Rights and Democracy
First, Do Harm
The Dark Side of Hosting the Olympics
This summer, Los Angeles officials reached a deal with the International Olympic Committee to host the 2028 Olympic Summer Games. For its trouble, the city hopes to generate hundreds of millions in savings and additional revenues. However, over the past few decades,...
If You Don’t Have Good Health Care, Neither Should Your Rep
Want good quality, lower-cost health care for your family. And — what the heck, let's think big here — for every man, woman, and child in our society? Here's how we can finally get Congress to pass such a program. Step One: Take away every dime of the...
Bernie and Goliath
An Anti-Poverty Program That Makes It Pay to Work
Imagine a government-funded anti-poverty tool that encouraged people to work. Now imagine that it's popular with both Democrats and Republicans, in red states and blue. Turns out we've had just such a tool since 1975: the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. The EITC is...
Texas Is Flooded Because Our Democracy Is, Too
"It’s flooding down in Texas," goes the old song. "All of the telephone lines are down." With apologies to Stevie Ray Vaughan, there’s a lot more down in Texas than telephone lines now. Power lines are down, homes are destroyed, and cities sit underwater. Dozens have...
The Greatest Dreamer
Teachers Shouldn’t Have to Panhandle for School Supplies
Back to school! These three simple words used to leave America’s public school teachers giddy with anticipation. Now they leave them opening up their wallets and worrying. The problem? Teachers have been spending out of their own pockets for generations to decorate...
Trump’s Pardon of Joe Arpaio Is Deeply Disturbing
During a speech to a group of police officers in July, President Trump returned to one of his favorite themes of the campaign season: violence. "Please don’t be too nice" to the "thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon," Trump advised the officers. Be...
Not Even Robert E. Lee Wanted Confederate Monuments
While our president's moral character seems stuck somewhere between boorish and brutish, it's only fair to note that he also has an aesthetic dimension. This surprising side of Trump popped out several days after the Charlottesville attacks by raging white...
