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On the last day of March, Ohio governor John Kasich signed the Republicans’ anti-democratic law, Senate Bill 5 (SB5). Soon after, a citizens alliance began using the state’s democratic public referendum law to repeal it.1 9 With 40-some clauses that weaken workers and their unions, SB5 practically cancels the public worker’s right to collective bargaining, […]

Pacha Mama Some countries in the Western Hemisphere have given constitutional rights to non-human entities — with opposite effects on their democracies. While Ecuador and Bolivia stand to strengthen their democracies by declaring human-like rights for Pacha Mama, that is, Nature, the United States, has weakened its democracy by giving human rights to the business […]

My 85-year-old father, whom we call “Pappy,” has his land line telephone service with AT&T. Last spring, AT&T sent Pappy a DSL modem and a brochure with a cheery welcome to its internet service. But he hadn’t ordered it. And when we realized that neither had any of his children ordered it, Pappy sent the […]

Rally in Madison, Feb. 26th (Andy Manis / AP) “Extravagant pension and health benefits” is a charge made against public service workers by the billionaire-backed political group, Americans for Prosperity (AFP).1 The charge is one of several on the web site the group put up to support the billionaire-backed Wisconsin governor, Scott Walker, in his […]

As throngs of citizens rally for the twelfth straight day at and in the Wisconsin state house, and as thousands more have been rallying in Ohio and other states, they are fighting for a long-held human right — that of collective bargaining.1 The right to join a collective-bargaining group — a labor union — is […]