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Finance Reform: What the Bill Doesn’t Do
THOMAS FERGUSON Ferguson is professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts, Boston and a senior fellow of the Roosevelt Institute. He said today: “This whole business reminds me of the old Bob Hope line: ‘You can fool some of the people all of the time and all the people some of the time,…
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Austerity: Why and for Whom?
RICHARD WOLFF Recently back from Europe, Wolff is author of the book Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It. He recently wrote the piece “Austerity: Why and for Whom?” which states: “Nearly all current political leaders of major capitalist countries responded positively to the banks’ demand for austerity…
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Why Are We in Afghanistan?
TOM ENGELHARDT Engelhardt is founder of TomDispatch.com; his book The American Way of War: How Bush’s Wars Became Obama’s was just released. Engelhardt’s latest piece is “Why Are We in Afghanistan? As Petraeus Takes Over, Could Success Be Worse Than Failure?” which states: “It’s now past time to ask that question, even as the Obama…
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Haiti Six Months After the Earthquake
BRIAN CONCANNON Director of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, Concannon lived in Haiti for eight years. He said today: “The international community promised to change the trade, aid and governance policies that helped make Haiti so poor and extremely vulnerable to earthquakes and other natural disasters. But six months after the earthquake,…
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Immigration Debate “Ignores Causes”
MANUEL PEREZ-ROCHA Associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, Perez-Rocha has been critical of trade deals like NAFTA. He said today: “It is worrying that discussions about immigration in the U.S. tend to ignore its causes. Most people do not migrate to this country because they want to live their ‘American dream’ as it…
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Netanyahu in the U.S.
RICHARD FALK Falk is professor of international law emeritus at Princeton University and Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestinian Territories for the United Nations Human Rights Council. He said today: “If the American president believed that the rule of law applied to Israel he would certainly favor the establishment of an international inquiry, under UN auspices,…
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Another $33 Billion for War in Afghanistan Today?
REBECCA GRIFFIN Political director of Peace Action West, Griffin said today: “It’s happening now. After weeks of stalling and amidst growing dissent from the public and Congress, the House will vote on $33 billion for escalating the war in Afghanistan. “The McChrystal debacle has fueled a larger debate about the failing counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan.…
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Byrd, Kagan Hearings and the Constitution
CBS News reports: “The Senate Judiciary Committee will suspend Solicitor General Elena Kagan’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday while the late-Sen. Robert Byrd lies in state at the Capitol.” Byrd famously made a habit of carrying a copy of the U.S. Constitution in his shirt pocket. In 2004,…
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Did Kagan Cover for Dershowitz’s Plagiarism?
While Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan has been extensively questioned in her hearings about her tenure as dean of Harvard Law School regarding military recruiters on campus, her role in a controversy involving charges of plagiarism against Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz (as well as other plagiarism scandals which erupted while she was head…
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“Why Petraeus Won’t Salvage This War”
Confirmation hearings for Gen. David Petraeus as top military commander in Afghanistan are being held today. GARETH PORTER Porter just wrote “Why Petraeus Won’t Salvage This War” for Foreign Policy. The piece states: “As Gen. David Petraeus prepares for his next command, his supporters are hoping he can rescue a failing war for the second…