Saturday, May 9, 2015

Odds & Ends

Matt Bai had an interesting interview with President Obama about the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. In his write-up about it, Bai got to the heart of the issue.
What’s mostly going on here, though, is that frustrated liberals see in the Asian trade deal an opportunity to draw the line on globalization, period. No one thinks this deal is going to be the ruin of American workers, when all is said and done. What they think is that there has to be a moment when industry loses and the country finally turns its attention to the things you can do for workers, like raising the minimum wage (a more than reasonable suggestion) and relaxing rules that make organizing more difficult.

Taking a stand against the trade pact is really just a way of taking a stand against 30-plus years of policies that favored business over everyone else.
Of course Senator Tom Cotton thinks ISIS is winning. But Zach Beauchamp does a good job of explaining why he's wrong.

You've probably heard by now that Attorney General Loretta Lynch has announced that the Department of Justice will investigate the Baltimore Police Department for "pattern and practice" violations of federal civil rights laws. That means that DOJ's Civil Rights Division now has cases open with 13 police departments. In addition to Baltimore, that includes Ferguson, MO and Cleveland, OH.

This week I wrote about the policies of Redistribution vs Trickle Down. Some people apparently think that we shouldn't be using the word "redistribution" as a way to describe liberal economic policies. So I found it interesting that Steve Benen noticed a recent Gallup poll suggesting that a majority of Americans approve.

The events in Baltimore ignited more discussion about poverty in American than we've had in quite a while. Most everyone agrees that a good education is an important tool in the battle against poverty. That's why articles like the one by Andre Perry at College Guide titled: When Kindergartens Expel Black Kids, What Do They Learn Next? are so important.

Finally, here is one of my all-time favorite songs from one of my all-time favorite singers: Joss Stone.

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