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Richard (RJ) Eskow
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Richard (RJ) Eskow is a former executive with experience in health care, benefits, and risk management, finance, and information technology. Richard worked for AIG and other insurance, risk management, and financial organizations. He was also a public policy and finance/economics consultant, in the US and over 20 countries. Past clients include USAID, the World Bank, the State Department, the Harvard School of International Public Health, the Government of Hungary, as well as corporations and investors. He has experience in financial and numerical analysis (of benefit plans, financial risk, corporate investments), systems design, and management.

Richard has worked on long-range health policy and forecasting. His predictions are included in the recently-released Rough Guide To the Future in it's review of "the hopes, fears, and best prediction of fifty of the world's leading futurologists."

Richard is also a freelance writer and occasional radio host. He's a regular columnist for the science and culture blog 3 Quarks Daily and a Contributing Editor for Tricycle magazine. His reflections on blogging and spiritual principles were included in Best Buddhist Writing of 2008.

Richard's also an (occasionally) working musician and songwriter who appeared regularly at venues such as CBGB's, the Washington Folk Festival, and motorcycle shows throughout the American South from 1970 through the year 2000. His last appearance was as the "opening act" for Gen. Wesley Clark in 2007, but he may be available again for the right price - or the right cause. His personal blog is A Night Light.

He can be reached at "rjeskow@gmail.com." His Twitter ID is "@rjeskow."

Blog Entries by Richard (RJ) Eskow

The Bank Settlement's Flawed -- But Fight Bank Crime, Not Each Other

Posted February 10, 2012 | 2/10/12

Two thousand bucks for having your home illegally foreclosed on is an insult. But two billion dollars' worth of lawyers suing bankers on behalf of wronged homeowners could change everything. And a real investigation into bank crime could make a real difference.

Will we get those things? Maybe -- but...

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Foreclosure Fraud: Scoring the Deal, Continuing the Fight

21 Comments | Posted February 9, 2012 | 2/9/12

The Federal government and the Attorneys General from 49 states have signed a deal with five major banks over charges of fraud, including reported acts of widespread perjury and forgery, in the so-called "robo-signing" scandal.

A few days ago we suggested that any deal be scored against five...

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John Galt Is A Crybaby And So Are You

19 Comments | Posted February 8, 2012 | 2/8/12

Dear Self-Described "Producer":

I received your hate mail this morning. Thank you for emerging from your self-creating illusion long enough to write it. I particularly enjoyed your unstated rhetorical debt to the John Galt character in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, who isn't acknowledged enough nowadays for his historical importance as...

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CSI Missouri: A "Robo-Signing" Indictment in the Show-Me State

9 Comments | Posted February 7, 2012 | 2/7/12

A Missouri grand jury handed down multiple felony indictments for foreclosure fraud on Monday. That's the same kind of crime being negotiated in nationwide settlement talks with America's big banks. If people can be indicted for doing it, why should bankers be allowed to write a check and walk away?

...
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The Real Komen Lesson: Charities Can Be 'Too Big to Fail,' Too

15 Comments | Posted February 7, 2012 | 2/7/12

The Susan G. Komen breast cancer fund reversed its Planned Parenthood action, and the right wing anti-choice politician it hired has resigned. But the real lesson of this incident is broader than one decision or one person.

Our society is permeated with a cultural of...

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How to Score a Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Deal

11 Comments | Posted February 6, 2012 | 2/6/12

Once again we're hearing that a foreclosure fraud deal is about to be announced between major banks, the U.S. government and most or all of the states. We've heard that before, only to have the deadline pushed back so that holdout Attorneys General can be brought on board with the...

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False Apology: At Least Four Komen Recipients -- and Sponsors Like Bank of America -- Are 'Under Investigation'

637 Comments | Posted February 4, 2012 | 2/4/12

The Susan G. Komen Foundation has reversed its defunding of Planned Parenthood, at least temporarily, but the falsehoods and hypocrisy haven't ended. An investigation has revealed that at least four other organizations have received Komen money while under federal investigation, while others have been the subjects of recent investigations, and...

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Job Numbers Hype: It's Bad Politics and Worse Policy

27 Comments | Posted February 3, 2012 | 2/3/12

The reaction to January's jobs report shows how tragically our expectations have fallen, especially among some Democrats and their supporters. Their cheerleading isn't just bad policy or bad politics, although it is both of those things. It's also callous and insensitive to the misery of millions.

It's important to...

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Social Security: Mitch Daniels and the Millionaires' "Means Testing" Scam

210 Comments | Posted February 2, 2012 | 2/2/12

Last week Republican Mitch Daniels once again pushed the "means testing" argument against Social Security, saying that we can no longer "afford to send millionaires pension checks" or "pay medical bills for even the wealthiest among us."

Daniels even appropriated the rhetoric of the 99 percent, arguing...

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Do GOP Candidates and the Press Have a "Gentlemen's Agreement" Not to Discuss Social Security in Florida?

24 Comments | Posted January 30, 2012 | 1/30/12

You'd think Social Security would top the list of subjects for a presidential debate in Florida. How many questions did Wolf Blitzer ask about it during Thursday night's Republican debate in Jacksonville?

Answer: None. The words "Social Security" never passed his lips.

It was almost as if there were a...

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Last Night's GOP Debate Was Like Bad 1950's-Style Science-Fiction

673 Comments | Posted January 27, 2012 | 1/27/12

The GOP presidential candidates continue to play their parts in an implausible story of a world that could never exist, acting out nonexistent conflicts while delivering dialog that insults the intelligence. That's not because they're stupid. It's because they think you are.

It's like watching a low budget science-fiction...

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Are Schneiderman and Liberal Groups Selling Out to Obama on Bank Fraud?

14 Comments | Posted January 25, 2012 | 1/25/12

If the president thought his mortgage investigation announcement would be an easy sell to progressive critics, he was only half right at best. The announcement -- especially the appointment of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman -- did win praise from a number of liberal groups.

But there were other...

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People Power vs. Banker Power: Score One For the People

20 Comments | Posted January 24, 2012 | 1/24/12

I hate to sound Pollyanna-ish, but sometimes the sunny point of view turns out to be right.

Yes, corporate money has hijacked democracy. And it's true that our two-party system often fails to offer real choices or reflect the will of the majority. Our corporate political system doesn't have...

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For a State of the Union Home Run, the President Should Stand Up for Social Security

92 Comments | Posted January 22, 2012 | 1/22/12

Like a lot of former Obama voters, I've had my issues with the president. Sure, it helped when he sang that Al Green song at the Apollo Theater last week. (Good job, Mr. President! Good pitch and an appropriately understated delivery.)

But in a time of uncertainty people...

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Bad Bankers, Bad Fraud Deals, and the President's 'Great Gatsby' Problem

30 Comments | Posted January 19, 2012 | 1/19/12

"Investigate the Banks!" Today a coalition of progressive groups handed in a petition with more than 360,000 signatures that demanded exactly that. It calls on the Administration to stop pushing a cushy fraud settlement for bankers, to pursue a fair deal for shafted homeowners, and to let criminal investigations against...

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"Bain Capitalism": Mitt's Frankenstein Is a Politically-Created Monster

87 Comments | Posted January 13, 2012 | 1/13/12

Bain Capital must seem like a Frankenstein's monster to Mitt Romney's campaign Like Mary Shelley's creature, it's stalking its creator just as he's about to claim the thing he loves most. But Bain Capital -- and Bain Capitalism -- isn't Mitt's creation. It was sewed together from the corpses of...

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Today's Visionary: An Illustrated Guide to Dr. King's 21st Century Insights

4 Comments | Posted January 13, 2012 | 1/13/12

Here it comes again. This holiday weekend we'll see a lot of media coverage of Martin Luther King, Jr. But we'll hear very little about what he really was -- a brave and visionary leader whose vision is as relevant today as ever.

One year ago I listed ten...

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The Obama Administration's 'New' Bank Fraud Deal: Still Unfair, Still Unjust, Still Unbalanced

34 Comments | Posted January 11, 2012 | 1/11/12

The Obama White House continues to push for a settlement that would let bankers avoid being punished -- or even investigated -- for a wave of mortgage-related crimes that includes perjury, tax evasion, and several types of fraud.1

Despite the president's new-found populism -- rhetorically, anyway -- officials in...

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Austerity for Dummies: The 3-Minute Guide to a Bad Idea

187 Comments | Posted January 9, 2012 | 1/9/12

"I feel stupid," someone said the other day. "I consider myself well-informed, but I have no idea what the term 'austerity economics' really means."

Actually it's not that complicated, and most of the lesson plan can be found in today's headlines.

We'll explain austerity to you in six...

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Well Done, Mr. President! Now About That Foreclosure Fraud Settlement ...

14 Comments | Posted January 5, 2012 | 1/5/12

Congratulations, Mr. President. This week you followed your increasingly populist rhetoric with some decisive action on behalf of the middle class.

Republicans have been waging a sabotage campaign against the lawful functions of government. With these recess appointments you've shown that you'll use your presidential authority to stop them....

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