Archive
Don’t Cheat Your Grandma
Despite the fact that Social Security isn't contributing a penny to the federal budget deficit, fiscal hawks have convinced President Barack Obama that we must slash its benefits to save the country. He's joined the sky-is-falling crew in a crazed search for targeted...
When Workers Foot the Bill for Bailouts
Peter Drucker, the analyst who founded modern management science, died in 2005 at age 95. When he died, business leaders worldwide hailed this Austrian-born American for his enormous contribution to enterprise efficiency and effectiveness. But Peter Drucker also cared...
Why I’m a Chick with Chicks
In the span of a few years, I've gone from weird to trendy. Why? I keep chickens — in San Diego. Here's one sign of how times have changed. In 2009, the local newspaper's editorial page excoriated me for trying to change local laws to allow chickens. Last year, the...
Obama’s Unethical End Run
Back in 2010, President Obama declared: "I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests." That was so 2010. By 2013, the mist of corporate money has fogged over Team Obama's commitment to such ethical niceties. For example,...
A Tortured History
NATO forces have refused to turn Afghan prisoners over to some local jails due to concerns about the torture committed in many of those detention centers. After a dozen years of U.S. efforts to export democracy to Afghanistan, that's just one example of why this...
Invisible Hand University
This Week in OtherWords: March 20, 2013
This week in OtherWords, John Cavanagh highlights Maryland's new approach to measuring well-being and Jim Hightower explains what's wrong with Paul Ryan's latest budget proposal. Here's a clickable summary of our latest commentaries and a link to our new cartoon. If...
Inequality Is Hurting Us All
Inequality hurts us all. Imagine if you could go back 45 years to 1968. That year, after three decades of creative policy from President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal through President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society, the United States was one of the world's most...
One Nation, Without a Clue
There was a time when we had a Greatest Generation. That would be my parents' generation. If you're a mere stripling of 40 or 50 or so, it probably was your grandparents' generation. You know the rap: They survived the Great Depression, won World War II, stood up to...
A Tale of Two Budgets
It was the worst of times, it was the worst of times. In a single week, the House and Senate Budget Committee chairs unveiled their budgets for the 2014 fiscal year. According to Democrats, Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) budget was an unmitigated disaster that would destroy...