‘Browning Of America’ Is Tearing The GOP Apart

The following article by Cynthia Tucker Haynes appears on the National Memo website February 20, 2016:

Pope_Francis_1_at_the_Wednesday_General_Audience_in_St_Peters_Square_on_June_24_2015_Credit_Daniel_Ibanez_CNA_6_24_15Before Pope Francis spoke a single word at the Mexican border, Donald Trump had — quite predictably — denounced the pontiff’s message. The real estate mogul and former reality-TV star has built his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination on an ugly nativism, so the moment was tailor-made for him.

The counter-messaging only escalated after the pontiff told reporters that anyone who wants to build a border wall, as Trump has infamously proposed, “is not Christian.” That prompted a retort from Trump, of course: “For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful,” he said.
(If the pontiff’s remarks were recorded correctly, he didn’t say Trump isn’t “a” Christian. In other words, he didn’t question the faith to which Trump ascribes; rather, the pope described Trump’s behavior as failing to follow Christian principles.) Continue reading “‘Browning Of America’ Is Tearing The GOP Apart”

What Do Unions Do for the Middle Class?

The following article by Richard Freeman, Eunice Han, Brendan Duke and David Madland appeared on the Center for American Progress website on January 13, 2016:

Union Right to Work for LessThe United States has long called itself a middle-class nation. But that statement is less true today than it was 30 years ago.

The most widely used barometer of the financial health of the middle class—real median household income as published by the U.S. Census Bureau—has barely grown over the last thirty years. At the same time, the middle class has been hollowed out as incomes have polarized, with more households at the top and the bottom and fewer in the middle of the income distribution. A recent report by the Pew Research Center showed that the share of adults in the middle class—defined as adults whose households make between 67 percent and 200 percent of median U.S. income—fell from 61 percent in 1971 to just 50 percent in 2014.

Unsurprisingly, the same trends of slow growth and rapid polarization are also found in the main source of middle-class income: wage and salary earnings. Median weekly earnings of full-time workers grew 18 percent between 1984 and 2014 despite a 79 percent increase in labor productivity

Continue reading “What Do Unions Do for the Middle Class?”

Immunizing the Gun Industry: The Harmful Effect of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act

The following article appeared on the Center for American Progress website on January 15, 2016:

Barbie and GunsWhat is the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act?

The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, or PLCAA, is a federal law enacted in 2005 that grants broad immunity from liability to gun manufacturers and dealers in federal and state courts. PLCAA prevents plaintiffs from filing lawsuits against gun manufacturers or dealers in many cases when these parties have been negligent and there has been “criminal or unlawful misuse” of a firearm or ammunition—regardless of whether plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages or injunctive relief.

The law includes some narrow exceptions for permissible civil lawsuits against gun manufacturers and dealers, including for knowingly transferring a gun to a person with the knowledge that they intended to use it in a crime of violence; violating state or federal laws governing the conduct of the Continue reading “Immunizing the Gun Industry: The Harmful Effect of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act”

Most Americans Lack Reserve Cash to Cover $500 Emergency: Survey

The following post by Kristin Wong appeared on the NBC News website on January 8, 2016:

Minor emergencies like a busted pipe, flat tire or a root canal happen all the time. But for the majority of Americans, such inconveniences are potential recipes for financial ruin, according to a new survey by finance site Bankrate.com.

In the survey released on Wednesday, Bankrate found that 63 percent of Americans don’t have enough saved to cover even a $500 financial setback. And just half of higher income respondents (defined as $75,000 or more in annual earnings) said they have enough cash to handle such an emergency.

About a quarter of respondents said they would cut back their spending in the event of such an emergency, and 15 percent would be able to borrow money from family or friends. Another 15 Continue reading “Most Americans Lack Reserve Cash to Cover $500 Emergency: Survey”

How tackling climate change will pay off

eco-experience-2_crop

Much of Minnesota has experienced springlike temperatures this December, often in the 40s. Warmer weather has become the norm; since 1998, the Earth has experienced 10 of the warmest years on record. And 2015 is expected to break last year’s record as the warmest yet.

This is why we all should be celebrating that nearly 200 countries have reached consensus on a plan to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The Paris Climate Agreement puts the world on a path Continue reading “How tackling climate change will pay off”

Superior is one of the more rapidly warming lakes, study finds

It’s among the more rapidly warming lakes, scientists warn in study.

The following article by Jennifer Brooks appeared in the December 17, 2015, StarTribune:

Lift_Bridge_Lifted,_DuluthThe world’s lakes are warming up — even frigid Lake Superior — scientists warn.

Dozens of researchers pooled decades’ worth of data from hundreds of lakes and concluded that the world’s lakes are warming even more rapidly than the oceans or the atmosphere. The warmer waters threaten fish populations, ecosystems and fresh water supplies around the globe.

Closer to home, University of Minnesota Duluth Professor Jay Austin says the thick sheets of ice that blanketed Lake Superior for the past two winters did nothing to change the fact that Superior, like the other Great Lakes, is growing ever warmer.

“Lake Superior is one of the more rapidly warming lakes” among the 235 lakes in the study, Austin said. A two-degree temperature shift can mean the difference between an iced-over Superior or an ice-free Continue reading “Superior is one of the more rapidly warming lakes, study finds”

You Are More Than 7 Times As Likely To Be Killed By A Right-Wing Extremist Than By Muslim Terrorists

Klu Kluc Klan Natl ArchiveThe following article by Ian Millhiser appeared on the ThinkProgress.org November 30, 2015:

Friday afternoon, one week after elected officials all over the country tried toblock Syrian refugees from entering their states in an apparent effort to fight terrorism, a white man in Colorado committed what appears to be an act of terrorism in a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Though the details of Robert Lewis Dear’s motives for killing three people in the clinic and injuring nine others are still being revealed, Dear reportedly told law enforcement “no more baby parts,” an apparent reference to heavily edited videos produced by the Center for Medical Progress, which numerous politicians have cited to falsely claim that Planned Parenthood sells “aborted baby parts.” Dear’s actions, in other words, appear to be an act of politically motivated terrorism directed against an institution widely reviled by conservatives. Continue reading “You Are More Than 7 Times As Likely To Be Killed By A Right-Wing Extremist Than By Muslim Terrorists”

Climate Talks Must Heed the Call of Pope Francis and the Multifaith Movement

Pope FrancisThe following article by Myriam Alexander-Kearns and Claire Markham was posted by the Center for American Progress:

In May, the Vatican released “Laudato Si,” Pope Francis’ second encyclical and the first papal encyclical to focus on the urgent and politically challenging issue of climate change. The document—which added to the impressive history of multifaith environmental activism—was written to inspire, according to Pope Francis, a “global consensus” at this month’s Paris climate talks “so that future generations will not have to suffer the effects of our ill-advised delays.”

With today’s opening of the Paris talks—officially called the United Nations’ 21st Conference of the Parties—it is imperative that global leaders seize this opportunity to advance common goals for the preservation and protection of the planet, vulnerable communities, and all nations. Continue reading “Climate Talks Must Heed the Call of Pope Francis and the Multifaith Movement”

Income Inequality Makes The Rich More Scrooge-Like, Study Finds

Handout ChangeThe following article by Melissa Healy with the Los Angeles Times appeared on the National Memo website, posting on November 24, 2015:

As the annual “season of giving” dawns, a new study finds that stark income inequity — a dramatically rising trend in the United States — makes the “haves” less generous toward others.

Higher-income people were less inclined to be generous both when they came from states where income inequality is high and when they were made to believe that there was a sharp divide between rich and poor, a new study found. And they were less charitable in both cases than were low-income people. Continue reading “Income Inequality Makes The Rich More Scrooge-Like, Study Finds”