Archive
An Exit Strategy for Afghanistan
Here in Washington, it’s easy to find boosters for the current U.S. war strategy in Afghanistan. Outside of Washington, it’s harder. A CNN poll late last month found that three-quarters of Americans now oppose the war and more than half would like U.S. combat troops to leave Afghanistan sooner than 2014, their scheduled withdrawal date. France, Spain, and Australia are all planning to accelerate the withdrawal of their soldiers from Afghanistan.
Immigration is a Human Rights Issue
Carlos Ruiz was born in Mexico but grew up in California. He speaks English better than Spanish and has two young daughters who were born in the United States. He was deported back to Mexico nearly two years ago, and since then hasn’t seen his children, mother, or sister, who are still in California. People like him are at the center of the immigration debate, especially this election year.
The Freedom to Fear
Serious commentators are telling us not to assume that the Supreme Court is going to find “Obamacare” unconstitutional just because the conservative justices gave the government lawyer a hard time when the case came before the Court last month.
Two Heads Aren’t Always Better than One
The corporate propensity for rationalizing the irrational in the pursuit of profit appears to be boundless. Consider J.R. Simplot, a giant agribusiness conglomerate whose phosphate mining operations in Idaho have grossly polluted creeks with selenium, a highly toxic metal.
Gender Gap
This Economy Stinks Worse than You Think
David Kocieniewski just won the Pulitzer Prize for his in-depth reporting on the loopholes that the richest Americans and corporations routinely exploit to minimize their tax bills. Congratulations to him! But most of his counterparts covering economics and business are a bunch of lapdogs.
The Lineup: Week of April 16-22, 2012
Raul A. Reyes says that choosing Marco Rubio as Romney’s runningmate wouldn’t make Latino voters swoon.
Pothole Nation
Overall, U.S. infrastructure spending has declined dramatically. Back in 1968, federal outlays for basic infrastructure amounted to 3.3 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Last year, federal infrastructure investments made up only 1.3 percent of GDP.
Rubio’s False Promise
Sen. Marco Rubio will release his memoir, “An American Son” in June. In what his publisher is billing as an inspirational story, the Florida Republican writes about his family’s emigration from Cuba, and details the sacrifices that his working-class parents made so he could succeed.
Let’s Protect Children, Not Guns
The Children’s Defense Fund dedicated our report Protect Children, Not Guns 2012 to the memory of Trayvon Martin and the thousands of other children and teenagers killed by guns in America. Guns killed a total of 5,740 kids in 2008 and 2009, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If Congress passed stronger laws and closed loopholes, it would save lives.
