McClatchy reports that “the bipartisan ‘super-committee’ of six Democrats and six Republicans has a goal of finding at least $1.5 trillion more in deficit reduction by Thanksgiving … will hold its first meeting on Sept. 8 [Thursday].” A coalition of organizations from both sides of the political spectrum recently released Green Scissors 2011, a report…

Reuters reports: “President Barack Obama unexpectedly asked the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday to withdraw a plan to limit smog pollution, handing a big win to business and Republicans…” BILL GALLEGOS, via Bobbi Murray, murratus at earthlink.net Gallegos is executive director of Communities for a Better Environment, which “organizes in working class communities of color…

MAX FRAAD WOLFF, mfwolff at aol.com Wolff is an instructor at the Graduate Program in International Affairs at the New School University and senior analyst with Greencrest Capital. He just wrote a blog entry analyzing jobs numbers released this morning: “For the second time in monthly jobs report history we have created no new jobs.…

RAED JARRAR, jarrar.raed at gmail.com An Iraqi-American blogger and political analyst based in Washington D.C., Jarrar was in recently in Iraq. He said today: “This week, a U.S. diplomatic cable that was made public by WikiLeaks confirmed the news that in March 2006 U.S. troops handcuffed then executed eleven Iraqi civilians in Al-Ishaqi, north of…

AIMEE ALLISON, aimee at rootsaction.org Allison, co-executive director of Roots Action, said today, “Let big oil/coal pay for hurricane damage. Government welfare for oil, gas, coal, and nuclear should be eliminated. If cuts are to be made to reduce the national debt, they should begin with these kinds of subsidies, rather than in useful programs…

SARAH ANDERSON, CHUCK COLLINS, via Lacy MacAuley, lacy at ips-dc.org Anderson and Collins are among the authors of an Institute for Policy Studies report released today titled “Executive Excess 2011: The Massive CEO Rewards for Tax Dodging.” Among the findings: “The 25 tax-dodging CEOs the IPS report spotlights averaged $16.7 million in pay last year,…

In 1971, Lewis F. Powell, then a corporate lawyer and member of the boards of eleven corporations, wrote a memo to his friend Eugene Sydnor, Jr., the director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, titled “Attack of [sic] American Free Enterprise System.” The memorandum was dated August 23, 1971, two months prior to Powell’s nomination…

Peter Shumlin, Governor of Vermont stated this morning: “I find it extraordinary that so many political leaders won’t actually talk about the relationship between climate change, fossil fuels, our continuing irrational exuberance about burning fossil fuels, in light of these storm patterns that we’ve been experiencing.” For over a week, people from across the country…

ABBY RAPOPORT, rapoport at texasobserver.org Rapoport is a reporter with the Texas Observer. She said today: “Once upon a time, Rick Perry was all about public education. In his 2006 re-election campaign, he devoted an entire ad to his commitment. ‘I’m proud of Texas schools,’ he says to the camera as he wanders through a…

The Washington Post reports: “Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is leading foreclosure settlement negotiationswith the nation’s largest banks on behalf of all 50 states, abruptly removed New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman from the coalition’s executive committee Tuesday, saying he had “actively worked to undermine” the group’s efforts in recent months.