A Pledge to Iraq War Veteran Tomas Young | Common Dreams

A Pledge to Iraq War Veteran Tomas Young | Common Dreams
"The least we can do for Tomas Young is to not let his inspirational voice and struggle against the Iraq war be for naught. It is important that people hear his profound story of both courage and suffering. He deserves a legacy that must not be forgotten. Whenever that fateful day arrives for Tomas to take his last breath, I hope that that breath breathes new life into an American citizenry compelled not to let history repeat itself."

Law Enforcement Officials Gunned Down In Possible White Supremacist Plot

Law Enforcement Officials Gunned Down In Possible White Supremacist Plot: A Texas district attorney and his wife were shot to death in their home just outside Dallas last night, the latest instance in a recent spate of suspicious shootings of law enforcement officials. The deaths of Mike and Cynthia McLelland follow the shooting of a Kaufman County assistant district attorney in January, which stoked suspicions [...]/p

Where Does It Say the Supreme Court Has the Constitutional Power to Hike Medicine Prices to 5x Their Cost? | Alternet

Where Does It Say the Supreme Court Has the Constitutional Power to Hike Medicine Prices to 5x Their Cost? | Alternet
"How the industry uses the high court to allow bribery and evade the FDA."

The Coming Crash: Our Addiction to Endless Growth on a Finite Planet [With Photo Slideshow] | Alternet

The Coming Crash: Our Addiction to Endless Growth on a Finite Planet [With Photo Slideshow] | Alternet
"Richard Heinberg talks about the new book "Energy: Overdevelopment and the Delusion of Endless Growth," a haunting look at our current energy path."

The Need for Public Banks - Truthdig

The Need for Public Banks - Truthdig
"Once upon a time American banks supported the economy by financing the growth and development of industry. For the last many decades they’ve had the opposite effect by plowing money into existing assets and loading the economy down with debt. The consequences have been disastrous"

PERRspectives: As CBO Predicted, Higher Taxes Not Hurting Spending by the Rich

PERRspectives: As CBO Predicted, Higher Taxes Not Hurting Spending by the Rich
"according to a new survey, a majority of those earning over $500,000 a year report that the new higher rates on income and capital gains have not impacted their spending, charitable giving or investment strategies. As it turns out, the Chicken Little conservatives could have spared themselves this embarrassment had they just heeded the lessons of American history and the predictions of the Congressional Budget Office."

The Anti-Immigrant Paranoia That Drives Shawna Forde to 'Patrol' the American Border | Alternet

The Anti-Immigrant Paranoia That Drives Shawna Forde to 'Patrol' the American Border | Alternet
"an inside look at the paranoid and  anti-immigrant extremists known as the "Minutemen" and the terrifying story and psychology of movement leader Shawna Forde."

Not Only Does Fox "News" Think Their Viewers Are Dumb, But That They're Blind, Too!

The Beginning of the End of Too-Big-to-Fail | Common Dreams

The Beginning of the End of Too-Big-to-Fail | Common Dreams
"Amidst an endless series of votes on amendments to a federal budget bill, the United States Senate voted 99-0 in favor of an amendment to end subsidies to too-big-to-fail financial institutions."

Iraq, Afghan Wars Will Cost US 4-6 Trillion Dollars: Report | Common Dreams

Iraq, Afghan Wars Will Cost US 4-6 Trillion Dollars: Report | Common Dreams
"Costs to U.S. taxpayers of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will run between four and six trillion dollars, making them the most expensive conflicts in U.S. history, according to a new report by a prominent Harvard University researcher."

Exxon's Pegasus Tar Sands Pipeline Ruptures in Central Arkansas

Exxon's Pegasus Tar Sands Pipeline Ruptures in Central Arkansas
"An ExxonMobile underground pipeline ruptured in a Mayflower, Arkansas subdivision on Friday, forcing the evacuation of 40 homes."

The conservative State Policy Network is sneaking into your state

Profit Share Hits Post-War High and the Post Doesn't Notice | Common Dreams

Profit Share Hits Post-War High and the Post Doesn't Notice | Common Dreams
"The revised GDP data for the fourth quarter released yesterday showed the profit share of corporate income hitting 25.6 percent. This is the highest since it stood at 25.8 percent in 1951. However if we look at the after-tax share of 19.2 percent, we would have to go back to 20.8 percent share in 1930 to find a higher number, excepting of course the 19.3 percent number hit last year."

PERRspectives: Republicans Ask CBO to Rig Tax Cut Numbers

PERRspectives: Republicans Ask CBO to Rig Tax Cut Numbers
"Perhaps the greatest myth in the Republican pantheon is the claim that "tax cuts pay for themselves." Sadly, that article of supply-side faith--that tax cuts fuel economic growth so explosive that federal revenue exceeds what otherwise would have been collected--has been painfully debunked by decades of history. Unfortunately, as part of budget deal just completed by Congress Republicans quietly ensured that such "dynamic scoring" would become part of future analyses by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). If the GOP succeeds, voodoo economics will henceforth be a feature, not a bug."

A Historic Week In The Fight For Gay Rights

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Meet the College Racists Trying to Get Armed to 'Defend' Whites from Blacks on Campus | Alternet

Meet the College Racists Trying to Get Armed to 'Defend' Whites from Blacks on Campus | Alternet
"Some seriously bigoted students at Towson University have formed a despicable ‘White Student Union’."

Republicans Try (And Fail) To Appeal To Latinos

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Bombshell IMF Study: United States Is World’s Number One Fossil Fuel Subsidizer

Bombshell IMF Study: United States Is World’s Number One Fossil Fuel Subsidizer: Between directly lowered prices, tax breaks, and the failure to properly price carbon, the world subsidized fossil fuel use by over $1.9 trillion in 2011 — or eight percent of global government revenues — according to a study released this week by the International Monetary Fund. The biggest offender was by far the United States, [...]/p

So Your Groundwater's Poison and Your Tap Water's On Fire. Not to Worry: Fracking Chemicals Are Trade Secrets You Don't Need To Know About | Common Dreams

So Your Groundwater's Poison and Your Tap Water's On Fire. Not to Worry: Fracking Chemicals Are Trade Secrets You Don't Need To Know About | Common Dreams
"A judge in Wyoming has denied a lawsuit by environmental groups against the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission demanding that the list of chemicals in fracking fluids be made public, ruling such lists are trade secrets that may be withheld under Wyoming’s open records law. Soooo: Never mind that fracking wastewater, shown to conain benzene, xylene, methane, radioactive materials and other deadly toxins, has already appeared in Wyoming water"

Kochs, Chamber of Commerce Bankroll Judges’ Seminars On Corporate Crime And Capitalism

Kochs, Chamber of Commerce Bankroll Judges’ Seminars On Corporate Crime And Capitalism: The Louisiana federal judge overseeing the civil trial over BP’s alleged gross negligence in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident attended a seminar in 2009 called “Criminalization of Corporate Conduct” sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 13 other funders. In 2011, that same judge dismissed a wrongful-death claim in a suit [...]/p

STUDY: CVS, Rite Aid, And Other Chain Pharmacies Mark Up Generic Drugs By Up To 18 Times Their Cost

STUDY: CVS, Rite Aid, And Other Chain Pharmacies Mark Up Generic Drugs By Up To 18 Times Their Cost: According to a new Consumer Reports investigative study published Thursday, there is rampant variation in the price of generic drugs as large U.S. pharmacy chains — including CVS, Rite Aid, and Target — marking up the prices of generic drug versions for common medications by as much as 18 times what wholesale chains like Costco [...]/p

GOP Rep. Calls Latino Workers "Wetbacks" | Alternet

GOP Rep. Calls Latino Workers "Wetbacks" | Alternet
"The Alaska Congressman says he "meant no disrespect" when he used a slur with a painful history for Latino migrants."

GOP Congressman Refuses To Apologize For Calling Latinos ‘Wetbacks’

GOP Congressman Refuses To Apologize For Calling Latinos ‘Wetbacks’: Rep. Don Young (R-AK) on Thursday night stood by his use of a racial slur to describe Latinos, saying that he “meant no disrespect” when he told an Alaska radio interviewer, “We used to hire 50 to 60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes”: “During a sit down interview with Ketchikan Public Radio this week, I used [...]/p

Why Is Socialism Doing So Darn Well in Deep-Red North Dakota? | Alternet

Why Is Socialism Doing So Darn Well in Deep-Red North Dakota? | Alternet
"North Dakota's thriving state bank makes a mockery of Wall Street's casino banking system -- and that's why financial elites want to crush it."

What You Need to Know About the Terrifying Monsanto Protection Act - Truthdig

What You Need to Know About the Terrifying Monsanto Protection Act - Truthdig
"In case you haven’t yet heard of the so-called Monsanto Protection Act—which was buried deep in the spending bill recently passed by Congress to avert a government shutdown and signed into law by President Obama on Tuesday—it’s a horrific piece of legislation that is tantamount to a huge corporate giveaway to the agricultural biotech giant Monsanto."

Noam Chomsky: If Nuclear War Doesn't Get Us, Climate Change Will

Digital Grab: Corporate Power Has Seized the Internet | Common Dreams

Digital Grab: Corporate Power Has Seized the Internet | Common Dreams
"corporate power has seized the Internet -- and the anti-democratic grip is tightening every day."

How Big Corporations Are Unpatriotic | Common Dreams

How Big Corporations Are Unpatriotic | Common Dreams
"Many giant profitable U.S. corporations are increasingly abandoning America while draining it at the same time."

David Cay Johnston: U.S. is Redistributing Income - Up

David Cay Johnston: U.S. is Redistributing Income - Up
"Between 1966 and 2011, the richest 1 percent of Americans saw their average income increase by more than $18 million. Meanwhile the bottom 90 percent have only seen average incomes increase by $59. Cenk asks, “Are we being robbed blind?” Johnston says, “Oh, unbelievably. This is not because American workers have suddenly gotten lazy. It’s because government policies have changed, and what they’re doing is the exact opposite of the myth we’re being sold"."

A Cinderella Story? How The Koch Brothers Use Florida Gulf Coast University To Promote Their Agenda

A Cinderella Story? How The Koch Brothers Use Florida Gulf Coast University To Promote Their Agenda: It’s a great story: the virtually unknown, 15th seeded Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), has made it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. But there’s something you might not know about FGCU: its economics department is, as a consequence of grants from Randian businessman John Allison and the Charles G. Koch Foundation, a haven [...]/p

Think Your Money is Safe? Think Again: The Confiscation Scheme Planned for US and UK Depositors | Alternet

Think Your Money is Safe? Think Again: The Confiscation Scheme Planned for US and UK Depositors | Alternet
"Although few depositors realize it, legally the bank owns the depositor’s funds as soon as they are put in the bank. Our money becomes the bank’s, and we become unsecured creditors holding IOUs or promises to pay. (See here andhere.) But until now the bank has been obligated to pay the money back on demand in the form of cash. Under the FDIC-BOE plan, our IOUs will be converted into “bank equity.”  The bank will get the money and we will get stock in the bank. With any luck we may be able to sell the stock to someone else, but when and at what price? Most people keep a deposit account so they can have ready cash to pay the bills."

Walmart Wants You To Deliver Their Packages -- For Free

Walmart Wants You To Deliver Their Packages -- For Free
"This is a company that has already "crowd sourced" their low wages by having the rest of us subsidize their food stamps. They also "crowd sourced" employee health insurance by holding workshops telling employees how to apply for Medicaid.

This, from a company that's owned by the wealthiest family in America."

Capitalism in Crisis: Richard Wolff Urges End to Austerity, New Jobs Program, Democratizing Work

Report: Right-Wing Extremists Are ‘Highly Engaged’ With GOP On Twitter

Report: Right-Wing Extremists Are ‘Highly Engaged’ With GOP On Twitter: The authors of the study determined that the usage seemed to be “driven more by white nationalists feeling an affinity for conservatism than by conservatives feeling an affinity for white nationalism.” 

As Obama Calls On Nation To Remember Newtown, Rubio Pledges To Block Gun Reform

As Obama Calls On Nation To Remember Newtown, Rubio Pledges To Block Gun Reform: Minutes before President Obama delivered an emotional speech asking lawmakers to pass sensible gun safety measures in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, word came from Capitol Hill that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) had signed onto a letter pledging to block votes on any of Obama’s proposals for gun legislation. Obama delivered [...]/p

As Anecdotal Reports of Anti-Cancer Effects from Cannabis 'Oil' Pile Up, Doctors Stress Need to Document Its Effects | Alternet

As Anecdotal Reports of Anti-Cancer Effects from Cannabis 'Oil' Pile Up, Doctors Stress Need to Document Its Effects | Alternet
"Evidence mounts as a growing number of papers published in scientific journals are establishing that cannabinoids have anti-tumor effects on the cellular level and in animals."

New Research Shows Global Warming Speeding Up | Common Dreams

New Research Shows Global Warming Speeding Up | Common Dreams
"The rate of global warming is speeding up, say scientists, despite the apparent stagnation in the rise of global surface air temperatures that may have prevented people from recognizing "the danger of the climate problem we face."

A new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters says that in the past 15 years we've undergone "the most sustained warming trend"."

Why Michigan’s ‘Right-To-Work’ Law Won’t Benefit The State’s Workers

Why Michigan’s ‘Right-To-Work’ Law Won’t Benefit The State’s Workers: Michigan’s so-called “right-to-work” measure officially went into effect today, just more than three months after Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signed the anti-union legislation into law. Snyder and Michigan Republicans have touted the law as a way to boost the state’s lagging economy, saying it would make it more competitive for businesses and a better place [...]/p

Slick, Paranoid Tea Party Video Aims for Violent Insurrection | Alternet

Slick, Paranoid Tea Party Video Aims for Violent Insurrection | Alternet
"The video, a thinly veiled advertisement for violent insurrection from the “Tea Party Patriots" group, boasts professional acting and Hollywood production values. But underneath its bright, professional sheen lurk dark overtones of End Times paranoia that will resonate with millions of American fundamentalists."

Arrests at Chicago schools protest | Common Dreams

Arrests at Chicago schools protest | Common Dreams
"More than 100 demonstrators taking part in mass civil disobedience were arrested inChicago on Wednesday as several thousand people marched against the largest proposed round of school closings in recent memory."

New Sanders Bill Would Break Up Big Banks | Common Dreams

New Sanders Bill Would Break Up Big Banks | Common Dreams
"U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said today he will introduce legislation to break up banks that have grown so big that the Justice Department has not pursued prosecutions for fear an indictment would harm the financial system."

POLLS: Americans Want The Supreme Court To Overturn DOMA

POLLS: Americans Want The Supreme Court To Overturn DOMA: Two new polls confirm that a significant majority of Americans want the Supreme Court to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act so that same-sex couples can access the federal benefits associated with marriage. In fact, even some voters who oppose marriage equality itself feel that DOMA is bad law. For example, a new poll from [...]/p

Tennessee’s Republican Governor Rejects Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion

Tennessee’s Republican Governor Rejects Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion: Gov. Bill Haslam (R-TN) announced on Wednesday that he will not accept Obamacare’s optional expansion of the Medicaid program, which would extend health coverage to an additional 140,000 uninsured Tennesseans and bringing in $1.4 billion in federal funding in the first year. Eight of Haslam’s fellow Republican leaders have come out in support of this [...]/p

Hunters, Anglers, and Climate Change

Chicago Is Ground Zero for Disastrous "Free Market" Reforms of Education | Common Dreams

Chicago Is Ground Zero for Disastrous "Free Market" Reforms of Education | Common Dreams
"If you want a glimpse of what slash-and-burn free market education reform does in cities throughout the US, look no further than Chicago."

Rewriting 21st Century McCarthyism

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Sequestration Cuts Hit The National Parks Hard

Sequestration Cuts Hit The National Parks Hard: The effects of massive government budget cuts that took effect on March 1 are being felt across the country already, from the closure of air traffic control towers to cancellation of White House tours to hundreds of thousands of furloughs. Another agency that is beginning to make cuts — just as the spring and summer tourism [...]/p

Corporations Pay Lower Tax Rates Than Ever While Lobbying For Even Bigger Tax Breaks

Corporations Pay Lower Tax Rates Than Ever While Lobbying For Even Bigger Tax Breaks: As large American companies continue to lobby Congress for tax reform that would lower their tax rates, a study of historical corporate tax rates found that they are in fact paying at rates roughly half of those they paid decades ago. The Washington Post analyzed 30 large companies listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average [...]/p

Thom Hartmann: Healthcare lottery...may the odds be forever in your favor

Corporate Kangaroo Courts Supplant Our Seventh Amendment Rights | Common Dreams

Corporate Kangaroo Courts Supplant Our Seventh Amendment Rights | Common Dreams
"Most Americans don't realize it, but our Seventh Amendment right to a fair jury trial against corporate wrongdoers has quietly been stripped from us."

Conservative Morality: Free Pass for Criminal Bankers, Restrictions for Women and Gay Citizens | Alternet

Conservative Morality: Free Pass for Criminal Bankers, Restrictions for Women and Gay Citizens | Alternet
"We're still legislating and regulating private morality, while at the same time ignoring the much larger crisis of public morality in America."

Hateful Tweeter vs. Anti-War Leader

In Hot Water: Global Warming Has Accelerated In Past 15 Years, New Study Of Oceans Confirms

In Hot Water: Global Warming Has Accelerated In Past 15 Years, New Study Of Oceans Confirms: By Dana Nuccitelli via Skeptical Science. A new study of ocean warming has just been published in Geophysical Research Letters by Balmaseda, Trenberth, and Källén (2013). There are several important conclusions which can be drawn from this paper. Completely contrary to the popular contrarian myth, global warming has accelerated, with more overall global warming in the [...]/p

STUDY: States Refusing To Expand Medicaid Will Leave Over 200,000 Low-Income Veterans Uninsured

STUDY: States Refusing To Expand Medicaid Will Leave Over 200,000 Low-Income Veterans Uninsured: Adding to the extensive body of evidence that participating in Obamacare’s optional Medicaid expansion is both smart fiscal policy and the right move for securing poor Americans’ health care, a new Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Urban Institute study concludes that states refusing to expand Medicaid will leave over 200,000 low-income, uninsured veterans and two-thirds [...]/p

Sanders Amendment on Social Security, Disabled Veterans

Richard Wolff Gives Bill O'Reilly a Lesson in Economics 101

Richard Wolff Gives Bill O'Reilly a Lesson in Economics 101
"From this Monday's Democracy Now, economist Richard Wolff is asked about Bill O'Reilly's remarks last week where he told his audience on Fox that Cyprus and other European countries are facing economic hardships because they’re so-called "nanny states." Wolff responded with a lesson in economics 101 for Bill-O"

California Investigation Might Break the Koch Machine

California Investigation Might Break the Koch Machine
"The flow of money was traced as it passed through several non-profit organizations, ultimately going all the way back to a known dark money conduit known as Americans for Job Security."

The Corporate ‘Predator State’ | Common Dreams

The Corporate ‘Predator State’ | Common Dreams
"Multinational executives have just launched the “LIFT America” Coalition to push for a territorial tax system that would exempt from U.S. taxes all profits reported abroad. ASBC and its allies could rally small businesses to demand closing down overseas tax havens and imposing a minimum tax on profits sitting abroad, so that they didn’t face a higher tax burden that their global competitors.
In today’s Washington, powerful corporate interests stymie progress on areas vital to our future. Can a right/left, small-business/worker odd bedfellows alliance emerge to counter the predatory interests? We can only hope so."

Dear Right-Wingers, Here's How to NOT Seem Racist | Alternet

Dear Right-Wingers, Here's How to NOT Seem Racist | Alternet
"A tip for right-wingers angry about charges of racial bias: Try treating the Obama daughters with decency."

Wine: Global Warming's Latest Casualty | Common Dreams

Wine: Global Warming's Latest Casualty | Common Dreams
"Move over polar bears. Yet another of mankind's most beloved gifts of nature is now reportedly a casualty of human-caused global warming."

Breitbart News Compromises First Daughters' Security - Again

Breitbart News Compromises First Daughters' Security - Again
"there is a generally understood rule that journalists do not disclose the location of the children of presidents when they're not with their parents, because their security should not be placed at risk."

North Dakota Governor Approves The Most Radical Anti-Choice Laws In The Nation

North Dakota Governor Approves The Most Radical Anti-Choice Laws In The Nation: On Tuesday, North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple (R) officially signed into law three of the most radical anti-abortion bills in the nation. It will now be illegal for women in North Dakota to get an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, while the only abortion provider in the state will likely be forced to shut [...]/p

The Oligarchs are Sucking Dry America's Working Class

Neoliberalism and the Politics of Higher Education: An Interview With Henry A. Giroux

Neoliberalism and the Politics of Higher Education: An Interview With Henry A. Giroux
"Neoliberalism, or what can be called the latest stage of predatory capitalism, is part of a broader project of restoring class power and consolidating the rapid concentration of capital."

As Neoliberal Order Wreaks Havoc, World Social Forum Gathers in Tunisia | Common Dreams

As Neoliberal Order Wreaks Havoc, World Social Forum Gathers in Tunisia | Common Dreams
"In a world witnessing revolutions in mid-stride, flourishing climate crises, and the reign of austerity economics, tens of thousands of people from all over the globe are gathering in Tunisia for the 2013 World Social Forum to confront the contemporary situation with their consistent call: "another world is possible"."

More Proof That America Doesn’t Have A Spending Problem

More Proof That America Doesn’t Have A Spending Problem: The idea that the United States has an out of control spending problem has gripped Washington D.C. for most of the economic recovery, and nowhere is that more evident than in recent budget negotiations, where the conversation has been almost solely about when budgets will balance and by how much they will reduce the debt. [...]/p

As Safety Net Faces Cuts, One-In-Six American Children Are Affected By Unemployment

As Safety Net Faces Cuts, One-In-Six American Children Are Affected By Unemployment: One of every six American children has a parent that is either unemployed or underemployed, according to a new study from First Focus and the Urban Institute. Overall, 6.2 million children live in homes where at least one parent is unemployed; the total rises to 12.1 million when underemployment is included too. While that number [...]/p

Limited-Government Idaho Conservatives Don't Want You To See Pre-Marital Sex on TV

Limited-Government Idaho Conservatives Don't Want You To See Pre-Marital Sex on TV
"It's amazing how little their stated beliefs actually align with their actual actions. Conservatives purport to be against big government; they sneer at the nanny state they claim liberals want. But when all is said and done, it seems like conservatives have no problem expanding government when it comes to your bedroom"

Follow the Money: How Former Anti-Drug Officials Ridiculously Still Say Pot Is Dangerous in Order to Make a Lot of Cash | Alternet

Follow the Money: How Former Anti-Drug Officials Ridiculously Still Say Pot Is Dangerous in Order to Make a Lot of Cash | Alternet
"Former DEA agents and cops are lobbying for tougher drug laws that make them rich."

Wealth Inequality in America

Textbook Right-Wing Economics Can Ruin The Economy

Textbook Right-Wing Economics Can Ruin The Economy: Daron Acemoglu, an economist at MIT, and James Robinson, a political scientist and economist at Harvard, provide an interesting academic analysis of how mainstream (i.e., mainly conservative) economic policies centered on privatization, deregulation, and free trade lead to unwanted social outcomes. Echoing warnings from progressives about the consequences of right-wing policies, Acemoglu and Robinson (authors [...]/p

Sen. Murphy To NRA: Stop Calling Newtown Families

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That Giant Sucking Sound...it's the Oligarchs

That Giant Sucking Sound...it's the Oligarchs
"The oligarchs are sucking dry America's middle and working class, while the rest of us are being left to feed off of their crumbs."

New Jersey Governor Christie Paves Way for Privatizing Camden Schools | Common Dreams

New Jersey Governor Christie Paves Way for Privatizing Camden Schools | Common Dreams
"The wave of school privatizations couched under the banner of "reform" may be headed to Camden, New Jersey."

Scientists Link Harsh Winters to Dramatic Decline in Arctic Ice | Common Dreams

Scientists Link Harsh Winters to Dramatic Decline in Arctic Ice | Common Dreams
"As the Eastern Seaboard of the United States bears the brunt of yet another late season snow storm, a growing body of research proves that the record decline in Arctic sea ice has played a "critical role" in the large and southerly snowfalls of recent years."

Senate Unanimously Votes Against Cuts to Social Security: Media Don’t Notice

Senate Unanimously Votes Against Cuts to Social Security: Media Don’t Notice
"There are few areas where the corruption of the national media is more apparent than in its treatment of Social Security. Most of the elite media have made it clear in both their opinion and news pages that they want to see benefits cut."

Meet the CEO Who Cut Worker Pay in Half While Pulling in $21 Million Last Year | Alternet

Meet the CEO Who Cut Worker Pay in Half While Pulling in $21 Million Last Year | Alternet
"CEOs these days aren’t just slashing worker jobs to add on to their own rewards. They’re slashing worker pay as well."

Average Income For The Bottom 90 Percent Of Americans Grew Just $59 In 40 Years

Average Income For The Bottom 90 Percent Of Americans Grew Just $59 In 40 Years: The top 90 percent of Americans have experienced rapid income growth over the last 40 years, but the bottom 90 percent haven’t been so lucky. In fact, average income rose just $59 from 1966 to 2011 for the bottom 90 percent once those incomes were adjusted for inflation. That’s according to a new study of [...]/p

Racist Hate Group To Conduct Nighttime Patrols On College Campus

Racist Hate Group To Conduct Nighttime Patrols On College Campus: A racist hate group at Towson University has announced plans to conduct its own nighttime police patrols on campus. Founded last year, the White Student Union has stirred significant controversy already. The organization has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. In addition, its founder, Matthew Heimbach (who goes by the [...]/p

OOPS: Fox News Pedals Conspiracy Theory It Already Debunked

OOPS: Fox News Pedals Conspiracy Theory It Already Debunked: On Monday afternoon, Fox News ran a segment suggesting that the Department of Homeland Security is buying up large quantities of ammunition to prevent law-abiding Americans from defending themselves. The story came two days after the DHS justified the purchases in a letter to lawmakers and Fox itself dismissed the theory as a conspiracy in [...]/p

Hidden Victim of Austerity: State Universities That Educate Our Children | Alternet

Hidden Victim of Austerity: State Universities That Educate Our Children | Alternet
"Foolish policies are speeding America’s decline and placing terrible burdens on the next generation."

America's Other Dark Legacy In Iraq | Common Dreams

America's Other Dark Legacy In Iraq | Common Dreams
"When the United States, the United Kingdom, and the “coalition of the willing” attacked Iraq in March 2003, millions protested around the world. But the war of “shock and awe” was just the beginning. The subsequent occupation of Iraq by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority bankrupted the country and left its infrastructure in shambles."

Fun Facts About Rich People: Walmart Heirs Own More Wealth Than Bottom 40% of Americans; the Wealthy Give Less to Charity Than the Poor | Alternet

Fun Facts About Rich People: Walmart Heirs Own More Wealth Than Bottom 40% of Americans; the Wealthy Give Less to Charity Than the Poor | Alternet
"And let's not forget that their fortune was originally made by accelerating the American worker's race to the bottom. If you haven't watched it in a while, Robert Greenwald's "The High Cost of Low Prices" will remind you of just what a crock the entire political deabte in Washington DC really is"

Five Ugly Extremes of Inequality in America-- The Contrasts Will Drop Your Chin to the Floor | Alternet

Five Ugly Extremes of Inequality in America-- The Contrasts Will Drop Your Chin to the Floor | Alternet
"The first step is to learn the facts, and then to get angry and to ask ourselves, as progressives and caring human beings, what we can do about the relentless transfer of wealth to a small group of well-positioned Americans."

Watch the Framing: Sunday Talk Shows Bring on Right-Wing Bigots to Discuss DOMA

Watch the Framing: Sunday Talk Shows Bring on Right-Wing Bigots to Discuss DOMA
"What really matters is how conservative Christians who are out of step with the majority of Americans (no matter how much they want to deny it and not have that challenged), doncha know?"

Government Job Losses Still Plaguing Economic Recovery As More Furloughs, Cuts Loom

Government Job Losses Still Plaguing Economic Recovery As More Furloughs, Cuts Loom: For all the talk among conservatives about the “bloated” size of government, public sector job losses have plagued America’s economic recovery from the Great Recession. And with the automatic budget cuts that took effect on March 1 beginning to take effect, those losses are only going to make efforts to fully escape the throes of [...]/p

GOP Rebranding? Fox News Chief Roger Ailes Isn't Buying It | Alternet

GOP Rebranding? Fox News Chief Roger Ailes Isn't Buying It | Alternet
"There's been little public acknowledgement that there can be no effective rebranding of the Republican Party if Ailes doesn't sign off. Meaning, the GOP can turn itself inside out if it wants, but if Fox News, the self-appointed face and voice the GOP, doesn't change, none of it matters because Fox will still be pounding home every negative stereotype that party leaders now want to erase."

Cyprus Fallout: Is Your Money Safer in a Mattress? | Alternet

Cyprus Fallout: Is Your Money Safer in a Mattress? | Alternet
"As long as banking activities are allowed to run against the public good, deposits will always be at risk."

Seattle boom an inconvenient truth for Republicans | Local News | The Seattle Times

Seattle boom an inconvenient truth for Republicans | Local News | The Seattle Times
"GOP leaders confessed that their mantra that business is stifled by high taxes and big government is so confounded by the jobs boom in high-tax, big-government Seattle that it’s only prudent they now re-examine those beliefs."

7 Deadly Amendments That Would’ve Protected Dirty Energy And Trashed The Climate

7 Deadly Amendments That Would’ve Protected Dirty Energy And Trashed The Climate: This weekend, Senate Democrats passed a federal budget for Fiscal Year 2014. In order to do so, Senate rules allow for consideration of any amendment that is brought to the floor. Senators introduced hundreds of amendments, which resulted in a “vote-o-rama.” Many conservatives offered amendments to undermine existing and potential public health safeguards, particularly those [...]/p

Double Fail: WaPo Kills Story Critical of Its Iraq Coverage | Common Dreams

Double Fail: WaPo Kills Story Critical of Its Iraq Coverage | Common Dreams
"Following the tenth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, The Washington Post thought it might be a good idea to have someone write about how the media's role during that time impacted the Bush administration's ability to galvanize a nation towards war. They thought it was a good idea, that is, until they were seemingly reminded how integral a part of that effort they themselves were in the debacle."

Pro-Democracy Movement Rises Against 'Disaster Capitalism' in Detroit | Common Dreams

Pro-Democracy Movement Rises Against 'Disaster Capitalism' in Detroit | Common Dreams
"pro-democracy activists in Detroit have no intention of rolling over and playing dead for Kevyn Orr, the city's new 'emergency manager' appointed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, who will begin his contract to run the city as a one-person government on Monday.
Called a "bloodless coup" by some, the appointment of an 'emergency financial manager' (EFM) will allow Orr to take full control over the city's resources now that the city council and school board have been stripped of their governing powers."

Alexander Reed Kelly: Truthdigger of the Week: Tomas Young - Truthdigger of the Week - Truthdig

Alexander Reed Kelly: Truthdigger of the Week: Tomas Young - Truthdigger of the Week - Truthdig
"For struggling for as long as he has, for publicly shaming a class of people who make a holiday of the deaths and suffering of the powerless, and for forcing us again to consider the terrible consequences of America’s unnecessary, ongoing and disgraceful wars, we honor Tomas Young as our Truthdigger of the Week."

Living and Breathing in the Shadow of Chevron

Congress Has a Constitutional Duty to Preserve and Promote the Post Office | The Nation

Congress Has a Constitutional Duty to Preserve and Promote the Post Office | The Nation
"No member of Congress who takes seriously their oath sworn to uphold the Constitution can neglect the duty to preserve the United States Postal Service."

Thinking for Ourselves: On Disaster Capitalism in Detroit | Common Dreams

Thinking for Ourselves: On Disaster Capitalism in Detroit | Common Dreams
"The appointment of Kevyn Orr as the Emergency Manager of Detroit is a sad day for democracy. There is a growing understanding that the financial crisis justifying this move was manufactured by the withholding of state funds, the drive to protect the $474 millions paid to banks, and the desire to wrest control of the city away from its people and put it into the hands of the corporate elite."

Senate Republicans Unanimously Support Repeal of Student Loan Reform Law

Senate Republicans Unanimously Support Repeal of Student Loan Reform Law: All 45 Senate Republicans voted Friday for a budget amendment that endorsed the repeal of both Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. While Congressional Republicans attempting to repeal Obamacare is nothing new — this marks the 39th repeal attempt — this proposal also aimed to [...]/p

Aggressively targeting a full recovery is the least risky thing you can do: Back to Work Budget edition | Economic Policy Institute

Aggressively targeting a full recovery is the least risky thing you can do: Back to Work Budget edition | Economic Policy Institute
"research indicates that for the U.S., the rates of return on public investment are almost certainly above those for private investment."

Single-Payer Health Care Is Still Right Way To Go | Common Dreams

Single-Payer Health Care Is Still Right Way To Go | Common Dreams
"Obamacare is surely better than anything we’ve had up until now and once it is fully implemented will remove millions of Americans from the roles of the uninsured.
But a single-payer plan is still the way the nation ought to go."

How Noam Chomsky Is Discussed | Common Dreams

How Noam Chomsky Is Discussed | Common Dreams
"The book on which I'm currently working explores how establishment media systems restrict the range of acceptable debate in US political discourse, and I'm using Chomsky's treatment by (and ultimate exclusion from) establishment US media outlets as a window for understanding how that works."

Fox News Coming To Your Child's Classroom

On Obamacare’s Third Anniversary, Here Are Three Ways The Reform Law Has Helped Real Americans

On Obamacare’s Third Anniversary, Here Are Three Ways The Reform Law Has Helped Real Americans: Saturday marks the three year anniversary of President Obama signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the most sweeping overhaul of the U.S. health care system since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. While some the law’s most significant provisions won’t go into full effect until next year, many of its important [...]/p

What It Means To Be A Progressive: A Manifesto

What It Means To Be A Progressive: A Manifesto: People often ask what, exactly, do progressives believe?  Over the past few years, we’ve worked with a great group called the American Values Project, representing a cross section of leaders from think tanks, philanthropic organizations, and environmental, labor, youth, civil rights, and other progressive groups, to try to distill progressive beliefs and values into clear language in one [...]/p

Outrageous -- David Cay Johnston Explains How Big Corporations Withhold Your Taxes and Then Pocket Them | Alternet

Outrageous -- David Cay Johnston Explains How Big Corporations Withhold Your Taxes and Then Pocket Them | Alternet
"Nobody has done more to expose the infinite ways in which the American economy is rigged to benefit those at the top than Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston. His rigorously researched books –Perfectly Legal, Free Lunch and now his latest, The Fine Print, are not recommended for people with egalitarian views and high blood pressure – they're every bit as maddening to contemplate as they are informative."

10 Years After the Invasion: America Destroyed Iraq But Our War Crimes Remain Unacknowledged and Unpunished | Alternet

10 Years After the Invasion: America Destroyed Iraq But Our War Crimes Remain Unacknowledged and Unpunished | Alternet
"The evil unleashed on the people of Iraq has been painstakingly obscured behind a tapestry of lies."

The Alternate Reality of Fox News

The Alternate Reality of Fox News
"At the very moment Obama was receiving the highest honor Israel can bestow, Fox News was quite literally declaring him an enemy of the state."

On World Water Day, A Reminder About What You’re Really Drinking

On World Water Day, A Reminder About What You’re Really Drinking: Friday is the 20th anniversary of World Water Day. Ten years from now, by 2030, the U.S. State Department expects the demand for fresh water to outrun supply by 40 percent. Around the world, over 780 million people lack access to clean drinking water. Water and sanitation could prevent 9.1 percent of diseases and 6.3 [...]/p

Beware the New Corporate Tax-Cut Scam: LIFT Is a Big Lie

Beware the New Corporate Tax-Cut Scam: LIFT Is a Big Lie
"First it was Fix the Debt, with tax-dodging corporations “leading the charge for massive new corporate tax cuts paid for with cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.” Now there’s a new “LIFT America coalition,” pushing for massive, massive corporate tax cuts, without bothering about cutting benefits. LIFT stands for “Let’s Invest for Tomorrow,” but as Citizens For Tax Justice (CTJ) points out, it really ought to be called LIE, for “Let’s Invest Elsewhere"."

Israel Honors Obama, "Not On Fox News"

What It Costs the Worst Bank to Be Truly Evil | Alternet

What It Costs the Worst Bank to Be Truly Evil | Alternet
"$16 billion.

That's how much JPMorgan Chase has paid in fines, settlements and other litigation expenses in the last four years alone."

Say No to the Chained CPI

Americans Want a 'Back-to-Work' Alternative to Ryan's Austerity Scheme | Common Dreams

Americans Want a 'Back-to-Work' Alternative to Ryan's Austerity Scheme | Common Dreams
"The American people want a “Back to Work” budget. The polling is clear and unequivocal in this regard. Gallup found that 92 percent of Democrats back federal spending to create infrastructure jobs, but so, too, do 71 percent of independents and 53 percent of Republicans. Federal spending to create one million new jobs has the support of 93 percent of Democrats, 63 percent of Republicans and 52 percent of Republicans."

A Growing Drought for Some, Flood Warnings for Others, says New Report | Common Dreams

A Growing Drought for Some, Flood Warnings for Others, says New Report | Common Dreams
"In a report released Thursday, the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) warned that the drought that plagued the U.S. in 2012 will continue this year and that extreme weather—a mix of continued dryness in some areas, flooding in others and the destructive interplay of a warming world in general—is what farmers and U.S. residents should expect as the main growing season arrives."

Does Irrationality Doom America? | Alternet

Does Irrationality Doom America? | Alternet
"The United States is on the verge of committing suicide. Slow suicide, perhaps, which may take decades to fully play out, but suicide nonetheless. The proximate event is the sequester - deep across-the-board cuts to military and discretionary domestic spending, originally conceived as a Sword of Damocles, but which Tea Party-dominated Republicans now see as just the perfect budget axe. And that's just one of several successive and mostly recurring crisis points at which Republicans are obstinantly demanding deep budget cuts that will inevitably slow, if not cripple the already weak economy - as well as debilitating or destroying vital government functions in the long run."

A Crash Course In Economics

Congress Is Strong-Arming The Postal Service Into Bankruptcy Even Faster

Congress Is Strong-Arming The Postal Service Into Bankruptcy Even Faster: On Thursday, Congress voted against allowing the U.S. Postal Service to cut its delivery down to five days a week, forcing the organization to keep delivering mail on Saturdays. This will drive the USPS into looming bankruptcy — already foisted upon the USPS by Congress itself — even faster. In 2006, Congress passed the Postal [...]/p

Economists Disagree With Paul Ryan’s Claim That ‘Debt Is Crushing Our Economy’

Economists Disagree With Paul Ryan’s Claim That ‘Debt Is Crushing Our Economy’: Over the past three years, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) has repeatedly introduced budget resolutions that contain draconian spending cuts in an effort to stave off the debt crisis he says is right around the corner if it isn’t addressed immediately. Ryan’s plans, all three of which have passed the House of Representatives, [...]/p

Glenn Greenwald: Meet the Journalist Rotting in Prison for Crossing the FBI | Alternet

Glenn Greenwald: Meet the Journalist Rotting in Prison for Crossing the FBI | Alternet
"Prosecutorial abuse is becoming the preeminent weapon used by the US government to destroy online activism and journalism."