Monica Potts

The Union of Concerned Scientists, growing impatient, criticizes the Obama administration for taking too long on needed reforms. The director from the group’s scientific integrity program, Francesca Grifo, notes that President Obama promised as a candidate to end political interference with science. But, more than a year after his inauguration, the scientific reasons for particular […]

The New York City Council has finally decided to look into the police department’s policy of saving personal information gathered during a stop-and-frisk, the Daily News reports. The department had been storing information from people who were stopped but not charged or accused of any wrongdoing in a database that could be searched by law […]

After I wrote a column supporting New York’s latest effort to tax sugary drinks, I read RaceWire’s column on how it’s just another tax to hurt poor people. While, yes, sales taxes are regressive, decrying this tax as a social justice issue misses the point. For starters, as I wrote in my piece, this sales […]

It’s always amusing when conservatives try to portray increasing government revenue as fiscally irresponsible. But the ridiculousness reached its height in Carly Fiorina‘s Demon Sheep ad against her Senate opponent Tom Campbell, which portrayed his past support of tax increases to balance California’s budget as such. But of course, when lawmakers are actually faced with […]

Connecticut might be closer to passing a bill that would require employers to provide paid sick leave, an effort that is similar to a bill proposed in the fall by Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd. But the Senate is tied up with bigger bills. The Connecticut Business and Industry Association helped stop the bill the last […]

States may soon adopt national core standards for education that were designed by state governors and state school leaders, The Washington Post reports. It’s part of President Obama’s efforts to improve academics across the country. When the No Child Left Behind Act tried to make schools accountable for educating their students, perhaps the biggest misstep […]

The Post and Courier in South Carolina recently ran an article on accusations of racial profiling in North Charleston. In that city, police pull black drivers over more often, and black men are twice as likely to be pulled over than white men, the article says, citing police statistics. While African Americans made up 45 […]

Via RaceWire, Obama has signed an executive order to bolster federal support for historically black colleges and universities: Obama says these schools have felt the pain of the recession (and his own cuts last year) the most because they enroll a higher proportion of low and middle-income students. His order includes $850 million which will […]

Last night, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win an Academy Award for best director, and her film, The Hurt Locker became the first female-directed movie to take home the best picture award. It was a big relief that the artfully constructed film — albeit a possible propaganda machine — and Bigelow both won […]