Economy and Business
Gouging the Sick
Words can be discombobulating, especially when people twist them to fit concepts that mean the exact opposite of what you think is being said. Consider the current debate in Washington over the Trans-Pacific Partnership — a controversial trade and investment pact...
Lending Dreams
Nina Bailey has wanted to buy a home in her adopted city of Detroit for years. Instead, like tens of thousands of other Detroiters, she rents an apartment, where she lives with her two children. Bailey can afford a monthly mortgage payment. She’s got a decent-paying...
The For-Profit College Scam
This spring, around 100 indebted college grads came up with a novel strategy for dealing with their crushing debt: They simply weren't going to pay it. These students — the so-called "Corinthian 100" — attended schools owned by the now-defunct for-profit education...
Coddling the Rich
Question: How much did Congress save taxpayers last year when it cut food stamp benefits for 16 million poor children? Answer: Less than the windfall Congress is trying to bestow on a few of the richest American families by ending the federal estate tax. The House has...
Letting Deadly Bosses off the Hook
They say there's honor among thieves. I say: That depends on the thieves. Your common street thief, yes — but not those princely CEOs of corporate larceny. The elites in the top suites are pickpockets, swindlers, thugs, and scoundrels, routinely committing mass...
How Can We Serve Our Public Servants?
Back in my 20s, I had a modest dream: By my 40s, I hoped, I'd be able to pay off my student debt. I’d even give some of my hard-earned money to my mom and rent a nice apartment. Maybe I'd get a dog, too. And I wanted to do it while making a difference for...
The Great Fountain-Pen Robbery
Even the word "greed" isn’t negative enough to characterize the all-out assault on workers by today's corporate elite. From offshoring jobs to busting unions, and from slashing wages to looting pensions, avaricious executives and wealthy investors are taking...
The Divestment Dividend
As Earth Day approached, fossil-fuel divestment actions rattled college campuses large and small. Targets ranged from Harvard University’s $36-billion endowment to the University of Mary Washington’s $46-million nest egg. That’s only natural: Students, professors, and...
Odd Bedfellows, Lying Together
Come one, come all. Step right up and buy your ticket for a ride on the splendiferous, phantasmagoric, and miraculous Trans-Pacific Partnership! The TPP isn’t some sort of futuristic flying machine. It’s just another global trade scam coming at us like a volcanic...
Fast Tracking the TPP
