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In search of the truth about Trumpism

Jan 28, 2017
3 min

In search of the truth about Trumpism

Is Trumpism a scam, or is the country confronting something even more troubling: a president unhinged from reality E. J. Dionne Jr./The Washington Post – January 26, 2017 WASHINGTON: Is Trumpism a scam? And if so, who is Donald Trump scamming? Or is the country confronting something even more troubling: a president unhinged from any realities that get in the way of his impulses, unmoored from any driving philosophy, and willing to make everything up as he goes along, includin

Birtherism and America’s history of white supremacy: What we can’t let ourselves forget about Donald

Jan 22, 2017
15 min

Birtherism and America’s history of white supremacy: What we can’t let ourselves forget about Donald

In a web exclusive, Bill Moyers and four historians discuss the big lie behind the rise of Trump BILL MOYERS, BILLMOYERS.COM In this web exclusive, Bill Moyers and four historians dissect the big lie Trump rode to power: the birther lie. Nell Painter, historian and Edwards Professor of American History, Emerita, at Princeton University; Khalil Gibran Muhammad, professor of history, race and public policy at Harvard Kennedy School; Christopher Lebron, assistant professor of Af

2017’s Priority: Protecting Democracy

Jan 2, 2017
3 min

2017’s Priority: Protecting Democracy

E.J. DIONNE JR. on Jan 2, 2017 To say this is not alarmist. Nor is it to deny the importance of other issues. Preserving the gains in health insurance coverage achieved by the Affordable Care Act should be a high priority. So should preventing a shredding of the social safety net and stopping budget-busting tax cuts for the best-off Americans. But even these vital matters are secondary to preventing a rollback of democratic values and a weakening of the institutions of self-r

How the Kochs and their Friends Engineered the Federal Shutdown, Part Two

Oct 9, 2013
25 min

How the Kochs and their Friends Engineered the Federal Shutdown, Part Two

Eric Zuess; Investigative Historian – Posted 10/07/2013 This blog is the second part of a story chronicling the Koch brothers’ influence on the shutdown. Read the first part here. On Thursday, 25 March 2010, the Toronto Globe and Mail bannered “David Frum Fired After Lamenting Republican Failure,” and reported that, “David Frum, the Canadian-born conservative pundit [and George W. Bush’s speechwriter from 2000 to 2003] who has been harshly critical of the Republican battle pl

Global Capital and the Nation State

May 21, 2013
2 min

Global Capital and the Nation State

Robert Reich: Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley; Author, ‘Beyond Outrage’ – Posted: 05/20/2013 10:54 am As global capital becomes ever more powerful, giant corporations are holding governments and citizens up for ransom — eliciting subsidies and tax breaks from countries concerned about their nation’s “competitiveness” — while sheltering their profits in the lowest-tax jurisdictions they can find. Major advanced countries — and th

Exposing ALEC’s Agenda to Defund and Dismantle Public Education

May 7, 2013
3 min

Exposing ALEC’s Agenda to Defund and Dismantle Public Education

Dennis Van Roekel – President, National Education Association Posted: 05/07/2013 11:52 am Iron Man 3 just opened this past weekend, followed soon by more would-be blockbusters. I’m sure a lot of these movies will be entertaining, but none will be more important or relevant than a half-hour documentary I recently watched: The United States of ALEC. This film, featuring Bill Moyers, does a masterful job of explaining how the closed-door manipulations of the American Legislative

Having Spent Millions Influencing Three Branches of Government, Kochs Look to Buy Fourth Estate

Apr 25, 2013
3 min

Having Spent Millions Influencing Three Branches of Government, Kochs Look to Buy Fourth Estate

by Brendan Fischer: PR Watch – April 24, 2013 – 8:27am The billionaire industrialist Koch brothers have spent tens of millions for decades on a long-term plan to reshape the legislative, executive, and judicial branches according to a corporate-friendly form, and may now make inroads into what is often referred to as the fourth branch of government: the press. The New York Times reports that the Kochs are considering a purchase of the Tribune Company’s eight regional newspap

Tax the Rich: An animated fairy tale

Dec 11, 2012
1 min

Tax the Rich: An animated fairy tale

#PublicSchools #conservativepolitics #EconomicCrisis #plutocracy #Labor #KochBrothers #onepercenters #publicserviceemployees #99ers #OccupyWallStreet #FoxNews #ALECExposed

Why is State Farm Involved in Education Policy? Conservative Think Tank Exposes ALEC as Exchange of

Nov 30, 2012
3 min

Why is State Farm Involved in Education Policy? Conservative Think Tank Exposes ALEC as Exchange of

Brendan Fischer — November 30, 2012 – 8:54am Topics: Corporations, Education, Politics – Projects: ALEC Exposed A press release from a conservative think tank criticizing the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) provides crucial insight into how the organization works — and helps illustrate that ALEC does not facilitate an exchange of “practical, state-level public policy issues,” but instead sells policy and access to the highest bidder. The release documents how the

ALEC’s Economic Policies Do More Harm Than Good, New Report Shows

Nov 28, 2012
5 min

ALEC’s Economic Policies Do More Harm Than Good, New Report Shows

by Rebekah Wilce – November 28, 2012 – 7:51am, Topics: Economy, Politics Projects: ALEC Exposed Corporate lobbyists and right-wing legislators of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) will be gathering in Washington, DC today for ALEC’s annual States and Nation Policy Summit. Today also marks the release of an in-depth report on the failure of ALEC’s economic recommendations for the states. The report claims that “states that were rated higher on ALEC’s Economic Ou

This Is What Plutocracy Looks Like: Romney Suggests Obama Bribed Voters

Nov 17, 2012
2 min

This Is What Plutocracy Looks Like: Romney Suggests Obama Bribed Voters

Failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney was caught on tape in another candid moment with big dollar donors. In an attempt to explain his stunning loss, Romney alleges that President Obama bribed the electorate with “gifts”: What the president’s campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, give them extraordinary financial gifts from the government, and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote. What the president did was give them two things.

The Survival of Our Democracy Is on the Line With This Election

Sep 26, 2012
5 min

The Survival of Our Democracy Is on the Line With This Election

Pearl Korn – Advocate for Improved Medicare For All – Posted: 09/26/2012 11:15 am “… we believe that ‘We’re all in this together’ is a far better philosophy than ‘You’re on your own.'” Bill Clinton’s words continue to resonate long after the DNC in Charlotte, and have become the rallying cry of the Obama campaign. Bill Clinton, in his brilliant tutorial, delivered this message exactly right, and clearly defined the stark difference between the two candidates for president, as

Irony: Mitt Romney Profited From the Auto Bailout That He Opposed

Sep 18, 2012
6 min

Irony: Mitt Romney Profited From the Auto Bailout That He Opposed

Phillip Martin: Sr. Investigative Reporter WGBH Radio Boston; Sr. Fellow Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism: Executive Editor Lifted Veils Productions – Posted: 09/17/2012 1:06 pm A unifying theme at the Democratic National Convention was Mitt Romney’s opposition to the auto bailout. But did Mr. Romney somehow cash in on the very auto rescue that he publicly opposed under the headline Let Detroit Go Bankrupt? Yes, and here’s how: In the Fall of 2008, the country

Kochs linked to $3.6M anti-Obama gas price ad campaign

Mar 30, 2012
3 min

Kochs linked to $3.6M anti-Obama gas price ad campaign

By KENNETH P. VOGEL – POLITICOPro 3/29/12 2:02 PM EDT The group launching a $3.6 million ad campaign hitting President Barack Obama on gasoline prices has deep ties to the billionaire libertarian industrialists Charles and David Koch. The American Energy Alliance is the political arm of the Institute for Energy Research, and sources tell POLITICO that both groups are funded partly by the Koch brothers and their donor network. The groups are run by Tom Pyle, a former lobbyist

Who is Sheldon Adelson and What Has Newt Promised Him?

Feb 15, 2012
2 min

Who is Sheldon Adelson and What Has Newt Promised Him?

Robert Reich – Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley Tuesday, January 24, 2012 Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino owner, is now the poster boy for what’s terribly wrong with our campaign-finance system. Adelson, you may recall, had, before the South Carolina Republican primary, donated $5 million to the pro-Gingrich Super Pac “Winning Our Future” – giving Newt a pile of money for negative advertising against Mitt Romney in South C

The State of Our Disunion: A Globalizing Private Sector, A Government Overwhelmed by Corporate Money

Jan 27, 2012
3 min

The State of Our Disunion: A Globalizing Private Sector, A Government Overwhelmed by Corporate Money

Robert Reich – Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy University of California at Berkeley January 23, 2012 Who should have the primary strategic responsibility for making American workers globally competitive – the private sector or government? This will be a defining issue in the 2012 campaign. In his State of the Union address, President Obama will make the case that government has a vital role. His Republican rivals disagree. Mitt Romney charges the President is putting

One Wave, One Message — Restore Fairness. End Bought Government

Oct 7, 2011
3 min

One Wave, One Message — Restore Fairness. End Bought Government

Dylan Ratigan – Host, MSNBC’s ‘The Dylan Ratigan Show’ Author, soon to be released ‘Greedy Bastards’ – Posted: 10/6/11 03:44 PM ET It was late Saturday night at Zuccotti Park, the heart of the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York. “Why are you here?” I asked one of the occupiers. “We are here to defend the American people against an occupying global financial oligarchy!” “I am choosing to no longer participate in what I perceive to be an abusive relationship,” said Occupi

The Great Switch by the Super Rich

May 23, 2011
2 min

The Great Switch by the Super Rich

Robert Reich Forty years ago, wealthy Americans financed the U.S. government mainly through their tax payments. Today wealthy Americans finance the government mainly by lending it money. While foreigners own most of our national debt, over 40 percent is owned by Americans – mostly the very wealthy. This great switch by the super rich – from paying the government taxes to lending the government money — has gone almost unnoticed. But it’s critical for understanding the budget p

Tea Party Plans Scrap Integration Policy at NC Schools

Jan 13, 2011
5 min

Tea Party Plans Scrap Integration Policy at NC Schools

Lynn Parramore – Editor of New Deal 2.0; Co-founder of Recessionwire Posted: January 12, 2011 04:30 PM Wake County, North Carolina, is a place people like to live. People with ideas and energy. Folks from vastly different backgrounds. One of the most educated regions of the country, it boasts an excellent public school system where you can find superb schools in poor neighborhoods, and suburban schools where poor kids learn and play right alongside affluent peers. But the Tea