National - Jim Hightower | Thursday, August 18,2011

The downgrading of America

As Lily Tomlin noted, “No matter how cynical you get, it’s almost impossible to keep up.” Many of us view the deficit ceiling brouhaha between the Obama White House and the laissez-f

National - Jim Hightower | Thursday, August 11,2011

Obama fights for the poor. Poorly.

By Jim Hightower

By gollies, America’s workaday majority of middle-class and poor people have a fighter on our side in Washington. Unfortunately, that fighter is Barack Obama. He waved his white hankie of surren

National - Jim Hightower | Thursday, August 4,2011

America’s shameful leadership

By Jim Hightower

OK, Barack Obama has not exactly turned out to be Mount Rushmore material, but – good God! – the petulant pettiness of right-wing Republican congressional leaders has turned them into a na

National - Jim Hightower | Thursday, July 28,2011

A right-wing jobs program for America

By Jim Hightower

Here’s the core economic problem we’re facing today: Unemployment and underemployment are rampant and entrenched throughout America, stifling any hope for real recovery and threatening the

National - Jim Hightower | Thursday, July 21,2011

Who killed the bluebird of happiness?

By Jim Hightower

Economists and politicians keep their fingers on the pulse of the Dow Jones Average, following every tick of this narrow measure of Wall Street wealth. But the truer indicator of America’s econo

National - Jim Hightower | Thursday, July 14,2011

Massey Energy’s manmade hellhole

By Jim Hightower

In March of last year, Massey Energy Corp.’s official record book for recording unsafe conditions in its Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia said flatly: “none observed.” It

National - Jim Hightower | Thursday, July 7,2011

The unanswered question is, Why?

By Jim Hightower

America’s long, long war in Afghanistan has drained more than 1,500 precious lives and a trillion dollars from our country. But, finally, this enormous outlay paid off this year with the capture

National - Jim Hightower | Thursday, June 30,2011

Perry is peddling Texas snake oil

By Jim Hightower

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, and get your ticket to see ‘Rick the Wonder Worker!’ Texas Gov. Rick Perry is less than revered back home, where he is widely ridiculed as Gov. Good Ha

National - Jim Hightower | Thursday, June 23,2011

Vermont leads the way

By Jim Hightower

“We have a problem,” said House Speaker Shap Smith of Vermont. “We need to solve it.” This comment reflects a no-nonsense, hands-on, can-do attitude you rarely find in legislat

National - Jim Hightower | Thursday, June 16,2011

Sneaking the plutocratic agenda into state law

By Jim Hightower

With widespread, entrenched joblessness in Michigan, working families there are mighty hard hit these days. But the state’s new GOP governor, Rick Snyder, has reached out with a helping hand. We