Category: Columns
Our long neoliberal nightmare: Congress should not begrudge $3.5 trillion reconciliation package for the people
To set themselves apart from Republicans, Democrats must demonstrate the political will to choose the common good over allegiance to corporate wealth. by Michele Swenson Thursday, October 14, 2021 A half century of neoliberal economic policy…
Mean-tested versus entitlements
by Wade Rathke October 10, 2021 Pearl River I hate being one of those “I told you so” people, but anyone listening knows we predicted the “deal” on the social services infrastructure package would come…
This isn’t a labor shortage—It’s a strike by workers kicked in the face by low wages for too long
A lot of those now out of work simply don’t want to return to backbreaking, low-wage shit jobs. Why should they? by Robert Reich October 10, 2021 The U.S. added just 194,000 jobs in September, down…
Turnabout and fair play on Project Veritas
by Wade Rathke October 8, 2021 New Orleans, What’s the old saying? An enemy of my enemy is my friend. Something like that, I think. All of which made reading some parts of a…
Progressives made a power play
by Wade Rathke October 5, 2021 New Orleans It may be high-low bargaining, but at least progressives played their hands powerfully in order to get to try to get to the maximum number on Biden’s…
So-called ‘centrists’ are really incredibly dangerous extremists
Their supposed “seriousness” poses a serious threat to everyone but the small group of elites whose short-term interests they actually represent. by Peter Bloom Tuesday, October 5, 2021 After a half decade of progressive political gains,…
Homeownership gap widens
by Wade Rathke September 28, 2021 New Orleans When I wrote Citizen Wealth, published in 2009, I proudly recorded the role that ACORN played in increasing the homeownership rate of Black and Hispanic Americans…
Environmental money scams
by Wade Rathke September 27, 2021 Pearl River No question. Climate change is a big deal. For every hurricane alert, storm warning, and sudden street flooding, environmental consciousness is rising as quickly as the wind…
Democrats need to stand up to corporate extremists in their own party
Wall Street Democrats are not just resisting progress but putting freedom and democracy in jeopardy. by Peter Bloom September 27, 2021 The progressive optimism that the Biden presidency might lead to real change is quickly fading…
The fight for rent control is global
by Wade Rathke September 25, 2021 Pearl River Talking to Sydnee Blum, ACORN’s head organizer in eastern Canada on Wade’s World, she told a shocking story of a member in one of the neighborhoods who…
Talk radio needs you!
by Wade Rathke, August 22, 2021 Pearl River In the coming days I’ll be driving from Louisiana through Mississippi, then Alabama and Georgia before I get to Atlanta. Once there, I’ll do my…
Decolonizing Wealth
by Wade Rathke August 21, 2021 Pearl River When we last spoke to Edgar Villanueva a couple of years ago when the first edition of his book, Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore…
MASK REVOLT – really?!?
by Wade Rathke August 18, 2021 New Orleans f all of the revolts we might imagine in the fever dreams of our lives, the anti-mask rebellion has to be one for the comic books. Much of…
My kids’ school won’t reinstate masks despite a recent surge in COVID cases. Here’s what I chose to do.
Georgia’s Cobb County School District had parents choose between virtual and in-person learning, then lifted its mask mandate. Many families are frantically figuring out how to navigate this reality. ProPublica reporter Nicole Carr is one of…
2021-2030: The Renewal Decade
Protecting and regenerating the viability of our blue-green home is the essential work of the next few years. Everyone is needed and we each have a role to play. by Diana Donlon June 5, 2021 On…
Ending food insecurity in Native communities means restoring land rights, handing back control
Since the 1980s, an influx of fast food restaurants and convenience stores and an exodus of supermarkets in poorer neighborhoods across the U.S. have led to chronic disease disparities in low-income communities and racial minorities. This…
Michael Harrington
by Tom Gallagher Saturday, May 15, 2021 A talk given to the San Francisco Democratic Socialists of America. During the dark ages of American socialism, well before the first Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, a friend of…
NPR at 50 – Straying from its civic mission?
by Ralph Nader This month [May, 2021] is the 50th anniversary of National Public Radio (NPR). Knowing about my work back then with other advocates, to persuade Congress to pass legislation creating NPR and PBS, (which…
Are unemployed workers striking?
by Wade Rathke May 12, 2021 A small group of state governors have announced that their states may abandon the supplemental unemployment program way before its September expiration. The number of Republican governors making the announcement…
Highlander and Horton
by Wade Rathke May 8, 2021 New Orleans It was fun talking to Stephen Preskill about his new book, Education in Black and White: Myles Horton and the Highlander Center’s Vision for Social Justice, on…
Violent overthrow of government – DÉJÀ VU
by Wade Rathke May 11, 2021 New Orleans There are some in America who live in denial about our history, despite the fact it is riddled with violence and contemptuous of democracy. For them the…
Getting the lead out
by Wade Rathke May 20, 2021 New Orleans I’m not sure that there has ever been a day in America when people could say, “Let Newark lead the way!” If there was, it was a…
Remembering fresh eyes to horrible situations
by Wade Rathke April 30, 2021 New Orleans – We were lucky on our work to launch the ACORN Tenants Union in Atlanta to have a bunch of serious and committed young apprentice organizers with us…
A hard look at the Amazon Bessemer union election – Part I
by Wade Rathke April 10, 2021 Pearl River The results of the union election at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama are finally tallied and the scorecard by the numbers was 1798 voting NO to be…
