On August 12, 2020, the Minnesota Legislature convened in a special session to vote on whether to extend the state of emergency declared by Gov. Tim Walz in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minnesota House of Representatives, controlled by Walz’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (Minnesota’s Democratic affiliate party), rejected a resolution ending the emergency, while the … Read more
On April 18, 2017, President Trump signed the Buy American and Hire American executive order with the stated goal of safeguarding American jobs. Since the pandemic, the Trump administration, Department of Homeland Security, and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services have been repeatedly using the most harmful versions of xenophobic, “immigrants steal jobs” rhetoric to … Read more
In the biggest legal challenge to the technology industry in decades, the Department of Justice and 11 state attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google on October 20, arguing that the company holds an illegal monopoly over search and advertising and citing its contracts with Apple as a deterrent against innovation and competition. This … Read more
“Here is a memo to the clueless baptized Catholics out there: you cannot be Catholic and be a Democrat. Period … repent of your support of that party and its platform or face the fires of Hell.” This was the message of Father James Altman, a priest of Wisconsin’s St. James the Less Catholic Church, … Read more
In December of 2008, Tennessee’s Emory River turned black. It was clogged with an estimated 300 million gallons of sludge after a dam failed at the nearby Kingston Fossil Plant and sent a slurry of coal ash and water surging into the river valley. Coal ash, a byproduct churned out by coal-fired power plants, is … Read more
It was not a surprise to hear the claim that “America is not a racist country” at August’s minority-spotlighting Republican National Convention. What was surprising, however, was the woman who spoke that line. The irony of Nikki Haley denying racism’s continued existence while donning an undeniably Americanized name — she was born Nimrata Randhawa — was … Read more
Eighty years ago this month, the Greek steamer Nea Hellas landed in Hoboken, New Jersey. Aboard the ship were my great-grandparents, Lipman and Mary Bers, carrying their infant daughter Ruth. As one of the only babies aboard, Ruth had been a symbol of hope — kept at a safe distance by a protective mother — … Read more
In 2012, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel failed to gain the endorsement of the Chicago Teachers Union and subsequently lost his reelection bid. In 2018, California gubernatorial candidate Antonia Villareigosa’s charter school sympathies lost him the endorsement of the California Teachers Union — and eventually the election. A year later, Andy Beshear narrowly defeated Kentucky’s … Read more
On a beautiful day in March, I drove past a pond near my house in Boston. It was more crowded than I had ever seen it. I came home anxious and upset to have seen so many people outside, close together and vulnerable. Anxiety quickly turned to anger, and I wrote two strongly worded emails … Read more
Susan Collins, incumbent in Maine’s 2020 U.S. Senate race, paints herself as the socially liberal voter’s ideal Republican: in favor of abortion rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, and education funding. She mostly delivers on her promises and is regarded as a solidly centrist Republican. But she shocked her moderate base with her vote to confirm Justice Brett … Read more