Many books will be written about the stolen presidential election of 2000. And when they are, one prominent factor will be the Republicans systematic and extra-legal effort to reduce black voting, details of which are just now being pieced together. Black turnout was way up this year, and nowhere more dramatically than in Florida. Black […]
Robert Kuttner
Robert Kuttner is co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect, and professor at Brandeis University’s Heller School. His latest book is Notes for Next Time: Surviving Tyranny, Redeeming America. Follow Bob at his site, robertkuttner.com, and on Twitter.
Posted inFeatures
Comment: The McCain Mutiny
On most issues, Republican legislators have presented a solid phalanx to give the Bush administration whatever it wants. The exception is campaign finance reform–and the chink in the Republican armor is Arizona Senator John McCain. Should Democrats be cheered? The answer is a qualified yes. For starters, the reform coalition is mostly McCain plus Democrats. […]
Posted inFeatures
Comment: Taking It with You
As Sheldon Pollack writes in this issue [“It’s Alive,” page 29], Republicans in Congress are close to killing the estate tax. Some remnant will survive, but it could be significantly cut, and with the collusion of many Democrats. Why get rid of a tax paid only by the richest 1 percent of Americans? Why scrap […]
Posted inFeatures
Comment: Top-Down Class Warfare
I t is difficult for a liberal to raise concerns about irresponsible corporations without being accused of class warfare. The Wall Street Journal recently ridiculed Al Gore for “schlock populism” and cynical “business-bashing.” In truth Gore’s criticism is carefully calibrated and directed against assaults that affect the broad middle class. The vice president goes after […]
Posted inEconomic Policy
Of Our Time: Taking Care of Business
Few trends could so thoroughly undermine the very foundations of our free society as the acceptance by corporate officials of a social responsibility other than to make as much money for their shareholders as possible. -Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom I n a market economy, as Charles E. Lindblom reminded us in Politics and Markets, […]
Posted inArticle
War Profiteering On Anthrax Meds
Depending on what terrorists do next, America could be on the verge of a public health catastrophe. The administration is moving belatedly to develop stocks of antibiotics to treat anthrax. The government is also looking to procure 300 million doses of smallpox vaccine to inoculate a new generation against a weaponized disease that was wiped […]
Posted inArticle
If You Took an Airplane Recently, You Know Deregulation’s a Loser
If you are like millions of Americans who vacationed this summer, you paid top dollar for airline tickets, had little choice of airline, and were rewarded by long delays. But then, when you landed, you became a sovereign consumer again. You had your choice of car rental companies, hotels, and restaurants. You could shop around […]
Posted inFeatures
Comment: Diminished Expectations
One of my New Year’s resolutions was to clean out my study. I am something of a pack rat. I have research files on every book and major article I’ve written going back to the 1970s, mostly sorted by topic. Throwing away outdated material under such headings as “budget,” “unemployment,” “savings rate,” and “inflation,” I […]
Posted inFeatures
Comment: Boom Box
This month, the economic boom enters its 107th month, making it the longest expansion in U.S. history. But there are now two small clouds on the economic horizon. With the economy having grown in the fourth quarter of 1999 not at the 3- or even 4-percent annual rate that most economists now consider sustainable, but […]
Posted inFeatures
Comment: Free Fall
It is hard to believe that the Bush administration could be in so much trouble on so many fronts. Just in the past few weeks, Bush has found himself politically isolated on the issues of stem cell research, offshore oil drilling, prescription benefits under Medicare, patients’ rights, access to the United States for Mexican trucks, […]
