Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday asked voters to question why U.S. politicians and pundits only consider the cost of government programs when those programs help the public and least fortunate—and ignore price tags on policies that benefit the most wealthy and powerful. Continue reading
In a word, he wasn’t “our guy” in La Paz, Bolivia’s political capital. Continue reading
Bloomberg says he wants to stop Donald Trump but he’s really running to stop Bernie Sanders. Continue reading
Corporations’ quest for profits is what “is driving up drug prices and nothing more.” Continue reading
Once again, it’s been a hard, heart-wrenching, stomach-churning kind of year. Continue reading
It is hardly shocking that the United States government has finally decreed that illegal Jewish settlements which have been built in defiance of international law, are, somehow, “consistent” with international law. Continue reading
It’s that time of year again, a time to give thanks to the white men who perilously crossed the ocean to discover America. Along with this discovery came the genocide and the murder of tens of thousands of indigenous people who never realized that these white men discovered the land they had been living on, for centuries, until years later when they read about this in our text books. Continue reading
A political writer’s annual Thanksgiving column can be easy to write, or incredibly difficult to put together. It can also be inspiring or banal. The two are probably connected. It’s always a difficult one for me; its quality is a matter of your opinion. But hey, today is Turkey Day and it’s time to talk about being thankful. Please bear with. Continue reading
There is a rather vocal sector of the so-called “progressive left” that has decided it is best to tolerate Donald Trump and his administration’s fascist policies. This is mainly because Trump has made a few narrowly-focused decisions that the pro-Trump “left” happens to support. The Trump decisions that have enamored the faux left include the much-ballyhooed “withdrawal” of U.S. military forces from Syria—actually, some of those forces remain in-country—as well as trash talking NATO and U.S. bilateral military alliances with South Korea and Japan. Continue reading
There’s no ambiguity about events in Bolivia after Evo Morales’ October 20 democratic reelection. Continue reading
Gracie Mansion, the official residence of New York’s mayors since 1942, hosted billionaire Michael Bloomberg for three terms. Continue reading
The recent coup d’état in Bolivia that overthrew President Evo Morales was not merely a standard right-wing putsch aided and abetted by the US Central Intelligence Agency but also placed into power politicians affiliated with a rising fundamentalist Protestant movement in Latin America that can be termed “Christo-fascist.” Many of the far-right and out-of-the-mainstream Protestant sects that have gained power in Guatemala, Colombia, Brazil, and, now, Bolivia have decried traditional Roman Catholicism in Latin America as heretical to their religious ideology and even pro-Communist. As for mainstream Protestant religions, the fundamentalist sects view them as hopelessly liberal, as well as heretical. Continue reading
While the Democratic presidential candidates are debating full Medicare for All, giant insurance companies like UnitedHealthcare are advertising to the elderly in an attempt to lure them from Traditional Medicare (TM) to the so-called Medicare Advantage (MA)—a corporate plan that UnitedHealthcare promotes to turn a profit at the expense of enrollees. Continue reading
As Britain gears up for what is arguably the most important general election, one poised to decide the nation’s future for generations to come, voter enthusiasm is at an all-time low. Continue reading
Years ago, a Texas legislator who was occasionally known to take lobbyists’ cash in exchange for a vote, explained his ethical framework as opportunistic: “I seen my chances, and I took ‘em.” Continue reading
“Dirty hands” in literature results when a leader encounters a conflict of duties with values and must choose between alternatives, none of which are entirely satisfactory. In Jean-Paul Sartre’s play Les Mains Sales (Dirty hands), Communist leader Hoederer explains his view to the bourgeois, Hugo, who has joined the Proletarian Party in the fictive East European country of Illyria at the end of World War Two. Despite his love and admiration for Hoederer and the model he makes, Hugo is steadfast in his refusal to “dirty” his hands. Continue reading
In cahoots with the Trump regime, Britain is killing Assange slowly for the “crime” of truth-telling journalism the way it’s supposed to be. Continue reading
By all means, let’s talk about impeachment. Continue reading
An Israeli attack on Gaza was imminent, and not because of any provocations by Palestinian groups in the besieged, impoverished Gaza Strip. The Israeli military escalation was foreseeable because it factors neatly in Israel’s contentious political scene. The war was not a question of “if,” but “when.” Continue reading
Republicans and even some Democrats are out to scare you about Medicare for All. They say it’s going to dismantle health care as we know it and it will cost way too much. Continue reading
Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote of being leery of a fast-talking huckster who visited his home: “The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons,” Emerson quipped. Continue reading
I am writing from Bolivia just days after witnessing the November 19 military massacre at the Senkata gas plant in the indigenous city of El Alto, and the tear-gassing of a peaceful funeral procession on November 21 to commemorate the dead. These are examples, unfortunately, of the modus operandi of the de facto government that seized control in a coup that forced Evo Morales out of power. Continue reading
The nuclear industry’s violent assault on democracy in Ohio has taken a surreal leap. It could seriously impact whether Donald Trump will carry this swing state—and the nation—in 2020. Continue reading
The bullet that came through my front window, some thirty years or so ago, told me I have every right to keep a gun for self-defense. I’d received four death threats in the weeks preceding, from someone opposed to my anti-nuclear weapons writing. At the time I was writing for Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), and editing a monthly PSR publication for which I received an award at their national meeting in Washington. Continue reading
Chaos is a pit, the all-knowing eunuch Lord Varys warns in Game of Thrones, “a gaping pit waiting to swallow us all.” Continue reading
The nuclear deal with Iran initiated by US President Barack Obama, sealed after seven years of negotiations, was certainly flawed. It was the worst deal ever negotiated pronounced President Donald Trump who had a point because it served to embolden, enrich and legitimise the Iranian regime for very little in return. Continue reading
I will be spending next week with family members I haven’t seen since last year. Continue reading
The waves of protests breaking out in country after country around the world beg the question: Why aren’t Americans rising up in peaceful protest like our neighbors? We live at the very heart of this neoliberal system that is force-feeding the systemic injustice and inequality of 19th century laissez-faire capitalism to the people of the 21st century. So we are subject to many of the same abuses that have fueled mass protest movements in other countries, including high rents, stagnant wages, cradle-to-grave debt, ever-rising economic inequality, privatized healthcare, a shredded social safety net, abysmal public transportation, systemic political corruption and endless war. Continue reading
Without establishment media support, US planned aggression, color revolutions, old-fashioned coups, and other hostile to peace, equity and justice actions wouldn’t get out of the starting gate. Continue reading
War drives the American police state. Continue reading
The release on November 6 of two Jordanian nationals, Heba al-Labadi and Abdul Rahman Mi’ri from Israeli prisons was a bittersweet moment. The pair were finally reunited with their families after harrowing experiences in Israel. Sadly, thousands of Palestinian prisoners are still denied their freedom, still subjected to all sorts of hardships at the hands of their Israeli jailers. Continue reading
RSS
Why not Medicare for All?
Posted on December 2, 2019 by Dave Alpert
“I don’t want my taxes to increase”; “I don’t want to lose my current insurance”; “I don’t want the government involved in or interfering in my health care”. Continue reading →