The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s been obvious for two years that Donald Trump had no business being president of the United States. He’s clearly corrupt, an autocratic character who aspires to be an anti-democratic dictator like Russia’s Putin. But I guess in this crazy world, you have to…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Jason Kessler and his tiny band of white boys from Virginia, described as white nationalists, white supremacists or neo-Nazis, tried to make a show of bringing their racist message to the nation’s capital on Sunday to allegedly “Unite the (political) Right.” Instead their “rally” of about 10 guys…
By Glynn Wilson – BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — His history changing campaign for the United States Senate was a state and national “turning point” and a “watershed,” Senator Doug Jones said to a packed house of supporters on Southside Sunday who came out to celebrate his victory with hot dogs, barbecue and beer. “We were on…
By Andrew Kreig – WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a chaotic chapter of government efforts to suppress research into the evidence regarding President Kennedy’s 1963 assassination, President Trump on Oct. 26 suddenly backed away from his promises this week to comply with a 1992 Congressional law and release all remaining documents related to the assassination. The…
By Glynn Wilson — WASHINGTON, D.C. — If President Donald J. Trump was actually as smart as he likes to say he is and actually had a plan to make America great, he would have shut down his Twitter account on Inauguration Day and ordered his cabinet to come up with real plans to address…
By Robert Reich – House Speaker Paul Ryan, in his press conference following the demise of his bill to replace Obamacare, blamed Republicans who had failed to grasp that the GOP was now a “governing party.” “We were a 10-year opposition party, where being against things was easy to do,” said Ryan. “You just had…
By Glynn Wilson – President Donald J. Trump continues to shock and awe the country and the world with his gall and pure balderdash as he spoke to both houses of Congress on Tuesday night in a prime time speech like nothing anyone has ever seen in those hallowed halls. Clearly he has a new…
By Glynn Wilson – Less than two weeks into Donald J. Trump’s tenure as President of the United States, already 40 percent of Americans say they want him impeached and removed from office in an unprecedented public backlash to his policies, according to a new survey just out from Public Policy Polling. Yet it is…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — Where to begin. It appears the alleged sex scandal of Alabama’s Governor Robert Bentley is waning, so maybe I can get your attention for something far more important. I may be the only journalist in Christendom who doesn’t believe the 74-year-old governor has been…
So Why Do They Keep Geting Reelected? – By Jeffrey M. Jones – PRINCETON, N.J. — Americans’ confidence in most major U.S. institutions remains well below the historical average, especially the Republican Congress, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject. “Congress is the institution in which Americans express the least confidence this year,”…
By Robert Reich – GM is worth around $60 billion, and has over 200,000 employees. Its front-line workers earn from $19 to $28.50 an hour, with benefits. Uber is estimated to be worth some $40 billion, and has 850 employees. Uber also has over 163,000 drivers (as of December – the number is expected to…
By Robert Reich – Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney are zeroing in on inequality as America’s fundamental economic problem. Bush’s new Political Action Committee, called “The Right to Rise,” declares “the income gap is real” but that “only conservative principles can solve it.” Mitt Romney likewise promised last week that if he runs for president…
By Robert Reich – Jobs are coming back, but pay isn’t. The median wage is still below where it was before the Great Recession. Last month, average pay actually fell. What’s going on? It used to be that as unemployment dropped, employers had to pay more to attract or keep the workers they needed. That’s…
By Justin McCarthy – WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the Affordable Care Act’s second open enrollment period begins, 37 percent of Americans say they approve of the law, one percentage point below the previous low in January. On the other hand, 56 percent of Americans sampled say they disapprove of the law. Americans were slightly more…
Coming Clean – By Michael Brune – In a narrow victory for common sense, yesterday the Senate rejected an attempt to legislate approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Senators like California’s Barbara Boxer, Hawaii’s Brian Schatz, and Virginia’s Tim Kaine stood up as environmental champions and deserve our thanks for their leadership. But…
By Robert Reich – I was in Seattle, Washington, recently, to congratulate union and community organizers who helped Seattle enact the first $15 per hour minimum wage in the country. Other cities and states should follow Seattle’s example. Contrary to the dire predictions of opponents, the hike won’t cost Seattle jobs. In fact, it will…
By Robert Reich – Thirty years ago, on its opening day in 1984, Donald Trump stood in a dark topcoat on the casino floor at Atlantic City’s Trump Plaza, celebrating his new investment as the finest building in Atlantic City and possibly the nation. Last week, the Trump Plaza folded and the Trump Taj Mahal…
By Robert Reich – Americans are sick of politics. Only 13 percent approve of the job Congress is doing, a near record low. The President’s approval ratings are also in the basement. A large portion of the public doesn’t even bother voting. Only 57.5 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in the 2012 presidential…
Coming Clean – By Michael Brune – For more than a century, presidents have been using the Antiquities Act to save our national treasures, and President Obama’s just-announced designation of the Organ Mountains — Desert Peaks National Monument in southern New Mexico — shows exactly why this law is so indispensable. At nearly 500,000 acres…
By Robert Reich – Momentum is building to raise the minimum wage. Several states have already taken action. Connecticut has boosted it to $10.10 by 2017, the Maryland legislature just approved a similar measure, Minnesota lawmakers just reached a deal to hike it to $9.50. A few cities have been more ambitious — Washington, D.C.…
