Archive
Influence Peddler for President
Mea culpa, I misspoke, my bad. I stand corrected. I have called Newt Gingrich a lobbyist. Apparently, he hates that tag, even though he has indeed gotten very wealthy by taking big bucks from such special interest outfits as IBM, Astra Zeneca, Microsoft, and Siemens in exchange for helping them get favors from federal and state governments.
GOP Closets
We’re Not Even Paving a Road to Nowhere
The term “American transportation policy” is an oxymoron. The United States has no policy regarding the nation’s transportation networks, no strategic plan, and no capacity to carry one out. We harbor only competing special interests.
No Execution For Mumia Abu-Jamal
Mumia Abu-Jamal will no longer be facing execution. He should be getting a new trial.
The Other 99 Percent: How the U.S. Compares
Occupy movements have now sprung up in at least 20 countries, and probably more. They all speak, in one way or another, for the other 99 percent. But the other 99 percent means different things in different places. In some countries, the other 99 percent are truly oppressed. In others, they manage reasonably well.
The Lineup: Week of Dec. 5-11, 2011
Jim Hightower lampoons a luxury tent Neiman Marcus is marketing to the uber-rich this holiday season.
2012 Won’t Be the Same without Herman Cain
When we watched the endless Republican debates, we knew the others, next to you, were lightweights.
The Rich Don’t Need a Free Ride
Despite popular fascination with the rich and famous, most working people have little understanding of the finances of the wealthy. And the rich use that unfamiliarity to their advantage as they wield their outsized influence over public policy.
Hardly Working
Many people know that some 14 million Americans, officially about 9 percent of the nation’s work force, are unemployed. Another 12 million are under-employed. That means they’d like full-time work but can’t get it, or maybe they’re working two or three jobs without benefits in a desperate struggle to make ends meet.
Cut the Pentagon’s Budget, Make the U.S. Safer
Pressured by the need to shrink the federal budget deficit, Congress is insisting that Pentagon spending can’t continue to grow at the galloping rate of the last decade. In response, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Congress in October that he’s planning to cut $450 billion in planned military spending increases.
