The American Prospect Online

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast with such ferocity in late August 2005, Americans were shocked by the broadcast images of desperately poor people left to fend for themselves. The depth and consequences of poverty in America, normally hidden from public view, had once again become the subject of debate and national soul-searching. And yet, a year and a half later, the subject of poverty has fallen so far off the public’s radar screen that… more

Under Saudi auspices in the holy city of Mecca, overlooking the sacred Kaaba stone, Palestinian Fatah and Hamas leaderships finally reached a power-sharing deal last week. The deal came 13 months after the Hamas victory in Palestinian legislative elections, and the party’s subsequent inability to form a functioning government in the face of an international boycott, Arab opposition, and an ongoing standoff with President Abbas and his Fatah movement.

The occasional armed clashes that occurred in the last year between… more

Next week the Commerce Department will release a pedestrian report that should produce a shocking headline in the papers: America’s Savings Rate at Lowest Level since the Great Depression. Indeed, 2006 marked the second consecutive year that the country’s personal savings rate was negative, matching the dubious performance of that bygone decade. Not only is our spending exceeding disposable income, but consumer debt is at record levels, making families especially vulnerable to rising interest rates and fluctuating incomes.

This wasn’t… more

Having just finished a book entitled The Great Risk Shift: The Assault on American Jobs, Families, Health Care, and Retirement -- And How You Can Fight Back, I have no doubt that Stephen Rose will accuse me of offering a "message of misery." My defense, already laid out in greater length on the website of "The Democratic Strategist" in response to three of Rose’s colleagues, is that political candidates and leaders should, first and foremost, offer a message of truth.… more