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,…
How Increasing Ideological Uniformity and Partisan Antipathy Affect Politics, Compromise and Everyday LifeANALYSIS – By Glynn Wilson – Republicans and Democrats are more divided along ideological lines – and partisan antipathy is deeper and more extensive – than at any point in the last two decades, according to a new research study from the Pew…
But Her Numbers Are Already Starting to Take A DiveBy Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — As Hillary Clinton takes the national stage as the early front runner in the presidential election of 2016, a majority of Americans, 54 percent, view her in a positive light, according to the Gallup Poll’s latest favorability rating survey.…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – If former Southern Baptist preacher and Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee can float trial balloons and turn his attention to the presidential election of 2016 before the 2014 midterm elections are in the bag, what the heck? It’s about time we started talking about it anyway. Every other…
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…
To Face Democrat and Independent in East Alabama Race Come November – By Wayne Ruple – HEFLIN, Ala. — In what was considered by some to be the lowest voter turn-out in 16 years for a primary in Alabama, a relatively unknown private investigator living in Heflin on the state’s eastern border came within 416…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – If you follow me on Facebook, you may have noticed that I have been really busy of late organizing, promoting and holding a huge garage sale and selling a house in the post-Bush Great Recession world. I won’t bore you with the details of that, but the…
A Menace to Us and CreationBy David Underhill – MOBILE, Ala. – Opposites appear at opposite ends of Alabama on June 5. At the upper extreme a rally in Florence is calling for tar sands mining to stop before it begins. Geologists have long known that gummy crude oil is locked into sandstone strata underlying…
By Glynn Wilson – The number of Americans who understand that humans evolved over time with no god involved in a so-called creation process has doubled since 1999, leading public opinion experts to conclude that a little evolution in human intelligence may be occurring in the 21st century. According to the latest Gallup poll on…
By Glynn Wilson – At the behest of President Obama and after months of planning and public feedback, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the much anticipated Clean Power Plan proposal on Monday. It seeks to cut carbon pollution from existing coal-fired power plants — the largest source of carbon pollution in the country —…
President Barack Obama set an ambitious goal two years ago to attract 100 million international visitors to the United States each year by the end of 2021. More than 70 million travelers from around the world visited the U.S. in the last year alone — and they spent more than $180 billion. “That’s huge, and…
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…
A special ceremony on the National Mall was held this week to mark the reopening of the Washington Monument, which was damaged in the East Coast earthquake of 2011. Secretary if the Interior Sally Jewell thanked the workers for getting the monument work done on time and under budget and philanthropist David Rubenstein for a…
By Glynn Wilson – More Americans view the Democratic Party favorably than the Republican Party, although neither party is viewed favorably by a majority of the American people. According to the latest Gallup poll, 44 percent of Americans give the Democratic Party a favorability rating, while only 34 percent of those surveyed view the Republican…
Only 22 Percent of American Voters Say Members of Congress Deserve Re-election – By Glynn Wilson – With just six months to go before the midterm elections, 72 percent of registered voters in the U.S. say most members of the 113th Congress do not deserve to be re-elected, while only 22 percent say they do.…
Competitive Capitalism is the Answer, Not Socialism – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – If the film Reds is even close to an accurate historical portrayal of the relationship between Louise Bryant and Jack Reed, then there is a lesson here we can all use to plan the next phase of American democracy…
Alabama is No. 10 and Louisiana is Not Listed At All? – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – A new online celebrity tabloid is getting traffic from Facebook and Twitter for a story making the rounds claiming to rank the 10 most corrupt state governments in the United States based on “a national…
By Glynn Wilson – The Obama Administration released the Third U.S. National Climate Assessment report on Tuesday, May 6, calling it “the most authoritative and comprehensive source of scientific information to date about climate-change impacts across all U.S. regions and on critical sectors of the economy.” The report, a key part of President Obama’s so-called…
Birmingham Company Agrees to Sell Property to Alabama State Docks – By Glynn Wilson – In an unusual turnaround from its ambition to build a new coal handling export terminal along the riverfront in Mobile, Alabama, Walter Energy has reached an agreement “in principle” with the State Port Authority to sell both the Blue Creek…
