Politics
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Debt-Collector Abuse: One Woman's Harrowing Tale
Unsettling audio of a racist and threatening California debt collector has emerged just as Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and George LeMieux (R-Fla.) make the first moves on their End Debt Collector Abuse Act (EDCA). Introduced late Wednesday, the bipartisan bill is a series of amendments to the already established Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA),…
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Will the Supreme Court Stop Prosecutorial Misconduct?
Last year, prosecutors in the county of Pottawattamie, Iowa, narrowly avoided a potential ruling by the Supreme Court that would have held them liable for their role in the wrongful conviction of two black teenagers. The two prosecutors in that case, Joseph Hrvol and David Richter, coerced false testimony from a 16-year-old witness, fabricated evidence…
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'One Nation' for Whom?
In name and in theory, the premise is great: “One Nation Working Together.” Initially, the Web site looks the part as well. There is talk of uniting conservatives and moderates, liberals and progressives. There is the common goal of advancing prosperity for all Americans in a manner that is above politics and encompasses citizens from…
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Republican Sen. Tom Coburn Blocks Aid to Haiti
The Associated Press is reporting that Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is the reason that “not a cent of the $1.15 billion the U.S. promised for rebuilding has arrived” to Haitians who are in dire need of the aid. You may recall that both the House and the Senate passed a bill that would make $917…
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Why Colbert and Stewart Aren't So Funny to Progressives
I mentioned to a friend that I was planning to attend this Saturday’s march in Washington, D.C., and she replied, “Oh, the Jon Stewart march?” I said, “No, the march planned months ago by real activists.” She hadn’t heard of it. Lost in the kvetching and hand-wringing about Stephen Colbert’s appearance before a House subcommittee…
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Child Nutrition Bill, a Priority for the First Lady, Stalls
by Jane Black A child nutrition bill that was a centerpiece of Michelle Obama’s healthful eating campaign stalled in the House on Wednesday after anti-hunger groups and more than 100 Democrats protested the use of food-stamp dollars to pay for it. The bill, which passed unanimously in the Senate this summer, would have mandated strict…
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The Root Cities: Oakland's Economic Power
Looking back, many Oaklanders say they started seeing signs of change, gentrification, about five years ago. Residents in neighborhoods that had been predominantly black or Latino started seeing new neighbors: young white singles and families. In fact, the groundwork for gentrification started more than 20 years ago, back in the 1980s and ’90s, when Oakland,…
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The Root Cities: Oakland's Political Power
The story of the Serenader bar is a metaphor for what’s happening in Oakland, Calif. For 30 years, it was tucked between a fast-food place and a Chinese restaurant in central Oakland. It was known for its strong drinks, blues and R&B bands, and a clientele of gents in colorful suits and ladies in dresses…
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Post-Oil Spill Recovery: Who Benefits?
On Tuesday the Obama administration cheered the release of the Long Term Gulf Coast Restoration Support Plan authored by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. The 130-page document asks that Congress apply the bulk of civil penalties and fines imposed on BP for its Clean Water Act violations toward a Gulf Coast Recovery Fund that would pay…
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Walking in Roosevelt's Footsteps
A good deal of the fun in reading Jeff Shesol’s masterful work, Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court, is contained in the first half of the book, when the author’s description of the American political scene under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the early years of the Depression sounds so familiar. From the…