On September 14, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford publicly accused Judge Brett Kavanaugh of attempted rape in the summer of 1982. After Ford came forward, two other women — Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick — also made sexual assault claims against the Supreme Court nominee. Although these accusations against Kavanaugh do not presently overcome the beyond … Read more
It’s no secret that corruption lurks within the U.S. federal government. Throughout history, political machines and the spoils system have dominated U.S. politics, creating a culture of patronage that took decades to dismantle. Today, however, alternative forms of corruption have been on the rise. As University of Illinois at Chicago professor Dick Simpson told the … Read more
Nancy has seen better days. Her oil has not been changed in eight months. Her tires are balding. She frequently breaks down. But her owner isn’t neglectful — quite the opposite. “This will be my first and last car,” Gaith Jann told the HPR this July, as he patted the 1974 Mercedes affectionately. The two … Read more
On Monday, July 9, 2018, in a grand ceremony fit for the choice’s importance, President Trump announced his next nominee for the Supreme Court: Judge Brett Kavanaugh, a current federal appeals court judge and former law clerk for the very justice he replaces. At just 53 years of age, 32 years younger than the oldest … Read more
The tide of change brought by the #MeToo movement and the enhanced focus on sexual assault may provide a wedge issue for young voters in the upcoming election, according to survey data released by the Harvard Public Opinion Project. HPOP surveyed 2,631 individuals between 18 and 29 years old, finding that support for #MeToo breaks … Read more
A recent report from the Social Security trustees forecasts the depletion of the nation’s largest social insurance program in 2034—one year earlier than last year’s report projected. Additionally, this year marks the first since 1982 in which the program is set to take in more than it will send out. Though this is not an … Read more
Roughly 40 percent of all food produced for human consumption in the United States—133 billion pounds of food and $165 billion annually—is wasted. Redistributing only 2 percent of this wasted food could end hunger in the United States. This epidemic of waste is also the single largest contributor to landfills, a major contributor to methane … Read more
In early February, the Senate approved Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s successor with an 84-13 vote. Powell, however, is not a run-of-the-mill economist — nor a trained economist at all, for that matter. In fact, Powell will be the first Federal Reserve Chair in 40 years to lack a doctorate in economics. … Read more
This past January, the city council of Clark County, Nevada, approved over $750 million in tax-free municipal bonds for the construction of a $1.9 billion stadium for the NFL’s Raiders. This comes on the heels of Arlington, Texas, agreeing to provide $500 million for a new $1.1 billion stadium for the MLB’s Rangers. Around the … Read more
Between early 2015 and mid-2017, a narrative of environmental injustice that eventually escalated to a federal state of emergency publicly unfolded in the city of Flint, Mich. Headlines accused officials of depraved indifference if not deliberate poisoning, and the public continues to question if lead exposure during the crisis has contributed to a recent decline … Read more