Working Life

 My refrain, whenever I hear about the "deficits", is very simple: we have plenty of money. We are the richest nation in human history. The problem is our priorities. And this week it boils down to this: do we want war or do we want teachers who will make our kids ready for the future? […]

Read the full story

   Three trillion dollars. Think about all the state budgets that could be helped with that money. The teachers, firemen, police officers whose jobs could be preserved. The millions of people we could put back to work during the greatest economic crisis we have faced in generations. Not to mention the lives that could be […]

Read the full story

   In the dysfunctional world of politics, games are played that no normal person would think makes sense. Right now, one of those games is being played out in astonishing fashion: Congress is being told that if it wants money for teachers, Haiti reconstruction and other good social needs, it has to vote for billions […]

Read the full story

   Tax Day is approaching. I did a little exercise, thanks to National Priorities Project, about what we could do with the money spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It’s worth thinking about since there is more money about to be wasted on the Afghanistan quagmire.    I chose New York. According to the […]

Read the full story

The other day, I saw an amazing spectacle: a firefighter responded to a call to a burning building in New York City and, as he was dragging the fire hose to the fire, a crowd of angry people stopped him and said, "Stop. Your pension is too generous so don’t you dare put that fire […]

Read the full story