Archive
Don’t Feed the Nuclear Club
In OtherWords: July 5, 2017
Here in Washington all eyes were on health care last week, where Senate leaders were trying to move along a health bill that could throw 22 million Americans off their insurance. (That's what Trump calls "winning," Jill Richardson writes this week.) The bill hasn't...
A Bipartisan Vote to Put the Brakes on War
One of the few things I recall fondly about the Trump campaign — a short list, I’ll admit — was the candidate’s apparent glee in ridiculing the war-mongering of his rivals and predecessors. In early 2016, Trump (correctly) summed up George W. Bush’s legacy this way:...
There’s No Good Reason for Your Boss to Make 347 Times What You Do
CEO pay at America's 500 largest companies averaged $13.1 million in 2016. That's 347 times what the average employee makes. So CEOs make a lot of money. But, some say, so do athletes and movie stars. Why pick on corporate bosses, then? First, because the market sets...
Are We Tired of ‘Winning’ Yet?
Can we stop pretending that leading Republicans care about anything beyond winning and power? To be sure, there are some in the party who are guided by conservative "principles." House Speaker Paul Ryan said he's been "dreaming" of gutting Medicaid — the program that...
Free As You Can Afford to Be
I think of freedom in positive, aspirational terms — as in FDR's "Four freedoms," or in the uplifting songs of freedom sung by oppressed people everywhere. But right-wing ideologues have fabricated a negative notion of "freedoms" derived from their twisted concept of...
The Real Threat
In OtherWords: June 28, 2017
Here are two interesting numbers: The Senate health care bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, would throw 22 million more Americans off their insurance over the next decade alone, the Congressional Budget Office estimates. And, perhaps...
What Happened to America’s Wealth? The Rich Hid It.
If you find yourself traveling this summer, take a closer look at America’s deteriorating infrastructure — our crumbling roads, sidewalks, public parks, and train and bus stations. Government officials will tell us "there's no money" to repair or properly maintain our...
Making Utility Bills Rise Again
It’s summer and the mercury is soaring. Temperatures are higher than ever, it turns out. Last year was the hottest year since humanity started recording temperatures, and it’s going to get much worse in the years to come, as a recent University of Hawaii study shows....
