“Ours is a system of corporate socialism, where companies capitalize their profits and socialize their losses…in effect, they tax you for their accidents, bungling, boondoggles, and mismanagement, just like a government. We should be able to dis-elect them.” – Ralph Nader Conservatives hate socialism. We know this is true because they tell us how evil […]

Proving once again to have their collective finger on the pulse of what really matters, the federal government has begun dispensing $40 coupons to households in the effort to make sure that no American will go without their precious television shows. All told, up to $1.5 BILLION has been set aside to protect the interests […]

Higher fuel costs are increasing the cost of food. The push towards corn-based biofuels has increased the cost of food too. And a stagnant economy has tightened the budgets of Americans everywhere. Economic numbers put forth by the government never account for food and fuel costs when determining the “state of the economy,” allowing them […]

As Congress struggles to pass legislation that will keep SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) funded, they once again turn to tobacco taxation as the key. Depending on which bill you look at (House or Senate) the proposed federal tax increase on tobacco would be 45 or 61 cents (per pack of cigarettes). Tobacco taxation, […]

President Bush presented his 2008 budget recently, and the numbers don’t lie- to pay for his massive tax cuts for the wealthy and his ongoing war on whomever he considers a terrorist this week, Bush proposed cuts to programs that actually help the poor, needy, disabled and America’s veterans. How’s that for compassionate conservatism? In […]

Please Pass The Bread & Water When I was a young kid growing up in a single parent household, I would often have to ask before I randomly grabbed a snack from the kitchen cupboard. Mom was on a really tight budget in those days, and the weekly allotment of food had to last until […]

As our world becomes more connected, the expansion of freedom and self-rule becomes more and more dependent on the concept of tolerance. Increased contact between varying cultures requires an increase in the ability to respect, if not accept, or even embrace, the differences between each other. Indeed, for freedom to flourish, tolerance is a vital […]

Does society dictate political goals or is it the other way around? It’s getting tough to tell these days. With campaigns based on “family values” that are never really defined and legislation steeped in religious belief, one wonders which horse is pulling which cart. I use these two examples only because they are they easiest […]

Proponents of comprehensive national health care fall short of the mark when it comes to proposing an equitable plan to pay for it. Naturally, the first thing we can do about making sure people can afford health care is to reduce the entire price structure, focusing medicine back on care and less on profit. And, […]

One of the most frequent complaints about our medical system is the lack of availability to doctors and facilities, commonly referred to as “access to care.” Several factors have converged to create this problem, not least among them a decreasing number of doctors, a decreasing number of facilities, an increasing population, and a greater demand […]