Banking on CEOs’ goodwill is not a substitute for the lasting gains that can be made through worker organizing.Â
Justin Miller
Justin Miller covers politics and state government for the Texas Observer. He is a former Prospect writing fellow, and has also written for The Intercept, The New Republic, and In These Times. Follow @by_jmiller
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
The Emerging Wealthy White Male Donor Class: A Chicago Case Study
Riding on the coattails of the nation’s bursting wealth gap is another crisis of inequality-political inequality, campaign-finance watchdogs warn. Fueled by unprecedented levels of wealth, rich white men, in particular, have formed an elite political donor class that has gained an outsized influence over policy, reform advocates say. Meanwhile, people of color and women who […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Charles Koch Bemoans Money in Politics But Lobbies Against Reform
The latest front in the Koch brothers’ perpetual public relations campaign (which recently included a feeble admission that climate change is real) found Charles Koch sitting down with ABC News for an exclusive interview. The conversation with Jonathan Karl that aired last Sunday cast Koch in the unlikely role of benevolent billionaire. The man who […]
Posted inWorking in America
Uber, Airbnb, and Other Labor Dilemmas
What the Uber settlement and the SEIU-Unite HERE fracas means for labor as it navigates Silicon Valley disruption.Â
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Watchdogs Sue Over FEC Inaction
Two watchdog groups have sued the Federal Election Commission for dismissing a string of complaints they lodged alleging that large donors used limited liability corporations to shield their identities-a violation of election laws that prohibit “straw” donations. The Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 argue in their lawsuit that the agency’s dismissal of their complaints […]
Posted inCivil Rights in America
Springtime for Democracy
Activists who just wrapped up more than a week of protests and civil disobedience on Capitol Hill this week say their broad-based coalition captures mounting voter anger over political money, voting rights and legislative dysfunction in Washington.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
From Verizon to McDonald’s, the Worker Strikes Back
Recent workplace actions highlight two different strategies for worker gains, and the central challenges that they both bring to the labor movement.Â
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Activists Swarm Capitol for Democracy Protests
On Sunday, more than a thousand people gathered on Capitol Hill for a “Democracy Awakening” rally to demand that Congress move to protect voting rights, limit political spending, and create a public financing system for political campaigns. Activists also want the Senate to take up President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to replace the […]
Posted inLaw and Justice
Did Cuomo Miss His Chance to Enact Ethics Reform?
Watchdogs worry that the state’s best chance at rooting out corruption has slipped away, yet again.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Does Wisconsin’s Right-to-Work Law Expose a Fatal Flaw?
Labor advocates may have found a legal strategy for combating the anti-union laws, and eyes turn to the New York primary.Â
