BY FROMA HARROP When the government hands money to poor people, that’s welfare, Republicans say. That’s taking money from productive taxpayers and encouraging dependency, they assert. But when corporations get taxpayer handouts, that’s not welfare in the GOP book of rhetoric. Take away a company’s subsidy, and you have a “government takeover.” Such is the […]

BY KAREN WEBB In response to my piece about Rep. Lewis H. Moore, R-Arcadia, , he sent me a message. I began my piece with this from...

BY SUSAN ESTRICH No Republicans supported Medicare in the House of Representatives until it reached the floor. It came out of the House Ways and Means and Rules committees on strict party-line votes. On the procedural vote that brought Medicare to a vote, exactly 10 Republicans voted for the bill. Only when it was clear […]

BY JIM HIGHTOWER In the good-and-good-for-you department, food scientists are now touting the health benefits of enjoying a handful of nuts every day. I, for one, am glad, because I love nuts – pecans, hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds, you-name-’em. But my favorite nuts, by far, are the homegrown natives that have taken root in one particularly […]

BY JOE CONASON Demagogues often prosper under the rules of democracy, intimidating the moderate and preying on the weak-minded. But in a healthy society, such figures cannot cross a final threshold of decency without jeopardizing their own status – and today’s right-wing nihilists seem to be on the verge of doing just that. When Elizabeth […]