Category : Columnists

17 Jan

Comparison of Proposed Corporate Personhood Amendments

by Rick Staggenborg

There are many amendments that have been proposed whose sponsors claim will abolish corporate personhood and/or declare that money is not free speech. Here is a discussion of the problems with the four types that have been introduced in Congress and of two that are being promoted by various groups and individuals to address these [...]

10 Jan

Did Reagan Raise Taxes? Let GOP Candidates Answer

by Joe Conason

Politicians and their flacks lie every day, but it is unusual for someone prominent to utter a totally indefensible falsehood like the whopper that just sprang from the mouth of Eric Cantor’s press secretary on national television. While interviewing the House majority leader, “60 Minutes” correspondent Leslie Stahl suggested that he might consider compromise because [...]

Filed Under: Featured, Joe Conason

10 Jan

Arms Dealer Obama Will Win by Default

by Robert Scheer

Barack Obama will be re-elected not as a vindication of his policies but because the Republicans are incapable of providing a reasonable challenge to his flawed performance. On the central issue of our time — reining in the greed of the multinational corporations, led by the financial sector and the defense industry — a Republican [...]

Filed Under: Featured, Robert Scheer

10 Jan

He Signed It on the Dotted Line

by Alexander Cockburn

America changed as the new year stumbled across the threshold, but the big shift didn’t get much press, which is easy to understand. Can there be a deader news day than a New Year’s Eve that falls on a weekend? Besides, alive or dead, habeas corpus has never been a topic to set news editors [...]

10 Jan

Consumer Bureau Protects the Prudent, as Well

by Froma Harrop

Let’s set aside the back-and-forth over the recess appointment of Richard Cordray as chief watchdog at the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. President Obama named the former Ohio attorney general to lead the agency when the Senate was supposedly out of session, which he’s allowed to do. Republicans refuse to confirm him without changes that [...]

Filed Under: Featured, Froma Harrop

10 Jan

The Unbearable Consequence of Iowa

by Froma Harrop

So Mitt Romney “won” Iowa by eight votes, giving him the “Big Mo” (that’s momentum) as he marches forth into the primaries. What happened to Rick Santorum’s surge? Did a Dodge Caravan full of supporters break down on the way to the gymnasium? I mean, world history has pivoted on less. About 123,000 people participated [...]

Filed Under: Featured, Froma Harrop

08 Jan

Mediocre Candidates and Corporate Cash Storm Iowa

by Jim Hightower

And away we go! Not just into a new year, but –zap! — suddenly we find ourselves catapulted en masse into the turbulent Twilight Zone of the 2012 presidential election. On day three of the year, while most of us were still woozy from our New Year’s Eve celebration, Iowa voted. Well … sort of. [...]

Filed Under: Jim Hightower

05 Jan

EXCLUSIVE: Obama Campaign Fails to File Delegate Slate for New Hampshire Primary

by Frank London

OOPS! – OBAMA CAMPAIGN FAILS TO FILE SLATE OF DELEGATES FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY For obvious reasons, most news coverage of the 2012 New Hampshire presidential primaries focuses on the Republican contest. With rare exceptions, incumbent presidents seeking re-election enjoy a nearly insuperable advantage in their party’s nomination process. So it’s business as usual in [...]

03 Jan

The Little State That Could?

by Froma Harrop

Rhode Island shouldn’t even be a state. It’s basically a city, Providence, with some suburbs, factory towns, a little countryside and Newport. The smallest state in area (19 Rhode Islands could fit into California’s San Bernardino County), the Ocean State has a population of about 1 million (versus San Bernardino’s 210,000). While many love Little [...]

Filed Under: Featured, Froma Harrop

02 Jan

Middle Class Aided Its Own Decline

by Froma Harrop

This was the Year of the Middle Class — as in, its falling incomes, loss of job security and anger. The global economic forces fueling the decline, such as foreign competition and computers, have been well reported. But what about cultural factors? Is the middle class going down partly because it stopped acting middle class? [...]

Filed Under: Featured, Froma Harrop