I worked the polls in Fairfax, Virginia on election day 2012. I opened the door at 6:00 am, logged voters in, operated the machines, and passed out “I voted” stickers on the way out. At 10:00 pm when our results had been tabulated and machines disassembled, I signed official documents to “certify that this statement [...]
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The private prison industry is on the march. In recent months the industry moved to take over 24 state prisons in southern Florida and buy five prisons in Ohio. Now it’s making moves in Michigan.
But the industry doesn’t always win. Resistance isn’t futile.
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I'm a middle-aged, middle-class PTA dad who participates in Occupy DC because I want a better country for our kids.
On Sunday, the National Park Service brutally tased a peaceful, young Occupy DC demonstrator. This was a prelude to their threatened crackdown of Occupy DC today at noon.
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I’ve been spending evenings and weekends recently with the Occupy protestors in DC. I can’t stay full time because, unlike many protestors, I have two children and a full-time job. But I clearly share their interests and I’m glad they’re making the ruckus. Our economy is broken. Hard work doesn’t pay, and the rewards of [...]
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On Labor Day, President Obama rediscovered his roots. He traveled to the LaborFest rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and proposed $50 billion in infrastructure spending to “create jobs” and “make our economy hum over the long haul.” Everything was on target — from the substance to the politics. The only thing off was the size. Start [...]
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Yesterday evening I attended an event sponsored by my U.S. Representative, Jim Moran (D-VA). I accepted an invitation I received from his email list to a community forum called “Principles & Priorities: How would you balance the budget?” I’m no dummy and I was expecting political theater, but I thought at least the theater would [...]
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Enough with blaming public employees for all of America’s problems. Last week public employees in Oregon marched on the state Capitol with a billion dollars worth of recommendations for government efficiencies and revenue enhancements. On Monday in Lansing, Michigan, public employees presented their own report, New Solutions for Michigan, with concrete suggestions on how state [...]
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As the debate heats up over Elizabeth Warren to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, I took a step out on my own. I got a divorce. I am no longer a wholly owned subsidiary of Wells Fargo Bank. First Wells Fargo acquired the bank I’d been banking in. Then Wells Fargo acquired my mortgage. [...]
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Yesterday I attended a conference on the Renaissance of American Manufacturing in Washington DC. It included a variety of organizations with interests in trade, from the US Business and Industry Council to the International Association of Machinists and the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. It was another step in our turn towards renewing the [...]
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The August unemployment data are out. The unemployment rate was “about unchanged” at 9.6 percent,” says the BLS press release. Teenagers “showed little change” at 26.3 percent, as did African Americans (16.3 percent) and Hispanics (12.0 percent). You can feel the boredom in the release. No change, no news, nothing to report. But the data [...]
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