#economy

Heading 3

"Do not seek to follow the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought."

Basho

Welcome to our neighborhood.

Established in 2005, Back on the Block is a progressive publication whose mission is to educate, enlighten, entertain and sometimes challenge. Often critical, sometimes cynical, sometimes irreverent – but always hopeful that what we say and the information that we provide touches the heart and mind.

Feel free to make our Block your Block. Please leave your comments and be sure to visit some of the hot spots in the neighborhood. Where you’ll find news, social commentary, music, politics, poetry and other stuff for grown folks.

Back on the Block – your place in cyber space for the most unique blend of music, news and conversation on issues and events that impact our community.

Peace,

Back on the Block is a publication of the

GLE Media Group.

News and Opinion Channel

Search

The Uncomfortable Truth About The Political Nature Of Fox News

Aug 8, 2016
5 min

The Uncomfortable Truth About The Political Nature Of Fox News

May 27, 2015 11:05 AM EDT ››› ERIC BOEHLERT Fox News has been on the air nearly two decades and some Beltway journalists are still denying the transparent truth about the cable channel and its intricate political machinations. Even some longtime conservatives, such as historian and former Reagan aide Bruce Bartlett, now concede Fox News is “brainwashing” the conservative electorate, and that the GOP is being harmed by the network. Responding to Bartlett at Politico, senior me

Five Things You Might Have Missed on ‘Poverty Day’

Sep 28, 2013
18 min

Five Things You Might Have Missed on ‘Poverty Day’

Greg Kaufman The Nation September 27, 2013 The annual release of the US Census poverty data is the one day you can be sure the mainstream media will turn their attention to poverty. This year was no exception when Poverty Day arrived last Tuesday. Amidst the frenzy of coverage of the new data, here are five things you may have missed: 1) A Crisis for Children of Color Under Age 5 Melissa Boteach, director of Half in Ten, a campaign to cut poverty in half in ten years, notes “

Why the Upcoming Shutdowns and Defaults are Symptoms of a Deeper Republican Malady

Sep 23, 2013
3 min

Why the Upcoming Shutdowns and Defaults are Symptoms of a Deeper Republican Malady

ROBERT B. REICH: Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley Former Secretary of Labor in the Clinton Administration – Saturday, September 21, 2013 Congressional Republicans have gone directly from conservatism to fanaticism without any intervening period of sanity. First, John Boehner, bowing to Republican extremists, ushers a bill through the House that continues to fund the government after September 30 but doesn’t fund the Affordable Ca

Income Inequality Didn’t Happen By Accident (Video)

Sep 13, 2013
1 min

Income Inequality Didn’t Happen By Accident (Video)

#economy #Unemployment #economicdisparity #EconomicCrisis #MiddleClass #RobertReich #Jobs

Across Generations, the Jobs Numbers Show We’re All in This Together

Sep 10, 2013
3 min

Across Generations, the Jobs Numbers Show We’re All in This Together

Richard (RJ) Eskow – Writer;Senior Fellow, Campaign for America’s Future Posted: 09/10/2013 1:40 am We’re in the midst of the worst employment crisis in modern memory. Lackluster jobs reports like last week’s should remind us that the crisis will last a long, long time, unless we act. It would be tragic if superficial “improvements” created by discouraged workers dropping out of the labor force become an excuse for continued inaction – or worse. But buried in the discouragin

50 Years After the March on Washington: Racial Economic Inequality Beyond Black and White

Aug 27, 2013
2 min

50 Years After the March on Washington: Racial Economic Inequality Beyond Black and White

Dedrick Muhammad Senior Director of Economic Programs, NAACP – posted 08/27/13 The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was a multiracial movement. And like 50 years ago, today many of the disparities — wealth, unemployment, and income — are not only experienced by African Americans, but exist in varied forms among all people of color. Unlike the African American population, the Hispanic population is rapidly growing with trends projecting Hispanics will comprise 30

Media Push Economic Inequality To The Backseat

May 14, 2013
2 min

Media Push Economic Inequality To The Backseat

ALBERT KLEINE – Media Matters May 14, 2013 Media outlets largely ignored economic inequality in discussions about the overall economy, despite mounting evidence suggesting that the problem has increased in recent years. While media have been quick to highlight ostensibly positive gains for the economy — notably that the Dow Jones Industrial reached 15,000 for the first time in its history, GDP grew by 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013, and unemployment for April edged

The Remarkable Renaissance of John Kasich

May 8, 2013
5 min

The Remarkable Renaissance of John Kasich

By Andy Kroll – Mother Jones May. 6, 2013 3:00 AM PDT John Kasich, the Republican governor of Ohio, had hit rock bottom. It was March 2011, and Kasich was about to sign Senate Bill 5, the controversial anti-union legislation that curbed bargaining rights for cops, firefighters, teachers, and other public employees. Most Ohioans thought SB 5 was a terrible idea, and Kasich’s approval rating had sunk to a pitiful 35 percent. In a hypothetical revote, 55 percent of Ohioans surve

Wealth Inequality: Core Challenge for National Security

May 1, 2013
6 min

Wealth Inequality: Core Challenge for National Security

By Edward Corcoran / Ret. Strategic Analyst, U.S. Army War College / 04/30/2013 America prides itself on being the Land of Opportunity, and has made real efforts to be a land of equal opportunity. But it has never claimed to be a land of equal results. The driving force of the capitalist economic system is to get ahead with hard work and clever thinking, get ahead of the crowd in terms of assets and prestige. This is in stark contract to a socialist system focused more on le

Rent is TOO Damn High!

Apr 26, 2013
1 min

Rent is TOO Damn High!

#economy #Entertainment #Video

From Capitol Hill, Rep. Hank Johnson Highlights ALEC Connection to MI Right to Work Law

Dec 13, 2012
2 min

From Capitol Hill, Rep. Hank Johnson Highlights ALEC Connection to MI Right to Work Law

Brendan Fischer – PRWatchDecember 13, 2012 – 8:42am Topics: Corporations, Democracy, Politics Projects: ALEC Exposed U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) took to the floor of the House of Representatives Wednesday night to criticize the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) for pushing “Right to Work” in Michigan, describing it as politically motivated “crush-the-union legislation” and noting the identical language between the ALEC model and Michigan’s law. Michigan Legisla

Watchdogs Shed More Light on ALEC on Eve of Group’s DC Summit

Nov 28, 2012
4 min

Watchdogs Shed More Light on ALEC on Eve of Group’s DC Summit

by PRW Staff — November 27, 2012 – 1:43pm FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 27, 2012 CONTACT: Sara Jerving, Center for Media and Democracy, (608) 260-9713 Mary Boyle, Common Cause, (202) 736-5770 The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) convenes its annual policy summit this Wednesday in Washington, DC. The three day meeting at the Grand Hyatt Washington hotel caps a year of intense controversy surrounding the organization’s political agenda and tax-exempt status. The

CEO Council Demands Cuts To Poor, Elderly While Reaping Billions In Government Contracts, Tax Breaks

Nov 25, 2012
5 min

CEO Council Demands Cuts To Poor, Elderly While Reaping Billions In Government Contracts, Tax Breaks

Christina Wilkie and Ryan Grim – Huffington Post Posted 11/25/2012 10:11 am EST – Updated: 11/25/2012 10:312 am EST Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and CEO of The Goldman Sachs Group waits before a meeting with French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici at the French economy ministry in Paris on Nov. 20, 2012. (ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — The corporate CEOs who have made a high-profile foray into deficit negotiations have themselves been substantially responsible for

Warren Buffett On Fiscal Cliff: GOP Needs To Put ‘Country Over Party’

Nov 23, 2012
1 min

Warren Buffett On Fiscal Cliff: GOP Needs To Put ‘Country Over Party’

By Harry Bradford, – The Huffington Post Posted: 11/14/2012 5:32 pm EST /Updated: 11/14/2012 5:32 pm EST Rest assured. Despite the fiscal cliff hysteria currently gripping the nation, an Oracle has spoken, and he says there’s nothing to fear. Billionaire philanthropist and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, nicknamed the Oracle of Omaha for his investing prowess, says that no matter what happens in the fiscal cliff debate, the Americans won’t “permanently cripple oursel

Why Voters Should Turn From the Pseudoconservative Party of the Great Recession PART II

Oct 28, 2012
11 min

Why Voters Should Turn From the Pseudoconservative Party of the Great Recession PART II

Louis M. Guenin – Lecturer on Ethics in Science, Harvard University Posted: 10/25/2012 8:50 am To repair its economy, the U.S. urgently needs finely-tuned macroeconomic policies and institutional changes. For this challenge, a rational voter would not rely on a political stance that, after helping to bring about the Great Recession, has foundered in self-contradiction. Such is the fate, as recounted in Part I, of Republican pseudoconservatism. Whereupon attention turns to the

Why Voters Should Turn From the Pseudoconservative Party of the Great Recession PART I

Oct 26, 2012
8 min

Why Voters Should Turn From the Pseudoconservative Party of the Great Recession PART I

Louis M. Guenin’ Lecturer on Ethics in Science, Harvard University Posted: 10/24/2012 8:42 am The polarized politics of our time, joined with an appetite for pigeonholing, exert pressure on everyone to categorize themselves. Sometimes people declare themselves for “isms” that they have not plumbed. An example in point is conservatism. The politicians who now travel under the banner of “conservatism” happen to espouse views and methods that, so we shall see, are incompatible w

Barack Obama: The Road We’ve Traveled