Archive
Consumer Protection and Corporate Purses
In this period of painfully partisan politics, it’s too easy for the focus to be on who won today, instead of the American people’s needs. We’re witnessing just that in two roiling debates–one over the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), another over the recent Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
Why Our Taliban’s Gaining Traction
The Dutch government is the Afghanistan War’s latest casualty. When the Labor Party recently exited the The Dutch government is the Afghanistan War’s latest casualty. When the Labor Party recently exited the The Dutch government is the Afghanistan War’s latest casualty. When the Labor Party recently exited the The Dutch government is the Afghanistan War’s latest casualty. When the Labor Party recently exited the Netherlands’ ruling coalition government to protest the extension of the Dutch deployment in Afghanistan, the Taliban rejoiced. Perhaps you thought I meant Afghanistan’s Taliban. No, I meant the Taliban in the Netherlands. Never heard of it? It’s the “Freedom Party,” and it’s poised to become a top vote-getter in the elections scheduled for early June because of the ruling coalition’s collapse.
Pro-Life
Washington Must Pressure Israel to Stop Illegal Settlements
After meeting with Israeli officials and declaring there was “no space between the United States and Israel,” Biden was hit by news of the Israeli government’s approval of 1,600 new Jewish-only homes on Palestinian land in occupied East Jerusalem. The settlements are illegal under international law, and the U.S. government has consistently opposed their construction since the Johnson administration.
Racism Just Isn’t Funny
A few weeks ago some frat boys at the University of California, San Diego, pulled what they thought of as a prank–just a fun thing. In mock honor of Black History Month they held an off-campus “Compton Cookout,” named after the largely black suburb of Los Angeles a few dozen miles up the road.
Many Palestinian Protestors Already Use Nonviolent Tactics
Israel is escalating its quiet campaign to round up and detain nonviolent Palestinian protesters, from leaders to children, in nighttime raids. And although these protesters remain committed to nonviolence, the world continues to believe the Palestinian struggle is mainly based on violence.
Recipe for Fighting the Party of No
I imagine President Obama is kicking himself for not working harder in the 2008 election so that his party could have won majorities in both houses of Congress. If he had, the Democrats would control both the House and Senate, and he could have made good on all his campaign promises: health care reform, bank regulation, global warming initiatives, and the rest.
Help Cure Sallie Mae’s Sugar Addiction
Sallie Mae isn’t one of those girls who’re made of “sugar and spice and everything nice.” Well, she is filled with sugar, but it comes from you and me, thanks to a longtime sweetheart deal she has from the federal government.
Bipartisanship
Let’s Sign the Tobacco Treaty
By 2005, the world’s first public health and corporate accountability treaty was taking effect to tackle the world’s leading preventable cause of death and disease: tobacco use. That treaty may be the least well-known tobacco milestone here in the United States, but it’s the most significant. For one, the global tobacco treaty may save 200 million lives by 2050 when it’s fully implemented. It also tackles head-on the type of corporate abuse that hooked generations on a deadly product with little or no accountability.
