According to an analysis by the Pew Research Center, the number of states in which Hispanic children make up 20 percent or more of the kindergarten class has increased from 8 percent in 2000, to 17 percent in 2012. The Hispanic population has jumped from 15 million to almost 54 million over the past 30 […]
Can California Democrats save their supermajorities? A look at the Golden State’s legislative races
California State Senate In 2012, California Democrats finally and unexpectedly won their long-awaited legislative supermajorities. Democrats secured two-thirds majorities in both the state Senate and state Assembly, allowing them to raise taxes without Republican votes. It was a huge setback for the state GOP and threatened to doom them to irrelevance. While the Democrats are […]
The great Republican tax cut scam of 2015
“Reality,” Stephen Colbert famously explained to President George W. Bush, “has a well-known liberal bias.” And for Republicans, reality bites most when it comes to tax cuts. After all, for over 30 years, tax cuts have been the GOP’s one and only prescription for both economic booms and busts, recessionary slowdowns and budget surpluses, and […]
Not even a much-improved Obama economy can save the middle class
One had to chuckle after reading Jed Lewison’s article, President Obama plagiarizes Mitt Romney’s economic pledge … two years ahead of schedule, mostly because it reads like poetic justice. It seems Obama has been able to fulfill Republican policies—with a twist of Democratic values. Last week, President Obama gave a speech highlighting all the economic […]
These ballot measures may shake up your state
We’re getting to the point in the election cycle when we’re totally awash in information about the Senate races, whether we want to know about them or not. And if you’re paying close attention, you probably know a lot about the state of play in the gubernatorial and U.S. House races, too. However, some of […]
Voter suppression is un-American
She’s 100 percent right. But that isn’t stopping Republicans. It does seem a bit ridiculous, doesn’t it? That we still have to fight for voting rights, fight against laws that seek to suppress the vote, laws that will have a disproportionate impact on those Americans who—had they been of voting age before 1965—would likely have […]
Sane approaches to health epidemics: Medical anthropologists address Ebola fearmongering
There’s no reason we can’t stop this…with staff, stuff and systems.—Paul Farmer The Ebola outbreak, which is the largest in history that we know about, is merely a reflection of the public health crisis in Africa, and it’s about the lack of staff, stuff and systems that could protect populations, particularly those living in poverty, […]
Abbreviated Pundit Round-up
The New York Times on how the minimum wage is going up, even as the Republicans continue to fight it. Stagnating wages and widening inequality are the central economic challenges of our day. Without wage growth, the gains from economic expansion — as measured by income and wealth — become increasingly concentrated at the top […]
Sunday Talk: Enough to go around
With less than a month to go before the midterm elections, and control of the Senate on the line, at long last, Republicans think they’ve found a winning strategy—scare the living shit out of (white) voters. It’s an oldie but goodie. Their message is simple: If Ebola (species Kenya Obamavirus) doesn’t kill you, then ISIS and […]
Open thread: Epidemics, passion and scams
What’s coming up on Sunday Kos … The great Republican tax cut scam of 2015, by Jon Perr Book review: ‘Latino America’ by Matt Barreto and Gary M. Segura, by Susan Grigsby Sane approaches to health epidemics. Medical anthropologists address ebola fearmongering, by Denise Oliver Velez Can California Democrats save their supermajorities? A look at […]