We remarked to our daughter that we've been observing lately that the values we hold as Americans are evolving --- and for the better, I think. We grew up in the post war 1950s and early 1960s, and hit career strides in the Reagan years. America then was all about more, more, more. Conspicuous consumption was heralded, and we felt that we deserved the very best of everything because, well beca ...

We here at CLN keep asking, “How much is enough?”  Once you’re very, very rich, how much richer do you need to be?  How many cars can you actually drive, how many clothes can you wear, and how many houses can one person live in?  Most of the fortunes (that the mega-wealthy hoard) they owe to the fact that they had the good luck of having lived in the United States of America --- which provided ...

It's hard to continue to believe that the Right keeps making mistakes when they repeatedly make assertions that are provably wrong.  Here's the latest example:  FOX News Eric Bolling. This report demonstrates that the right wing-nuts are willing to say the most outrageous lie, and that none of their comrades will call them on it!  Start observing this phenomenon and let us know when you see it ...

We've just marked the 10thanniversary of the day W. signed into law the first of his infamous tax cuts, benefiting mainly our nation’s wealthy.  We’ve addressed the economic effectiveness of tax cuts vs. tax hikes in previous posts --- check-it-out at  TAX CUTS FOR MILLIONAIRES AND BILLIONAIRES;   and at BUSH TAX CUTS and at TAX CUTS STIMULATE JOB GROWTH --- HUH?   So, now seems like a good tim ...

Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, recently stated that Republicans are focusing on Medicare as a place to cut government spending, when in fact Medicare represents only 3% of GDP, and the overall costs of health-care in total is more than 17% of GDP --- which is the real problem.  The United States of America spends twice as much on health-care as a percenta ...

The struggle for the "hearts and minds" of the American people has never been more clearly delineated.  The conservatives want to hold onto the comfortable, old way of running our country and clinging to an out-dated definition of cultural values.  The progressives want to move America into the future to be a part of the new inter-connected world, with shared values that make sense in this new inf ...

Hey, we just read about a very exciting option for President Obama, which might actually manage to eliminate 75% of the federal deficit!  CHECK-IT-OUT at the New York Times.  It's an option spelled out in an article by economist  David Leonhart, titled "Do-Nothing Congress as a Cure" published on April 12 in the Business section. The gist of the article is that by eliminating all the Bush era t ...

WE NEVER KNOW WHAT'S AROUND LIFE'S BENDS AND CURVES  --- BECAUSE LIFE ALWAYS HAS SURPRISES!   And, that's the joy and sorrow of our lives.  The 'good surprises' that life offers up are gifts that suddenly appear and that we celebrate --- thinking that we somehow deserve them;  the 'bad surprises' also suddenly show up, but we tend to think of them as 'interruptions' of our lives.  But, in ...

A GLORIOUS DAY OF JOY AND SMILES! Even the most hard-hearted had trouble yesterday keeping the corners of their mouths under control.  That vision of multitudes of people standing firm for freedom in Egypt was so inspiring and uplifting that the sun seemed to be shining a tad bit brighter and warmer all day. Okay we're idealists here at Center Left Nation.  We plead guilty.  And, in reality, ...