30 Oct 2013

Small Businesses Figure Heavily in Goldman Sachs’ PR, But Not its Portfolio

by | Date: 30 Oct 2013 | posted in: Banking, From the Desk of David Morris, Public Good News, The Public Good | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

By Stacy Mitchell and David Morris For years Goldman Sachs gave only a tiny fraction of its profits, less than 1 percent, to charity.  Then the depression hit and the huge bank was in the public’s crosshairs for its role in that collapse and the billions it continued to give out in bonuses. Even as millions … Read More
20 Aug 2013

The Results Are In: On the Death Penalty, Alabama is the Worst of the (Just About) Worst

by | Date: 20 Aug 2013 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, Public Good News, The Public Good | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

For several decades the United States stood alone among industrialized country in still allowing criminals to be put to death.   In the last 20 years, as more and more nations have abandoned the death penalty as barbaric—140 at last count—the United States finds itself on a rapidly shrinking list that includes China, Iran, Yemen and Saudi … Read More
16 Aug 2013

Stop the Presses: Washington Discovers Mergers Reduce Competition, Increase Prices

by | Date: 16 Aug 2013 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, Public Good News, The Public Good | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In 1985 the United States was home to 24 airlines.  Today there are 7.  The Justice Departments under Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush II and Obama welcomed all mergers. Then in August 2013 the antitrust division of the Justice Department suddenly discovered why there is an antitrust division. According to the New York Times, “But antitrust … Read More
15 Aug 2013

“We Can Never Make Enough Money” CEO Tells Ever-Poorer Workers

by | Date: 15 Aug 2013 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, Public Good News, The Public Good | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

“Caterpillar has pioneered a two-tier wage system in which workers hired after a certain date are consigned to a significantly lower wage scale than others and it recently pressed its longer-term employees into accepting a six year wage freeze.  Many Caterpillar workers ask why the company insisted on a pay freezer when it reported repeated record … Read More
18 Dec 2012

The Headlines Say It All. When Guns Are Involved, People Die

by | Date: 18 Dec 2012 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, Public Good News, The Public Good | 2 Facebooktwitterredditmail

A letter to the editor in today’s New York Times succinctly makes the case that when guns are involved, people die. When they’re not, people are hurt. To the Editor: The New York Times, Dec. 15, 2012: Page A1: “Gunman Massacres 20 Children at School in Connecticut.” Twenty children shot, 20 died. Page A9: “Man Stabs … Read More
8 Nov 2012

Even Superstorm Sandy Couldn’t Stop the Mailman

by | Date: 8 Nov 2012 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, Public Good News, The Public Good | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

“Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds.” Bill Fletcher Jr. of the Institute for Policy Studies tells of how he was reminded of that covenant when in the middle of superstorm Sandy he saw a postal van traveling on his street. And he reminded us that we … Read More
8 Aug 2012

(Corporate) Crime Most Definitely Pays

by | Date: 8 Aug 2012 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, Public Good News, The Public Good | 1 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The New York Times reports that on August 7 a federal judge approved a settlement between the Justice Department and Morgan Stanley. Here’s the crime. In 2006 Morgan Stanley entered into a complex swap agreement with the New York electricity company KeySpan that gave it a stake in the profits of a competitor, enabling both to … Read More
3 Aug 2012

Revolution of the Thirsty

by | Date: 3 Aug 2012 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, Public Good News, The Public Good | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Karen Piper, Professor of English at the University of Missouri in Columbia informs us of a factor behind the spring uprising in Egypt the mass media missed:  the privatization of water. The American media focused mainly on internal corruption and oppression. They did not report on the role of the international superpowers in influencing the Mubarak … Read More
26 Jul 2012

The Chutzpah of Peter Orszag

by | Date: 26 Jul 2012 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, Public Good News, The Public Good | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

If chutzpah is killing your parents then throwing yourself on the mercy of the court because you’re an orphan then Peter Orszag is the poster child for chutzpah.  In his recent article in Bloomberg News he insists the best fix for the post office is to take it private.  Where does the chutzpah come from?  Orszag … Read More

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