In the early morning on Tuesday, about half a dozen men armed with assault rifles began walking the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, which was under a state of emergency following protests on the August 9 anniversary of the killing of Michael Brown. They were members of Oath Keepers, described by the Southern Poverty Law Center […]
Blog: TAPPED
Posted inEducation in America
Using Tech to Improve Government
In the modern digital era, a growing number of individuals and organizations are trying to figure out how to harness technology to improve democracy. I have written previously about the Personal Democracy Forum-an annual conference of civic tech groups in New York City-and while these spaces can certainly give rise to overblown hype (think HBO’s […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Lawrence Lessig’s Curious Candidacy for Campaign-Finance Reform
Last night, The New York Times reported that prominent campaign-finance reformer Lawrence Lessig is considering a Democratic run for president. His civic-minded platform is simple, and his plan is rather curious. If he can raise $1 million in small donations by Labor Day, Lessig will run for president with the sole purpose of passing legislation-the […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
The CEO Lobby Is Mad About the SEC’s Pay Ratio Rule
When Congress passed Dodd-Frank in 2010, the most substantial piece of Wall Street reform in years, it included a provision that required most publicly traded companies to disclose the compensation ratio between its CEO and its average worker-a symbolic measure that Democrats included as a way to shine light on income inequality. Last week (more […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Bernie Knows Repealing Citizens United Isn’t Enough. Does Anyone Else?
Earlier this week, Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders announced that he will introduce legislation that will create a robust public campaign-finance system in an attempt to beat back the unhinged influence of big money in the U.S. electoral system. “The need for real campaign finance reform is not a progressive issue. It […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
A Toast to John Kasich, the GOP Debate’s Token “Moderate”
Tonight, 17 Republican presidential candidates will take the stage in Cleveland in an attempt to differentiate themselves from the competition, or, if all else fails, offer entertainment during a highly anticipated primetime event. Public health officials are even warning viewers of the danger of playing drinking games while watching such predictably unpredictable candidates as front-runner […]
Posted inEducation in America
NLRB Rules Teach for America Members Have a Right to Unionize
In another interesting development for the movement to unionize charter schools, the National Labor Relations Board ruled last week that Teach for America corps members should have been allowed to vote in a Detroit charter union election earlier this year. Detroit 90/90, a charter management organization for the University Prep charter network, said that Teach […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
On Its 50th Anniversary, the Case for Restoring the Voting Rights Act
It’s been 50 years since Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, guaranteeing blacks the right to vote after decades of disenfranchisement. The landmark legislation came at a crucial time in American history; the civil rights movement was in full swing and progress was slowly being made. But in 2015, voting rights […]
Posted inCivil Rights in America
Will We See More Suburban Opposition to Fair-Housing Rules?
According to a Fair Housing complaint filed last month by the Department of Justice, Palmdale and Lancaster in the northern section of Los Angeles County are the latest satellite cities to be found discriminating against African American Section 8 voucher holders. This comes as disturbing but not unsurprising news as communities of color, particularly in […]
Posted inAmerica and the World
The Gray Lady Agrees: Southern Workers Are Cheaper Than China’s
Today’s New York Times features a front-page story on Chinese textile firms opening new factories not in China but in the American South. With the steep rise in the wages of Chinese workers and the stagnation (at best) of the wages of American workers-Southern workers most particularly-and with the higher levels of productivity and lower […]
