workers

By Peter van Buren via Tomdispatch Last year eight Americans — the four Waltons of Walmart fame, the two Koch brothers, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett — made more money than 3.6 million American minimum-wage workers combined. The median pay for CEOs at America’s large corporations rose to $10 million per year, while a typical chief executive now makes […]

Republican Party

Top 15 Ways Republicans Have Screwed Our Soldiers and Veterans

contributors

Republicans love waging wars, but they sure don’t seem to love America’s soldiers and veterans. Whether they’re getting our soldiers killed in Iraq or cutting their food stamps here at home, here are the 15 top ways the GOP screws those who serve…

Economy

S. Carolina Bible College head Slaveholder Arrested. Yes, You Read That Correctly

contributors

… and your jaw is going to hit the floor when you read what he does for a living: The president of a South Carolina Bible college was charged last week with essentially treating foreign students as slaves by forcing them to perform work for little…

Featured

On Memorial Day, Let’s do right by our Veterans

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Memorial Day should honor not only those military personnel who gave their lives for America but really all those who have suffered and died in war. Given the difficulties that have been revealed for Veterans in getting prompt and thorough healthcare from the VA, it is also a day in which those […]

Economy

Under World Cup Pressure, Qatar reforms Guest Worker Laws, abolishes Sponsorship System

Juan Cole

Qatar to end sponsorship system for foreign workers (via AFP) Qatar, host of the 2022 football World Cup, said Wednesday it will abolish its controversial sponsorship system for foreign workers, whose treatment in the energy-rich state has stirred mounting international criticism. FIFA chief Sepp Blatter described… ——- AFP: “Qatar to end sponsorship system for […]

Dissent

Fracking Victims demand Environmental Protection Agency Intervention

Juan Cole

(By Lauren McCauley) The 150 million Americans routinely exposed to toxic air as a result of oil and gas drilling need better protection from their government, demanded a coalition of 64 environmental and community groups, who on Tuesday filed a petition (pdf) asking the Environmental Protection Agency to set limits on the air pollutants emitted […]

Barack Obama

Reich on Obama Walmart Photo-Op: “What numbskull arranged this?”

Juan Cole

(By John Queally) A low-wage Walmart employee in California has a simple message for President Obama on behalf of the millions of workers who find themselves in situations just like hers: "Help us." President Obama's … speaking engagement at a Walmart superstore in California on Friday has attracted widespread criticism for those who think the […]

Economy

Rep. Paul Ryan targets Poor as his “Signature Issue”, and I do Mean Targets (Cartoon)

Juan Cole

By Paul Jamiol, from Jamiol’s World

Featured

Jose Antonio Vargas’ “Documented” on Plight of Undocumented to air on CNN after Theatrical Release

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) I was privileged to see a special screening of Jose Antonio Vargas’s breathlessly awaited documentary, “Documented,” when I was in Los Angeles last week, and honored to meet Vargas himself along with executive producer Janet Wang (“The Joy Luck Club,” “The People vs Larry Flynt”). The film was shown in a class […]