Author: Richard Eskow

In a report by The Atlantic, the Pew Research Center released a study indicating a significant drop in America’s gun violence, but there’s a flipside.  The Pew study also suggests that the population thinks that gun violence is getting worse. There’s an obvious disconnect here.  With all this data, why are some still thinking that gun violence is getting worse?  The Atlantic points out that “mass shootings invariably weigh more heavily on the public psyche than lone gun deaths.”  Media in the last year has certainly had no shortage of headlines when it comes to gun murders; with the...

Ever since the Boston bombings, the GOP has been using the attacks as a platform to fuel its anti-Muslim agenda.  Over the weekend, two from the Republican camp, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), have been beating their chests in a bigoted battle cry to profile the Muslim community. On an episode of Meet The Press, King said, “the threat is coming from the Muslim community.” Then he tried to save face by slipping in the “compliment” that Muslims are “outstanding people.”  By asserting the outrageous notion that law enforcement needs to zero in on a...

Documents made public Friday show that Obama’s pick for Energy secretary, Ernest Moniz, was a consultant for BP from 2005 to 2012, and has numerous other ties to the oil and gas industry. The president’s choice has environmentalists expressing concern, particularly over his support for natural gas (hydraulic fracturing) and nuclear energy, and his involvement in the industry that he will be responsible for regulating. Moniz, who has been the suspected pick to replace Steven Chu, is a physicist with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Director of the MIT Energy Initiative. Moniz was the Chair for an interdisciplinary...

By Mike Papantonio Thomas Jefferson said, “I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.” Sixty-three years later, Abraham Lincoln expanded that warning. Here is what Lincoln said: “I have two great enemies, the Southern Army in front of me and the financial institution in the rear. Of the two, the one in the rear is the greatest enemy … I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before in the midst of war.” Both Jefferson and Lincoln look like oracles today. Both those Presidents saw the...

Wall Street and Main Street could not be further apart than they are right now, and JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon continues to demonstrate exactly how wide the gap has become.  Speaking to JPM investors on Tuesday, Dimon bragged “This bank is anti-fragile, we actually benefit from downturns.”  The sad thing is that Dimon’s comments are true. During the mortgage meltdown, Main Street was among the hardest hit.  Millions of American lost their homes to foreclosure.  Countless investors saw their retirement savings evaporate in what seemed like the blind of an eye.  All the while, JP Morgan Chase...