Archive

Occupy the Budget

Occupy the Budget

Some lawmakers are trying to give America the cartoon image of a penniless hobo, circa 1932, with holes in his pants and nothing but a cold can of beans for dinner. We’re broke, they say, with no choice but to slash spending on public services.

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Is Iran Iraq All Over Again?

Is Iran Iraq All Over Again?

For at least the past two decades, political leaders in the United States and Israel have warned that Iran was on the threshold of building a nuclear weapon. From what we’ve been hearing lately from the media, ‘Iran is once again…still on that threshold.

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Misrepresenting Occupy Wall Street

Misrepresenting Occupy Wall Street

As the Occupy Wall Street protesters are swept out of their encampments around the nation, many are asking what the movement’s next step will be and whether the police actions might actually help the two-month-old populist outburst grow.

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Occupy Your Bank

Occupy Your Bank

The First Amendment guarantees the right to “peaceably” assemble. Unfortunately, that right seems to be in some type of Orwellian limbo at the moment. Eighteen cities participated in a conference call about the Occupy movement before they simultaneously cracked down on occupations in their cities, according Oakland Mayor Jean Quan.

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Border War Rumors

Border War Rumors

Grim-faced military officers and ashen-faced politicians describe a horrific “war zone,” with “hundreds of people murdered” and “citizens under attack around the clock.” Some of the politicos say that the situation is so dire that it “may require our military.”

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Big Banks are Doing Just Fine, Thank You

Big Banks are Doing Just Fine, Thank You

When grouchy columnists write of the pernicious effects of banks on the economy, we’re generally not referring to your local county bank whose vice-president coaches your son’s Little League team. No, we mean the big guys whose vice-presidents commute to Wall Street from Greenwich, Connecticut and whose kids attend fancy boarding schools.

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America’s Real Poverty Rate

America’s Real Poverty Rate

The Census Bureau recently released a highly-anticipated report suggesting ways to improve the measurement of poverty in America. It found that adjusting for medical expenses, the value of benefits payments, regional differences in the cost of living, and other technical factors raised the poverty rate to 16 percent, up from the official count of 15.1 percent.

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