Working Life

Damn, math really messes shit up. I mean, first you get told about all this money that got saved and, then, boom, it’s gone because turns out…it wasn’t saved at all. Welcome to the wild world of fiscal deals made by political parties who care mostly about their own futures, not the futures of regular people.

Read the full story

Just in case you were snowed by the public relations blitz about all the great riches about to be showered on the “middle class” and
“working Americans”, well, it’s actually the same old story again.

Read the full story

This is not another analysis or observation focusing on the strategy and tactics that led to the deal just made on taxes. I was bored by the whole debate weeks ago because, frankly, it missed a much more central fact: the Democratic Party long ago gave up the fight over having a sensible tax rate for the richest people.

Read the full story

Facts and figures are useful when you try to get through the smokescreen of political spin. Here are facts about the tax deal — a bad one, in my view.

Read the full story

I just could not write because there was nothing more to say, at least for a day or two, about the phony debt and deficit crisis. The president caved again. And the story will go on and on and on…sadly.

Read the full story

To understand how absolutely absurd the debate is over taxes in the U.S., you just have to cast an eye across the Atlantic to France. The right wing in France supports tax rates higher than the left wing in the U.S. Yes, really.

Read the full story

Here’s a riddle: what large entity has the theoretical access to deploy a few trillion dollars, quickly, if given the chance? If you answered the Chinese or US governments, thank you for playing and please try again another time. The answer: labor unions.

Read the full story

The NRA’s blood money buys a lot of politicians and, which, then, leads directly to the murder of innocent people. Less paid-attention to is the NRA’s war against the judiciary, which Linda Greenhouse sheds some light on.

Read the full story

I don’t claim to have a deep knowledge of current Egyptian politics. So, I start out by saying I’m cautious about falling in love quickly. But, heck, Hamdeen Sabahi has a big mark in his favor: he does not like the so-called “free market”.

Read the full story

I’m not a big fan of organized religion — a topic for another day perhaps — and I’m not even from the flock of the New Testament (as on old friend, activist and Rev Dyson, used to whisper in faux sotto voce when introducing me, “he’s from the other testament”). But, forgiving is a human quality. And, when you have the power to really forgive, you would think people would jump at it. Some politicians do, some don’t.

Read the full story