President Obama’s plan to cut the deficit doesn’t exactly spare Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health programs. But he also doesn’t propose the sweeping sorts of changes envisioned by House Republicans earlier this year. The proposal to reduce the deficit… Read More ›
Economy
My thoughts on Occupy Oakland after the murder and one-month anniversary
On Thursday, Nov. 10, Occupy Oakland was supposed to celebrate its one-month anniversary in the renamed Oscar Grant Plaza in front of City Hall. Instead the Occupy Movement worldwide was shaken by the cold-blooded murder of a participant less than… Read More ›
Several Northeast states reduce federal home heating aid benefits to poor families
WASHINGTON — Mary Power is 92 and worried about surviving another frigid New England winter. Deep cuts in federal home heating assistance benefits mean she probably can’t afford enough heating oil to stay warm. She lives in a drafty trailer… Read More ›
Review of “Confessions of an Economic Hitman”
When someone writes and speaks out to expose a system of injustice from the perspective of a former insider, every effort is taken to discredit such a person. The more controversial the information they bring forward, the more their character… Read More ›
Surveys: Health insurance costs shifted to workers, even as premiums surge
Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance continued to escalate this year even as the share of workers getting less generous coverage reached a new high, according to survey data released Tuesday. In 2011, for the first time, half of workers at… Read More ›
Pediatricians Fact-Check Bachmann’s Bashing Of HPV Vaccine
Now the nation’s pediatricians have waded deep and early into the race for the presidency. In an unusual instance of political fact-checking of a candidate’s statements by physicians themselves, the American Academy of Pediatrics has a tough prescription for Republican… Read More ›
Videos: National Day of Action in Chicago
On November 17th, 2011, there was a rally at the Thompson Center as part of the National Day of Action in Chicago. Pre-arranged speeches took place for a half an hour, after which the demonstration marched to a LaSalle Street… Read More ›
Myths About Socialism: Under Socialism, is Everyone Equal?
This is one of the most common myths about socialism, often trotted out to explain why socialism “doesn’t work,” how it goes against “human nature,” that there is a lack of incentive to work, and so on. As is the… Read More ›
Judge upholds eviction of Wall St. protesters
(Reuters) – A judge upheld New York City’s right to evict Occupy Wall Street protesters from a park on Tuesday after baton-wielding police in riot gear broke up a two-month-old demonstration against economic inequality. Protesters who had been kicked out… Read More ›
Occupy Wall Street: NYPD attempt media blackout at Zuccotti Park
Journalists report aggressive treatment as media blocked from protest camp during surprise police raid New York police attempted to impose a media blackout as they cleared Occupy Wall Street protesters from Zuccotti Park late last night. As police swooped on… Read More ›
Occupy Oakland to march in support of UC Berkeley’s general strike
Looking to support Occupy Cal and its “fight against police brutality,” Occupy Oakland is planning to march to UC Berkeley to join the campus general strike Tuesday. “We must recognize that the very same OPD officers and Sheriffs who attacked… Read More ›
The 147 Companies That Control Everything
Three systems theorists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich have taken a database listing 37 million companies and investors worldwide and analyzed all 43,060 transnational corporations and share ownerships linking them. They built a model of who… Read More ›
Police Move to Evict Occupy Oakland Protesters
Oakland police handed out eviction notices at an anti-Wall Street encampment and officials elsewhere urged an end to similar gatherings as pressures against Occupy protest sites mounted in the wake of three deaths in different cities, including two by gunfire…. Read More ›
Ohio Votes Against Union-Busting Bill
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The state’s new collective bargaining law was defeated Tuesday after an expensive union-backed campaign that pitted firefighters, police officers and teachers against the Republican establishment. In a political blow to GOP Gov. John Kasich, voters handily… Read More ›
Poorest poor in US hits new record: 1 in 15 people
The ranks of America’s poorest poor have climbed to a record high — 1 in 15 people — spread widely across metropolitan areas as the housing bust pushed many inner-city poor into suburbs and other outlying places and shriveled jobs… Read More ›