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Speaker Newt Gingrich and his allies in Congress have given new meaning to the saying “form over substance.” As they debate the various “contract” provisions some members of Congress are moving toward making laws based on little more than myths. The “deliberations” aimed at undermining our civil justice system demonstrate how little some of our…
“Curiosity” decided one recent day to leave her place in the “Cs” and traipse through the dictionary to see what words were rising rapidly in usage. First, though, she secured a software program that displayed a bright light over those words currently receiving heavily and growing use. One of the brightest lights she saw on…
If you ever want evidence about how corrupting money is in politics, consider this crude and cruel triangle. Corporations violate health, safety and securities fraud laws. Then they settle with the courts or federal law enforcement agencies for large sums of money. At the same time, these company political action committees are pouring money into…
The message from the New York Times in late January was: if you wish to be commemorated for a productive life, be a famous writer, producer and director of plays and not a person who is most responsible for saving the lives of 3 million children in the world every year. George Abbott, age 107…
Abstract ideology is tempted by extremism — a lesson Republican Governor George Allen was stunningly taught last week by the Virginia legislature. His $2.5 billion tax cut for businesses and individuals over 5 years was rejected, along with some draconian cuts in social service programs. Granted the legislature is controlled by Democrats, but in Virginia…
Did you ever wonder whether there are any constitutional limitations on the use of your tax dollars, other than to observe the separation of church and state? Well, President Clinton just brazenly decided that even Congress is not needed in applying $20 billion of your dollars to bailout the corrupt Mexican government, its billionaire oligarchs…
The Republican run Congress is determined to sweep aside much of the existing federal law and order against business fraud on consumers, investors and small shareholders. Before they plunge forward, with their ignorance and callousness at full throttle, they should read Mark Green’s soon-to-be-released book about what is confronting shoppers these days in the sleazy…
When Republican Governor, Pete Wilson, surveyed the flooding from California’s torrential rains, what did he do? He demanded help from the federal government. When Republican House Speaker, Newt Gingrich, learned of the plummeting Mexico peso and stock market, what did he do? He declared his support of a Washington bailout, on the U.S. taxpayers’ “full…
The forked tongue of the new House Speaker, Newt Gingrich, was working overtime in his first week of power in Congress. It is important to learn what his self-styled “revolution” and saving “American civilization” mean to the people — their health, safety, economic rights and democracy. First, though, to illustrate how much of the Capitol…
Except for the Republican victors, political Washington has been a dreary and depressed place these days. The town’s political media has never been more devoid of imagination -looking for new ideas but not seeking them out, wondering about new voices but making sure none of them get heard or seen in the papers or on…