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Florida Congressman Allen West was wrong when he suggested that there were dozens of communists in the current Congress. Misled by crank websites, the out-there Republican from Florida said Tuesday, “I believe there’s about 78 to 81 members of the Democrat Party that are members of the Communist Party… They actually don’t hide it. It’s called the Congressional Progressive Caucus.”

It would be generous, indeed, to suggest that West is confused.

The Congress is not currently a haven for followers of Karl Marx.

Natural gas development is spreading like wildfire across the country. Energy companies have drilled more than 75,000 wells in the past five years, many of them on farmlands, near public schools, and in people’s backyards. These wells release benzene and other chemicals known to cause cancer. Yet energy companies aren’t obligated to clean up any of the pollution they put into the air we breathe.

The Pakistani government and its opposition parties have just come together in a rare show of unity to demand that the United States cease all drone attacks inside their country.

As well they should.

On Wednesday night at Madison’s Concourse Hotel, the Democratic Party of Dane County held a candidate forum and a members-only straw poll for the four Democratic candidates challenging Scott Walker for governor: Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, Secretary of State Doug LaFollette and State Senator Kathleen Vinehout.

Monday, 16 April 2012 05:52

Snarling Banker

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Woody Guthrie wrote a song titled "Jolly Banker," a perfect-pitch parody of the propensity of Depression-era bankers to feel good about gouging their small borrowers.

Woody's song could also apply to the gouging we're getting from today's national chain banks, except the song's title should be "Snarling Banker." 

If you’ve never heard of state-funded General Assistance (GA) programs, you’re hardly alone. A “safety net of last resort” for very poor people—often childless adults—who don’t qualify for other forms of public assistance, there aren’t too many of them still in existence. Not too long ago most states offered them, but in recent decades they have been eliminated or severely restricted. Now, only thirty states maintain GA programs, and the benefit level for most falls below one-quarter of the poverty line, or less than $2,750 per year.

Embattled Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who is fighting for his political life in a recall election forced by opponents of his anti-labor agenda, began his reelection campaign with a six-city campaign swing on Tuesday. At each event, Walker entered his gathering to the sound of John Mellencamp's song, "Small Town."

There's only one problem with Walker's musical selection.

Friday, 13 April 2012 07:12

You’re on Your Own, Kids

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Who will speak for the rights of the unborn now that Rick Santorum is gone from the race? Let me give it a whirl from the perspective of one whose own unwed mother had several abortions before yours truly was permitted to emerge.

My arrival came during the U.S. economy’s previous great crash, back in 1936.

March Madness comes once a year. Media Madness is year-round. What the mass media choose to cover and feature try to turn the priorities of any sane society upside down.

People of vice, war, money, spectator sports and business receive media attention – oftentimes ad nauseam. People of virtue, peace, civics, health, labor and community engagement have to beg for media attention. Which of these two groups represents the most basic values of a civilized society that would restrain the excesses of the other group? You can guess!

The Pentagon knows it. The world’s largest insurers know it. Now, governments may be overthrown because of it. It is climate change, and it is real. According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, last month was the hottest March on record for the United States since 1895, when records were first kept, with average temperatures of 8.6 degrees F above average. More than 15,000 March high-temperature records were broken nationally. Drought, wildfires, tornadoes and other extreme weather events are already plaguing the country.

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