Kathleen Geier

Did you buy a ticket for the Mega Millions jackpot in Illinois, Kansas, or Maryland? If so, you may be in luck; those are the states where the winning tickets were sold. And the jackpot for this particular lottery is a world-record $640 million. If you played, your chances of winning were of course not […]

How likely is it that the Supremes will strike down the Affordable Care Act? Clearly, it’s not looking good. Professional courtwatchers like CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin are hitting the panic button. After the first day of oral arguments this week, Toobin proclaimed, “This law looks like it’s going to be struck down. I’m telling you, all […]

Recent events — particularly Rush Limbaugh’s “slutgate” scandal, the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s controversial decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood (which they later reversed), and harsh new anti-abortion legislation in the states, particularly the notorious provisions requiring ultrasound transvaginal probes — have brought women’s issues to forefront of the national conversation once again. These “where […]

Here are some links to interesting posts and articles I’ve come across on the interwebs today: — Political scientists Henry Farrell and economist John Quiggin, both of whom blog at the Crooked Timber site, have written a about the rise and fall of Keynesianism during the economic crisis, which Paul Krugman calls fascinating. What I […]

I’m loath to write about local issues on what is, after all, a blog with a national focus. But I do want to mention an initiative here in my home state of Illinois that I believe is important, and may have national implications. Progressive organizations and the Quinn administration are pushing for a bill that […]

In These Times reports that workers in three states have recently staged “occupations” in an attempt to win concession employers. In Chicago, workers actually took over a factory; in Atlanta and West Virginia, they organized camp-outs near their workplaces. These occupations won some concessions from employers, but already a backlash is brewing. A bill in […]

I’ve noticed, throughout my political lifetime, something interesting that tends to happen. Just at the times when I am most disgusted with politics and ready to despair at the seeming hopelessness of it all, something happens that renews my sense of hope. When Rush Limbaugh’s gross and hateful remarks about Sandra Fluke were first reported, […]

One news story in the past week that hasn’t gotten as much attention as it deserves is the defeat of Dennis Kucinich in a Congressional primary. His old seat had been eliminated, forcing him to run against incumbent Democrat Marcy Kaptur in a new district. That we’ve lost such a stalwart progressive champion is quite […]

QOTD, from Corey Robin: I wish academics, journalists, intellectuals, and bloggers had a more concrete sense of what it’s like to work in an actual workplace in America (not to mention elsewhere). Sometimes, it seems that scholars and writers, if they think about it at all, simply assume the typical workplace to be a seminar […]

Jim Romenesko is reporting that the St. Paul Pioneer Press and The Oregonian, among other newspapers, will not be running next week’s Doonesbury strips, which deal with the effects of those anti-abortion/mandatory ultrasound laws that are making their ways through a number of state legislatures. From Romenesko’s description of the cartoons, it doesn’t appear that […]