Untitled Document Last year Mary Lou Eckart took her first vacation in five years, a trip from her home in Decatur to see her grandchildren in Florida. But the Illinois state government, which pays her to care for a severely disabled teenage girl, provides her no paid vacation time. So Eckart took the girl — […]
David Moberg
David Moberg is a senior editor at
Chicago-based In These Times.
Posted inNews
Whose subsidy is it anyway?
Untitled Document The farm bill, which Congress will likely vote on this fall, will affect environmental, consumer, industrial, trade, and anti-poverty policies, as well as the prices and subsidies farmers receive for producing commodity crops such as corn, wheat, and soybeans. Legislators are now conducting hearings and readying proposals, but the outcome is “more up […]
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Promise or peril?
Untitled Document When Matt Hawkinson started growing corn in the rich farmland of western Illinois, nearly a decade ago, he sold the grain for $2 a bushel, 50 cents less than it cost him to produce it. Recently, buyers have been paying him $4.35 a bushel. It’s a welcome profit — even if it increases […]
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The health-care monster returns
Untitled Document Like the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the health-insurance monster has returned, creeping back onto the public stage. After President Bill Clinton’s jury-rigged pen to contain the monster collapsed in 1994, it never really went away. Political leaders tried to ignore the beast or deal piecemeal with its ravages, but it pushed more […]
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Maytag moves to Mexico
GALESBURG — Many Americans dream of getting rich. Aaron Kemp had more modest ambitions. “I wanted to work at a decent job and earn a decent wage, with decent benefits, so I can raise my kids, give them a decent education and maybe take them out to Pizza Hut on a Friday night. I don’t […]
