Why Republicans Don’t Want the “New Start” Treaty

December 22, 2010 By Robert Reich

Robert Reich: Has the President’s olive branch on extending the Bush tax breaks for the rich opened a new era in bi-partisanship? Doubtful.

We Are Not Scrooges!

December 22, 2010 By Tina Dupuy

Tina Dupuy: Nothing shatters one’s contentment more quickly than that ever-looping commercial in which a guy buys his wife a bow-wrapped $100K Lexus as a “surprise.” Every time it airs I think to myself, “My husband would have to put just that bow on layaway, and I’d still KNOW.”

Internet Freedom on the Line

December 22, 2010 By Sylvia Moore

Sylvia Moore: On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission voted on new rules that critics say could allow media conglomerates to decide whose content gets to be seen on the Internet and whose doesn’t. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is said to have the votes he needs to pass net neutrality regulation.

Orrin Hatch Calls Vote On Immigration Bill He Once Co-Sponsored ‘A Cynical Exercise’

December 22, 2010 By Andrea Christina Nill

Andrea Nill: Hatch’s flip-flop may have something to do with the fact that he’s up for reelection in 2012 and has already been identified as the tea party’s next target.

Straight to Hell

December 22, 2010 By Sikivu Hutchinson

Sikivu Hutchinson: The bashing of Elizabeth Edwards is just a footnote to the larger trend of right wing demonization of secular and left forces reignited by the Tea Party. This trend builds on Cold War “better-dead-than-Red” hysteria equating patriotism and “authentic” American citizenship with being god-fearing.

Mississippi Governor’s Remarks Reveal Much about White Racism

December 21, 2010 By Jessie Daniels

Jessie Daniels: This is classic white racism. Horrible years of grueling oppression? Ah, get over it. One of the white supremacist sites I looked at in Cyber Racism makes a similar argument about slavery – a supposedly ‘humane institution’ that slaves ‘loved and wanted to return to’ after emancipation.

The Year Washington Became “Business Friendly”

December 21, 2010 By Robert Reich

Robert Reich: America’s big businesses are less and less American. They’re going abroad for sales and employees. That’s one reason they’ve showed record-breaking profits in 2010 while creating almost no American jobs.

Design to Fail: Of Supertrains and Sprawl

December 21, 2010 By Adam Eran

Adam Eran: One recent such sprawl-enabling designed-to-fail project is California’s proposed high speed “supertrain.” This would take years and cost billions to build.

The Winter of Labor’s Discontent

December 21, 2010 By Berry Craig

Berry Craig: But it’s getting harder for me to defend Obama when my union brothers and sisters — who also voted and worked for him — say he’s all but surrendered to the GOP. I’m disappointed in the president. They’re downright mad.

Mitrice Richardson’s Mother Joins Call for FBI Involvement in Daughter’s Death

December 21, 2010 By Jasmyne Cannick

Jasmyne Cannick: Following Michael Richardson’s lead in a call for FBI involvement in the death of his daughter Mitrice Richardson, Monday Mitrice’s mother Latice Sutton echoed Michael’s same call saying that she too wants the FBI to look at whether sheriff’s deputies moved the body improperly.

Pentagon Health Plan Won’t Cover Brain-Damage Therapy for Troops

December 21, 2010 By T. Christian Miller -- Pro Publica

T. Christian Miller and Daniel Zwerdling: Traumatic brain injury is considered the “signature wound” of soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Official military statistics show that more than 115,000 soldiers have suffered mild traumatic brain injuries since the wars began. Shock waves from roadside bombs can ripple through soldiers’ brains, causing damage that sometimes leaves no visible scars but may cause lasting mental and physical harm.

Labor’s Last Stand in 2011?

December 20, 2010 By Shamus Cooke

Shamus Cooke: The stage is set, and the main actors in Congress and in the corporate establishment are ready to perform, having rehearsed behind closed doors for the coming assault on organized labor’s most powerful sector, public workers.

Bradley Manning within Rights on Wikileaks

December 20, 2010 By Sherwood Ross

Sherwood Ross: The American people have been led into wars based on lies, fictions, and secrets and should be grateful to Assange and Manning for revealing the truth of this misconduct.

The “Golden Rule” Will Sail Again

December 20, 2010 By Lawrence S. Wittner

Lawrence Wittner: And so it appears that the “Golden Rule” will resume the long journey it began more than half a century ago. Rebuilt by U.S. military veterans, it will “renew Bigelow’s and Veterans for Peace’s mission — to abolish war and promote peaceful diplomacy.”

So What Happened to Global Warming?

December 20, 2010 By Patrick Henningsen

Patrick Henningsen: Britain and Europe have been hit hard for the third straight record-breaking winter season. Labeled by experts as the coldest winter in 100 years and set to blow well into 2011, it is already raising some very interesting questions about the new ideological split we are witnessing throughout society in the much celebrated green debate.