FAST TIMES AT RECRUITMENT HIGH: How Obama’s education secretary opened public high schools up to the military
Another new piece of mine at Mother Jones on Education Secretary Arne Duncan and his past record in Chicago’s school for opening them up to the military. *** Fast Times at Recruitment High When Arne Duncan stepped down as the head of the Chicago Public Schools to become the secretary of education in January, the school district he left behind had little to brag about. For six of Duncan’s seven years as its chief executive officer, CPS received an average or below... Read More
The Government’s Foreclosure Rescue Mirage
Mother Jones published a new investigative story of mine today on the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program, its $75 billion, largely taxpayer funded foreclosure prevention program. The one that’s been one big bust. I’ve excerpted the piece below, and you can check the full thing out and comment on it here, at MotherJones.com. (Which you should do!) Or definitely shoot me an e-mail or comment on this site as well. *** Fausto Ordoñez tells his story... Read More
Will U.S. Back Bogus Afghan Elections?
The fact that tomorrow’s presidential election in Afghanistan will be mired in corruption, fraud, and backroom dealing is all but certain, writes The Nation‘s Ann Jones, author of Kabul In Winter and an incisive voice on all things Afghan. The more pressing question, she says, is this: Will the U.S., in the name of demonstrating Afghanistan’s "progress" toward democracy, validate the election and deem it "credible"? If it does (and it very... Read More
Why We Can All Move Past Co-ops and Public Options
Now that the public option in health care reform seems to be nearing its demise, non-profit co-ops are all the rage, with every damn media outlet in the Union scrambling to pick apart the latest player in the health-care debate. Just as the public option’s merits have been debated and fought over ad nauseum, so, too, will this latest twist in the health care battle, an idea largely connected to Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), a member of the (unfortunately) influential Gang of... Read More
Four Reasons to Foil the Fed
Like oil and water, the Federal Reserve and transparency do not mix. Or, as the incisive Bill Greider, author of Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country, wrote in a recent cover story for The Nation: “The Federal Reserve is the black hole of our democracy—the crucial contradiction that keeps the people and their representatives from having any voice in these most important public policies.” Who can forget former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan’s... Read More
