PUBLIC AFFAIRS

One Big Unfinished Bill Clinton Promise Hillary Should Embrace

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Bar corporations from deducting all executive pay in excess of $1 million – By Robert Reich – What can be done to deter pharmaceutical companies from jacking up prices of critical drugs? To prevent Wall Street banks from excessive gambling? To nudge CEOs into taking a longer-term view? To restrain runaway CEO pay? Answer to…

A Prayer for Alabama Legislature: Bless Us With Disaster, Sweet Jesus

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By David Underhill – MOBILE, Ala. – A prayer for the Alabama legislature as it reconvenes in a special session, following another special session that failed to find funding enough to allow the state’s Medicaid services to function at a level keeping the needy alive. Schemes to finance the services with a lottery, or with…

Labor Day Pains: No ‘Golden Age’ for Public Service

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The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – What’s the point of celebrating Labor Day anymore? Like many things these days, people have forgotten the history and do not appreciate it beyond the day off to eat barbecue and jump in the water. There’s not much in the way of news to report about Amerian…

What Happens After Trump Loses?

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By Robert Reich – I recently got a call from a political analyst in Washington. “Trump is dropping like a stone,” he said, convincingly. “After Election Day, he’s history.” I think Trump will lose the election, but I doubt he’ll be “history.” Defeated presidential candidates typically disappear from public view. Think Mitt Romney or Michael…

Fox News Talking Head Sean Hannity Is Donald Trump’s Puppeteer

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By Peter Funt – November’s biggest loser might not be Donald Trump — even if he gets clobbered at the polls. The person with the most to lose is Sean Hannity, the Fox News Channel host from Alabama, who isn’t just hitching his wagon to Trump’s campaign, he’s almost single-handily building the wagon on his…

Alabama Lottery and Medicaid Funding Hopes Dashed Again

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Governor Robert Bentley’s Lottery Bill Dies in the House – By Glynn Wilson – Never mind lottery fans and sick children who need Medicaid funding now. According to a plethora of reporting on Twitter late Tuesday afternoon, any hope of a lottery vote making it onto the November 8 ballot just went down in flames,…

Demonstrations Planned Against Offshore Oil Leases in New Orleans

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EDITOR’S NOTE – For info about a free roundtrip bus on Saturday from Mobile to this demonstration go to the Facebook event page for Gulf Coast Interdependence Day. You can sign up as a volunteer and RSVP to attend and find out details about the bus and other matters. The free bus will leave from…

Donald Trump has Crossed the Line of Decency

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A Conservative View – By Christine Flowers – I’m morbidly fascinated by the rhetorical mud being slung between Democrats and Republicans these days. How exhilarating to hear Hillary Clinton labeled “unstable” by Donald Trump, who is himself called “bat(bleep)-crazy” by a fellow billionaire and Hillaryite, Mark Cuban. This week, though, I actually do need to…

Handicapping the U.S. Presidential Election

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By Glynn Wilson – Voting day for the presidential election of 2016 is less than three months down the road now, Tuesday, November 8, and there’s still no clear front runner. People have their opinions, but to what source should people pay attention in such matters? I was just out in the yard talking to…

There’s No Walking Back Trump’s Second Amendment Comments

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By John L. Micek – Donald Trump knew what he was doing Tuesday afternoon. Make no mistake. “Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the Second Amendment,” a smiling Trump said of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton during a rally in Wilmington, N.C. “By the way, and if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can…

The Real Threat to American Sovereignty

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By Robert Reich – “Without a border, we just don’t have a country,“ Donald Trump says repeatedly. For him, the biggest threats to American sovereignty are three-dimensional items that cross our borders, such as unwanted imports and undocumented immigrants. He’s wrong. The biggest threats to American sovereignty are invisible digital dollars wired into U.S. election…