David Axelrod called what took place election night a “primal scream.” Clearly there were many causes for disenchantment, but not the least was our failure to put people back to productive work during the Great Recession We relied heavily on monetary policy that greatly benefit the already wealthy at the expense of depriving those out of […]
Marijuana wins big on election night
WASHINGTON POST: Voters in California, Massachusetts and Nevada approved recreational marijuana initiatives Tuesday night, and several other states passed medical marijuana provisions, in what is turning out to be the biggest electoral victory for marijuana reform since 2012, when Colorado and Washington first approved the drug’s recreational use. Of the five recreational marijuana initiatives on the ballot, three […]
Democrats never learn
By Dick Miller WE.CONNECT.DOTS: In this year’s presidential battle of “first time evers,” history still repeats. Not surprising, the story about FieldWorks reveals Democrats don’t learn while Republicans know when to repeat Pennsylvania state police raided two offices of FieldWorks, a voter registration group earlier this week. Bruce Beemer, temporary Attorney General, suggested to […]
LETTER: “The fix was in, and the people are still paying for it”
The contributor refers to Bill Keisling’s and NewsLanc’s forthcoming book on decades of corruption in Pennsylvania: I hope your 50 corruptions include the downtown Lancaster project. That $200 million albatross is about to grow in cost. And that dumb project — a bad idea from its inception — has paid exactly zero property taxes. Not […]
“Building a Boat and a Tower”: Re Genesis and the Election
JTS: …In fact, our Torah portion includes two dystopias, each of which relates to a distinct constellation of political fears. The first presents as a natural catastrophe—rising flood waters that will wipe out all human habitations on land—but which the Torah ascribes to the consequence of human irresponsibility. A flawed hero manages to salvage what […]
LETTER: A stark choice on Tuesday
…. Words have consequences, and Trump’s hate laced rhetoric has made bigotry acceptable, unleashing a wave of anti-Semitism which went underground following the horrors of the Holocaust.To quote an October 19 article in The New York Times, “Anti-Semitism has been resurgent in Europe for years. But it has taken on a new dimension in the […]
Russian media’s love affair with Trump
BBC: f he could read Russian, I suspect he’d appreciate the way the media here have been covering the US election. Pro-Kremlin newspapers have waxed lyrical about Donald and, at times, torn Hillary to shreds. “I officially declare that Clinton is a cursed witch,” wrote Russian MP Vitaly Milonov recently in the popular tabloid Komsomolskaya […]
Are Russian government related businesses squeezing out the private sector?
By Slava Tsukerman A year ago, Putin devoted a significant part of his message on plans for the 2016 economy. He said the very structure of Russian economy should be changed. All strategic sectors, not just producing raw materials, should be raised to a new competitive level. Lagging sectors should be supported. The key to solving problems […]
LETTER: “The ugly facts”
The ugly fact that the republican majority in the house and senate used our legal system to have eight Benghazi hearings only with the goal of trying to discredit Hillary. It does not surprise me that they would use the FBI for the same purpose. Remember how a patriot John Kerry served a tour fighting […]
Like no other election day
By Dick Miller WE.CONNECT.DOTS: Perfect storm – noun, a detrimental or calamitous situation or event rising from the powerful combined effect of a unique set of circumstances. – Random House, 2016. (290) Sunday, October 30, 2016 – Has a “perfect storm” formed that can turn our Presidential election on November 8 into an event made […]
The Best Way to Save Obamacare
NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED: … As someone involved in the debate over the Affordable Care Act from the start, I don’t find these unhappy events all that surprising. From the outset, I’ve argued that without a public option — a Medicare-like plan that would be available to all Americans buying health insurance — insurance competition […]
Not a trace of media pluralism remains in Hungary, say experts
OCTOBER 29, 2016 BY PÉTER SZEGŐ BUDAPEST BEACON: “For years we’ve prepared a so-called ‘light censorship report’ but this expression is a euphemism. There really isn’t any point to calling it light.” “Let’s not be ashamed to call the system autocratic.” “Public service media has failed in Hungary.” “No trace of media pluralism remains.” These and similar […]
In Pennsylvania Senate race, big money drowns out everyday voices
Real people, who have a right to be heard, and real issues, are being drowned out by a cacophony of meaningless TV ads by Bill Keisling Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race has become the most expensive in U.S. history. To date $118 million has been dumped in to this campaign, which pits incumbent Pat Toomey against […]
Federal court asked to invalidate Pa. judge-retirement vote
PHILLY.COM: : Two former Pennsylvania Supreme Court chief justices and a prominent Philadelphia lawyer are now asking a federal court to declare a ballot question about extending state judges’ retirement age unconstitutional and any votes cast on it invalid. The complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court by former Chief Justices Ronald D. Castille and […]