Politics
-
Steele's Spending a Matter of Concern for Some in GOP
Did Michael Steele really suggest the RNC use its funds to buy a private plane? Some within the party say this is so According to two knowledgeable sources, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele once raised the possibility of using party money to buy a private jet for his travel. “I know that … regular…
-
President Obama's Black Agenda
I have to admit I was a bit perplexed when I was a panelist recently at Tavis Smiley’s “We Count: The Black Agenda is the American Agenda” forum in Chicago, which focused heavily on what President Barack Obama has not done for the black community, rather than the significant down payment he has made in…
-
Obama Goes to Afghanistan to Lecture Karzai
While most of the nation thought President Obama was resting up from a busy legislative week with a visit to Camp David, he was secretly flying to Afghanistan, the new focus of American military effort. This was only the second visit by the President to the war zone — he visited troops in Iraq last year…
-
Keep Recruits Out of the South Carolina Trustees Fight
Not that I’m surprised, but parts of “post-racial America” are dead ringers for the bad ol’ days. Especially places where the majority might’ve voted for President Obama, but many remain hung up on the Civil War. Take South Carolina, for instance. Not only does the Palmetto State insist on flying the Confederate Flag on statehouse…
-
Your Take: Who Lost on Health Care?
After the Scott Brown victory in Massachusetts, the general consensus was that health care reform was going to be put on the back burner. Even President Barack Obama seemed to say as much by burying health care reform deep in his State of the Union address in January. Obama surrendered so much on comprehensive reform…
-
Your Take: No Compromise on Sentencing Disparities
More than two decades ago, President Ronald Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, making penalties for possession of crack-cocaine offenses 100 times harsher than those for powder cocaine offenses. This glaring disparity has since become a defining symbol of the racism encoded in our criminal justice system. We treat crack—which is often found…
-
TPM's Ten Most Ridiculous Health Care Amendments
TPM’s Top Ten Most Ridiculous Health Care Amendments 1. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK): To reduce the cost of providing federally funded prescription drugs by eliminating fraudulent payments and prohibiting coverage of Viagra for child molesters and rapists for drugs intended to induce abortion. 2. Vitter: Prohibiting use of funds to fund the Association of Community…
-
Obama, Russian Prez Finalizing Arms Reduction Pact
President Obama and Dmitry Medvedev are all about nuclear arms reduction (especially if they don’t like you). They’re so into it in fact, they plan on signing an arms reduction pact in Prague next month. After long and trying negotiations, President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are to sign the treaty in two…
-
Urban League Calls for $168B in Job Spending
The National Urban League, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, has produced an annual State of Black America (SOBA) report for one-third of its existence. At a press conference Wednesday in Washington, D.C., the organization released its 34th SOBA, and similarities to the inaugural report were striking. “We’re facing many of the very same issues,”…