In Citizens United, the 5-4 conservative minority on the John Roberts Court ruled that free speech is essential to a democracy and political contributions are a form of free speech, including contributions from corporations and unions. Since 2010, corporations and unions are much more free to spend money in primary and general elections. Writing […]

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  As Republican presidential hopefuls race to embrace the “religious freedom” of businesses to refuse to serve the LGBT community, it’s worth taking a moment to consider the ideological history behind the laws that focused the nation’s attention on Indiana and Arkansas, and, of course, the glibly homophobic management of Memories Pizza. Faith-based attempts to […]

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  The United States is a separation-of-powers system within which the chief executive has substantially less power over domestic policy than, say, a British prime minister. Despite this, legislation passed by the United States Congress tends to be associated very strongly with the president who signed the bills. The Affordable Care Act—addressing what has been […]

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  My mother Isabel, a very light-skinned African American, once told me of a lunch stand she happily frequented as a 50s-era teenager in her North Carolina Piedmont town. She went there so frequently that the benevolent owners became akin to “second parents.” One day, she motioned to some students from her high school to […]

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  After President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. will reestablish diplomatic relations with Cuba, a collective “Oh no!” permeated the internet. And it persists. Not from right-leaning Cuban Americans in Miami, but from American liberals. The untouched, idyllic island they dreamed of visiting would soon be spoiled by corporate investment. Cuba will be ruined […]

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