The Righteous Mind, by Jonathan Haidt - NYTimes.com

You’re smart. You’re liberal. You’re well informed. You think conservatives are narrow-minded. You can’t understand why working-class Americans vote Republican. You figure they’re being duped. You’re wrong. THE RIGHTEOUS MIND

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House Republicans target social cuts to shield military | Reuters

The cuts to food stamps, child tax credits and Medicaid healthcare for the poor, among others, are certain to stall in the Democratic-controlled Senate. But they stake out Republicans' negotiating stance on replacing $1.2 trillion in automatic, across-the-board spending cuts that …

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Obama On The Myth Of Big Government | TPMDC

If those state and local workers had kept their jobs, they would’ve been making and spending money the whole time, which would have further boosted the economy and provided jobs for other people in the private sector. Economists call this the multiplier effect, and it would …

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Austerity as a bridge to nowhere - The Washington Post

Economic austerity is a dangerous, self-defeating intellectual fad. Perhaps I should say that’s what it was, given Sunday’s election results in Europe. Perhaps I should also say good riddance. Voters in France, Greece and even Germany — a hotbed of the austerit …

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Five myths about America's decline - The Washington Post

Drawn-out wars, economic struggles, exploding debt — it’s easy to point to these signs and conclude that America is in an irreversible decline; that after a good run, it’s time to hand the superpower baton to China or some other up-and-comer. Certainly, America  …

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Really, Really Big Oil - Interview By Benjamin Pauker | Foreign Policy

In an era of global turmoil, volatile oil prices, and muscle-flexing state-owned petroleum companies, ExxonMobil still rules the roost. In an exclusive conversation withForeign Policy, New America Foundation President Steve Coll, author of the new book Private Empire, explains ho …

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Obama's winning strategy on foreign policy - The Washington Post

For the first time since the early 1960s, the Republican Party enters a presidential campaign at a decided disadvantage on foreign policy. Republicans find it hard to get accustomed to the fact that when they pull their favorite political levers — accusations that Democrats …

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Bin Laden documents at a glance - The Washington Post

ON THE U.S. MEDIA: Like any public figures, bin Laden and his advisers were mindful of the media. Adam Gadahn, one of bin Laden’s spokesmen, provided a summary of his view of U.S. TV cable news. “From the professional point of view, they are all on one level except ( …

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A Very Pricey Pineapple - NYTimes.com School Testing

The Obama administration has been trying to tackle the astronomical costs of 50 different sets of standardized tests by funding efforts by states to develop shared models — a process you will be stunned to hear is being denounced by conservatives like Gov. Rick Perry of Tex …

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Why I Identify as a Skeptic | Daylight Atheism | Big Think

Being a skeptic is not a hard and fast definition-- no one is ever 100% skeptical all the time. I know lots of people who identify as skeptics who don't behave in a skeptical manner most of the time. And I know lots of people who don't identify as skeptics who question and critic …

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Jon Stewart Goes Off On GOP Hypocrisy For Criticizing Obama's Bin Laden Ad | Mediaite

So let me get this straight. Republicans, you are annoyed by the arrogance and braggadocio of a wartime president’s political ad? You think he is divisively and unfairly belittling his opponents. I see. Have a question. Are you on crack? Were you alive lo these past ten yea …

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How Congress Helps Republicans, But Not Democrats, Weather Bad Economies (Charts) | TPMDC

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Full Show: Big Money, Big Media, Big Trouble | Moyers & Company | BillMoyers.com

Big money and big media have coupled to create a ‘Disney World’ of democracy in which TV shows, televised debates, even news coverage is being dumbed down, resulting in a public less informed than it should be, says Marty Kaplan, director of USC’s Norman Lear Ce …

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Full Show: Big Money, Big Media, Big Trouble | BillMoyers.com

We start stupid. The brain is wired to be entertained. We don't pay attention to the words. We pay attention to the pictures and the drama and the story. If it's pretty, if it's exciting, if it's violent, if it's fast, that's where we are. So the fact that these mini dramas are b …

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The Ghost of Joe McCarthy Slithers Again

e’ve talked at times about George Orwell’s classic novel 1984, and the amnesia that sets in when we flush events down the memory hole, leaving us at the mercy of only what we know today. Sometimes, though, the past comes back to haunt, like a ghost. It happened recent …

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Ready for the Fight: Rolling Stone Interview with Barack Obama | Politics News | Rolling Stone

Ready for the Fight: Rolling Stone Interview with Barack Obama The president, in the Oval Office, discusses his job, the opposition and the coming campaign Read more:

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Experts: Contrary to Mainstream Myth, 'Social Security is Strong' and Could Be Made Stronger | Common Dreams

“The most effective way to strengthen Social Security for the next 75 years is to eliminate the cap on the payroll tax on income above $250,000. Right now, someone who earns $110,100 pays the same amount of money into Social Security as a billionaire. That makes no sense,&r …

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The Washington Monthly - The Magazine - The Incomplete Greatness of Barack Obama

He’s gotten more done in three years than any president in decades. Too bad the American public still thinks he hasn’t accomplished anything

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Sunday Talk Shows Still Skew Right and White, but There's Light at the End of the Week | The Nation

Let's hear it for Sunday talk shows that are as diverse in gender and race as they are in parts of the brain utilized! How Up with Chris Hayes and Melissa Harris-Perry on MSNBC are revolutionizing TV, one weekend at a time:

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Social Security In US Less Generous Than Similar Countries | Crooks and Liars

When compared to other similar countries, retirement benefits in the United States are relatively modest. A report from CNBC took a closer look at retirement systems in numerous countries and found the U.S. to be performing lower than the average. Retirees in the U.S. generally r …

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Welfare gives mothers an economic incentive to have more children

Myth: Welfare gives mothers an economic incentive to have more children.Fact: Studies have not found a correlation between size of welfare benefits and families.

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5 myths about Social Security - 1 - retirement savings - MSN Money

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Social Security and the federal deficit (Part 1) | Economic Policy Institute

But didn’t Congress spend the money in the trust fund? Yes, but it would have spent it anyway. Congress spent way more than what it borrowed from the trust fund, which holds roughly one-fifth of federal debt outstanding. There’s a global market for U.S. Treasury secu …

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House Republicans Oppose Bill That Would Help Low-Income Moms Stay Home Like Ann Romney

House Republicans emphatically agree with Mitt Romney that stay-at-home moms work just as hard as anybody in the workforce. But when it comes to applying that standard to mothers on welfare, they draw the line.

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Among GOP, anti-tax orthodoxy runs deep - The Washington Post

The rise of the anti-tax tea party movement in 2008 further hardened the party’s stance against taxes. How is the pledge enforced? Typically, Republican candidates sign the pledge to avoid attack in the primary. Once in office, violators might find that Norquist has contact …

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