Editor’s Note

It’s time to take another peek into the Lifestyles of the Rich . . . and Cranky. Most of us rubes have no idea how difficult it is to be rich. The demands are crushing, because one is always expected to live up to, well, expectations. Take the simple act of ordering a drink. You […]

OK, corporate America is shipping our manufacturing, high-tech, and professional service jobs off to Lowwagehellistan — but at least they can’t send our fast-food jobs away, right? After all, these require face-to-face dealings with customers, so surely they’re safe. Well, not exactly. Pull into the drive-thru lane at a McDonald’s, Hardee’s, or Carl’s Jr., and […]

Providing health care for everyone is not an economic or even a health issue — it’s a moral issue. Notice that corporate chieftains and the political elites all have the Rolls Royce of health care while most Americans are trying to make do with a sputtering Yugo and millions more must walk barefoot. This crass […]

Thanks to Grover Norquist, the Republican lobbyist and right-wing anti-government guru, the world has just gotten weirder. Along with Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay, Norquist developed the “K Street Project” in the 1990s. It was an effort to require corporate lobbying firms, which are mostly headquartered along Washington’s K Street, to hire partisan Republicans as […]

America’s network of national parks is a natural resource so beloved by the public that even George W. Bush has posed in parks for photo ops in his two presidential campaigns, promising to bolster funding for these treasures. Once the campaigning is done, however, our park lover in chief goes after them with a double-bladed […]

Look out — here comes Halliburton again! With its own personal sugar daddy occupying the vice president’s chair, this giant government contractor keeps getting multibillion-dollar no-bid contracts from the Bush-Cheney regime, despite having been found guilty of shoddy work, massive cost overruns, and fraudulent billings. Its latest windfall, however, should be worrisome not merely to […]

We all remember George W’s fleeting moment of glory three years ago when he strutted aboard that aircraft carrier under a banner that shouted, “Mission Accomplished.” Well, three years, $300 billion, and nearly 2,400 American deaths later, Bush’s “mission” is a quagmire, with no end in sight. But he was not the only one gloating […]

As if President George W. Bush hadn’t mucked up public education enough by requiring all schools to conform to his teach-to-the-test scheme, along comes brother Jeb Bush with another wacky scheme for social engineering in our schools. Jeb, who likes to call himself the “education governor,” wants Florida to require every incoming high-schooler to make […]

When you need to fly somewhere for business or pleasure, how would you like to take off whenever you choose, avoid the hassle of airport security, never have to change planes, enjoy a plush leather seat, and eat four-star food? It’s all yours — if you’re a member of Congress. A little-mentioned perk of congressional […]