by Sam Pizzigati | Jul 23, 2019 | Blog, Featured, Health, Inequality, Opioid Crisis
Last week didn’t go so well for the Mexican druglord Joaquín Guzmán Loera. A federal district court sentenced the notorious “El Chapo” to life in prison. The 62-year-old will almost certainly, notes the New York Times, be “spending the rest of his life behind bars.”...
by James Mumm | Jul 22, 2019 | Blog, Climate, Featured
I listen to a lot of very heavy Doom Metal music, and let me tell you - it feels a lot more hopeful than what our most insightful climate writers have to say right now. Their mood is grim, folks. They fear the game of life is up. But there is one thing that unites...
by Jeff Vogel | Jul 19, 2019 | Blog, Featured
We’ve been celebrating Columbus Day as a national holiday for over 80 years now. But if we truly want to celebrate the discovery of a “new world,” we’d reevaluate this annual ritual and start celebrating another historic journey instead — one we could start marking...
by Peter Certo | Jul 18, 2019 | #PeoplesWave, Election, Featured, Gender Justice, Politics
You’ve heard the cliche: If you’re taking heat from “both sides,” you must be doing something right. It’s dubious advice, but it fits pretty well for “the Squad” — the progressive first-year Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan...
by Rose Ramirez, Dedrick Asante-Muhammad | Jul 17, 2019 | Blog, Featured, Housing
In 1968 — just a week after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination — Congress passed the Fair Housing Act, or FHA. The law secured everyone’s right to housing regardless of race, national origin, disability, familial status, sex, or religion. The FHA protects people...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jul 16, 2019 | Blog, Economy, Featured, Inequality, Jobs and Growth
Have we hit peak decadence in the United States? Probably not. But we’re getting awfully close. The latest evidence just may be the “super-penthouse.” What exactly counts as a super-penthouse? Luxury analysts at List Sotheby’s International Realty have taken on the...
by Lisa M. Peck, MD | Jul 15, 2019 | Blog, Featured, Health
I have been practicing Internal Medicine in Lake County, Illinois for over 25 years. Every day I meet patients who struggle to afford their health care. Sadly, stories of failing care aren’t the exceptions in this country: they’re often the rule. Our system is...
by Leo Gerard | Jul 12, 2019 | Blog, Featured, Future of Work, I Speak, International, Jobs and Growth, Koch Brothers
Leo Gerard, a longtime contributor to OurFuture, retires Monday after 54 years as a union man and 18 as the International President of United Steelworkers (USW). We thank Leo for his leadership and tireless efforts for working people around the world. I was raised in...
by Kelsey Hawkins-Johnson | Jul 11, 2019 | Blog, Climate, Featured
I spent the summer of 2015 knocking on doors across Cincinnati. As a rising college sophomore, I’d joined a group called Ohio Citizen Action to canvass for my community and the planet. That year, the Ohio River was the most polluted body of water in the nation. Named...
by Sameena Mustafa | Jul 10, 2019 | Blog, Featured, Health
What does the American Medical Association (AMA) have in common with Sen. Mitch McConnell? Both refuse to support Medicare for All, the single-payer universal health care program proposed by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Pramila...
by Jeff Bryant | Jul 9, 2019 | Blog, Education, Featured
Former Vice President and current presidential hopeful Joe Biden recently caught a lot of flak for saying if President Trump were to be booted out of office, politics would go back to being sane again. He then suggested that his history of being “civil” with avowed...
by Karen Romero | Jul 8, 2019 | Blog, Featured, Immigration
Tijuana, where I live and work, has been thrust into the center of the Trump administration’s attack on migrants. It’s the first site of the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which forces asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their U.S. claims are processed. Since January,...
by Tim Wilkins | Jul 3, 2019 | Breakfast
MORNING MESSAGE Liz Watson This Fourth Of July, We Need To Talk About Family Separation My family – like many of yours – is preparing for a holiday weekend spent celebrating our nation’s birthday with friends. The awful truth is that while we’re celebrating, thousands...
by Liz Watson | Jul 3, 2019 | Featured, Immigration
My family - like many of yours - is preparing for a holiday weekend spent celebrating our nation’s birthday with friends. I’m looking forward to going swimming with my kids and watching fireworks. The awful truth is that while we’re celebrating, thousands of migrant...
by Tim Wilkins | Jul 2, 2019 | Breakfast
MORNING MESSAGE Robert Borosage Bernie’s Ideas And Biden’s Burden "Anyway, my time is up. I’m sorry." Joe Biden may have been talking about the timer, but his hapless performance in his first Democratic debate imparted an ironic twist to the words. This first debate...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 2, 2019 | Election, Featured
“Anyway, my time is up. I’m sorry.” Joe Biden may have been talking about the timer, but his hapless performance in his first Democratic debate imparted an ironic twist to the words. This first debate of the season is but one of many, but it may well mark a turn in...
by Tim Wilkins | Jul 1, 2019 | Breakfast
MORNING MESSAGE Susan Holmberg, Bill Lilliston We Must Tame Big Ag To Tame Climate Change "Carbon farming" — building soil vitality to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere — is essential for reducing the agricultural industry’s greenhouse gas emissions. But this...
by Susan Holmberg, Bill Lilliston | Jul 1, 2019 | Blog, Economy, Featured, Rural
The Democratic primary debate on Thursday night was probably the first time that soil management—as climate policy—was ever mentioned at a primetime presidential campaign event. It was also one of the first tangible mentions of farm policy in two nights of debates....
by Tim Wilkins | Jun 28, 2019 | Blog, Breakfast
MORNING MESSAGE Kenia Alcocer Fund Head Start, Not Internment Camps I came to this country from Mexico as a small child because my mother was escaping poverty and wanted to give my sisters and me a better life. She worked hard to make sure we had food on our table and...
by Kenia Alcocer | Jun 28, 2019 | Featured, I Speak, Immigration
I came to this country from Mexico as a small child because my mother was escaping poverty and wanted to give my sisters and me a better life. She worked hard to make sure we had food on our table and a roof over our heads, often doing two and three jobs at a time....
by Tim Wilkins | Jun 27, 2019 | Breakfast
MORNING MESSAGE Leo Gerard NAFTA By Any Name Is Built For The Rich Mick Mulvaney, the millionaire who is President Trump’s acting chief of staff and director of the Office of Management and Budget, has now awarded himself another job: spokesman for labor. Referring to...
by Leo Gerard | Jun 27, 2019 | Blog, Featured, Future of Work, Politics, Trade
Mick Mulvaney, the millionaire who is President Trump’s acting chief of staff and director of the Office of Management and Budget, has now awarded himself another job: spokesman for labor. Referring to the proposed new NAFTA, he told the Wall Street Journal, “We know...
by Tim Wilkins | Jun 26, 2019 | Breakfast
MORNING MESSAGE Sam Pizzigati New York Points A New Way Forward For The Nation What happens at America’s state level can sometimes reverse the political momentum of the entire nation. We experienced just such a reversal in 1978, when California conservatives pushed...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jun 26, 2019 | Blog, Featured, Housing, Politics
What happens at America’s state level can sometimes reverse the political momentum of the entire nation. We experienced just such a reversal in 1978, when California conservatives pushed our country to the right. We may be poised to take a new direction, thanks to...
by Tim Wilkins | Jun 25, 2019 | Breakfast
MORNING MESSAGE Miles Mogulescu Pelosi’s Anti-Impeachment Stance Makes Less and Less Sense Speaker Pelosi’s continued refusal to allow the House to open impeachment proceedings against President Trump is becoming increasingly incoherent. And her continued assertion...
by Miles Mogulescu | Jun 25, 2019 | Blog, Featured
I don’t think you should impeach for political reasons, and I don’t think you should not impeach for political reasons." - Nancy Pelosi Speaker Pelosi’s continued refusal to allow the House to open impeachment proceedings against President Trump is becoming...
by Tim Wilkins | Jun 24, 2019 | Breakfast
MORNING MESSAGE Chris Simmons College For All Means Dignity For All My name is Chris Simmons, and I want to tell you why we need – I need – Free College For All now. I grew up in Newton, Iowa, a small city east of Des Moines. This is the was home to the Maytag...
by Tim Wilkins | Jun 21, 2019 | Breakfast
MORNING MESSAGE David Hatch Co-Governing In Policy: Where The Rubber Meets The Road People’s Action and its member groups have boldly moved into electoral politics, successfully electing our own members and candidates who share our values to office. We’ve done this by...
by David Hatch | Jun 21, 2019 | Democracy, Election, Featured, Organizing, Policy, Politics, Progressive Vision
People’s Action and its member groups have boldly moved into electoral politics, successfully electing our own members and candidates who share our values to office. We’ve done this by building training pipelines and strategies that have proven effective to elect...
by Tim Wilkins | Jun 20, 2019 | Blog, Breakfast
MORNING MESSAGE Carrie McBane Big Pharma Holds My Life In Its Hands My name is Carrie McBane, and I live in Sylva, North Carolina. I have Type 2 diabetes, so my life depends on daily access to drugs I can’t afford out of pocket, and I don’t have healthcare coverage....
by Carrie McBane | Jun 20, 2019 | Blog, Featured, Health
My name is Carrie McBane, and I live in Sylva, North Carolina. I have Type 2 diabetes, so my life depends on daily access to drugs I can’t afford out of pocket, and I don’t have healthcare coverage. Every day when I wake up, I am reminded that my life, and all aspects...
by Tim Wilkins | Jun 19, 2019 | Breakfast
MORNING MESSAGE Adrienne Evans Reparations Are A Step In The Right Direction Today is Juneteenth, the day we celebrate – and as a nation, we must celebrate – the emancipation of African-Americans enslaved by the white colonists of North America and their descendants....
by Adrienne Evans | Jun 19, 2019 | Blog, Featured, Race
Today is Juneteenth, the day we celebrate - and as a nation, we must celebrate - the emancipation of African-Americans enslaved by the white colonists of North America and their descendants. I am one of those white people who know we must do better. It’s also the day...
by Tim Wilkins | Jun 18, 2019 | Breakfast
MORNING MESSAGE Sam Pizzigati How The Super-Rich Avoid Paying Their Share Extravagantly wealthy people cheat on their taxes. Regularly. Extravagantly, too. Our super rich are stashing vast chunks of their personal fortunes in offshore tax havens, generating billions...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jun 18, 2019 | Blog, Economy, Featured, Financial Reform, Inequality
We have a great deal of statistical data, in America today, about the economic circumstances of Americans who live in poverty. We know far less, by contrast, about Americans who live amid great wealth. And much of what we do know, suggests a revealing new study, turns...
by Tim Wilkins | Jun 17, 2019 | Breakfast
MORNING MESSAGE Jeremy Saunders There’s No Turning Back New York’s Wave Of Justice A blue wave surged across New York State last November, as voters elected true progressives to represent them in Albany. Almost as soon as this new generation of young progressives took...
by Jeremy Saunders | Jun 17, 2019 | Blog, Criminal Justice, Democracy, Election, Featured, Protest, Race
A blue wave surged across New York State last November, as voters went to the ballot box to demand true progressives represent them in Albany. This unprecedented voter turnout helped create an undeniable Democratic majority in our state legislature for the first time...
by Tim Wilkins | Jun 14, 2019 | Breakfast
MORNING MESSAGE Mehrdad Azemun Continuing our series of wins for grassroots people power, People’s Action celebrated another milestone for movement politics in Denver last week. Colorado People’s Action’s (CPA) endorsed candidate Candi CdeBaca ran an insurgent...
by Mehrdad Azemun | Jun 14, 2019 | Blog, Election, Featured
In a continued series of wins for grassroots people power, People’s Action celebrated another milestone for movement politics in Denver last week. Colorado People’s Action’s (CPA) endorsed candidate Candi CdeBaca ran an insurgent campaign for a City Council seat in...
by Tim Wilkins | Jun 13, 2019 | Breakfast
MORNING MESSAGE Jerad Halcott I’m Living Proof The CARE Act Will Save Lives To save lives from our opioid epidemic, we have to meet drug users where they are. I know: I’m living proof. My name is Jerad Walcott, and I live on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. At ten, I...
