Con: Obama dug a deep hole in Honduras by trying to save a Chavez wannabe
By RAY WALSER - Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. State Department has been busily digging a diplomatic crater since June 28. That’s when the Honduran Congress and Supreme Court ousted then-President Manuel Zelaya from office due to his unconstitutional bid to eliminate term limits. Rather than side with the democratic institutions of the land, our State Department surprisingly backed Zelaya’s demand for a return to power.
Pro: U.S. should reject tainted coming election in Honduras
By MARK WEISBROT - Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009
WASHINGTON -- Human Rights Watch, the OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and human rights groups worldwide have also condemned the violence and repression perpetrated by the Honduran dictatorship. Why is it that Latin American governments can recognize this threat to democracy but Washington cannot?
China-U.S. partnership mutually beneficial to consumers and workers of both nations
By JOHN MANZELLA - Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009
BUFFALO, NY -- President Obama’s coming visit to China is an opportunity for the United States to deepen its Chinese relationship and pursue a more sincere partnership.
Obama must seek change in Chinese policies that harm U.S. workers, consumers
By MICHAEL J. WILSON - Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009
WASHINGTON -- This month President Obama will meet with Chinese leaders to discuss, among other things, trade. If he tries to negotiate anything other than a typical free-wheeling North American Free Trade Agreement-style contract, his critics will predict doom and call him a protectionist.
Con: AARP’s tacit endorsement of Medicare cuts line its pockets, but shortchanges seniors
By GRACE-MARIE TURNER - Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009
ALEXANDRIA, VA --
Why would AARP, sworn to protect the interests of senior citizens, watch silently as Congress plans to cut Medicare spending by $400 billion to pay for its health reform legislation? Could it be that the interests of seniors and AARP are not exactly aligned?
Pro: AARP’s apolitical efforts spurred many reforms that aid today’s seniors
By WAYNE MADSEN - Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009
WASHINGTON -- For supporting health care reform, AARP suddenly finds itself under attack by the vociferous voices of the far right.
Pro: Increasing ethanol use is key to attaining goal of a cleaner planet
By BOB STALLMAN - Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009
WASHINGTON --
Increased ethanol blend rates can further reduce the price of gasoline and ensure the availability of fuel to keep America moving.
Con: The EPA wants to put a time bomb in America’s gas tanks
By ANDREW P. MORRISS - Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009
CHAMPAIGN, IL. -- Corn-based ethanol, the type currently used in the United States, is a terrible transportation fuel whose production has serious environmental consequences and raises food prices for the world’s poor while delivering few net environmental benefits. Requiring higher blends of it to be put into engines not designed to handle those levels of the corrosive, water-attracting fuel without adequate testing is a gamble on a grand scale.
Con: Forcing untested vaccines on any American directly violates everyone’s civil liberties
By WAYNE MADSEN - Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009
WASHINGTON -- The rush of the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control, Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health in endorsing the swine flu vaccine has created fear, suspicion and angst among both the general public and the health provider community.
Pro: We need to vaccinate all emergency workers
By JEFFREY AXELRAD - Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009
WASHINGTON --
Policy for the potential 2009-2010 swine flu pandemic should not be based on what did not happen in 1976; we should not act like generals fighting the last war.
Pro: Occupying Afghanistan will make things worse
By MARK WEISBROT - Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009
WASHINGTON -- President Obama should go with the people and set a timetable to get our troops out of Afghanistan as soon as is practically possible, which should be less than one year. Their presence cannot contribute to bringing peace and security to that country, nor does it contribute to the security of the United States. In fact, the occupation of Afghanistan is making things worse on both counts.
Con: Obama must go for a knockout in Afghanistan
By BOGDAN KIPLING - Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009
WASHINGTON --
One thing is already crystal-clear: Americans and the NATO allies cannot win by hesitation or huddling in fortified enclaves—even if Obama sends the additional 40,000 troops that Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the American and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has requested.
Con: Green job subsidies will destroy far more jobs than they create
By BEN LIEBERMAN - Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009
WASHINGTON --
A study by The Heritage Foundation estimates a loss of 1,145,000 jobs from the Waxman-Markey bill. These are net job losses, after any “new” green jobs are taken into account. The three analyses of the bill done by the federal government also predict net job losses.
Pro: Green jobs are springing up daily
By KATHY E. READ - Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009
WASHINGTON -- The sun seems an ideal place to tap for the clean energy that will eventually reduce greenhouse gases and turn today’s gray sky to tomorrow’s blue. The flurry of green energy activity should multiply if and when Congress enacts its pending omnibus climate change legislation.
Con: Congress should ensure consumers get quality financial protection
By SARAH JANE HUGHES - Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, IND. --
To solve the “consumer protection problem,” Congress should do three things: (1) identify what did not work, and what did; (2) fit the solution to the actual problems found; and (3) keep functioning consumer protection agencies working—so that people won’t wait years for a new agency to get down to work.
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