, GOP consultants Liz Cheney, Ed Gillespie and Ed Rollins, CBS News Political Analyst John Dickerson, and Rick Perry supporter Ken Blackwell, will babble about the Republican clown parade and Jon Huntsman’s daughters, @jon2012girls whose video spoof went viral.
The Chris Matthews Show: More babble about Republicans candidates and who can defeat Obama by this week’s guests Kathleen Parker, The Washington Post Columnist, Jim Cramer, CNBC Host, Mad Money, Gloria Borger, CNN Senior Political Analyst and Howard Fineman, The Huffington Post Senior Political Editor.
Meet the Press with David Gregory:Former U.S. Ambassador to China and struggling Republican candidate for the presidential nomination, Jon Huntsman in an exclusive interview and the Fmr. Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM), and former RNC Chairman, Governor Haley Barbour (R-MS) will talk about the other Republican choices. The roundtable guests are Republican strategist Alex Castellanos, columnist for the Wall Street Journal, Kim Strassel, Senior Political Reporter for Politico, Maggie Haberman and author of the new book “Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero,” and host of MSNBC’s Hardball, Chris Matthews (who will compare everyone to JFK).
State of the Union with Candy Crowley: Maryland Governor and Democratic Governors Association Chair Martin O’Malley on state election strategy for Obama; Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) on the Cain/Perry controversy and the Super Committee; veteran political panelists Tom Davis and Anita Dunn on politics of the week; and American Values President Gary Bauer and Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners Magazine discussing how religion will affect both the primary and the 2012 general election.
Go back to bed or watch the NYC Marathon, football later. There are also leaves to be raked. You have an extra hour today.
This week was a sharp reminder that the ancient ideal of democracy is just as threatened — and to some, just as threatening — as it’s ever been. In government offices in Athens, G20 meeting rooms in Cannes, and “Super Committee” chambers in Washington, we learned that there are still places where the will of the people can be overruled by the whims of the powerful.
From the Parthenon to the Potomac, it was the same story: Elites still hold veto power over the democratic process, and they’re not afraid to use it.
Fred Wison: The XL Pipeline Is a Dog That Can’t Hunt
As thousands get ready for a big last push on President Obama against the XL Pipeline in Washington DC this weekend, decision makers should remember Elvis Presley’s sage advice: “When things go wrong, don’t go with them.” If, or when, XL goes down, how many politicians, businessmen and labour leaders will get pulled under with it?
By any measure, TransCanada Pipeline’s Keystone XL project has gone horribly wrong. This $7 Billion project was supposed to have been under construction seven months ago. It has yet to receive critical US state approvals, and the once expected pro-forma approval from the White House is now very much in question.
Paul Krugman: A Brave New World Wide Web of Economics
Ryan Avent, the economics writer at The Economist, and I have been corresponding about the role of the economics blogosphere, for the Christmas issue of the magazine.
I don’t know what parts of our conversation will actually show up there, but having assembled my thoughts I might as well put some of them here.
The concern, or maybe just issue, is whether the rise of econoblogs is undermining the gatekeepers – whether any old Joe can now weigh in on economic debate, whereas in the good old days you had to publish in the journals, which meant getting through the refereeing process.
My take is that the system never worked like that – or at least not in my professional lifetime. And when you consider how economic discussion actually used to work, you see the blogs in a different and more favorable light.
Alejandro Reuss: The 99%, the 1%, and Class Struggle
Between 1979 and 2007, the income share of the top 1% of U.S. households (by income rank) more than doubled, to over 17% of total U.S. income. Meanwhile, the income share of the bottom 80% dropped from 57% to 48% of total income. “We are the 99%,” the rallying cry of the #OccupyWallStreet movement, does a good job at calling attention to the dramatic increase of incomes for those at the very top-and the stagnation of incomes for the majority.
This way of looking at income distribution, however, does not explicitly focus on the different sources of people’s incomes. Most people get nearly all of their incomes-wages and salaries, as well as employment benefits-by working for someone else. A few people, on the other hand, get much of their income not from work but from ownership of property-profits from a business, dividends from stock, interest income from bonds, rents on land or structures, and so on. People with large property incomes may also draw large salaries or bonuses, especially from managerial jobs. Executive pay, though treated in official government statistics as labor income, derives from control over business firms and really should be counted as property income.
Recent Comments