Dear Mr. Mulvaney, I have been reading and listening to your remarks whenever reporters asks why you are pressing for unprecedented budget cuts in selected agencies and departments that serve people and their children who are impoverished or vulnerable to health/safety hazards, or with disabilities. Your two responses are that the programs aren’t working (with … Read more
As the Trump wrecking crew ramps up its destructive campaign against federal health and safety protections and social services for impoverished, disabled and vulnerable people (young and old) the latest targets of their ire are the federal civil servants who faithfully keep our government functioning here and abroad. Mind you, the Trump wrecking crew is … Read more
Dear members of Congress, In his five months as EPA Administrator, former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is an aggregating impeachable offense, ever giving fuller meaning to Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist 65 elaboration of what constitutes “high crimes and misdemeanors,” to wit: Impeachable offenses arise from the “abuse or violation of some public trust” and “relate … Read more
Before recommending a practical way to reverse the devastating impact of Congressional Republicans’ attempts to strip tens of millions of Americans of health insurance coverage, and the non-stop anxiety and dread that comes with such cruel and vicious legislation, note the impact of having gerrymandered (the politicians pick the voters) Washington rulers. The arrogant Republicans … Read more
Notice how more frequently we hear scientists tell us that we’re “wholly unprepared” for this peril or for that rising fatality toll? Turning away from such warnings may reduce immediate tension or anxiety, but only weakens the public awareness and distracts us from addressing the great challenges of our time, such as calamitous climate change, … Read more
The unraveling of a society’s institutions, stability and reasonable order does not sound alarms to forewarn the citizenry, apart from economic yardsticks measuring poverty, jobs, wages, health, savings, profits and other matters economic. However, we do have some signs that we should not allow ourselves to ignore. Maliciousness, profiteering and willful ignorance on the part … Read more
It is time for an urgent clarion call. Given the retrograde pits inhabited by our ruling politicians and the avaricious over-reach of myopic big-business bosses, the self-described pillars of our society must step up to reverse the decline of our country. Here is my advice to each pillar: Step up, lawyers and judges of America. … Read more
The hype and unsubstantiated hope behind the self-driving car movement continues unabated, distracting from addressing necessities of old “mobilities” such as inadequate public transit and upgrading highway and rail infrastructure. At a conference on Driverless Cars sponsored by the George Washington University Law School earlier this month, the legal landscape of unresolved problems and unasked … Read more
The turmoil inside the Trump White House is much more intense than the media is reporting. Palaces of intrigue, under-perceived siege by political and law enforcement adversaries, tend to boil inward before they burst outward. One of the most perilous decisions for Trump is how far he will go in firing prosecutors looking into his … Read more
After eight grueling years in the White House, ex-president Barack Obama looked forward with his wife Michelle to a deserved, extended rest and vacation. Nearly five months later, he’s enjoying the company of the rich and famous at their secluded mega-retreats so much that a generally sympathetic media has begun to describe a playboy’s leisure. … Read more