Many families throughout New Orleans have been celebrating since the city recently agreed to pay $13.3 million to settle lawsuits with 17 plaintiffs. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the chaos that ensued, these plaintiffs ended up suing the city of New Orleans for wrongful deaths and injuries, deprivation of civil rights and lost
The Affordable Care Act has been a target of Republican ire since its inception, and since the elephant stampede of the 2010 midterm elections they have attempted to pass legislation to defund or eliminate the ACA more than sixty times[1]. For the last six years this has been nothing more than political pandering, with an absurd amount of time dedicated to an action that was impossible during Obama’s presidency. Once again we are preparing for a political tug of war that will only serve to give the American people a bad case of rope burn.
The city of Flint, Michigan made news after finding high levels of lead in the drinking water. However, Flint is far from the only municipality dealing with water contamination. Bad water is turning up all over the place as citizens have started paying extra attention. Let’s look back at a number of incidents from last
As President-elect Trump’s inauguration looms closer, talk over his potential Supreme Court nominees has increased. So far there are eight people in the running to replace the late Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia, according to people on Trump’s transition team. Let’s take a look at each of the potential Supreme Court nominees. William Pryor, 54
In an era where prescription drug manufacturers seem to be raising prices on life-saving medicines left and right, citizens across the U.S. are looking towards our leaders to help get the costs under control. Fortunately, one state seems to be willing to take the lead on those efforts. Last June, Vermont legislators enacted a new
The election of Donald Trump has emboldened the white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and everyday jerks among us. Who knew so many folks would hear Trump’s repetitive, simplified, small-word vocabulary and exclaim, “He says what we’re thinking”? Many of us were sure, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, that the arc of the moral universe had been
Since 2010, a new free trade agreement has been in the works, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). While the agreement has some notable aspects, like it’s ability to “spur U.S. exports of mechanical and electrical equipment, advanced materials, pharmaceuticals and many other goods” by cutting tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers, some are concerned that
How many times have you heard political conservatives say that the best government is small government? That the closer a government is to the governed, the more responsive and responsible it will be, and the likelier it is to both serve the needs and protect the rights of people like you and me? Local ordinances
A two-year investigation conducted by the Justice Department has uncovered some unsettling news. Throughout the state of Louisiana, an estimated 4,000 mentally ill people are being kept, unnecessarily, in expensive nursing homes with little to no contact with friends and family. They’re being deprived of independent living, all because the state has failed to provide
In yesterday’s post, I discussed how the economic concept of supply and demand works in terms of actual prices of commodities like oil, and how it can also be applied to other “markets” where people are metaphorically buying and selling other commodities, such as marriage. Today, I’d like to extend that idea a little further. Market