Archive
Wealthy Tax Cheats
Tax systems that heavily tax the rich are asking for trouble — or so the politicians who cater to the 1 percent incessantly argue. The higher the tax rate on high incomes, their argument goes, the greater the incentive the rich have to waste time and energy figuring out ways to pay less.
Cheering Obama’s Wise Tar Sands Choice
We cheered when the Obama administration formally denied a federal permit for the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline put forth by Canadian oil giant TransCanada. The 1,700-mile pipeline would have run through six states, carrying toxic, highly corrosive tar sands crude from Alberta, Canada, to refineries and ports in Texas.
Climate Insurance
I feel uneasy sleeping in a house without functioning smoke detectors. I lock my doors at night. I salt my sidewalk when it’s icy. I always wear my seatbelt. Like most people, I prefer to minimize my chances of getting hurt or wrecking my car or house, despite the fact that my house, my car, and my health are all (thankfully) insured.
Dollar Democracy
Corruption is as American as apple pie. “The quality of government is seriously compromised when decisions made by elected politicians benefit those who funded their ascent to power,” says the anti-corruption watch-dog group Transparency International. That sounds like just another U.S. election campaign.
A Zero on the Home Front’s Richter Scale
Among the strange things that happened last year — and there were many — perhaps the strangest was the end of the war in Iraq.
Afghanistan’s Poppy War
For a symbol of how America’s decade-long war is going in faraway Afghanistan, look at the beautiful fields of red poppies flowering so bountifully there. Unfortunately, that bounty symbolizes the failure of an ambitious Western initiative against Taliban forces.
Fukushima Is So Yesterday
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) isn’t about to blow the whistle on the industry’s shortcomings and neither is the media. The agency is stacked with members who know better than to rock the corporate boat, and the media values those big-spending advertisers in the energy business.
Endless War
Interview with Roe v. Wade Lawyer Sarah Weddington
January 22 marks the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States. That ruling has been called the most significant of the 20th century. Certainly it was the most significant for women.
The Lineup: Week of Jan. 16-22, 2012
Janet Redman offers a “recipe” for action on climate change.
