Democracy

On Social Spending, the Question Isn’t “Can We Afford…

When conservatives claim that we can’t afford new social programs, what they really mean is that they think individuals and families should figure out how to handle the costs of necessary care on their own. On November 19, the House of Representatives passed the $2.2 trillion budget reconciliation bill, which includes a broad package of

Democracy

Is Wisconsin Still a Democracy?

All signs now point to a full-court press by the GOP to rig state election rules in a bid to stay in power permanently. So far, Democrats have barely put up a fight. Last week, Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson appeared on local radio to declare his “loss of confidence” in the state’s elections commission and

Capitalism

We Can’t Blame the South Alone for Anti-Tax Austerity…

The South of slavery and Jim Crow is often cast as the major historical reason for the US’s stunted welfare state. But the most fanatical resistance to taxation and redistribution came from the Northern ruling class. To understand our current politics of austerity, we are better served to explore not the defeated ideology of slaveholders

Capitalism

CNN Poll: Three out of four adults think Facebook…

(CNN) Roughly three-quarters of adults believe Facebook is making American society worse, a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds, with about half saying they know somebody who was persuaded to believe in a conspiracy theory because of the site’s content.Americans say, 76% to 11%, that Facebook makes society worse, not better, according to the survey. Another 13% say

Democracy

White supremacists declare war on democracy and walk away…

The United States has a terrible habit of letting white supremacy get away with repeated attempts to murder American democracy. American democracy’s most dangerous adversary is white supremacy. Throughout this nation’s history, white supremacy has undermined, twisted and attacked the viability of the United States. What makes white supremacy so lethal, however, is not just