 | | | | THE BIG STORY, BY JOE CONASON
Rising financial markets -- which mirror the improving economy -- have long symbolized prosperity even for Americans who own no shares. Bumping up against 13,000 this week, the Dow average was seen as still another portent of recovery, for President Obama's electoral prospects as well as for the nation. What the president might consider explaining is that the latest market surge (and its rise over recent months) is unsurprising to anyone familiar with America's financial history. The rule that stretches back over the past century is clear: Stocks rise under Democrats and decline under Republicans. And that simple statistic is matched by a broad set of economic data that follow the same partisan vector. Republicans have often succeeded in persuading voters that their party is "good for the economy" -- a persistent myth that the president ought to debunk. READ MORE | | Send To A Friend >> | | FEATURED COLUMN: BRUCE JUDSON
The CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, is right. He and his colleagues are successful. But the real question is this: What are they successful at? By almost any criteria, the banks operate under rules that are so far from capitalism as to be unrecognizable. READ MORE | | Send To A Friend >> | | FEATURED COLUMN: CONNIE SCHULTZ
Before this week, most of the country never had heard of Chardon, Ohio. Now millions know it as home to the deadliest school shooting in seven years. There is no escaping this tragic narrative, but it does not come close to telling the whole story of this close-knit community. In that way, Chardon is like every small town we never have heard of until something too horrible for words swallows it whole. READ MORE | | Send To A Friend >> | | Super PACs The coming election cycle will likely be the most expensive in history. Thanks to Citizens United and other recent court decisions, individuals, corporations and unions can make unlimited donations to so-called Super PACs that support a candidate. The money is flowing in. So, exactly who is donating, and what do they want? READ MORE | | Send To A Friend >> | | FEATURED COLUMN: SUSAN ANTILLA Occupy Wall Street and its working groups, including Occupy the SEC, were supposed to be dead, in case you missed the obituaries. Now the protesters are messing with detractors' heads, re-emerging as a media-savvy corps of legal, banking and activist members who appear sane and authoritative. This is not how the "welfare-bum hippies" propaganda script was supposed to play out. READ MORE | | Send To A Friend >> | | PULL AND PRAY On Wednesday, the right-wing radio gasbag, who has no children and is currently on his fourth wife, decided it would be a good idea to slap the "prostitute" label on a Georgetown Law student who testified before Congress on the need for healthcare plans to cover contraception. One day later, the Senate barely defeated a bill that would allow employers and insurers to avoid covering birth control. Most defended the bill on the grounds of "religious freedom" -- but Limbaugh's stone-age utterings may have given the game away. READ MORE | | Send To A Friend >> | | CARTOON OF THE DAY
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