To placate their pique at his effort to get a non-proliferation agreement with Iran, Barack Obama met last Thursday at Camp David with Saudi royals and leaders of the other five feudal dictatorships of the Persian Gulf. He reaffirmed the…
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TPP: Obama’s Folly
by jeff.faux •
Barack Obama’s petulant criticism last Friday of Democrats who do not support his proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership reminds me of the old tongue-in-cheek advice to young lawyers: “If the facts are on your side, pound the facts. If the law is…
CIA Torture? Washington Is ‘Shocked! Shocked!’
by jeff.faux •
The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on the CIA’s torture of its detainees reminded Americans about some ugly things done in their name. But little will change because the our governing class has no intention of ending the senseless War…
Whack-A-Mole: Our Strategy for Permanent War
by jeff.faux •
After Barack Obama announced his high-risk military campaign in the Middle East, some commentators raised the question of why — given the decade of quagmire in Afghanistan and Iraq — was there no exit strategy? The answer by now is…
The Neoliberal Mind at Work: Brad DeLong’s Muddled Defense of NAFTA
by jeff.faux •
Brad DeLong recently criticized an op-ed I wrote about the negative impact of the twenty-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement on American workers. The stakes here are higher and more immediate than the rehash of an old ideological dispute. This…
How US Aid to Central America’s Rich Drives Its Poor to Our Borders
by jeff.faux •
Over the last several months, tens of thousands of children have crossed our southern border in a desperate attempt to escape the violence, hunger and chaos that now engulf a large part of Central America. The children – traveling alone…
How the Great Society Democratized our Economy
by jeff.faux •
The media buzz surrounding the 50th anniversary of Lyndon Johnson’s May 1964 speech announcing his Great Society has focused on the question, did it “work?” In other words, did the 200-odd pieces of legislation passed over the following two years…
In Defense of a “Default” Foreign Policy
by jeff.faux •
I am an advocate of what Michael Walzer calls the “default” left position on foreign policy: minimal engagement, at least until we get democracy right here at home. Still, self-interest and moral obligation require some attention to the world beyond…
Lynn Williams: In Memoriam
by jeff.faux •
Lynn Williams—president of the United Steelworkers of America from 1983 to 1994—died on May 5 at the age of 89. Lynn was an extraordinary union leader—smart, compassionate, and visionary. His strength and creativity helped protect and expand his union through…
Thomas Piketty Undermines Hallowed Tenets of Capitalist Catechism
by jeff.faux •
Thomas Piketty just tossed an intellectual hand grenade into the debate over the world’s struggling economy. Before the English translation of the French economist’s new book, Capital in the Twenty-first Century, hit bookstores, it was applauded, attacked and declared a…