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1 week ago | 
laprogressive.com | Paul deLespinasse |Rob Maurer
The real challenge is to live as well as possible in the world we have, rather than risking destruction by measures taken to affect life in a billion years. The real challenge is to live as well as possible in the world we have, rather than risking destruction by measures taken to affect life in a billion years.
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2 weeks ago | 
commondreams.org | Paul deLespinasse
Republicans in Congress are planning to slash funding for Medicaid in order to help pay for major tax reductions for wealthy Americans and corporations. But they don't want to cut Medicaid openly, because it will gravely injure many people who voted for them. One way to cut Medicaid expenditures without overtly reducing benefits is to increase required paperwork. Additional bureaucratic hassle will discourage people from applying for what they are eligible for.
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2 weeks ago | 
newsmax.com | Paul deLespinasse
Republicans in Congress are planning to slash funding for Medicaid to help pay for major tax reductions for wealthy Americans and corporations. But they don't want to cut Medicaid openly because it will gravely injure many people who voted for them. One way to cut Medicaid expenditures without overtly reducing benefits is to increase required paperwork. Additional bureaucratic hassle will discourage people from applying for what they are eligible for.
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3 weeks ago | 
laprogressive.com | Paul deLespinasse |Rob Maurer
The second Trump administration has been implementing the "let's make government weaker" recommendations of the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation with a vengeance. Americans have long bragged that we are the world's most advanced nation. We certainly used to be. But those leading earlier in a race do not always end up winning it.
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3 weeks ago | 
laprogressive.com | Paul deLespinasse |Rob Maurer
All governments being oligarchical, democracy merely limits what the individuals who are ruling can get away with. Democracy is a good idea. But it is neither the only good idea nor the most important one. To protect everyone from governmental mistreatment, the rule of law is much more important than democracy. Democracy gives voters only limited and slow influence over government.
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1 month ago | 
newsmax.com | Paul deLespinasse
The tax cuts enacted during the first Trump administration were scheduled to sunset at the end of 2025, returning us to the higher pre-2017 tax levels. Donald Trump now wants Congress to renew these tax cuts. But despite deep proposed reductions in many vital programs, extending the 2017 tax rates would guarantee a huge 10-year increase in the national debt. With only a one vote majority, House Republicans have passed a bill doing exactly this.
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1 month ago | 
newsmax.com | Paul deLespinasse
Congress may be about to sell large amounts of electromagnetic spectrum β through which cellphone, radio, and TV signals are transmitted β to private corporations. This could bring in tens of billions of dollars, but selling spectrum is a terrible idea. Since selling could bring in so much money, the spectrum is obviously valuable. It is a natural resource β not produced by human effort.
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1 month ago | 
newsmax.com | Paul deLespinasse
Ironically, Donald Trump's attacks on wind turbines could hasten the day when we stop burning coal, oil, and gas. Trump is also less than enthusiastic about solar energy, the other main green source. But his special vendetta against wind power will increase investments in solar. The economics of green energy have been rapidly changing. An older way to harness the sun was "concentrated solar power" (CSP). In the past CSP was much cheaper than PV panels.
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1 month ago | 
laprogressive.com | Paul deLespinasse |Rob Maurer
Today's obsession with private "discrimination" is an illegitimate outgrowth of the legitimate desire to overcome racism. The Missouri attorney general has sued Starbucks for unlawful discrimination, claiming that it has too many women and minority people on its payroll. The Trump administration has used alleged antisemitism—discrimination against Jews—to make intrusive demands on universities' freedom to govern themselves.
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2 months ago | 
wlsam.com | Paul deLespinasse
Are Americans victims of political bait and switch? Immediate pain isn’t what Republicans promised voters. Donald Trump promised immediate benefits, much of it on “day one” — cheaper eggs, lower inflation, peace in Ukraine. The war rages on. Egg prices have increased. Inflation, fueled by tariffs, is on the way up. But stocks, including Americans’ 401(k) retirement accounts, are way down.
