If Small Businesses Aren’t Essential, Neither Is Collecting Rent

| May 6, 2020 | Economy / Business|HP Subfeatured|Rights / DemocracyWhen I was a child, I remember having to dress up in my church clothes when I went to the bank to deposit my birthday checks or money I saved from my allowances. The idea that banks are secular versions of church remains deeply embedded in our society today. In...

A Death Sentence for Meatpackers

| Apr 29, 2020 | Economy / Business|Environment / Health|Food / Farming|HP SubfeaturedMeat processing plants are high risk for spreading COVID-19, and many are shutting down. Animals due for processing have nowhere to go, and they are being culled. Workers there aren’t treated a great deal better. I’ve interviewed one meatpacker who worked at a pork...

Stop Hospitals from Hounding Poor Patients

| | Economy / Business|Environment / Health|HP SubfeaturedThe $2 trillion dollar bailout passed by Congress — the CARES Act — is supposed to protect families and businesses struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The law also established an inspector general to ensure that corporations that access the $500 billion in...

Postal Carriers Are Essential Workers. They Need a Stimulus, Too.

| Apr 15, 2020 | Economy / Business|Editors Picks|HP Featured|HP Subfeatured|Rights / DemocracyThe U.S. Postal Service plays a vital role in our nation’s health and stability at this time of crisis. Unfortunately, it’s financially strapped — and got just crumbs in the $2.2 trillion stimulus package recently passed by Congress. President Trump’s response? A...

The Next Coronavirus Bill Must Protect the 2020 Election

| | Editors Picks|Environment / Health|HP Subfeatured|Rights / DemocracyFirst, it was a public health crisis. Now, it’s decimating the economy. And for it’s next trick, the coronavirus is threatening to undermine the 2020 election. Unless, that is, Congress steps in to ensure we can vote by mail. If you’re curious what the worst case...

I Take Hydroxychloroquine. Please Don’t Hoard It.

| | Economy / Business|Environment / Health|HP Featured|HP SubfeaturedThe best birthday present I got this year was a refill of my medication. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t be much to celebrate, but the coronavirus has upended the ordinary. I’ve been taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, since I was diagnosed with rheumatoid...