Archive
How to End the Syrian Bloodshed
The international negotiations to end the brutal civil war in Syria were never going to be easy. Getting all sides to the table was itself a huge challenge. On the eve of the talks it looked, for a moment, like at least that first step might be possible. To prevent...
This Week in OtherWords: January 22, 2014
This week in OtherWords, Sarah Anderson, William A. Collins, and I preview what President Obama is likely to say about inequality and taxes during his State of the Union address. Jill Richardson weighs in on the West Virginia chemical spill. Be sure to visit our blog...
The State of Our Union’s Inequality
There's no doubt that President Barack Obama will make inequality a major theme of his State of the Union address, just as Franklin Delano Roosevelt did in 1935. "We have not weeded out the overprivileged and we have not effectively lifted up the underprivileged," FDR...
First Things First
In the four years since the Supreme Court's infamous Citizens United v. FEC ruling, two things have become abundantly clear. First, we have a major democracy problem. Citizens United paved the way for unlimited corporate spending to distort our elections. Staggering...
Fast-Tracking Misery
When it comes to trade policy, President Barack Obama is mimicking the same policies he criticized when he served in the Senate. As a presidential candidate, Obama promised to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), recognizing the enormous loss...
From Canada, a New Gold Standard
The 32,400 employees at Goldman Sachs averaged $383,374 each last year, the Wall Street banking giant has just disclosed. Typical employees at Goldman, of course, didn't take home anything near that $383,374. Bank clerks nationally only average $24,100 a year. In...
The Perils of Watered-Down Regulations
"There's a folksy saying my grandma taught me: 'If it smells like licorice and tastes like licorice, it must be licorice.' Now it has a corollary: 'Or it could also be a 4-methylcyclohexane methanol spill into your water supply, so grab the children and run for your...
Lawmakers Are Free Not to Become Narcissistic Jerks
Mark Twain spoke for me when he said: "I'm opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position." One danger that such wealth brings is that many who have it become blinded to those who don't. Thus, the news that more than half of our Congress...
Obama’s Taxing Problem
Does getting tipsy make it easier for you to bear President Barack Obama 's State of the Union addresses? Try taking a sip of beer, wine, or a mixed drink every time he says the words "tax" or "taxpayer" this time around. It's not as extreme as doing it when Obama...
Congress Discovers Inequality in America
