The Latest Bout of Inflation Doom-Mongering Doesn’t Add Up
Last week’s inflation data prompted an outpouring of alarmism and calls for the Fed to squeeze the economy even harder. Here’s why the doomsaying is wrong.
Search Result(s) for: “Obama”
Joe Biden Is Bringing Back Donald Trump’s Asylum Ban at the Border
The Biden administration’s recently announced change to border policy effectively resurrects Donald Trump’s asylum ban. It will cause harm or suffering to thousands or millions of migrants seeking survival in the US.
Silicon Valley Bank’s President Pressed Lawmakers for Weaker Banking Regulations
The news of Silicon Valley Bank’s recent collapse is dominating headlines. Just eight years ago, SVB’s president pushed legislators to exempt more midsize banks — including SVB — from regulations passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
Democrats in Michigan Are Showing National Democrats How to Actually Wield Power
Democrats usually waste their electoral majorities. So it’s shocking when the party uses its power to actually pass progressive and pro-worker legislation, as it just did in Michigan — including repealing the state’s right-to-work law.
Inflation Is Set to Fall. The Fed Should Back Off.
Wage growth has been experiencing a historic slowdown. If that trend holds up, inflation is on track to get within half a percentage point of the Fed’s 2% target level by this time next year. But will inflation hawks be willing to take yes for an answer?
Public Education Is Vital for Democracy. But It’s Not the Solution to Poverty or Inequality.
The bipartisan obsession with schooling as an investment in “human capital” in the US since the 1970s has fostered a highly unequal society. We need wide-ranging redistribution to tackle inequality — and to defend public education against right-wing backlash.
The US Government Is Complicit in the Drug Cartels’ Crimes
Last month, a federal US court found a former Mexican security chief guilty of colluding with the Sinaloa Cartel. The trial showed how both the US government and its Mexican clients have been guilty of the criminal activity they’re supposedly trying to stop.
Brandon Johnson Defeated Paul Vallas’s Austerity Agenda Last Night
In Chicago’s mayoral runoff last night, Paul Vallas’s vision of budget cuts and law and order lost to Brandon Johnson’s promises to tax the rich and invest in social services.
Jenny Odell’s New Book, Saving Time, Is a Self-Help Manual for the Anxious Middle Class
Dressed in radical language, Jenny Odell’s new book, Saving Time, offers up positive thinking as a solution to exploitation. But the real reason people don’t have enough spare time is that low wages and high rents force them to work constantly.
In Georgia, Geopolitical Jousting Is Crowding Out the Real Issues
In Georgia, rival bills on “foreign agents” sparked mutual accusations of US and Russian interference. With all politics turned into jockeying over the country’s geopolitical position, discussion of its bleak economic record is quietly suppressed.
The TikTok Ban Isn’t About National Security. It’s About the Global Dominance of US Tech.
After decades of justifying tech expansion on the basis of free speech, US policymakers threatening to ban Chinese-owned TikTok are now changing their tune. The about-face reveals their real objective: preserving the dominance of American tech capitalists.
Joe Biden Can’t Seek Peace in Ukraine Without a Robust Antiwar Movement
A Chinese proposal for peace in Ukraine has been gaining traction, including from the two warring sides. The question is whether the Biden administration will lend its support — a prospect that will likely require antiwar organizing in the United States.
The Radical Harry Belafonte
From the struggle for civil rights to opposing apartheid in South Africa and the war against Cuba, Harry Belafonte was a fighter for justice both at home and abroad.
Means-Testing Is the Foe of Freedom
After Emancipation, black people fought for public benefits like pensions that would make their newly won citizenship meaningful. They instinctively realized something that we should today: universal social programs are the foundation of freedom.
We Don’t Just Need Medicare for All — We Need a National Health System
The founders of Physicians for a National Health Program put single-payer health care on the map. Now, discussing the next phase of the movement, they say even single-payer won’t be enough to fix the problems caused by continued privatization.
In Utah, the Biden Administration Is Aiding and Abetting Big Oil
The Biden administration has laid the groundwork for a financial firm to use the fragile Colorado River as a route for oil trains — amid heightened concerns about derailments that could cause untold environmental damage in a drought-prone area.
Greece’s Radical Left Is Fighting to Overcome Syriza’s Legacy
The campaign for Greece’s election this Sunday has been mostly uninspiring, with little hope of an end to austerity. With Syriza’s capitulation in 2015 still weighing heavily, the radical left faces an uphill struggle to overcome the mood of despair.
Hospital Lobbyists Awarded Nancy Pelosi for Maintaining the Health Care Status Quo
After her years-long effort to obstruct Medicare for All, Representative Nancy Pelosi has just received an award of honor from hospital lobbyists.
We Have New Evidence of Saudi Involvement in 9/11
New evidence further implicates Saudi intelligence in the September 11, 2001, attacks — and nobody seems to care.
The Pundits Were Wrong: Corporate Greed Stoked Inflation
For the last year, media pundits have insisted that today’s inflation has nothing to do with corporate profiteering, much to the delight of the capitalist class. It is more than clear now that they were wrong.