As a writer, I get stuck every so often straining for the right words to tell my story. Over the years, though, I’ve learned when to quit tying myself into mental knots over sentence construction, instead stepping back and rethinking where my story is going. Upgrade your subscription This process is essentially what millions of American working fam…

You’re not fooling me, Jimmy Carter. You did that on purpose! Dying when you did, I mean. You chose last month to grab the global political spotlight once more to make a statement with the only Earthly move you had left: Checking out. What better way to make people ponder the state of political integrity in America than to reflect on Carter just th…

Woody Guthrie’s “New Years Rulin’s” I made a few New Year’s resolutions this week – not for me, but as self-improvement ideas for some of the people running our country. No need for them to thank me – happy to help. I drafted one for the GOP’s whole ultra-rightist gaggle of lawmakers who keep blocking passage of health coverage for poor people. “Re…

One of the most perverse political gambits this year has been pushed by foam-at-the-mouth, right-wing extremists. They’ve been trying to convince Americans to close their minds to all efforts promoting our society’s democratic goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion. “Don’t Be Woke,” they bark. Upgrade your subscription Hello, numbskulls! From 17…

This holiday season got me to thinking about America's spirit of giving, and I don't mean this overdone business of Christmas, Hanukkah and other holiday gifts. I mean our true spirit of giving -- giving of ourselves. Yes, we are a country of rugged individualists, yet there's also a deep, community-minded streak in each of us. We're a people who b…

And lo, the Magi came from afar, guided by a heavenly star to worship the Messiah of Mar-a-Lago. Bearing precious gifts of flattery, cash, and bitcoin, the corporate Magi fell to their knees in awe when they beheld the Orange Aura in his gilded manger. These starry-eyed worshippers are not religious seekers, but überrich CEOs of Wall Street banks a…

America has endured a long panorama of corporate greed – from the East India Trading Company to the Robber Barons, Gordon Gecko Wall Streeters to Elon Musk. But down at the bottom of raw greediness today, you’ll find the insatiable profiteers of the private nursing home industry. Of course, many providers deliver honest, truly-caring service (espec…

How are monopolistic corporations able to gain their economic dominance? By getting politicians to give it to them. Consider the old robber barons. They weren’t brilliant investors or managers, but ruthless exploiters of government giveaways and bribers of officials who permitted their monopolistic thievery. Likewise, today’s monopoly players have …

This piece originally appeared in The Nation on Dec 11, 2024. Details below on the December 14 memorial and donation considerations. Los dose mustaches, joyously plotting some more good trouble, c2000. In Washington and most state capitals, “political principle” has become an oxymoron, with plain political honesty largely trumped by crude partisans…

Photo: Choo Yut Shing on Flickr Let’s all sing the holiday classic: “All I want for Christmas… Is Something Not Made of Plastic.” Easier sung than done. Plastic is now ubiquitous in toys, electronics, tools, air, water… and us. And don’t forget the plastic Baby Jesus in Christmas tableaus. What is plastic, anyway? It’s a toxic synthetic material mo…

Former New Mexico governor Bruce King was renown for his frequent malapropisms and contorted logic. For example, he once refused to back a bill pushed by loan-shark lobbyists – but, he pledged that it if the legislature passed the thing, he would sign it. Well, the bill did pass… but Bruce vetoed it! The lobbyists swarmed him, crying that he had gi…

Is “corporate ethics” an oxymoron? Do you have to be a jerk to be a successful CEO? Is exploitation the only path to profit? The good news is that many companies, big and small, in the food economy are blazing a different path through Wall Street’s jungle of greed, demonstrating that money and morality can be compatible. Texas supermarket chain HEB…

Social media has been lighting up like fireworks, with a myriad of Trump voters exclaiming: “I didn’t know he meant me!” For example, many MAGA cheerleaders are now shocked to learn that his rallying cry to eliminate “Obamacare” means killing the popular Affordable Care Act that provides their health coverage! Upgrade your subscription Perhaps the …

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all! For the holiday, we’re sharing with you one of our favorite Thanksgiving origin stories from Hightower below. And as a bonus, while you’re cooking your food or relaxing after dinner, here’s our Dinner Democracy show from 2021, featuring friends Raj Patel and Tom Philpott. Let’s talk Turkey! No, not the Butterballs in Cong…

Howard Lutnick wants to have his cake and eat it, too. Then, he intends to eat your cake. Lutnick is another billionaire corporate huckster who was a campaign bagman for Trump, and now he’s to become the Commerce Secretary. But first, he’s been tasked with picking hordes of corporate loyalists to be placed in Trump’s government as friendly “regulat…

Welcome back to installment #2 of our new series on reasons to be hopeful as we approach an otherwise, ahem, challenging political future. Do you have wins and progress we should celebrate? Leave ‘em in the comments and share links! And this is also just a quick reminder that many “wins” are happening outside of traditional party politics and party…

Wow! Who says election promises don’t produce real change? Candidate Trump had loudly proclaimed that he would force US corporations to move their Chinese manufacturing jobs back to America. How? By imposing a whopping new tariff on all of the made-in-China products they sell to us. Upgrade your subscription Even he must have been surprised, though…

As any farmer can tell you, if you want to harvest a crop, you’ve got to get out of the office and go to work in the field. Why can’t the Democratic Party grasp this basic reality when it comes to producing votes? This year was going to be different. Pressed by progressive rural activists, national party leaders agreed to open a network of get-out-…