By Robert Reich – What someone is paid has little or no relationship to what their work is worth to society. Does anyone seriously believe hedge-fund mogul Steven A. Cohen is worth the $2.3 billion he raked in last year, despite being slapped with a $1.8 billion fine after his firm pleaded guilty to insider…
By Bob Wells – I said no more Alaska Posts and while this post has Alaska as a backdrop, it isn’t about Alaska, it’s about “Finding Yourself” and being true to yourself. This trip to Alaska clarified a lot of things about myself and I want to share it with you. The great majority of…
By Amrit Singh – The European Court of Human Rights has finally officially confirmed the facts of a story that the U.S. and European governments have sought to deny for more than a decade: The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency operated a secret torture center on Polish soil in the aftermath of the attacks on the…
By Nick Sheppard – From The Sheppard Post – When it comes to Benghazi, the Conservative commentariat is willing to make an association with almost anything that happens, past or present, domestic or international, relevant or irrelevant. On the Fox network’s show The Five, Andrea Tantaros opined about the missing Malaysian airliner: “Think how long…
By Robert Reich – In a new Pew poll, more than three quarters of self-described conservatives believe “poor people have it easy because they can get government benefits without doing anything.” In reality, most of America’s poor work hard, often in two or more jobs. The real non-workers are the wealthy who inherit their fortunes.…
By Robert Reich – Dozens of big U.S. corporations are considering leaving the United States in order to reduce their tax bills. But they’ll be leaving the country only on paper. They’ll still do as much business in the U.S. as they were doing before. The only difference is they’ll no longer be “American,” and…
To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize. – Voltaire, 1694-1778 – By David Underhill – MOBILE, Ala. – Newly captured Africans bound for slavery in the Americas often didn’t arrive directly. They stopped in the Caribbean islands for “seasoning.” There they lost their culture, language, religion.…
By Joe Womack – To commemorate the 155th anniversary of the beginning of the Africatown saga and the 154th anniversary of the landing of the last recorded shipment of slaves to this country, here is a summary of the “Africatown Story” from 1859 to today. (As told to me by Mr. Henry Williams as he…
By Robert Reich – A number of billionaires are flooding our democracy with their money, drowning out the voices of the rest of us. But Charles and David Koch are in a class by themselves. They’re using their fortune – they’re the fifth and sixth richest people in the world — to create their own…
Amending the Constitution may sound audacious, but it’s not impossible – By Leo Gerard, USW – All of this has so emboldened billionaires that one of them, Tom Perkins, said earlier this year that citizens should get one vote for each tax dollar they pay. No more one person one vote. Ketchup king H.J. Heinz…
By Robert Reich – Rather than confront poverty by extending jobless benefits to the long-term unemployed, endorsing a higher minimum wage, or supporting jobs programs, conservative Republicans are taking a different tack. They’re peddling three big lies about poverty. To wit: Lie No. 1: Economic growth reduces poverty “The best anti-poverty program,” wrote Paul Ryan,…
By Robert Reich – Mississippi used its new voter-identification law for the first time Tuesday — requiring voters to show a driver’s license or other government-issued photo ID at the polls. The official reason given for the new law is alleged voter fraud, although the state hasn’t been able to provide any evidence that voter…
By Joe Womack – Most of you have heard of “Fats Domino” and “Minnesota Fats” but have you ever heard of “Africatown Fats”? Probably not. That’s because “Fats Domino” is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is the pride of New Orleans. “Fats Domino” and his music were popular throughout the world…
By Robert Reich – I spent several days in New York last week with students from around the country who were preparing to head into the heartland to help organize Walmart workers for better jobs and wages. (Full familial disclosure: My son Adam is one of the leaders.) Almost exactly fifty years ago a similar…
By Pippa Abston – MD, PhD, FAAP – Governor Bentley has persisted in failing to offer hope for the uninsured poor in Alabama, through a Medicaid Expansion or otherwise. Behind the scenes, various insiders are passing rumors not to worry — he really will do it … after the primary. Or after the general election.…
By Robert Reich – For years Americans have assumed that our hard-charging capitalism is better than the soft-hearted version found in Canada and Europe. American capitalism might be a bit crueler but it generates faster growth and higher living standards overall. Canada’s and Europe’s “welfare-state socialism” is doomed. It was a questionable assumption to begin…
Coming Clean – By Michael Brune – For more than a century, presidents have been using the Antiquities Act to save our national treasures, and President Obama’s just-announced designation of the Organ Mountains — Desert Peaks National Monument in southern New Mexico — shows exactly why this law is so indispensable. At nearly 500,000 acres…
By David Underhill – MOBILE, Ala. – Mobile has lapsed into a coma. Whether it stays stupefied or recovers will indicate whether it wishes to continue existence as constant reruns of historic hallucinations or to create a liveable future. The seizure struck during the May 13 city council meeting. An early tremor came in the…
Coming Clean – By Michael Brune – My current column in SIERRA magazine Money Talks, Carbon Walks describes how each of us can help build the fossil-free economy by exercising our influence as consumers and investors. Most of us will do that because we believe it’s right but, as I wrote in Sierra: “If environmental…
By Robert Reich – Even though French economist Thomas Piketty has made an air-tight case that we’re heading toward levels of inequality not seen since the days of the nineteenth-century robber barons, right-wing conservatives haven’t stopped lying about what’s happening and what to do about it. Herewith, the four biggest right-wing lies about inequality, followed…
