470 total articles : showing 1-10 next 10 >
Joel McNally: GOP battles the spread of democracy
With less than a month to go before the election, the collateral damage from Republican efforts to fight the spread of democracy continues to pile up. The latest victims are convicted felons who are looking to get jobs to support themselves and their families without resorting to crime. read story
E.J. Dionne: Details, details -- we don't need them
WASHINGTON -- Hope versus fear, new versus old: Barack Obama and John McCain have placed their bets. These are the terms on which the 2008 presidential campaign will be decided. That's why it's unfair for political bystanders to attack Obama and McCain for offering few specifics as to how they'd fix an ailing economy. And it's foolish to ask them to jettison their campaign promises in order to pay homage to the God of Balanced Budgets. read story
IMF's John Lipsky: Global action needed to stem economic turmoil
WASHINGTON -- After several years of exceptional progress, the global economy is entering a major slowdown. The risks of a more worrisome outcome are palpable. The International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook released this week notes that many advanced economies are close to or are moving into recession; growth in emerging economies also is weakening. read story
Connie Schultz: 'Folksy' Palin's tactics are just ugly
Any person who runs for president risks his or her life to lead this country. There is a reason for the armored cars and the police dogs, the security sweeps and the armed sentries. Such caution is forged from some of the darkest moments in American history. No candidate is more aware of the dangers than Barack Obama, who was assigned Secret Service protection earlier than any presidential candidate in history. Racist threats of violence prompted his early security. read story
Amy Schalet: Dutch know how to deal with teen sex
Sarah Palin faced a variety of questions at last week's debate, but not the one I would have asked: "Should public school students be taught that contraception and condoms can prevent unintended pregnancy and disease?" read story
David Iglesias: Now it's a fact: Justice compromised
As one of the nine U.S. attorneys fired by the Bush administration in 2006, I have been carefully monitoring the train wreck that followed. I am not happy to see the enormous damage that has been done to the Department of Justice, a once-venerated institution. But I am pleased that the internal investigations, including the report released recently by the department, have fully vindicated what my colleagues and I have been saying for the last two years: Improper politicization has crippled the department, and the Bush administration's culture of partisanship-loyalty above all has done a terrible disservice to this country. read story
Amy Goodman: Third parties in debate would make for better TV and better democracy
The reviews are in, and the latest U.S. presidential debate, the "town hall" from Nashville, Tenn., was a snore. One problem is that in a debate, it is important for the debaters to actually disagree. Yet Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain substantively agree on many issues. That is one major reason that the debates should be open, and that major third-party or independent candidates should be included. read story
Andrew J. Bacevich: U.S. taking wrong road in Pakistan
President Bush will leave office without concluding either of the two wars he initiated after Sept. 11, 2001. Now he seems intent on expanding his "global war on terror" still farther. To the existing fronts in Afghanistan and Iraq, he is adding a third: Pakistan. read story
Michael M. Miller: Bailout plan included historic moment for mental health parity
On Oct. 3, 2008, President Bush signed into law H.R. 1424. Most people know that as the financial rescue ("Wall Street bailout") plan. In fact, the president signed the mental health and addiction parity bill, H.R. 1424, to which two huge amendments were attached: the financial rescue plan, and the tax extenders bill. read story
