This is from the blog of Erik Magnuson at FUSE

Illinois-style campaign corruption in Washington?

by ErikJamesMagnuson

So its not as bad as Blago-gate, but it could have been.

The Governor of Illinois' appalling attempts to auction a Senate seat sets a new low for campaign fundraising corruption. Could it happen in Washington State? The sad truth is that it already is. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's justified the crime with a simple conclusion: "This Senate seat is worth a lot of money."

At the heart of the crime was his simple decision: "Screw the law." Not to mention a few other choice things he had to say about the president elect.

The Building Industry Association of Washington, with help from Republican Dino Rossi, made the same decision in disregarding campaign finance laws to raise and spend $7 million in their failed efforts to defeat the progressive candidate, Governor Christine Gregoire.

Hey, let's be careful so that private interests aren't allowed to dominate public policy!

Even if the funding for a park doesn't currently exist, that is no reason to deny the eventual opportunity to build a park. I believe that a park on the Isthmus is feasible. Why? Well, most importantly, I think that the residents and future residents of Olympia need a park. Why do we need a park?

We need a park on the Isthmus because

But the $3M shows that regular Americans like you and me do care, and do want something different. Americans deserve a real choice on corporate and foreign policies...

Nader Gonzales '08

An update from the campaign website:

Only $10,000 from $3 Million Mark

Posted by The Nader Team on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 06:06:00 PM

www.votenader.org

description:

2008 Presidential Candidate, Ralph Nader explains the causes and solutions for the Economic meltdown. Interviewed by Bree Walker on the campus of the University of Southern California, Candidate Nader outlines the solutions to our current economic crisis.

IPS Plan to Pay for Recovery

Talking Points by Sarah Anderson, Chuck Collins, Dedrick Muhammad, Sam Pizzigati. Published September 26, 2008 12:12PM

Where to Find $900 Billion from the Wall Street Speculators

Executive Summary

• Don’t finance the bailout with more debt
• Make Wall Street speculators pay now
• Raise $900 billion in new revenue
• Stimulate Main Street and the real economy

As Congress debates the particulars of the inevitable bailout, one key question has gone largely unexplored: Who will pay for this mess?

Lawmakers in Congress appear to have assumed that the federal government will simply borrow more money to foot the bill for the bailout. The national debt ceiling will rise to a whopping $11.3 trillion, up from $8 trillion a year ago.

But this rush to borrowing merely shifts the bailout burden onto the backs of future taxpayers. Congress needs to change course — and develop a “pay as we go” plan that makes Wall Street pay. The lion’s share of bailout funding should come from the high-finance gamblers and the wealthy CEOs who have so profited from our casino economy.

Funding the Bailout: Basic Principles

• Wall Street and speculators should pay now for the mess they created.
• ...continued

from The Olympian:

Tumwater Wal-Mart clears another hurdle
BY KERI BRENNER

THE OLYMPIAN

TUMWATER -- A Thurston County judge Monday denied a community group and union's appeal of Wal-Mart's plans to build an 187,000-square-foot Supercenter at 5900 Littlerock Road S.W., clearing another hurdle for the retail giant.

Ralph Nader is scheduled to appear on the Bill Maher show on HBO tonight. Also scheduled to appear is Chris Rock! Sounds like it will be a good show.

Nader Gonzales '08

Corporations are "stealing all the money." - Chicago Alderman Mays Gilliam (played by Chris Rock)

Head of State: That ain't right!

Nader says no to bailouts for Wall Street crooks.

I have been seeing and hearing of a lot of opposition to the $700B bailout. I am interested in learning more about the reasons.

bert

Free Market Bail Out

From the description:

President Bush says the $700 billion bailout of Wall St. necessary because he's worried about "Main St." Democrats say this plan has nothing in it for Main St. and needs changes. Ron Blackwell, Chief Economist at AFL-CIO says the neo-liberal policies of the last 35 years have failed. Economis Prof. Ellen Frank of the University of Massachusets adds: "This is clearly socializing risk with returns still privatized" Bio

Ron Blackwell is Chief Economist for the AFL-CIO, where he has also worked as Director of Corporate Affairs. Before coming to the AFL-CIO, Blackwell was assistant to the president of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, and chief economist of UNITE (Union of Needletrades, Textiles and Industrial Employees). Prior to joining the labor movement, Blackwell was an academic dean at the New School for Social Research in New York (now the New School University), where he taught economics, politics and philosophy.

Ellen Frank , Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, a member of the Dollars & Sense collective. She is the author of The Raw Deal: How Myths and Misinformation about Deficits, Inflation, and Wealth Impoverish America , was published in 2004.

This is enough to bring Milton Friedman to tears. I remember from my US history lessons that it was a deregulated market (particularly in the financial sector) which brought on the market collapse of 1929 and the ensuing severe economic recession.

Despite their affiliation with many of the ideological underpinnings of Milton Friedman's "Chicago School" economics (privatization, disaster and gun capitalism, totally unregulated markets) - it seems that the current decision makers see that sometimes the government has to step in - in order to prevent disaster. (But I thought these decision-makers like disaster - disaster means major investment opportunity and profit potential...) Of course, this last gasp effort to save these struggling mortgage giants could have been avoided with increased oversight and appropriate regulatory devices/actions. But hey, hindsight is 20/20, right? I mean, what fun would it be to simply learn from mistakes?

Well, I am of the opinion that in the severe unethical environments of business and government, that regulation is essential. Perhaps if we had a world that was ethical to the point where people didn't do harm to each other, or seek to exploit others for their own (supposed) advance, then we wouldn't need government. I believe in a vision of "utopian" anarchy. But how will that be possible while these massive corporations have so much power and influence? So much power.

From Yahoo! (I don't know if the link will stay so I am posting the whole story):

AP US Government takes over mortgage giants

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER and ALAN ZIBEL, AP Business Writers 2 hours, 25 minutes ago