Are politicians like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Michelle Bachmann, Paul Ryan, and Marco Rubio populist Tea Party vintage or just tools of the very rich? Is the obstruction caused by Tea Party representatives in Congress really grass-roots, or is it runaway ideologues playing for attention and uncontrolled by their…
You may have read Les Misérables in school or have seen the movie, thinking that Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family, is a fictional character in the distant past, at a time when being poor was a criminal matter and…
By Jim Hoover I can remember that when JFK was president in the 1960s, he gave credence to the best minds in America and routinely utilized them for important advisory and cabinet positions in his administration. Contrarily George W. Bush seemed to brag about his own mediocrity, demonizing the…
By Jim Hoover The members of our political equation leave a lot to be desired, from Congress to President Obama, on down to the voter. In the end, the people as intelligent and informed voters are a critical link to the preservation of democracy, especially in choosing their representatives…
By Jim Hoover Sadly, it is true. Plutocrats are winning the war against the people. And, yes, we should call it a war. Unlike the term’s use in other contexts (war on drugs, for example), it actually is a period of armed conflict between groups: the interests of the…
By Jim Hoover The mainstream media is here for you…not for profit, mind you. How do I know? Because they look after your priorities. If you want an Eagle Scout’s budget, and favor jet-black hair over a receding hairline, the Ryan budget plan is for you, not the “People’s…
By: Jim Hoover Now I know what die-hard conservatives will say without even looking at the chart above: you’re blaming it all on George W. again. Conservatives do have a point. We should blame it on the ignorance and apathy of too many American voters, interference and manipulation of…
By: Jim Hoover Princeton University professor, Cornel West, is bitterly disappointed in Barack Obama. Like many of us, he bought the egalitarian rhetoric Obama used doing the campaign and fought for his election. Now like many of us, he feels betrayed. “The system is rigged against poor and working…
By Jim Hoover The five men photo featured here have proved themselves enemies of the people by rejecting the people and embracing plutocrats (the rich). Over the last three decades, time and time again Democrats have capitulated in approving the appointments of right-wing ideologues to the US Supreme Court.…