Working Life

When we come out of the immediate pandemic crisis, then, maybe we can have some accounting of who and what is responsible for the needless deaths of thousands of people—and among the “who” would be, say, politicians who are making themselves look like heroes today—I’ll just say, randomly, New York politicians—even though they sat on […]

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With the Iowa caucuses just a few days away, I thought this would be a good time to devote the entire episode to progressive candidates who I’ve been talking to over the course of a number of weeks, with many more to come throughout the year. Today, you’ll hear from three women candidates—two are running […]

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We are taught as kids to keep your word. If you promised not to do something bad or your promised to do something good, we learned you have to keep your promise otherwise people pretty quickly don’t trust you. Which explains why most people just don’t trust politicians—like politicians who are supposed to be your […]

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Murder, violence and robbery—it sounds like a list for a plot of The Wire. But, no, it’s just another standard operating procedure for the free market system—in which people are murdered in Colombia thanks to so-called “free trade”, workers are beat up and sometimes killed at McDonald’s because the company doesn’t care about its workers […]

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I’ve been featuring dozens of progressive candidates running at all levels. Many of them have not won their races, largely primaries. But, as I’ve said before, the conversation that such progressive bring to a race is so key—especially in more conservative areas. So, I talk to Mike Ellison, a working class union member, who is […]

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   Rather than talk about deficit-reduction by cutting services, Oregonians are brave: Two ballot measures that would raise taxes on businesses and higher-income residents in Oregon appeared headed for approval late Tuesday. The tax increases, which would raise about $727 million largely for public education and social services, were approved last year by the Legislature, […]

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   This is a modest observation that comes from an optimist–my friends say delusional optimist–that an Obama landslide is coming. Here’s the question: if it happens, will too many Democratic-inclined voters stay home in the three Western states and cost Democrats some close, important races?     A few initial thoughts: The Obama campaign, if […]

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   I’m always in favor of a little street theater and humor in this oh, so, serious business. So, there’s been a bus tour underwritten by the Consumer Electronics Association called "America Wins With Trade", drummed up to try to generate a pulse for the quickly dying so-called "free trade" agenda. Some clever folks in […]

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When you think the Mob is moving in on you, it often is a smart thing to do to just pack up and leave, at least that was true in the old days. Wal-Mart apparently has the same effect. Check out what happens to a local store when the Beast from Bentonville is about to […]

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