Media

First, the American Pediatrics Association noted that poverty was the number one danger facing children today. If that wasn’t bad enough, it seems the elderly are just as vulnerable, especially in the light of potential entitlement cuts.

In the wake of the National Security Agency scandal, the mainstream media is obsessing over Edward Snowden’s security clearance. It is asking, along with Senators from the Intelligence Committee, why a systems administrator at Booz Allen Hamilton had access to troves of top-secret documents and whether or not the vetting process for the other 1.4 million people with top-secret clearances is rigorous enough. The fear, the mainstream seems to be pushing on Americans, is that other leaks are in store.

For lawmakers in Washington, the daily chase for money can begin with a breakfast fundraiser in the side room of a Washington restaurant.

At noon, there might be a $500-per-plate lunch with lobbyists in a Capitol Hill town house. The day might wrap up in an arena sky box in downtown Washington, watching a basketball game with donors.

Republicans distrust government so much that they routinely label moderate policies as "socialist." Such name calling is demagoguery, of course, but it's also plain silly: For instance, an Obamacare similar to Bob Dole's healthcare plan – leaving private players largely in charge -- is not socialism.

People of color looking for homes are told about and shown fewer homes and apartments than their white counterparts.

NSA leaker Edward Snowden may have earned $200,000 a year working for Booz Allen, as he claimed. Or maybe he earned $122,000 a year, as the consulting company claims. Either way, we’re talking about a lot of money for a 29-year old systems administrator with a community college degree living in Hawaii.

One by one, the House Financial Services Committee has rubber-stamped industry approved bills that would weaken elements of Dodd-Frank designed to hem in risky derivatives trading.

Edward Snowden has become an instant hero in the progressive world for leaking information about NSA surveillance. Many are comparing him to Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers. 

Imagine, though, if Snowden had leaked a bunch of documents about, say, how HHS was going to use confidential employer payroll data to monitor compliance with the Affordable Care Act. My guess is that Snowden would be seen as a hero on the right, but not the left.