By Robert Reich – The best argument for a single-payer health plan is the recent decision by giant health insurer Aetna to bail out next year from 11 of the 15 states where it sells Obamacare plans. Aetna’s decision follows similar moves by UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest health insurer, and by Humana, another one…
Governor Robert Bentley’s Lottery Bill Dies in the House – By Glynn Wilson – Never mind lottery fans and sick children who need Medicaid funding now. According to a plethora of reporting on Twitter late Tuesday afternoon, any hope of a lottery vote making it onto the November 8 ballot just went down in flames,…
By Glynn Wilson – Do mosquitoes seem to bug the crap out of you, but even more annoyingly, seem not to bother some of your friends and family? I’ve long wondered why the pesky critters love me so much. If women loved me as much as mosquitoes, I would have a harram. Since it is…
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” ― Mahatma Gandhi The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The world is changing fast, again. Try to keep up — if you can. Let us help. Let me help. Listen up. About the time NBC was wrapping up it’s…
By Dick Polman – If you read Superman comics as a kid, you’re probably familiar with Bizarro World —- the planet where everything is the opposite of life on Earth. I bring this up because it’s clear Donald Trump is running for president of Bizarro World. Trump is on track to lose female voters like…
By Glynn Wilson – It just goes to show that just about anything can happen in a place where nobody really knows what they’re doing. After just about every news corporation in Alabama had reported in print and on television that Governor Robert Bentley’s plan to bring the legislature back to Montgomery to pass a…
Glynn Wilson – I hate to say I told you so, especially on such an important matter of life and death for thousands each year. But as I already indicated, embattled Governor Robert Bentley’s proposal to get the Alabama Legislature to pass a bill allowing a vote on a lottery to shore up the general…
By Glynn Wilson – FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Upon recently discovering the Windmill Market restaurant and bar in this artsy community on Mobile Bay’s Eastern Shore, I was urged to show up Tuesday night to get a glimpse of and hear the sound of something quite unique: A new dynamic duo out of Alabama by way…
By Glynn Wilson – Two very different lottery bills won approval in the Alabama Senate Tourism and Marketing Committee on Tuesday, the second day of a special session prompted by a Medicaid funding shortfall, according to Arise policy analyst Carol Gundlach. Both are sponsored by Senator Jim McClendon, a Republican from Springville, and the Senate…
By Robert Reich – It looks increasingly likely that Hillary Clinton, a self-described “progressive who likes to get things done,” will have her chance starting next January. But how much that’s progressive will she actually be able to get done? The Senate may flip to the Democrats but there’s almost no way Democrats will get…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Obama administration has finalized green house gas standards and fuel efficiency rules for trucks to cut carbon pollution in the U.S., all while bolstering energy security and spurring manufacturing innovation, according to an announcement just out from the Environmental Protection Agency. The product of four years of…
By Bob Wells – STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Co. — After Randy and his group left Leadville for Salida, Colorado, I knew we had a record-setting heat wave coming so I liked the idea of staying up at high elevation. I decided to start working my way north so my next stop was Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I…
Parts of Louisiana received more than two feet of rain in recent days, causing massive flooding that overwhelmed rivers and engulfed homes and businesses. Emergency crews have rescued more than 20,000 survivors, and more than 11,000 survivors have signed up for disaster assistance. The federal government has issued a major disaster declaration for four parishes…
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama’s embattled Governor Robert Bentley released details of his call for the Special Session of the State Legislature on Monday, although the chance of a successful conclusion is in doubt due to controversy. “This call is designed for the Alabama Legislature to address adequate support of essential state services including children, the…
By Glynn Wilson – In the wake of all the stories about Hillary Clinton’s e-mail server scandal, there is a story still making the rounds on Facebook from the liberal San Francisco news magazine website Salon dot com that first ran on the media criticism website Media Matters. The headline? The George W. Bush email…
By Yotam Moram – A BRIEF NOTE TO THE READER FROM THE AUTHOR: I’ve been writing this piece for a year and a half. I’ve thought a lot about how complicated it is to share something like this in a time of such upheaval  —  in a country where an unarmed Black person is murdered…
A Conservative View – By Christine Flowers – I’m morbidly fascinated by the rhetorical mud being slung between Democrats and Republicans these days. How exhilarating to hear Hillary Clinton labeled “unstable” by Donald Trump, who is himself called “bat(bleep)-crazy” by a fellow billionaire and Hillaryite, Mark Cuban. This week, though, I actually do need to…
EDITORIAL – In an interesting new development, the AFL-CIO has come out with a new video showing that Donald Trump does not pay his bills and cannot be trusted as president. While many union workers across America and especially in places such as the South and Alabama are supporting Republicans for office and even actively…
Informed Comment – By Juan Cole – In his daily free association exercise, Donald Trump accused President Barack Obama of creating ISIL in Iraq by withdrawing troops from that country in 2011. It is an accusation he has also made against Hillary Clinton. But President Obama did not withdraw troops from Iraq in 2011 all…
