Commentary
Want to know what will happen in 2020? Look to state polls for the answer
Public opinion polls are ingrained in American politics. It seems like every day there is a new poll about the presidential election or impeachment or whether the public feels that the United States is on the right track. As the presidential primary season begins in earnest in February, new polls will continue to come out. […]
History Thursday: Iran, Woodrow Wilson and making the world safe for democracy
The recent violence with Iran got me thinking about Woodrow Wilson. More than 100 years of American foreign policy has hinged on a concept Wilson introduced as he went before a joint session of Congress on April 2, 1917 to seek a Declaration of War against Germany. “The world must be made safe for democracy,” […]
CEO pay has increased 940% since 1978 while worker wages have gone up only 12%
Procter & Gamble paid its CEO 287 times what it paid its typical worker in 2018. Cardinal Health paid its CEO 221 times as much and Sherwin-Williams, 311. Among 53 of Ohio’s largest employers, 35 paid their top executive more than 200 times what they paid the typical worker. Federal law requires publicly traded companies […]
Lower-income Americans continue to be divided politically, despite their shared interests
Six in 10 lower-income Americans describe the economy as fair or poor, according to a survey out from Pew Research Center last month. Majorities of upper-income and middle-income Americans say current economic conditions are excellent or good, the research showed. This seems obvious — people who are better off feel better about how well the […]
Climate change threat doesn’t get the Y2K urgency
Take a moment to think back to simpler times, to a long-gone era exactly 20 years ago this week, when we celebrated the dawn of a new millennium under the shadow cast by Y2K. Remember all that? Y2K was a universal computer glitch that threatened to shut down power grids, paralyze banking systems and incapacitate […]
SNAP ID bill is a costly, ineffective, misdirected attack on vulnerable people
Recently, the Ohio Senate General Government and Agency Review Committee recommended Senate Bill 165 to the full Senate for passage. This legislation has made the rounds in the legislature before, and as anti-hunger advocates who know the critical importance of a strong nutrition safety net, we have continually raised concerns about how its implementation would […]
Medical catastrophe should never mean financial ruin as well
In nearly 15 years writing news, one of the most gut-wrenching, powerful stories I’ve ever covered happened three years ago this January when I interviewed Athens resident Alex Andrews less than a week after he had been shot through his kitchen window around 2 in the morning. He remembered it all, in vivid detail. He […]
Memories of the Newseum and thoughts about its role as it closes
Now here’s a sad news lede to report: the Newseum is closing forever in just a few days. The museum dedicated to the Freedom of the Press will close after educating visitors for the past decade in Washington D.C. For years, it has honored the importance of journalism and highlighted the efforts of reporters — […]
The case against the death penalty, and why Ohio should end it
Ohio continues to be unable to execute people because the pharmaceutical industry refuses to supply the necessary drugs. In fact, those companies have said they will stop selling all drugs to Ohio if any of their drugs are used in executions. On Friday, Gov. Mike DeWine delayed another execution — from February 2020 to March […]
Bail reform needs to be more than words on paper
The Supreme Court of Ohio is still in the process of amending Criminal Rule 46, the rule that governs bail-setting practices for all state courts in Ohio. This is a big deal, because through these changes, the Supreme Court of Ohio could choose to implement bail reform. Or, it could dodge the responsibility and allow the […]
How local governments can create high-paying jobs for residents
How do local governments create living wage and high-paying jobs for residents of neighborhoods of concentrated poverty? One tool we have are business incentives, or, as leading national business incentive economist Timothy Bartik describes them, “tax breaks, cash grants/loans, or services that are (1) targeted at an individual firm, or some industry or group of […]
The power of a platform: Joe Burrow, the Heisman and food insecurity in Ohio
Athens native Joe Burrow won the 2019 Heisman trophy Saturday and used his national platform to highlight poverty and food insecurity in Southeast Ohio: “Coming from Southeast Ohio, it’s a very, very impoverished area. The poverty rate is almost two times the national average,” Burrow said. “There are so many people there that don’t have […]