May 1st is International Worker’s Day, Here’s Why it Matters:
In case you’ve missed it, today (5/1) is International Worker’s Day, also known as May Day. In America, the biggest holiday for workers is Labor Day, which falls in September. May Day is the international worker’s equivalent of labor day. Around the world, protests and demonstrations have shown the extent to which workers are outraged and are showing their ability to flex their collective muscle. In Istanbul, Turkey, demonstrators caused a city-wide shut down. In Greece, striking union workers shut down train and ferry services. In Jakarta, an estimated 150,000 workers marched on the capital, demanding an increase in pay and…
Do Some U.S. Senators Support Genocide?
A first ever comprehensive international Arms Trade Treaty was approved by UN on April 3rd, 2013. The treaty seeks to regulate the $70 billion (46.2 billion pounds) business in conventional arms and keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers. If the treaty is signed by President Obama, government agencies would review it before the administration decides whether to seek ratification by the Senate. The Arms Trade Treaty is intended to prevent brutal dictators from acquiring conventional weapons including tanks, missiles, warships, artillery, and combat aircraft which they can use on their own people to commit genocide. Passage…
Let’s Stop the Redistribution of Wealth!
Conservative, libertarian and neoliberal arguments often accuse progressives of trying to “redistribute wealth” by taxing the rich and giving the money to the poor. Let’s be honest, over the past few decades, there has indeed been a redistribution of wealth in USA, based in part on changing tax rates. A Wall Street Journal article from July 23, 2008, explained how there has been a trend in recent years where the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans have seen their income rise faster than any other group of earners in the country while at that same time, the tax rate for the top 1…
Republicans Continue to Suppress the Vote, Even In Iowa
I am an Iowa resident. Recently, our local newspaper reported that Iowa’s Republican Secretary of State wants to purge anyone from voter registration list whose citizenship is questioned. If your name is similar to the name of someone on one of the federal immigration lists or someone whose driver’s license says they are not a citizen, then you have to prove you are a citizen. Of course Democratic legislators, the ACLU, the League of Women Voters and other groups are fighting this, but so far the law is set to go into effect shortly. If you’re wondering just how big…
An Open Letter to all People who Hate the President
(Note: The views expressed in this editorial and the video below are those of the individual and not necessarily those of The Progressive Press, its editorial staff or its affiliates.) It’s fine to be a conservative who disagrees with Obama politically. He is a fallible human being. Like any politician, he deserves criticism now and then. Progressives criticize him all the time because his policies are more conservative than many thought he would be. If you would say “Obama is wrong on this issue and here’s why”, I could respect that. But it’s something else to be a hard-core Glenn…
The State Of Our Union In 1:12
For the simplest of points to be made, this has taken all day to say, mostly because of the varied expletives that needed replacing. So here it is. Last night, during the President’s first State of the Union speech of his second term, there came a moment toward the end where he acknowledged a 102 year old Florida woman – Desiline Victor – who, on Election Day 2012, stood in line at her precinct for over three hours (she was first told it could take up to six, yet she insisted). All for the “privilege” to vote. The President asked…
Here is Why Republicans Care About Benghazi
I’m beginning to understand why, for the past five months, Republicans in Congress and in the media have worked so hard to politicize the tragic deaths of our ambassador and 3 other diplomats in Benghazi, Libya. They went to great lengths to contrive conspiracy theories about the attack on the American consulate and President Obama’s supposed negligence or even complicity in the attack. Most recently, they use the tragedy to stall the nominations of Sen. Chuck Hagel and John Brennan for Secretary of Defense and CIA director posts. Contrast that behavior with how we all reacted to the worst terrorist…
The Race For Tom Harkin’s Senate Seat Begins
My senator, Tom Harkin, has announced that he is retiring from Congress and won’t run for reelection in 2014. As a five term senator, Harkin has been one of the more progressive members of the Senate in recent years. According to some polls, the top choice for Iowa Republicans to run for Harkin’s Senate seat is Congressman Steve King from western Iowa. Yes, the same man who told an Iowa reporter, he’s never heard of a child getting pregnant from statutory rape or incest, in August 2012. Same man who claimed insurance coverage of contraceptives will make us ‘a dying…
Call To Action: FiliBust!
If you think you’re disgusted now……just wait. Here it is, everyone: Without filibuster reform, there is quite likely no gun legislation, or new immigration policy, or meaningful debate on climate change and other crucial environmental issues, or much of anything else, really. Is anyone out there listening? Friday, January 18, 2013 – FiliBust your Senator! Tell Harry Reid to use his majority! Raise your hand if you’ve never, ever called a Senator’s office about issues important to you. Today, I’m asking those of you with your hands in the air, and those of you with your arms at your side,…
What is the NRA’s Real Goal?
Did you ever wonder if there is a connection between the following two facts? The board of directors of the National Rifle Association consists mainly of gun dealers, gun manufacturers, and others who profit from the multi-billion dollar gun industry. The NRA insists that virtually every crime problem in the country has one solution, more guns, which as it turns out, means more gun sales and even more profits for the gun industry. When President Obama did absolutely nothing about guns and gun violence, the NRA said he was the most anti-gun president in history and screamed “He’s coming to…
Here’s Why Republicans Have an Advantage Over Democrats
To many people it seems that Republicans have the upper hand on political matters even when they are clearly in the minority. During President Obama’s first 2 years in office, with a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress, a lot of the bills they tried to pass were stopped by a minority of Senate Republicans using the filibuster rule. Even routine matters like the Transportation bill, the Farm bill or raising the debt ceiling, that are normally passed with majority support from both parties, were blocked or held up by Republicans in order to get concessions on other unrelated…
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