In a walnut paneled conference room, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with Georgian chandeliers, Remington-style bronze reproductions, 17th century Flemish art and Persian carpets, including one woven by servants of the Shah of Iran, John Edwards sat in the same chair at a small round table for two days taking copious notes, as panels of policy wonks expounded on new approaches to fight poverty.
In the age of George W., Wal-mart, and free market ideology, few public officials or candidates for office have much to say about the persistence of poverty in the world's wealthiest nation. Yet here was Edwards, calculating whether and how to run for president, at a two-day seminar on poverty that, while attracting 200 people, really had only one student. Read the rest of my article on the Common Dreams website...
I had grown accustomed to Wal-Mart ads. When I first saw their ads on television I was so repulsed by the slick commercials that cover up their corporate abuses: union busting, low wages, unaffordable/unavailable health insurance, discriminatory hiring practices, and more. But over time I have mellowed in my response to these attempts to improve Wal-Mart’s tainted public image. However, this morning I was disturbed from slumber to the sounds of National Public Radio and a sponsorship message about Wal-Mart’s partnership with America’s Second Harvest.
Continue reading "Wal-Mart: Friend to the Hungry?"
Many of you have seen the LA Times' 4-day series last week criticizing the United Farm Workers. In response, I wrote this op-ed, published in the Sunday LA Times (yesterday), criticizing the paper's general coverage of labor and workplace issues.
On a positive note, the NY Times Magazine yesterday ran a great cover story on the growing "living wage" movement around the country, focusing on ACORN staffer Jen Kern.
And Holly Sklar has a great article about Dr. King's views about economic justice and labor on the TomPaine website.
The new (Winter 2006) issue of Dissent has my tribute to Rosa Parks.
CommonSense last week published a tribute to civil liberties and housing activist Frank Wilkinson by Jan Breidenbach and me. It was also published in The Nation as part of Katrina Vanden Heuvel's column
Also in The Nation, I recommend "A Top Ten List of Bold Ideas" by Gar Alperovitz and Thad Williamson. Even if you don't agree with all of these ideas it is important for progressives to create a positive forward-looking agenda, not just be against things.
Something to be against, though, are the huge tax break for the wealthy, including that part of the homeowner deduction that goes to the richest folks with the biggest homes. My article in the current issue of Shelterforce examines President Bush's tax reform task force and its recent recommendation to reform what I call the "mansion subsidy":
Finally, I recommend a new report by Columbia University economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard lecturer Linda Bilmes, who estimate the cost of the war in Iraq at $2 trillion - four times more than the Bush administration's projections.