Archive

Let’s Get America’s Health Out of the ER

It’s time for a constructive debate about health care that hinges on facts instead of fear.

What Happened to the Crackdown on Executive Pay?

Last February, amid public anger over millions in bonuses at bailed-out insurance giant AIG, our top national political leaders rushed to express their outrage — and even took some steps to place a lid on over-the-top executive pay.

President Obama and the Harsh Racial Reality

by Dedrick Asante-Muhammad

The black love affair with President Barack Obama is stronger than with any figure in the post-civil rights era. According to a recent New York Times poll, President Obama enjoys a 96% approval rating among African Americans. As an African American myself, I too feel pride and joy in seeing one of us succeed and attain so much respect and acclaim in the United States, a country with such a strong and recent history of racist oppression and alienation.

Conservative Hypocrisy on Military Spending

by Steve Cobble

Bank robber Willie Sutton famously said he robbed banks because “that’s where the money is.” Applying this logic to cutting our Federal budget deficit would lead to this conclusion — to save money, we have to cut military spending. That’s where the Bush/Cheney Administration essentially doubled spending during its two terms. That’s where the money is.

Unleash the Arts: 1 percent of the Stimulus Package

by E. Ethelbert Miller, Melissa Tuckey

Our society is built not just by bone and flesh but also by imagination. We’re wealthy when we create. We’re poor when poetry is missing from our lives. But how do we sustain our creative lives during a time of economic crisis? Clearly, our country is in trouble. We lost over one million jobs in 2008. Families are losing their homes. Young people are wondering whether there will be jobs for them when they graduate. We’re told this is the worst recession in 30 years and that it’s probably going to get worse yet. President Barack Obama’s election was a call for change. It’s also a testament to what Americans can accomplish if we put our minds to it.

Is That Congress Calling Detroit Incompetent?

by Donald Kaul

I’m always conflicted when I watch some fat-cat miscreant being worked over at a Congressional hearing. On the one hand, the person on the spit usually deserves it. He or she has almost certainly violated the public trust in a way so obvious that it caught even the...