For decades, the United States relied on asbestos for a staggering range of uses. Some of America's most iconic structures – like the Chrysler Building – were built and maintained using asbestos, as were humble school houses and single family residences throughout the country. In addition, asbestos was used in the manufacture of a huge number of … [Read more...]
Trump Efforts on Drug Prices Lead to Big Announcements, Uncertain Results
A year and a half into what we now know is a far-right Trump Administration; it's easy to forget that in 2015 and 2016 then-candidate Donald Trump ran as a different kind of Republican. While playing hard to his party base's racial resentments, Trump purported to reject party orthodoxies on the role of government and support for big business. It … [Read more...]
Good Samaritan Act Gone Bad
How The Foundation of the Modern Internet Is Drawing Scrutiny and Raising Hard Questions in the Age of Online Harassment Organized harassment campaigns have targeted prominent journalists and others who have less access to publicity and other resources with which to fight back, and there's no reason to expect these campaigns will stop. The … [Read more...]
Big Companies Have Money for Stock Buybacks, CEO Salaries, Not Increased Worker Pay
How's the economy doing? Your answer to that question will depend on who you are. If you're the CEO or high-ranking executive of a major corporation, things are going very well indeed. Executive compensation is at an all-time high, and their companies are benefiting enormously from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed in December of 2017. In the … [Read more...]
Lawmakers, Civil Liberties Groups Raise Alarm About “Quiet Skies” Program
You are probably familiar with the No-Fly List, which is a list of people the government suspects of terrorism or terrorism-related activities and who thus are forbidden from boarding planes. It has also been a source of controversy, as the standards for inclusion on the list are shrouded in secrecy and trying to get off the list is a difficult … [Read more...]
New Rule Would Make it Harder for Students Defrauded by For-Profit Colleges to Find Loan Forgiveness
During the Barack Obama administration, the Department of Education proposed regulations giving certain students aid – including forgiveness of student loan debt – if they had been the victim of fraud from for-profit colleges. The rules, proposed in the aftermath of the collapse of Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute, made it easier … [Read more...]
Women Can Face Humiliating Questioning When Filing Sex Discrimination Lawsuits
There is a depressing pattern that arises whenever a woman files a high-profile gender discrimination or sexual harassment lawsuit against a powerful individual or institution. After the initial coverage, all the same questions come up over and over again: why did she wait so long? Why did she put up with this behavior for so many years? If it was … [Read more...]
Millions of Americans Exposed To Tap Water Containing Notorious Carcinogen
An analysis by the Environmental Working Group has found that 14 million Americans in 36 states are drinking water that contains a cancer-causing industrial solvent. The EWG's analysis documented potentially unhealthy levels of trichloroethylene, or TCE, in the public drinking water systems of states literally across the country – from … [Read more...]
Trump Administration Raises Fears With Changes to Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act is the cornerstone of the country's regulatory approach to conservation and arguably one of the most famous pieces of legislation in recent American history. Since 1973 it has protected some of the country's most iconic animals, including the bald eagle. 99 percent of species placed on the endangered species list have … [Read more...]
Manufacturer Admits Putting Remote Access Software on Election-Management Systems
There's a lot at stake in the upcoming midterm elections. Control of both houses of Congress is realistically up for grabs, as are dozens of governorships across the country and thousands of state legislative seats from Alaska to Florida. So the security and integrity of American voting systems is an issue of paramount concern. It's into this … [Read more...]
