Campaign 2010

Countdown to Congressional Elections


The most effective way to restrict democracy is to transfer decision-making from the public arena to unaccountable institutions: kings and princes, priestly castes, military juntas, party dictatorships, or modern corporations.
Noam Chomsky, M.I.T. emeritus Professor of Linguistics

The Rise of Corporate Freedom of Speech

(Surpassed 2008 total on August 18)

See Weekly Spending Totals

$2.9 Billion Spent in 08
on Congressional Race
See Major Contributors

Corporate money in politics is bad enough. Secret corporate money is intolerable.


Primary Election Results
(UPDATED: August 25, 2010)






"The Great 2010 Incumbent (Non-)Revolt"

Senate Primary’s
Incumbent Democrats
1 Loss; 6 Wins of 13
Incumbent Republicans
1 Loss; 9 Wins of 12

House Primary’s
Incumbent Democrats
2 Loss; 182 Wins of 245
Incumbent Republicans
2 Loss; 140 Wins of 158

General Election Candidates

Senate

House of Representatives

Visual Facts

Hover to Pause.
Click Image for Larger Size.

National Debt Clock

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WHEN Did You Become Fiscally Responsible?
BEFORE Obama or AFTER Obama??
January 20, 2009
$10,838,758,414,164.46 - ↑90%
Discretionary Spending at 48.6%

January 20, 2001
$5,719,124,940,098.04 - 36%
January 20, 1993
$4,192,107,025,882.17 - 62%
January 20, 1989
$2,601,104,000,000.00 - 189%
January 20, 1981
$909,041,000.000.00

Click Image for Full Size


Debt by President

Are You A Tea Party Hyprocrite??

(Click for Debt Details)

United States of Corporations

Thanks to the GOP's Supreme Court
(Click Flag for Full Size)
Corporate Bill of Rights

Quotes and Links

Hover to Pause
(Look for the Listings)

The Decade When the U.S. Lost Its Way

Where Have All the Neocons Gone?

From Neocons to Crazy-Cons

America Builds an Aristocracy

Supreme immodesty: Why the justices play politics

The Biggest Medicare Fraud Ever

Enough Right-Wing Propaganda

Tax Rate for Richest 400 Taxpayers Plummeted in Recent Decades, Even as Their Pre-Tax Incomes Skyrocketed

"The financial reform bill will determine whether Wall Street’s banks will serve the American economy or whether the American economy will continue to serve Wall Street's banks."

"While the economy doesn't function for most of us ordinary workers, it yields considerable reward for those at the top."

Republicans Are Locked in a Passionate Embrace with a Corpse and Won't Let Go

"The most important thing Republicans think is that if there are Americans who can't afford the insurance policies that private insurers are willing to offer, then that's their problem."

"It should tell you everything you need to know that, in lobbying to retain its bank supervisory powers, the Fed's allies include the big Wall Street banks."

"[Texas Republican Jeb] Hensarling told a Texas-size whopper — and then tried to claim Republican credit for Bill Clinton’s budget surpluses."

"The Supreme Court's 5-to-4 decision last week giving American corporations the right to unlimited political spending was an astonishing display of judicial arrogance, overreach and unjustified activism."

"It was wrong because nothing in the First Amendment dictates that corporations must be treated identically to people."

"They backed the truck up to Fort Knox in broad daylight. They emptied it out, we rescued them and they get $150 billion in bonuses."

"A huge, unregulated boom in which almost all the upside went directly into private hands, followed by a gigantic bust in which the losses were socialized."

So You Just Squandered Billions . . . Take Another Whack at It

Banks 'Too Big to Fail' Have Grown Even Bigger

Bankers' bonuses Beat Earnings as Industry Imploded

U.S. Rescue May Reach $23.7 Trillion

The Bank Bailouts — Corporate Welfarism

New Evidence Cheney Swayed Reaction to Leak - Valerie Plame

Once Again, The More You Watch Fox The Dumber You Are

"Over the past year, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury have injected trillions of dollars into frozen financial markets, snapping up unwanted bonds, extending guarantees to banks and slashing interest rates."

Building a Better Capitalism

The End of Supply Side Economics

The Great Wealth Transfer

The Richer

Who Rules America? Power, Politics, and Social Change

Proponents of Estate Tax Repeal Are Resurrecting Old Misconceptions

Income Gaps Between Very Rich and Everyone Else More Than Tripled In Last Three Decades

Ending Plutocracy: A 12-Step Program

Our Gilded Age

The Rich and the Rest of Us

GOP's "Small Government" Talk is Hollow


Distortions, Hypocrisy & More

"I'm not upset that you lied to me; I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you"
Friedrich Nietzsche
[Hover to Pause]

Today is

January 29, 2010

“Automaker Sacrificed Quality And Got Burned”

January 29, 2010

For 75 years, success and lucrative profits had come from building high-quality, affordable vehicles. Those same two ingredients had propelled the company into the number one spot. But a new generation of bosses came in one day and decided those profits just weren’t good enough. So they hatched a new plan and implemented it with extreme aggression. Over the next few short years all expectations were met. Profit margins soared. Executives celebrated, became hero’s, and were richly rewarded for their accomplishments. But suddenly one day it all came crashing down — their past caught up with them. What to do, what to do??

These modern-day bosses knew the company’s reputation for building high-quality autos was one of only two ingredients that had led them to becoming the worlds number one car maker. But driven by greed, they chose to sacrifice quality. They would build a new car with cheaper parts and materials, which would result in higher profit margins. And if all went well, no one would ever be the wiser — until it was too late. Unfortunately for them, all didn’t go well.

These new bosses had believed they would have their pockets filled and long gone before anyone found out. Those who had gone before them and been caught just hadn’t done it right — but they would do it the “right” way. But what they didn’t know, or at least wouldn’t accept, that there is no right way to scam the public and be assured of getting away with it.

My, my, my! What a story!

I could be talking about any one of the “big three” American automakers. In fact, those same words could have easily been written two decades ago about any one of them. But today they apply to a different maker – Toyota.

Toyota’s latest woes were caused by the exact same thing that brought down the American manufacturers — greed. Japanese automobile analysts are saying that “Toyota sacrificed quality for global growth”. Toyota’s own top executives don’t dispute it. That’s something you’ll never hear that from an American executive.

Hundreds of critics have blamed the demise of the American automaker on unions and “high labor cost”. In fact, without exception, these same people pointed toward Toyota’s success, as well as other foreign car makers, as models of how successful auto makers could become if they would just do away with union labor and pay sub-standard wages. But with the exposure of  Toyota’s latest problems, those critics are in hiding.

Toyota has been the number one car maker for many years now. That’s because they have consistently built high-quality vehicles that people could afford. However, even if they’re able to quickly resolve their current problems, damage has been done that will leave a scar for many years to come. But with the Japanese being quick to learn and willing to admit to their own mistakes, they’ll probably recover faster than most, although they could very well fall from the top and never regain that status again.

American automakers have never been willing to do what the Japanese are doing. They, along with their corporate cheering sections, prefer to blame their self-inflicted wounds on others — mainly the workers of America.

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