The Bottom Line

By Lizzy Davies, The Guardian

Pope Francis has hit out at unbridled capitalism and the "cult of money", calling for ethical reform of the financial system to create a more humane society.

In an impassioned appeal, the Argentinian pontiff said politicians needed to be bold in tackling the root causes of the economic crisis, which he said lay in an acceptance of money's "power over ourselves and our society".

"We have created new idols," he said in a speech in the Vatican. "The worship of the golden calf of old has found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly humane goal."

MORE:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/17/pope-francis-attacks-cult-money

Few will even notice major cuts in our nation’s food stamp program, according to Rep. Steve King (R-IA).

MORE:http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/05/14/the-most-important-problem-facing-american-children-today/

The co\u00adop movement is gaining steam, drawing from new energies and a renewed interest in the model.

Dean Baker: Don't shelter banks from prosecution. Use anti-trust laws to break them up.

Our Budget, Our Stories

The federal budget is our budget. It affects our lives every day, from the roads we drive on to the health care we receive. It is personal and local – our taxes fund it, and our communities receive support through it in the form of grants and services.

The Faces of the Budget project tells the story of the federal budget through ordinary folks’ personal experience. We’re illustrating all the ways the federal budget touches people’s lives – and what they think about budget decisions being made in Washington D.C.

What is it? According to the Academic Pediatric Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, it is the effects on poverty on health and well being.

PAUL BUCHHEIT FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

The Biggest "Takers" and Societal Parasites Are the Rich, Not the Working Class and Poor

    Corporations Stopped Paying

In the past twenty years, corporate profits have quadrupled while the corporate tax percent has dropped by half. The payroll tax, paid by workers, has doubled.

In effect, corporations have decided to let middle-class workers pay for national investments that have largely benefited businesses over the years. The greater part of basic research, especially for technology and health care, has been conducted with government money. Even today 60% of university research is government-supported. Corporations use highways and shipping lanes and airports to ship their products, the FAA and TSA and Coast Guard and Department of Transportation to safeguard them, a nationwide energy grid to power their factories, and communications towers and satellites to conduct online business.

Yet as corporate profits surge and taxes plummet, our infrastructure is deteriorating. TheAmerican Society of Civil Engineers estimates that $3.63 trillion is needed over the next seven years to make the necessary repairs.

MORE:http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/17960-the-biggest-takers-and-societal-parasites-are-the-rich-not-the-working-class-and-poor

It is responsible for an estimated half-trillion dollars in federal spending every year, is hated by nearly everyone who studies it and is based on an American lifestyle older than the space program.

The battle over the chained CPI provides a great case study in the state of American democracy.

CEOs these days aren’t just slashing worker jobs to add on to their own rewards. They’re slashing worker pay as well.

California College of the Arts professor Michael Swaine has been mending clothing in San Francisco's Tenderloin District for over 12 years. He not only fixes clothes, he builds community.

Yes, that really happens.