For more on the indigenous North Americans’ incredibly progressive approach to and history of gender, be sure to read the article we posted on it here. Gay marriage is nothing new in North America; and believe it or not, it transpired for years without wreaking havoc on North American soil.
The Article: A War on the Poor by Paul Krugman in The New York Times.
The Text: John Kasich, the Republican governor of Ohio, has done some surprising things lately. First, he did an end run around his state’s Legislature — controlled by his own party — to proceed with the federally funded expansion of Medicaid that is an important piece of Obamacare. Then, defending his action, he let loose on his political allies, declaring, “I’m concerned about the fact there seems to be a war on the poor. That, if you’re poor, somehow you’re shiftless and lazy.”
Obviously Mr. Kasich isn’t the first to make this observation. But the fact that it’s coming from a Republican in good standing (although maybe not anymore), indeed someone who used to be known as a conservative firebrand, is telling. Republican hostility toward the poor and unfortunate has now reached such a fever pitch that the party doesn’t really stand for anything else — and only willfully blind observers can fail to see that reality.
The big question is why. But, first, let’s talk a bit more about what’s eating the right.
If conservatives were truly fiscally responsible and wanted to curb government spending, they’d increase the national minimum wage. Taxpayers are effectively subsidizing low wages in the form of Medicaid and food stamps. To raise the national minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $9 would bring a family of three just out of poverty, thus increasing their potential to spend and keep others in work as fewer taxpayer funds go into supporting their subsistence. Oh, and, as John Cassidy points out in his great New Yorker article, a lot more goes into unemployment than minimum wage levels alone.
Yep, this about covers it.
The Article: The U.S. Needs a Constitutional Right to Vote by Norm Ornstein in The Atlantic.
The Text: It is becoming increasingly obvious that the Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which eviscerated the Voting Rights Act, is leading to a new era of voter suppression that parallels the pre-1960s era—this time affecting not just African-Americans but also Hispanic-Americans, women, and students, among others.
The reasoning employed by Chief Justice John Roberts in Shelby County—that Section 5 of the act was such a spectacular success that it is no longer necessary—was the equivalent of taking down speed cameras and traffic lights and removing speed limits from a dangerous intersection because they had combined to reduce accidents and traffic deaths.
In North Carolina, a post-Shelby County law not only includes one of the most restrictive and punitive voter-ID laws anywhere but also restricts early voting, eliminates same-day voting registration, ends pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, and bans many provisional ballots. Whatever flimsy voter-fraud excuse exists for requiring voter ID disappears when it comes to these other obstacles to voting.
