Category Archives: national politics

I’m in the latest issue of Dissent!

Posted on April 29, 2013 by

The Spring, 2013 issue of Dissent Magazine is here in all its glory and it contains my book review The Right and Labor in America Politics, Ideology, and Imagination, by Nelson Lichtenstein and Elizabeth Tandy Shermer. (It’s a loosely connected … Continue reading →

Posted in book reviews, books, economic justice, history, labor, national politics, worker rights | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Philaquester: What the latest Beltway idiocy means for the city

Posted on March 13, 2013 by

In my latest post for Next City I take a look at what the impact of the sequester–the automatic spending cuts enacted on March 1–will be in Philadelphia. Unsurprisingly, it’ll be terrible. The city has been suffering round after round … Continue reading →

Posted in austerity, economic justice, national politics, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

We Are All Vicious Reactionaries (In the eyes of politicians)

Posted on March 5, 2013 by

Dylan Matthews, at Wonkblog, lays out a new poli sci working paper from David Broockman and Christopher Skovron, who find that legislators consistently believe their constituents are more conservative than they actually are. This includes Republicans and Democrats, liberals and … Continue reading →

Posted in national politics, Philadelphia, safety net | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

You’d never catch a high level Democrat saying this now

Posted on January 26, 2013 by

I was flipping through William Saletan’s 2004 Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War and I found a very telling quote from a 2003 Vogue interview with John Kerry, who attested that the Democrats lost the 2002 Massachusetts governor’s … Continue reading →

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Don’t Depend on Manufacturing Jobs

Posted on January 20, 2013 by

In my latest post for Next City I’ve reviewed a few policies to encourage manufacturing development. But while manufacturing in America does seem to be experiencing a resurgence, that doesn’t mean manufacturing jobs are. Bruce Springsteen is right: Those jobs … Continue reading →

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Murder in Urban America

Posted on January 10, 2013 by

I’ve just started a regular gig blogging for Next City (formerly Next American City). Nothing major, just a couple posts a month, but I’m excited to have a regular outlet. My first post went up yesterday, and it is about … Continue reading →

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The left wing of the possible

Posted on January 3, 2013 by

In early December, I interviewed Bhaskar Sunkara, the founding editor of Jacobin magazine, about the Marxist magazine which he founded in 2010 at the age of 21.  (I meant to post this last month, but what with [insert holiday excuses … Continue reading →

Posted in economic justice, history, national politics, safety net | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Dead laws for dead men

Posted on November 21, 2012 by

I’ve been writing op-eds for the Philadelphia Inquirer since June, 2010 (six months after I moved to the Quaker City). Unfortunately, the venerable publication’s website–Philly.com–used to be pretty terrible. (Recent changes have improved things.) The first couple op-eds I wrote … Continue reading →

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Awful Managment To Blame For Hostess’ Failure (UPDATE)

Posted on November 20, 2012 by

I turned around a post for Salon yesterday on the Hostess debacle, which contrary to the title that got attached to this piece, seems less an instance of vulture capitalism (or union screw ups) than of a Hostess’ management, and … Continue reading →

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What lack of access to abortion looks like

Posted on November 6, 2012 by

Cross-posted from Keystone Politics.  Last week I received my copy of Tomorrow Magazine, the product of the excellent editorial team that GOOD laid off en masse at the beginning of the summer. (You should buy a copy of Tomorrow: It’s real pretty.) The magazine is crammed with interesting articles and fun features, from zombie … Continue reading →

Posted in healthcare reform, national politics, public health, sexual health | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment