Archive
Trains, Buses and Bikes, Oh My!
Last week, Isaiah reported on the 7% increase in mass transit ridership, and also how limited that increase is. Because the Bush administration did nothing to make mass transit more convenient and accessible, many Americans who want to quit paying for high-priced oil...
States Hooked On Casino Snake Oil
Casino became legal in more than 30 states because they were sold as economic growth engines and poverty fighters. Wrong. Casinos on tribal land have not reduced the crushing poverty in the Native American community. States which brought in commercial casinos -- like...
Memo To Candidates: Issues Matter
Today, the Omaha World Herald published the following op-ed of mine, exploring why the attacks on Sen. Barack Obama failed to derail his path to the nomination, and failed to deny him a clear lead against Sen. John McCain. Not what it means about Obama, but what it...
The War Inside
Picture by jcolman If my dad were alive, I know he'd be hanging the flag in front of our house, where it would stay for the remainder of the weekend. A veteran of two wars, Korea and Vietnam, my father was fiercely patriotic. Yet, displaying the flag on Memorial Day...
Vacation Travelers Thrown Under the Bus
The American Public Transportation Association is projecting a 7 percent increase in the number of tourists taking public transportation this summer, thanks to stratospheric gasoline prices. According to the transit trade group: Thirty-five percent of those who will...
Pin The Blame
Seems like every time gas prices shoot up, Big Oil CEOs are summoned to Capitol Hill for a ritual hazing. It's appropriate. We taxpayers are supporting Big Oil with billions in federal tax subsidies. CEOs should have to testify and justify their public windfall. They...
Dear Congressional Conservatives
I probably shouldn't be giving you advice, but maybe because I'm a progressive, I can't see someone in crisis without having a desire to help if I can. Besides, a couple of you guys have offered advice and suggestions to one Democratic candidate — not to mention...
Channel Your Road Rage
Another Memorial Day, another stressful spike in gasoline prices. With most Americans denied access to convenient mass transit options and affordable alternative fuels, we'll be forced to pay through the nose yet again if we want to travel simply to see friends and...
A Fighter, and a Friend
Living in D.C., you can't help; crossing paths with some famous political names. In fact, you get used to it. But, as with most things, you never forget your first. And Ted Kennedy was my first. I was still new to D.C., having moved up from Georgia in the Summer of...
Breaking The Law, Snubbing the Supreme Court
Last year, the Supreme Court ordered the Bush administration to follow the law and treat greenhouse gas emissions as pollution under the Clean Air Act. And the Bush administration quickly snubbed the ruling, by denying states the ability under the Clean Air Act to...
