Four Non-Biden Reasons for Progressives to Vote for Biden
Let’s assume you’re a progressive disappointed with the two viable presidential candidates this November. Fair enough. But there are still reasons to support Joe Biden even if you dislike him, beginning with Federal Judges. This is the best way to play the political long game, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell knows it. After Republicans […]
America’s Ever-Shifting Goalposts on Violence and Protest
Photo by Andy Montgomery Last August, Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin. As the incident gained national attention, NBA players protested the shooting by temporarily halting playoff games. But anyone who remembered how NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s peaceful protest was met with threats, scorn, and […]
The Precarious Fate of Obergefell v. Hodges
The Supreme Court was always an important factor in the 2020 presidential election. Even before Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death in September, it was unlikely she would survive another presidential term. And with three justices aged seventy or older, whoever wins the presidency will probably get at least one appointment. Ginsburg’s passing made the Supreme […]
The Muppets, the Majority, and Fixing Our Democracy
Imagine, if you will, four Muppets running for a Senate seat. To the left is Beaker, a champion of single-payer health care, progressive taxation, and criminal justice reform. Despite his debilitating speech impediment, Beaker captivates audiences through his simple campaign slogan: “Not mee, us.” His campaign manager, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, describes Beaker as “the harbinger […]
Bold Reforms on America’s Health-Care Quilt
From “Medicare for All” to a full private option, health-care reform is a widely debated key issue this election cycle. While politicians discuss the topic, there must be an emphasis on the characteristics of an effective health-care system—efficacy, equity, affordability, and accountability. Efficacy measures a health-care system’s capacity to perform an intended task—a vital gauge […]
The Redistribution of Health: A Conservative Perspective on Health Care
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans have once again found themselves comparing their national health-care policies to those of countries with universal health care. The allure of single-payer health care is clear—particularly as costs continue to rise and we enter a global recession. As productive as it may seem, universal health care is not […]
The Pandemic Is a Perfect Time to Forgive Student Debt
You see the picture right there? The one of the Federal Reserve headquarters? You see the trees growing in front of it? They’re the closest we’ve come to money growing on trees. That’s because the Fed governors inside have a special tool, one they’ve used plenty during the pandemic to inject liquidity into large financial […]
Anti-Intellectualism and Partisanship are Killing US Climate Reform
Through patterns of industrialization and globalization, humanity has built planet-altering power. Daily activities as mundane as making coffee in the morning increase our chemical and ecological footprint. Sea levels rise at a startling rate of over an eighth of an inch per year and our oceans have lost two percent of their oxygen in half […]
Even the Environment is Racist: How Pollution Affects People of Color
After World War II, the United States began conducting nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean. The second test resulted in the radioactive contamination of hundreds of Navy ships. In an attempt to decontaminate these ships, the Navy moved them to a lab in the Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco, where the military would deep […]
Senate Republicans’ Misguided, Last-Ditch China Strategy
In April, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) distributed a fifty-seven page memo titled, “Corona Big Book.” Its message was simple. “China caused this pandemic by covering it up, lying, and hoarding the world’s supply of medical equipment,” the memo reads. “China is an adversary that has stolen millions of American jobs, sent fentanyl to […]