Kathleen Geier

As our nonrecovery recovery sputters along, record numbers of people, particularly in areas of the country that are still at or near double digit unemployment territory, are doing temp work. Temporary work provides no security and (in most cases) no benefits like health insurance, sick pay, holiday pay, unemployment benefits or workers’ comp. Temp wages, […]

The Washington Post’s Colbert King is speaking some inconvenient truths: Today there is a New Confederacy, an insurgent political force that has captured the Republican Party and is taking up where the Old Confederacy left off in its efforts to bring down the federal government. No shelling of a Union fort, no bloody battlefield clashes, […]

Yesterday I posted a classic country song, so today I thought I’d post something contemporary in the country genre. I’m not a fan of most mainstream country music these days (though alt-country is a whole other thing); however, for Kacey Musgraves I will very happily make an exception. Musgraves is the real deal and an […]

Gail Collins has an interesting column about why it is that the Republicans have lost it over Obamacare. There are many reasons for the hysteria, of course — it’s one of those things that is entirely overdetermined. But Collins thinks that a big part of the answer is, very simply, that although they hate entitlements […]

Over at In These Times, Michelle Chen reports about an engine of economic inequality you may not have considered before: taxpayer-funded government contracts. She writes: The progressive think tank Demos calculates in a new research report that private contractors have funneled up to $24 billion in federal funds into executive salaries. Yet, according to the […]

We’ve heard about all the political madness this week, and all the needless pain and suffering that’s being inflicted on the nation by the lemmings in suicide vests. But one thing I read this week proved to be a real bright spot. It’s a delightful Dissent article written by Katie J.M. Baker and carrying the […]

I am hardly the first person to point this out, but in the context of this week’s political madness, it bears repeating: it would be difficult to exaggerate the role of racial resentment in the G.O.P. war on President Obama and his signature achievement, the ACA. Here’s some strong supporting evidence: the single group that […]

“Jolene” is a classic Dolly Parton song that’s been covered by everyone from Patti Smith to Miley Cyrus. And no wonder: it’s one of her most powerful recordings. But then someone was struck by the inspiration to listen to Parton’s “Jolene” 45 at 33 rpm. The result is a revelation — a performance that’s even […]

And there was jubilation throughout the land! Well, in my apartment, anyway. Story here. I did not see this coming. I assumed that Larry, and the White House, would hold on until the bitter end and force a floor vote, even though it was clear that opposition to the nomination was growing. As Scott Lemieux […]

Though at this point it’s a little old, in internet time, I felt compelled to weigh in on Peter Beinart’s long Daily Beast piece on what he calls the “New New Left.” Ed has already written about it here and here. He registers some very fair criticisms, but suffice it to say, I liked it […]