In the News
The Shrinking Middle Class: How We Got Here, And Why
Most Americans consider themselves part of the “middle class,” but no one can agree on what term that means. The problem? If sizing up the middle class is difficult enough,…
Who Cares for the Care Workers?
The care worker’s lot is not an easy one. A typical care worker, says Priscilla Smith, a certified nursing assistant in Durham, North Carolina, must “hop from company to company…
President Trump Orders Withdrawal of U.S. Troops from Syria
On Wednesday, President Trump tweeted that ISIS has been defeated in Syria and called for an immediate removal of American troops. In this segment, we’ll speak to Middle East experts…
As Paul Ryan Says Goodbye, Progressives Say ‘Good Riddance’ to ‘Coward Who Sold Our Economy to Highest Bidders’
As House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) delivered his farewell address on Wednesday after 20 years of relentlessly working to gut social programs for the poor and successfully ramming through “one of the biggest transfers of wealth…
How Funding Black Businesses Can Help Bridge the Racial Wealth Gap
Richmond, California, native April Fenall didn’t grow up with aspirations of becoming an entrepreneur. But upon moving from Sacramento back to the Bay Area in 2015, she couldn’t find work.…
Jeff Bezos Has Enough!
For Republican members of Congress and cable news pundits, a cap on the earnings of the super rich might sound like a dystopian nightmare. Yet, as author Sam Pizzigati argues…
Wall Street, Banks, and Angry Citizens
As we head into 2019, leaving the chaos of this year behind, a major question remains unanswered when it comes to the state of Main Street, not just here but…
Pearl in Petaluma has banned tipping in favor of living wage
As Annette Yang and her partner Brian Leitner made plans to open Pearl earlier this year, they finally had the right size restaurant to implement a shared philosophy: that tipping…
Why Nonprofits Need to Center Human Rights in Our Work
In a time when the disparities in basic human treatment differ both predictably and wildly according to race, as well as many other social assignments, it is important to pay…
Got $5 Million? Yale Will Manage It, But You Won’t Get It Back
In this charitable giving season, elite universities are cashing in on the popularity of donor-advised funds by inviting big givers to have their money managed by the same high-powered investors…
Got $5 Million? Yale Will Manage It, But You Won’t Get It Back
In this charitable giving season, elite universities are cashing in on the popularity of donor-advised funds by inviting big givers to have their money managed by the same high-powered investors…
Bernie Sanders: America is ‘owned and controlled by a small number of multi-billionaires’
The power and greed of billionaires in the United States is threatening the country. So says Bernie Sanders, the 77-year-old senator from Vermont who tried unsuccessfully to win the Democratic presidential…
CNN Must Rehire Pundit Who Defended Democratic Rights
As Marc Lamont Hill delivered his widely discussed speech at the United Nations on November 28, in which he expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people and emphasized the need to protect the…
Fact-checking Trump, Pelosi and Schumer’s White House fight over the border wall, shutdown
President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer sparred before news cameras over the effectiveness of a southern border wall, at times fact-checking and speaking over one…
I’m a Postal Worker. If You Get Mail in a Small Town or Suburb, Listen Up!
I’ve been a postal clerk for 23 years, serving my customers in a public post office in Gresham, Oregon. As you might imagine, with the holidays fast approaching, it’s a…
The Inequality to Be Suffered by Our Children
The Inequality to be Suffered by Our Children The fortunate ones will not be suffering. In the past eight years, the richest 5% of Americans have increased their wealth by $30…
America vs America: The US’ (self-)destructive arms race
“I am certain that, at some time in the future, President Xi and I, together with President Putin of Russia, will start talking about a meaningful halt to what has…
Incoming House committee leader to call off ‘witch hunt’ against environmental groups
The odds are good that environmental groups will stop receiving threatening letters from congressional leaders starting next month — letters demanding information about their alleged ties to foreign governments —…
Sam Pizzigati: “A New Labor Activism Is Surging”
Mohsen Abdelmoumen: How do you explain that in front of the unprecedented ultraliberal offensive, we see weakened worker movement and trade unions? Sam Pizzigati: By the traditional benchmarks for measuring union strength,…
Plutocratic politics and the age of gilded giving
Our era of gaping inequality may be a foe to civic concord, but it is a friend to private philanthropy. Every passing month seems to bring an announcement about a…
Campaign to ‘get the U.S. out of Africa’ launched by Black Alliance for Peace
On the tenth anniversary of the establishment of AFRICOM—the U.S. Africa Command—the Black Alliance for Peace launched U.S. Out of Africa!: Shut Down AFRICOM, a campaign demanding the end of…
Ag cooperatives prove successful in rural South
A new report by the Institute for Policy Studies titled “Agricultural Cooperatives: Opportunities & Challenges for African American Women in the South” found that co-ops can create a more beneficial…
New Report Weighs Costs of Top-Heavy Philanthropy
The U.S. charitable giving sector is currently transitioning from broad-based support across a wide range of donors to top-heavy philanthropy increasingly dominated by a small number of very wealthy individuals…
Some people think Michael Bloomberg’s $1.8 billion donation to Johns Hopkins University is a ‘dangerous distraction’
Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s $1.8 billion donation to Johns Hopkins University has made headlines for its sheer size — it’s the biggest gift ever to a single institution. The…
New Study Shows NY Restaurant Jobs Increase Despite Tipped Minimum Wage Hike
Will New York restaurants, under pressure from rising health care costs and rents, really struggle to stay open as the state increases the minimum wage for waiters and bartenders? Is…
The problem with Michael Bloomberg’s massive donation to Johns Hopkins University
While in his final year as mayor of New York City, Michael R. Bloomberg referred to calls to raise taxes on the city’s highest earners “about as dumb a policy…
Report Warns of Risks of Top-Heavy Philanthropy
The charitable sector in the United States is increasingly top-heavy, with a growing amount of philanthropic power held by a handful of very wealthy individuals and foundations — a trend…
When raising awareness of military spending cost a home
COLRAIN – Federal agents came knocking at the door of the two-bedroom house on Shelburne Line Road in early March 1989 to hand deliver a notice for G. Randall “Randy” Kehler and his…
