In a world of screaming cable television hosts and partisan media outlets, PBS is supposed to be the last refuge for honest news. This is ostensibly why taxpayers still contribute money to the public broadcasting system. That money is appropriated to try to guarantee that there remains at least one forum for unvarnished facts, even […]
David Sirota
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David Sirota: The persistence of selective deficit disorder
“Cognitive dissonance” is the clinical term used to describe stress that arises from holding contradictory beliefs. In politics, this term is a misnomer, because while many lawmakers, operatives and activists present oxymoronic views, many of them don’t appear to feel any stress about that. When it comes to budgetary matters, such a lack of remorse […]
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David Sirota: Wealthy playing the ‘pity me’ game
The rich have never been richer and the poor keep getting poorer. The financial masters of the universe enjoy indefinite taxpayer-funded bailouts, while the social safety net for the poor is gutted. The ruling class that engineers crushing economic inequality gathers at the World Economic Forum in Davos to pretend to care about said inequality, […]
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David Sirota: The economic case for paid leave laws
For all the pro-family rhetoric that dominates America’s political discourse, U.S. law remains decidedly anti-family — at least in comparison to peer countries. This is the world’s only industrialized nation that does not require employers to provide any paid vacation days. It is the only industrialized nation that does not require employers to provide paid […]
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David Sirota: Fact-finding necessary in NSA debate
In order to have a genuinely constructive debate, data must be compiled, evidence must be amassed and verifiable truths must be presented. This truism is particularly significant when it comes to debates about security and liberty. When public policy disputes involve such grave issues, facts are a necessity. Without facts, we get the counterproductive discourse […]
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David Sirota: Reefer sanity takes hold in Colorado
Seven years before legal marijuana went on sale this month in my home state of Colorado, the drug warriors in President George W. Bush’s administration released an advertisement that is now worth revisiting. “I smoked weed and nobody died,” intoned the teenage narrator. “I didn’t get into a car accident. I didn’t O.D. on heroin […]
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David Sirota:Snowden is whistleblower of the year
For months, a debate over Edward Snowden’s status has raged. In the back and forth, one question about this icon who disclosed NSA abuses has dominated: Is he or is he not a whistleblower with all the attendant protections that should come with such a designation? As of last week’s federal court ruling saying the […]
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David Sirota: Three questions for the Motor City
Though they are important, let’s be honest: Municipal budget figures can be mind-numbingly boring. Even in high-profile, high-stakes dramas like Detroit’s bankruptcy, the sheer flood of numbers can encourage people to simply tune it all out for fear of being further confused. Thus, in the interest of not putting you to sleep or further perplexing […]
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David Sirota: Eating like there is no tomorrow
Right around now, many Americans are picking at the last few chunks of leftover turkey. This annual ritual is a reminder that stripped of its pilgrim mythology, Thanksgiving is an extended paroxysm of meat consumption. Oh, sure, we go out of our way to pretend it isn’t really about that to the point where the […]
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David Sirota: New Republican icon, same old policies
From the moment he was declared the winner in his re-election campaign, Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., has been billed as a new kind of Republican. Is it a fair characterization? Yes and no. Yes, this likely presidential candidate has done a few things other GOP politicians don’t usually do. Yes, he has won re-election in […]