The great pamphleteer of the American Revolution, Thomas Paine, had much more on his mind than independence from the British. Continue reading
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Category Archives: Commentary
The Tom Paine tax plan
Over two centuries ago, Tom Paine urged our new republic to tax extreme wealth. This tax season, President Biden is picking up the call.
Corporate media ignores Senate hearing on corporate greed and inflation
It is exceedingly rare for a major congressional committee to hold hearings on “corporate greed” leading to corporate profiteering and surging prices on consumer goods. On April 5, 2022, Senate Budget Chairman Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) chartered uncensored territory on corporate avarice with a lead witness, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, now a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Continue reading
From Korea to Libya: On the future of Ukraine and NATO’s neverending wars
Much has been said and written about media bias and double standards in the West’s response to the Russia-Ukraine war, when compared with other wars and military conflicts across the world, especially in the Middle East and the Global South. Less obvious is how such hypocrisy is a reflection of a much larger phenomenon which governs the West’s relationship to war and conflict zones. Continue reading
Housing is a human right—here’s how to make it a reality
The federal government has for years enabled the private market to make money off our housing needs. Now, as home prices and rents skyrocket, there is a simple solution: offer people a public option for housing.
Is housing a human right? Or is it a privilege affordable only to those who have made it under our unfair system of market capitalism? Continue reading
Why Blue state living makes you healthy, wealthy & wise
If you’re concerned about quality of life, education, living longer, and lower crime, move to a Blue state. If you want to carry a gun in public, earn crap wages, and don’t care about access to healthcare or your kid’s education, move to a Red state. Continue reading
Biden means what he says
Joe Biden may appear to be a confused old man when he blurts out whatever comes to mind. But his outbursts shouldn't be ignored. They always reveal his plans.
“I mean what I say when I say it!” Those words were spoken by president elect Joe Biden in December 2020 during a meeting with a group described as “civil rights leaders.” Video of the meeting was leaked and Biden’s insulting and dismissive attitude towards Black people was clear even to those who ignored this tendency he has shown throughout his 50 years of public life. Continue reading
Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill is really about politics, not sex
On March 28, Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 1557—the “Parental Rights in Education Bill”—into law. Continue reading
Gaza’s forthcoming crisis might be worse than anything we have ever seen
“The water is back,” one family member would announce in a mix of excitement and panic, often very late at night. The moment such an announcement was made, my whole family would start running in all directions to fill every tank, container or bottle that could possibly be filled. Quite often, the water would last for a few minutes, leaving us with a collective sense of defeat, worrying about the very possibility of surviving. Continue reading
Global food shortages: How does your garden (or pantry) grow?
“President Joe Biden and other leaders of the world’s major industrialized democracies pledged action on Thursday [March 24] to address food shortages caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine,” Politico reports. Continue reading
Time is ticking: Israel’s balancing act in Ukraine is likely to backfire
Israel’s balancing act in the Russia-Ukraine war is likely to falter soon, simply because the resulting NATO-Russia conflict is expected to last for years, not weeks or months. Eventually, Israel would have to make a choice. Alas, whatever that choice may be, Israel will stand to lose. Continue reading
No corporate law and power questions for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
In over twenty hours of grueling confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Jackson’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, Republican Senators (Cruz, Cotton, Hawley, Blackburn, and Graham) found much time to disgrace themselves, using the judge as a prop for their despicable political ambitions. Meanwhile the Democratic (and Republican) Senators found no time to tap into Judge Jackson’s knowledge and analysis of the grave issues regarding the nexus of the power of giant corporations and the Constitution. Continue reading
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is backed by NEA, nation’s largest union
WASHINGTON—The nation’s largest union, the three-million-member National Education Association, has strongly endorsed Democratic President Joe Biden’s nomination of federal Appellate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court. Continue reading
GOP senators’ case against Ketanji Brown Jackson: She did her job
Facing questions during her confirmation hearing before the US Senate on March 22, Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson caught what may be the strangest sort of flak I’ve seen in one of these circuses. Continue reading
The ongoing COVID disaster
Pollsters have advised Joe Biden to declare COVID over. But the pandemic revealed all the shortcomings of a political system which is dedicated to austerity and to protecting capitalist interests.
Nothing shows the abject failure of the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris administration like the continuing toll of COVID-19 deaths in this country. A pledge to end the COVID pandemic was a centerpiece of their 2020 campaign. They promised to improve upon Donald Trump’s disastrous handling of the crisis which resulted in the deaths of 385,000 people in 2020. Biden and Harris had 446,000 COVID deaths as of their first anniversary in office. The total COVID death toll is expected to reach 1 million by the end of March 2022. Now an Omicron subvariant, known as B.A.2, is becoming the dominant variant. The U.S. usually follows Europe in its COVID rates, and, on that basis, scientists are predicting a new wave in the next two to three weeks. Continue reading
How a ‘no-fly zone’ could lead to nuclear war
Launching a “no-fly zone” over Ukraine means starting an air war with Russia. The risks are incalculable.
In response to the rising brutality of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, some Americans say they support making Ukrainian airspace a “no-fly zone” for Russian war planes. Continue reading
War crimes, mental molestation and language rape
The incredible market for human slaughter called war existed thousands of years ago but it was a corner grocery store compared to the multi-trillion dollar moral sewer that represents modern mass murder. Continue reading
President Joe Biden seeks to destroy Russia and Punish the Russian People
He supported savage sanctions that killed one million Iraqis in the 1990s and criminally ignores the plight of post-war Afghanistan
Who, really, is the war criminal? Continue reading
China’s red line: US missiles in Taiwan
By the time the dust begins to settle on the Russian invasion of Ukraine a new “war” may be poking its head over the horizon, this time with China. Continue reading
Multiplying hatred and division: Humanity at war with itself
Whatever our differences, beliefs and prejudices we can all agree that peace is a good thing, can’t we, don’t we? All rational decent human beings would, I’m sure, nod enthusiastically, and who among us would admit to not being rational or decent…..even the despots believe they are—rational, just misunderstood. So why are human beings in constant conflict, why are there wars and the like at all, whether it’s in Ukraine, Ethiopia, Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan etc., etc.? Continue reading
Black Caucus fails on Ukraine
The members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) follow Biden's Ukraine policy in lock step. In doing so they fail their constituents and discredit the legacy of Black politics.
On June 11, 2015, the late Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) member John Conyers made this statement about Ukraine. “House passed my amendment to prohibit assistance to Azov Battalion—a far-right white supremacist militia at front lines of Ukraine conflict.” Conyers was right of course. The Azov Battalion was and is a core part of Ukraine’s military. They have Nazi roots, as do many other organizations in that country. But after the Pentagon objected the amendment was stripped from the spending bill and never saw the light of day. Continue reading
Robots are coming for white-collar jobs
CEOs are speeding up the adoption of automation to replace employees once assumed to be immune from it.
In corporate speak, there are no “job cuts.” Continue reading
GOP hostility to Ketanji Brown Jackson goes beyond hypocrisy
Republicans complain about “reverse discrimination” on the Supreme Court. Their real complaint is against constitutional democracy.
No one can seriously dispute that Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden’s nominee for the Supreme Court, is a brilliant and eminently qualified candidate. Continue reading
It’s not just inflation—it’s price gouging
Corporations are using “inflation” as a cover to hike prices and record record profits. We’ve got the proof.
If you’ve been slammed lately by higher prices on everything from groceries to rental cars and gas prices, you’re probably wondering what on earth is behind these skyrocketing costs. Continue reading
Going for tax reform big time
What if $10 billion were raised over ten years to transform Congress and make it do what it should be doing for the people (See, Think Big to Overcome Losing Big to Corporatism, 1/7/22)? In a more recent column, Facilitating Civic and Political Energies for the Common Good, 2/2/22, I outlined how $1 billion per year could be spent lobbying Congress for a people’s agenda. Continue reading
New GOP plan to raise taxes on working people & end Social Security & Medicare
They’re at it again: Republicans want to raise taxes on poor and working-class Americans, end Social Security and Medicare, jack up pollution and corporate profits, all while continuing to pamper their billionaire donor base. Continue reading
If high gas prices are so painful, shouldn’t we move away from fossil fuels?
Not only is it possible to switch to renewables, but it’s also cheaper and would make economies less vulnerable. Yet, bizarrely, politicians and the fossil fuel industry, who are using the war on Ukraine to justify high gas prices, are now calling for more oil to be produced.
Long used to cheap gas at the pump, Americans are experiencing serious sticker shock these days as gas prices rise to $6 or even $7 a gallon. News headlines are linking this sharp increase to Russia’s war on Ukraine. Guilt-inducing memes are cropping up on social media shaming people for complaining about the high gas prices in the face of Ukrainian suffering. Continue reading
I’m a Christian mom and I love my trans daughter
I’m a lot like you—except my state wants to investigate me as a child abuser simply for supporting my child.
Moms of trans kids are so tired. We can’t keep living in flight or fight mode. We need you. Continue reading
What makes more sense, a minimum income tax or a maximum income?
The U.S. senator who chairs the GOP Senate campaign effort wants America’s poorest to pay up more at tax time.
Mitch McConnell, the GOP Senate leader, doesn’t have a problem with billionaires. He’s spent his entire political career helping billionaires make more billions. But Mitch Connell does have a problem with one particular fabulously rich figure. Continue reading
Putin and Trump have convinced me i was wrong about the 21st century
I used to believe several things about the twenty-first century that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and Donald Trump’s election in 2016 have shown me are false. Continue reading
On Palestine’s everyday victories: Why Israel is no longer the exception
Can Israel be pressured? Or is Tel Aviv the only exception to the global political order in which every country, big or small, is subjected to pressures and subsequent change in attitude and behavior? Continue reading
In praise of “whataboutism”
Anyone who speaks out against imperialism, capitalism, or racism with concrete examples of the terrible harm they do, can expect to be charged with the dreaded term “whataboutism.” Like clockwork, the act of revealing American crimes will result in an accusation that is used to silence dissent. Continue reading
A love letter to all draft dodgers
Posted on April 14, 2022 by Caitlin Johnstone
The New York Times is naming and shaming Ukrainian men who’ve fled the country rather than stay and kill Russians for Washington, because it was illegal for men of military age to leave, and because their countrymen are angry at them, and because it’s the New York Times. Continue reading →