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Assault weapons are weapons of war
In the United States, 20 million assault rifles are in private hands, and nearly 400 million guns of all sorts. In the first 190 days of this year, Americans have suffered 320 mass shootings, more than one a day. Highland Park, Illinois, Uvalde, Texas, Chattanooga, Tennessee – the list is endless. Sixty-two people were shot and 10 killed in Chicago on the same holiday weekend that the Highland Park massacre took place, without garnering nearly as much attention.
Trump's Banker Minion Prepares to Gut Consumer Watchdog
"Personnel is policy," says Gary Cohn, the former president of Goldman Sachs recently named to head President Trump's National Economic Council. He got that right, and every working family should shudder that Trump -- after railing against the corruptions of Goldman Sachs and other big banks in the campaign -- has put six former Goldman Sachs bankers at the head of his economic team.
Pell Grants Needed for Low-income Students
Nuts. There may be fancier words to describe Donald Trump's latest lunacy -- but just plain "nuts" is most accurate. The president decided, overnight, that he wanted the United States to go "back to the Moon, then Mars." To help pay for it, he called on Congress to cut an additional $1.9 billion out of the funds designated to pay for Pell Grants -- the grants that help students from low-income families pay for college. For those children, for the country, for our future, this is just simply nuts.
The Fraudulent 'voter fraud' Commission
There's a branch in philosophy called epistemology that deals with the theory of knowledge. How do we know what we know? How do we know what is true? What is believable? And what are the criteria we use to tell whether something is true or not? Considering his constant refrain of "fake news," maybe President Donald Trump should enroll in such a course.
It's Time for Our Leaders to Act
We live in a time of bitter divisions. Today, even the wearing of masks has become a partisan question. Yet, as Memorial Day reminds us, this country has united before to meet external threats. The calamity that has been wrought by the coronavirus is the result of an external attack - this time by a virus rather than an armed enemy. It too should be a time of national unity, of rallying together to share the sacrifices, to help one another through the crisis, and to rebuild the country afterwards.
We cannot accept mass murder
Once more the horror. Three mass shootings in California – 11 killed at a ballroom dance hall in Monterey Park, seven killed at Half Moon Bay, and a week earlier, a 16-year-old mother and four others shot in a California farming community – are tragic and grotesquely routine. The savage beating and murder of Tyre Nichols by five Memphis police officers was criminal, and one more incidence of police brutality that too often is unleashed on African American men.
'America is not a racist country'
“America is not a racist country.” This is quickly becoming a Republican mantra. Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, used it in his rebuttal to President Biden’s address to the Congress. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Republican weather vane, echoed him, as did Republicans across the country. Scott went on to accuse Democrats of dividing the country by using race as a “political weapon.”
'Equal Pay, Equal Pay, Equal Pay'
As the exhausted and thrilled U.S. women's soccer team celebrated its victory in the finals of the 2019 Women's World Cup, the cheers of the crowd in the Stade of Lyon soon turned into a chant: "Equal Pay, Equal Pay, Equal Pay." Even as they fought their way to the fourth U.S. Women World Cup championship, the U.S. team were waging a battle -- in the court of public opinion and the courts of law -- for equal treatment in wages, working conditions and investment in the women's game. And if there is any justice or common sense in their employer, U.S. Soccer, they will be as victorious in the quest for equal pay as they were in their quest for the World Cup.
America must not descend into a new feudalism where money rules, and people suffer
The pomp and circumstance of the crowning of King Charles III filled TV sets over the past days.
Immigration Rules Should Be Clear and the Playing Field Even
In one of the largest, fastest, most abrupt mass expulsions of refugees in modern U.S. history, the United States has begun flying some 12,000 Haitians camped in a Texas border town back to Haiti. Invoking executive authority asserted by Donald Trump, the Biden administration is enforcing the Donald Trump immigration policy when it comes to Haitians.
Blessed are the children
Blessed are the children – this is the teaching of every religion. The miracle of birth and the joy of new life are transcendent. In this rich country, however, too many babies and too many mothers are at risk – and far too many are dying. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that new mothers in America are dying at a higher rate than those in any other industrial country. A higher percentage of children die before their first birthday in the U.S. than in any other industrial country.
New Wave Of Anti-Asian Racial Violence
"Asian Americans confront wave of racial violence - turning pain into power"
A Job for All
A job for all. Everyone ready and able to work will get a job – a good job that pays enough to bring a family above the poverty line –guaranteed by the federal government. At a time when our political leaders seem more intent on driving us apart rather than bringing us together, a federally guaranteed jobs program is an idea bold enough to break through the muck.
An Unconscionable Republican Health Care Bill
How devastating would the Republican health care legislation be if enacted? Leighton Ku, a leading health care expert and director of director of the Center for Health Policy Research at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, told NBC that, based on the Republican House bill, cuts in funding for Medicaid and health subsidies would trigger "sharp job losses and a broad disruption of state economies."
No Matter the Issue, Republicans Always Say No
Just say no. That seems to sum up the position of Republicans in the Congress these days. For all the talk about bipartisan compromise or about the two parties working together, at the end of the day, the Republican position is simply to say no.
Texan Taliban Wing of the Republican Party
American papers are filled with pundits speculating about the horrors the Taliban may inflict on the people of Afghanistan, particularly its women. Less attention has been paid to the horrors Texas Republicans - the Taliban wing of the Republican Party - are inflicting on the State of Texas. In total control of the state, Republicans have a free hand that they've used to enforce extremism.
The Poverty Crisis 50 Years After King Assassination
April 4 will mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, shot down on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn.
Democracy not a partisan issue
While the United States champions democracy across the world, our own democracy is under siege. Nothing is more fundamental to democracy than the right to vote – yet there is no explicit guarantee of the right to vote in the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. ranks near the bottom of industrial democracies in voter turnout. This isn’t accidental – many states purposefully create barriers that make it difficult to register to vote or to cast a ballot. The sensible answer to this is to create — and enforce — the right to vote for every citizen.
Illinois Strengthens the Right to Vote
Illinois is about to make voter registration automatic. The Senate and House have passed reform bills unanimously. If the governor signs the final reconciled legislation, Illinois will become the ninth state, in addition to the District of Columbia, to adopt automatic voter registration. The bill would begin to register more than 1 million eligible but unregistered voters in Illinois. Even as states continue to pass legislation to restrict voting, this reform promises to open the doors wider.
Tackling Poverty And Segregation, Not Tough Talk, Is The Solution To Chicago's Woes
Donald Trump is fixated on what he describes as the "carnage" going on in Chicago, suggesting that if Chicago's horrendous homicide rate doesn't come down, he'll "send in the feds." At his recent press conference, he announced plans to create "a task for reducing violent crime in America, including the horrendous situation -- take a look at Chicago and others -- taking place right now in our inner cities."
