By now, you’ve heard Elizabeth Warren cite that if minimum wage kept up with inflation, minimum wage workers would receive $22 per hour (which would do much to solve problems of poverty and so-called reliance on welfare, by the way). Here, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich makes his appeal for upping the wages of millions of workers from coast to coast.
The Bush I-appointed justice: a true master of word economy.
The Article: Where The Sun Don’t Shine by Paul D Thacker in Slate.
The Text: President Obama has failed to deliver on few promises as miserably as his vow to create a more transparent and open government. Shortly after being sworn into office, he sent a memo to federal agencies promising, “We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration.”
At the time, I was a staffer on the Senate Finance Committee for Republican Charles Grassley and couldn’t help but laugh.
Before I worked on Capitol Hill, I was a reporter and broke a story about how Bush administration officials had silenced federal scientists who had tried to speak up about climate change after Hurricane Katrina. I based the article on documents and email messages I had uncovered through the Freedom of Information Act. Even though the Department of Commerce handed over the emails, I was disappointed to discover that portions of them had been illegally redacted to hide the involvement of specific political appointees.
After seeing years of heavy-handed secrecy and incessant White House claims of national security to hide the ball from Congress, I supported President Obama’s efforts to clean things up and restore some balance. But like most reporters, I am suspicious of these types of promises, especially from politicians. Regardless of who occupies the White House, I understand that power wants power. Scrutiny just gets in the way.
Despite what Tea Party Republicans might have you think, a majority of Americans still believe that humans have evolved over time. It gets murkier, though, when you ask questions about our purpose and place in the universe–many of which can only be “answered” if you believe in God. This debate attempts to address that divide.
Dubya characteristically low-balled the cost of his lame duck war. Like most other things involved with his administration, we’ll be paying for their decisions for decades.
