Media

In a speech at the University of Kansas in February of the tumultuous year 1968, Robert F. Kennedy spoke of the plight of the poorest Americans, those struggling in devastated rural areas, and on Indian reservations and in the tenements and housing projects of the inner cities. He was blunt. “We must begin,” he said, “to end this disgrace of the other America.”

The news of looming cuts in California's education system is, an and of itself, depressing and frightening. Considered as part and parcel of a pervasive American tic -- the ability to be both aware of a problem but obstinately unwilling to do anything to solve it -- well, one can't help but be gloomy.

The Pew Research Center is out with a depressing new study today about how America's middle class has lost ground -- along with some of its famous can-do optimism, too. No big surprise there, given that we're now in year five of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Last week, TransCanada began construction on the southern section of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Despite serious concerns about the environmental impact of the pipeline, the Obama Administration backed building the southern portion earlier this year. It’s not hard to see how this is just the first step to building the entire pipeline.

This morning, The Washington Post reported on a new study -- commissioned by the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI) -- that finds federal regulations that impact the manufacturing sector on a perilous rise.

Economic inequality is a famously complex phenomenon, but some parts of this trend are quite simple: Like how today's rich are benefiting from a rare confluence of record high compensation and record low taxes.

Despite some rain showers, over 60 percent of the country is still suffering from drought conditions and nearly a quarter is suffering from extreme or exceptional drought. We’ve detailed how this has impacted agriculture and ranching and over 60 percent of Iowa’s land is still classified as being in either extreme or exceptional drought.

News has been trickling out today that the process of hydraulic fracturing of natural gas will be allowed in parts of upstate New York.

Right off the bat, this is clearly bad news for New York's environment. Upstate communities are directly exposed to toxins by the controversial practice and millions of downstate New Yorkers rely on the same at-risk aquifers.