Our taxes pay spies to work for rich shareholders– and pay for the corporatization of war itself April 2012On the last day of last year, Austin’s daily newspaper led with a story that it tagged as an “Internet Privacy”...
The Post Office is not broke–and it hasn’t taken any of our tax money since 1971 March 2012Consider $.50. What does that buy these days? Not a cuppa joe–that’ll cost you two bucks at Starbucks, and even McDonald’s...
In the Constitution, “security” means protection from our law enforcers, not by them February 2012The earth’s core, consisting largely of iron, helps balance our spinning planet. On the other hand, the core of too many...
My Town January 2012Even small cities like Austin, Texas, where I live, usually have a thriving co-op business community. To show the breadth...
Yes we can manage this country without the corporate priesthood–the cooperative movement shows us how January 2012We’re being told by today’s High Priests of Conventional Wisdom that everyone and everything in our economic cosmos necessarily revolves around...
Corporate elites and their small-minded political servants are creating the Incredibly Shrinking America December 2011“We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide...
From Occupy Wall Street to Occupy Nation in just two months November 2011Americans who flew bombing missions in World War II had a saying: “You know you’re on target when you start getting...
Citizens united against Citizens United: A grassroots campaign to restore democracy October 2011Thank you Mitt Romney! Thank you for standing tall, speaking so forthrightly, and rallying so many democracy-loving Americans to join together...
Who is the Tea Party Congress? September 2011Seems like this would be an easy question to answer, but it turns out that we could find no group,...
It’s time to name the tea party politicians (and their sponsors)–and call them out September 2011As he keeps demonstrating, President Obama is not exactly Mount Rushmore material. But — good God! — the petulant pettiness and...
Why are we letting corporate Supremists steal our democracy from us? August 2011Bill Watterson is Mark Twain–with a drawing pen. He is a master cartoonist, but also a sharp-witted observer of the...
Summertime Lowdown: A picnic basket of absurdities, oddities, and some sweet positives July 2011It’s frightening to watch the Texas legislature in action, but it can also be entertaining–in the same way a freak show...
Billionaires’ front groups attack workers, public schools, and young voters June 2011In January, a small group of Indiana schoolteachers encountered their governor, Mitch Daniels, in a hallway of the state capitol. They...
A battery of elected ideologues opens fire on those who serve the public May 2011You’re not likely to have known Robert Clark, Ruth West, Chet Newall, Webb Kamp, or Darrell Odom, but I wouldn’t be...
The Big Three secret funders of the $75 million campaign to trash Democratic candidates April 2011It’s unlikely that you have heard of a novel entitled Alpaca, but it was a remarkably portentous piece of political writing by...
Here’s who is buying America’s democracy March 2011In 1986, Richard Kimball, a Democratic state legislator in Arizona, was running for a US Senate seat. In a televised...
The entire court system is infested February 2011Unfortunately, the corporatization of America’s judiciary is not just a problem at the top. For more than 30 years, there has...
The top four victories handed to corporate America by today’s Supreme Court–so far February 2011One of the great works of American political literature is Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary, first published in 1906. From A-Z, Bierce...
At last, a principled stand in Congress January 2011Is there no balm in Gilead… or in Washington? Will no Democrat soothe the people’s anger at the constant giveaways to...
A new Wall Street sin tax could raise $100B a year to reinvest in Main Street America January 2011Lonnie Johnson was the early blues and jazz great who turned the guitar into a solo instrument. In the 1920s, he...
Postcards from the frontroads and backroads of the 2010 election campaigns December 2010The day before the election, I sensed a strange karma, as though some diabolical political force was settling across the...
Grassroots progressives give us real reasons to be grateful this Thanksgiving November 2010Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock form the Flatlanders, a powerhouse trio of Texas singer/ songwriters now based in...
Surging in Afghanistan October 2010Surging in Afghanistan The surge is on in Afghanistan! Unfortunately, what appears to be most effective is not the 30,000...
In Iraq, Obama says it’s over but it’s not; In Afghanistan, who wants to die for Karzai? October 2010At long last, it’s over. In the pre-dawn hours of August 18–seven years, two months, and 18 days after George W...
The corporate squeeze September 2010Profits up!” gloat today’s headlines in the business media. The New York Times reports that the profits of 175 of...
