Robert Reich: Democrats are behaving as if they’re powerless to affect the economy even though a Democrat occupies the White House and his appointees run the federal government.
Depression, Not Recession Rocks U.S. Ghettos
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Sherwood Ross: Instead of investing in a framework to help blacks advance by their own initiative, the Federal government has flushed billions down the toilets of friendly foreign strongmen such as Egypt’s Hosni Mubarek.
Ding Dong, but Which is Dead?
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James Livingston: The man was waiting and wanting to be captured, assuming the American legal tradition would protect him, even in a time of war.
After bin Laden, a Reflection
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Lydia Howell: Now is the time for Americans to re-set our moral compass and demand an end to and accountability for torture of prisoners in the “war on terrorism” — at Guantanamo or at the remaining “black sites” in allied countries.
The Battle for the Soul of the GOP
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Robert Reich: Tea Partiers have almost as much contempt for big business and the Street as they do for government. After all, the Tea Party was born in anger over the Wall Street bailout. This is the heart of the civil war in the GOP.
Challenging The President’s Credibility
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Anthony Samad: We didn’t know at the time but President was intolerant to Trump’s politics of mass distraction. He had bigger fish on the hook, the REAL politic of mass destruction, Osama Bin Laden in his sights.
White House Plans to Improve Latino Education
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Andrea Nill: While there will undoubtedly be at least a handful of right-wingers who accuse the Obama administration of pandering to minorities, helping Latinos raise their educational achievement should be a national priority.
A Crash Course for LAUSD’s New Superintendent John Deasy
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Leonard Isenberg: Superintendent Deasy is smart. I just haven’t figured out whether he is naive or ignorant about what is going on at LAUSD or he just hasn’t had the time to figure it out yet.
Relentless Pentagon Pressure Mounts to Keep Troops in Iraq
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Tom Hayden: Any “new deal” will have to satisfy the power agenda of al-Sadr and his allies in Iran, or risk a renewal of fighting against the retention of the smallest contingent of U.S. troops in Iraq since 2003.
Can Public Education Be Fixed?
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Anthony Samad: We either invest in ourselves now, or pay later as a less competitive society. We need to fix ourselves before we nix ourselves.
U.S.’s Shifting Stance on Arming Rebels
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Marian Wang: As the Obama administration grapples with whether to arm the Libyan rebels, it has several things to consider—not least of which is the question of whether doing so would be legal.
Why Obama Isn’t Fighting the Budget Battle
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Robert Reich: Obama won’t actively fight the budget battle if the current White House view of how he wins in 2012 continues to prevail.
Democrats Should Never Have Started Paying Ransom
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Robert Reich: Problem is, when you pay ransom once, you’re almost begging to pay it again. And that’s exactly the pickle the Obama administration is finding itself in.
Ronnie at 100
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Tom Degan: The sad, pathetic truth of the matter is that on the evening of Tuesday, November 4, 1980 I got so falling-down intoxicated, I voted for the man just as a joke. A failed, “B” movie actor in the White House? That ought to be good for a nice, long chuckle , I thought.
A Time for Action — Not Servility
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Norman Solomon and Jeff Cohen: While Washington pundits are talking up a new civility, many progressives are bracing for the old servility — a bipartisanship that is servile to a corporate elite that is unquenchably greedy and more powerful than ever.
Republican Assault on Health Care Could Backfire
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Robert Reich: If successful—either in Congress or in the courts—a Republican victory could turn into a Phyrric one by opening the way to the alternative model, based on the system Americans seem to prefer: payroll taxes and public insurance.
What’s at Stake in Tax-Cut Deal
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Norman Solomon: More than two weeks after President Barack Obama announced his decision to make a tax-cut deal with Republican leaders, the shock waves continue to buffet many Democrats and others who are stunned by the grim implications.
An Historical View from the “Sanctimonious” Left
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Carl Bloice: Compromising is not an inherent virtue. It is, indeed, a necessity. We do it all the time in our personal and social lives, Society would be impossible without it. The question is: compromise over what and on what?
Keeping the “Yes We Can” Spirit Alive in 2011
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Randy Shaw: The base supporting greater social and economic justice is still there to be mobilized, and activists can still tap the “Si Se Puede” (“Yes We Can”) spirit to succeed.
Wikileaks Meets Guantanamo
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Tom Hall: So the Tea Bag Republicans have pivoted. No longer are they demanding transparency and openness. No longer do they want people to know what government is doing with their resources.
America’s Future in Global Economy: This Week’s Words and Deeds
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Robert Reich: By extending the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy, shrinking the estate tax, and freezing discretionary spending (on everything except defense), Obama’s leaving almost nothing for education and infrastructure.
The Lynch-Mob Moment
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Tom Hayden: There’s wisdom in expecting calmer heads to prevail in the WikiLeaks matter, but what can be done when the calmer heads are going nuts or hiding in silence?
White House Continues Drumbeat for DREAM
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Seth Hoy: Yet even with the weight of the White House and a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score that has DREAM reducing the deficit by $1.4 billion over ten years, Republican votes may be short.
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The Ghost of Geronimo
Marcus Daniel: What’s most immediately stunning about the decision to call the mission to hunt down Bin Laden “Geronimo,” is its sheer stupidity and insensitivity. How could this happen? What fool suggested this code word?