RSS

Abby Rapoport

Abby Rapoport is a staff writer at The American Prospect. She was previously a political reporter for the Texas Observer. Her email is arapoport@prospect.org

Recent Articles

A Plan to Privatize a State's Entire Male Prison System

Abby RapoportMay 21, 2012
(Flickr/Tim Pearce, Los Gatos)

It's been tough times for the prison privatization industry. The two biggest companies both have extra space thanks to a recent drop in the number of people sent to private prisons. The companies just can't seem to expand their share of the market. The poor guys really lost out when the Florida Senate killed a bill that would have privatized 27 prisons and displaced more than 3,500 workers. The lobbying was so aggressive, one senator with health problems actually had to get protection from her colleagues.

Dems Use Walker "Divide and Conquer" Remark to Their Advantage

Abby RapoportMay 14, 2012
(Flickr/WisPolitics.com)

After he pushed laws to limit collective bargaining for public employees, sparking mass protests last year, it's hardly surprising to discover that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker told one of his biggest contributors that he favored right-to-work laws and would take a "divide and conquer" approach to union power. But when a video clip surfaced late last week, showing the governor saying just that, it offered his opponents a major opportunity.

Meet Tom Barrett

Abby RapoportMay 09, 2012
(Flickr/barret4wi)

Last night, Wisconsin Democrats chose Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett as their candidate to go up against Governor Scott Walker. Barrett's pretty well known to Wisconsinites, both as a U.S. congressman and as a previous gubernatorial candidate. But most of us weren't all that interested in Wisconsin until Walker passed his anti-union laws and the widespread protestss began last year. Since then, the race has developed a national following—and some say, has national implications.

Lugar Sounds the Alarm against GOP Extremism

Abby RapoportMay 09, 2012
(Flickr/ kennethkonica)

There's been a lot of talk about how veteran Senator Dick Lugar could have salvaged his campaign. The Indiana Republican was soundly defeated by nearly 20 points yesterday in  primary race against a Tea Party-backed challenger. He lost amid criticisms that he's too close to Obama and not dogmatic enough for the GOP.

In Voter ID Case, Court Tells Texas to Quit Stalling

Abby RapoportMay 08, 2012
(Flickr/whiteafrican)

In what read like a pretty clear smack-down, the federal court hearing the Texas voter ID case yesterday ordered the state to get its act together and quit stalling—or lose all hope of implementing a voter ID law by the November elections.

Pages