Op-Ed

Washington D.C. May 30, 2023— Following weeks of negotiations to avoid reaching the debt “ceiling” of federal spending, US leaders released a debt ceiling bill on Sunday that majorly limits environmental and social programs and fast-tracks the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.  Jeff Ordower, 350.org’s North America Director, responded: This debt ceiling bill is […]

May 9, 2023 – “He raped me whether I screamed or not.” So testified E. Jean Carroll in the civil case she has filed against Donald Trump for defamation and battery about why she didn’t cry out while being raped by him.  What Carroll and others may not realize is that the “cry out” rule […]

May 9, 2023 – Recent reports indicate that the debt limit “X-date” could come as early as June 1. On this X-date, the U.S. Treasury will no longer have enough cash in its accounts at the Federal Reserve to meet all the legal spending obligations legislated by Congress. These obligations include paying holders of U.S. Treasury […]

April 25, 2023 – LGBTQIA+ rights are human rights. Information access is also a human right. And yet, both are under attack by religious extremists. Libraries, and the people who work in them, deserve our support more than ever.  Did you know that there were 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022? […]

A family with a baby, waiting outside in the cold overnight. A pregnant woman, enduring the elements for multiple days. An Afghan who worked for the U.S. Army as a translator, hoping for food and water. Asylum seekers who traveled from as far as Africa and Asia, looking for protection. These are some of the approximately […]

The biggest threat to Americans today isn’t from a foreign power. It’s from a long-running war on the poor by out of touch politicians and their Wall Street backers. The latest attack on working Americans even has a name: “The Unwinding.” If that sounds like the title of a horror movie to you, you’re not […]

April 18, 2023 – On Monday, prosecutors in Clay County, Missouri charged 84-year-old Andrew Lester in the near-fatal shooting of Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old Black child who accidentally rang Lester’s doorbell while trying to pick up his younger siblings. According to law enforcement, preliminary evidence shows that Lester fired on the teen through a glass […]

There’s no question that parenting has gotten harder in this country. Gun violence is now the leading killer of children in this country, a brutal fact made clearer with each new school shooting. Child care is out of reach for many parents, while the rising cost of college clouds the future for their kids. For many reasons, […]

WASHINGTON D.C. April 14, 2023 — Today, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an administrative stay allowing mifepristone’s FDA approval to remain unchanged until Wednesday, April 19 while the Court considers the Department of Justice and Danco’s applications for relief in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine et al v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration […]

The Social Security trustees will release their annual report on the program’s financial status on Friday, March 31, inevitably followed by alarmist headlines — but don’t be fooled. Although echoed by some policymakers, claims of Social Security’s impending “bankruptcy” are highly misleading and demonstrate misunderstanding, or deliberate misrepresentation, of Social Security’s finances. Even in the unlikely […]

March 22, 2023 – The wars in Iraq and Ukraine may differ, but both speak to the tragic realities of war. They also make a strong case for strengthening the rule of law instead of undermining it through flimsy pretexts for endless militarism. Like the 2003 U.S. war in Iraq, which marked its 20th anniversary […]

Most of us who were alive then remember where we were on the morning of the 9/11 attacks. As we mark the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War this March, I wonder how many also remember where we were that day. On 9/11, I was a Catholic school eighth grader. I’ll never forget my teacher, […]

March 13, 2023 – On Friday, bank regulators closed Silicon Valley Bank, based in Santa Clara, California. Its failure was the second largest in U.S. history and the largest since the financial crisis of 2008. On Sunday, regulators closed New York-based Signature Bank. As they rushed to contain fallout, officials at the Federal Reserve, Treasury, […]

March 7, 2023 – While out for a long walk Sunday afternoon, I dropped in on my twin brother Ian and his wife as they were getting ready to go Scottish dancing. Nancy is the talented chair of Madison Country Dancers. My tall, skinny twin in his jaunty new kilt, complete with matching knee socks, […]

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2023 – Today Gigi Sohn, longtime public-interest advocate and former Federal Communications Commission official, withdrew her name from consideration for the long-vacant commissioner’s seat at the agency after her nomination had been held up for nearly 500 days. The move follows a relentless smear campaign leveled against the nominee by a phalanx […]

Nationwide, March 1, 2023 – This week, immigration justice advocates and directly impacted communities from across the country are gathering to mark the 20th anniversary since the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began operations. In those 20 years, the deportation agencies have targeted immigrants, […]

February 14, 2023 – Being poor and unable to afford bail in New York can be a death sentence. The vast majority of people who died on Rikers Island prison in 2022 were classified as “suspected suicide.” This is a troublingly vague causation. Yet, the New York Department of Corrections claims concern for death is […]

In their crusade against “wokeness,” congressional Republicans are taking aim at Labor Department rule about pension plan investments. The rule’s transgression is apparently that it makes easier for pension plans to consider how climate-related risks might affect a company’s bottom line. To avoid being woke, the GOP would apparently prefer pension managers to close their […]

Scholar-activist W.E.B. DuBois in 1946. Underwood Archives/Getty Images Chad Williams, Brandeis University The opening days of Black History Month 2023 have coincided with controversy about the teaching and broader meaning of African American studies. On Feb. 1, 2023, the College Board released a revised curriculum for its newly developed Advanced Placement African American studies course. […]

January 26, 2023 – In the century since the world’s oldest public broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), began operating, people around the world have benefited from international public broadcasters that share reliable information. Even with the rise of social media and competing services, their global footprint remains significant. The BBC reached a record 489 million […]