In These Times

Latest Comments view all 32

• • 27 Apr 09
  • 8:22 am

  I've never heard anyone claim that all earmarks are wasteful. The problem is, it's incredibly difficult to separate the wasteful earmarks from the useful ones. Rep. DeFazio's concept of accountability is obviously self-serving -- "I spend federal money on local projects, and I keep getting re-elected" -- well, imagine that! But what about the rest of us who are paying for DeFazio's projects? Is it unreasonable for us to ask for some oversight in the process? A huge assumption runs through David Sirota's article -- that useful projects can only be funded through earmarks. There is no alternative. This is the …

  Posted to ‘Reform’ To Nowhere

• • 13 Apr 09
  • 7:23 am

  A very inspiring story, and a timely reminder that "change" comes from the bottom-up, not the top-down. Thank you.

  Posted to Building Utopia

• • 07 Apr 09
  • 12:37 pm

  > It was orchestrated, through deliberate and > massive deregulation, by “free market” > Republicans.  So the Democrats are off the hook? Really?

  Posted to Let’s Expose the Poster Boys of Greed

• • 11 Mar 09
  • 10:23 am

  After being called a "coward" by the Attorney General, it's refreshing to read a conversation about race that acknowledges the complexities and nuances and doesn't talk down to us with dogmatic snobbery. And it's about time that someone brought "class" back into the discussion. Well done to both interviewer and interviewee.

  Posted to Road Tripping Through Whitopia

• • 04 Mar 09
  • 9:14 am

  Unfortunately, the Obama campaign was a missed opportunity and a huge setback for campaign finance reform. It started with two leading candidates -- both Obama and McCain -- who claimed to favor reform, pledged to use public financing and work within campaign spending limits. McCain kept his promise. Obama didn't, and went on to run the most expensive political campaign ever in the history of mankind. Obama spent more than the 2004 Bush and Kerry campaigns combined. Three-quarters of a BILLION dollars! And it was spent on the kind of marketing and branding that until recently has been the stock-in-trade of …

  Posted to The Audacity of Reform