Marty Kassowitz

For Joe Manchin, Corruption and Greed Are a Family Affair

For Joe Manchin, Corruption and Greed Are a Family Affair

Joe Manchin's opposition to the environmental aspects of the $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill has some connection to the fact that he is heavily invested in coal and a considerable portion of his personal wealth is based on it.
Infrastructure and the Economy: The Long and Short View

Infrastructure and the Economy: The Long and Short View

Today marks the passage of a $3.5 trillion dollar budget blueprint through the House The massive bill has something for everyone in a massive investment in the physical and human infrastructure of the country. No Republicans voted for this bill.
The Blame Game — The Washington D. C. Reality Show Where Nobody Wins

The Blame Game — The Washington D. C. Reality Show Where Nobody Wins

Everyone involved in The Blame Game reality show  in D.C. is fully armed with pet facts designed to paint someone else in as bad a light as possible. But like every reality show, the facts and circumstances are contrived. Today's Afghanistan edition of the Blame Game is no exception.
Pharma Lobbying — Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

Pharma Lobbying — Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

Been to the pharmacy lately to pick up a prescription and find that your drug cost and/or copay has gone to the moon? Pharma companies, they really should be called cartels now, spend a lot of money to keep these prices high.
Vaccinated and Living Responsibly in a Covid Hotspot

Vaccinated and Living Responsibly in a Covid Hotspot

My wife and I have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 for many months now. Since two weeks after that out last shot we have felt quite safe, even though as a moderately elderly asthmatic I am the apparent target market for the Covid-19 virus.
When Will Democrats Realize that They Won the Senate?

When Will Democrats Realize that They Won the Senate?

After eight years of living under the dictatorial rule of Mitch McConnell, Senate Democrats as a group still appear to be laboring under some sort of political version of PTSD. This is pretty evident by the fact that McConnell, now the minority leader, is still running the same obstructive game plan he has always run.
The Koch-Funded Forever War Against Voting Rights and Democracy

The Koch-Funded Forever War Against Voting Rights and Democracy

Make no mistake about it. The Koch brothers, now reduced by one by the death of David Koch in 2019, have poured billions of dollars into the destruction of our government. Their actions, documented by many sharp-eyed investigative journalists, have been ongoing for decades.
The Politics of Solutions Versus the Politics of Obstruction

The Politics of Solutions Versus the Politics of Obstruction

Republican stalwarts like Mitch McConnell, to whom obstruction of any forward progress is like breathing, are not just trying to make life difficult for folks like Bernie Sanders or Chuck Schumer. He wants them to not even bother trying.
White Supremacy, Republicans and Donald Trump

White Supremacy, Republicans and Donald Trump

Examining the connections between Trump and the Republican Party is on-going source of neck-dislocating head shakes for many people. There is a persistence to it that defies logic when one examines it from the standpoint of normal political calculus.