The elected municipal officials of Porter Township, Clarion County – a municipality of 1,500 residents an hour north of Pittsburgh in Northwestern Pennsylvania – became the first local government in the United States to eliminate corporate claims to civil and constitutional privileges. The Township adopted a binding law declaring that corporations operating in the Township may not wield legal privileges – historically used by corporations to override democratic decision making – to stop the Township from passing laws which protect residents from toxic sewage sludge
[Read more]Debacle: Without Vision, A Senate Majority Perishes
The Democratic Leadership Council and other center-right Democrats will doubtlessly argue that this election proves that Democrats dare not deviate from fiscal conservatism at home and hawkishness abroad. But the dwindling of the Democratic base this Tuesday argues precisely the opposite: that when Democratic candidates cease to be Democrats, Democratic voters cease to be voters. Republicans may have worked to depress Democratic turnout in this week’s election, but the real scandal is, so did the Democrats.
[Read more]What Would Democratic Elections Look Like?
Our federal election fiasco in 2000 exposed numerous critical flaws in our electoral process and spurred a new flurry of reform efforts, but despite all the attention generated, the actual changes have been little more than band-aids.
[Read more]Biden Backs Letting Soldiers Arrest Civilians
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., Delaware Democrat, strongly endorsed giving soldiers the power to arrest American civilians in 2002.
[Read more]New Independent Business Coalition Helps Communities Support Independent Businesses and Resist Chain Proliferation
The American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) is a new national organization to help establish Independent Business Alliances in other communities, provide a resource clearinghouse, and coordinate efforts among such alliances nationwide
[Read more]Littering America with Dead Malls and Vacant Superstores
Corporate chains have left a wake of half-empty downtowns; Now these same chains are dealing communities a second blow — leaving huge empty buildings behind.
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