BY FROMA HARROP There are those who regard politics as sport and those who see it as an adjunct to government. They frame things very differently. When New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson exited as commerce secretary nominee, the sports fans saw a dropped ball by an otherwise flawless player, Barack Obama. The good government crowd […]

BY JOE CONASON As the government contemplates spending very large sums of money, it is reassuring to know that somebody still worries about waste. Or it would be reassuring, if only that somebody were not Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, who promises that he and his fellow Republicans will “protect taxpayers against the rush […]

BY JIM HIGHTOWER Unions. Who needs ’em? They’re so passe, so 1930s. This is the frantic argument being pushed by corporate lobbyists who’re worried by the recent resurgence in union organizing, political punch and public support. Sure, say these corporatists, unions were needed back in the bad ol’ Depression days, when rich executives and investors […]

BY SUSAN ESTRICH As the weeks pass since Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was publicly drawn and quartered by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the man has simply refused to give up. The Energizer bunny has nothing on this guy. I can’t say he’s earned my respect – respect would definitely be the wrong word – but […]

BY FROMA HARROP First come the shady operators, then comes the collapse, then comes the bailout, then come the shady operators. That, too often, is the sad history of financial meltdowns and their cleanups. The closing days of the Bush Administration offer the familiar spectacle of bad actors descending on a government program fat with […]