Two Steps Back

Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter “It’s déjà vu all over again.” –Yogi Berra I don’t know why anyone is surprised at the Silicon Valley Bank failure. This has all happened before—and more than once. Most recently before this latest debacle, reckless lending practices and artificially inflated housing prices led to the burst housing …
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Kickass and No Money Sense

Katrina.Tuliao, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper appreciates the extreme act of kindness displayed by Phyllis’s financial advisor in not laughing at the keeper’s abject money ignorance until the keeper had left the room. Lacking the good judgement to keep his mouth shut, the keeper …
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Kickass and Special Communication Powers

Photo: Myrabella / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, has lent his special communications powers to the keeper as he—the keeper intercepts messages from the Russian oligarch who is buying Wisconsin as a location for his “up-nort” retreat. Obviously heavily influenced by the recent “60-Minutes” portrayal of Wisconsin as helplessly under the control …
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Penny Dumb, Dollar Stupid

Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter In 1975, Senator William Proxmire of Wisconsin presented his first Golden Fleece Award, a trophy recognizing individuals and government agencies for outstanding achievements in squandering taxpayer money. The award was, of course, tongue-in-cheek, but if the senator were around today (and not spinning in his grave) he would …
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Revenge of the Swamp Creatures

Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter On January 20th, 2021, when Joseph Biden was formally inaugurated as our forty-sixth president, America—and the world—heaved a huge sigh of relief. Donald Trump, the man who had only two weeks before instigated an assault on the Capitol Building in an attempted coup d’etat, was finally removed from …
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Connecting the Dots: The Rise of ALEC

Artwork by Michael DiMilo Article by Geoff Carter You can’t say we weren’t warned. During his farewell address of 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of the dangers of unfettered economic forces controlling the government, focusing particularly on what he termed “the military-industrial complex”.  “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition …
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Step Right Up: A Primer in Sidestepping Taxes

Photo by Pixabay from Pexels By Mark Mamerow Them that’s got shall get Them that’s not shall lose So the Bible said and it still is news —“God Bless the Child”, Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr. The muckraking site ProPublica recently published an expose on the ridiculously low levels of income taxes paid by the superrich. Using data …
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