ArcaMax

"America will never be a socialist country," Donald Trump declared in his State of the Union address. Someone should alert Trump that America is now a hotbed of socialism. But it is socialism for the rich. Everyone else is treated to harsh capitalism.

In the conservative mind, socialism means getting something for doing nothing. That pretty ...Read more

Donald Trump promised that his State of the Union address would focus on "unification." But Trump advocating national unity is like a pyromaniac promoting lighter fluids. His goal is, and has always been, disunion.

The man thrives on divisiveness. It's how he keeps himself the center of attention, fuels his base, and ensures that no matter what...Read more

The shutdown is over for now, but for five weeks 800,000 federal employees and 1.5 million federal contract workers were pawns in Trump's game of brinksmanship, and they may be so again.

Trump has also frozen federal workers' pay for 2019, stopping the automatic 2.1 percent cost-of-living increase all civilian workers would have received under ...Read more

One of the least-talked-about consequences of the partial shutdown of the U.S. government -- courtesy of Donald "I'm proud to shut down the government" Trump -- is its negative effect on the U.S. economy.

Federal spending accounts for just over 20 percent of the total economy. When that spigot is turned halfway off, as it is now, demand for ...Read more

The wonderful thing about Donald Trump's presidency (I never thought I'd begin a column this way), is that he brings us back to basics.

The basic difference between a democracy and a dictatorship comes down to means and ends.

Democracy is about means, not ends. If we all agreed on the ends (such as whether to build a wall along the Mexican ...Read more

Democrats are now in control of the House of Representatives, under Speaker Nancy Pelosi. After two years of Republican control over both chambers of Congress and the presidency, some balance has been restored to our democracy.

I know and have worked with many members of the 116th Congress. They are people of integrity who will strive to do ...Read more

After Donald Trump's first bizarre year as president, his apologists told us he was growing into the job and that in his second year he'd be more restrained and more respectful of democratic institutions.

Wrong. He's been worse.

Exhibit A: the "wall." After torpedoing Mitch McConnell's temporary spending deal to avert a shutdown, he's holding ...Read more

I was in Bill Clinton's Cabinet when Newt Gingrich pulled the plug on the federal government in the mid-'90s. It wasn't a pretty picture. A long shutdown hurts millions of people who rely on government for services and paychecks.

Donald Trump's shutdown also adds to growing worries about the economy. The stock market is on track for the worst ...Read more

Donald Trump has described the payments his bagman, Michael Cohen, made to two women during the 2016 campaign so they wouldn't discuss their alleged affairs with him as "a simple private transaction."

Last week, when ABC's George Stephanopoulos asked Cohen if Trump knew the payments were wrong and were made to help his election, Cohen replied, ...Read more

"I am a Tariff Man," Trump tweeted last week. "When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so. ... We are right now taking in $billions in Tariffs. MAKE AMERICA RICH AGAIN."

I'm sorry, Mr. President, but you got this wrong. Tariffs are paid by American consumers. About ...Read more

Donald Trump's "America first" economic nationalism is finally crashing into the reality of America's shareholder-first global capitalism.

Last week, General Motors announced it would cut about 14,000 jobs, most of them in the politically vital swing states of Michigan and Ohio.

This doesn't quite square...Read more

The "rule of law" distinguishes democracies from dictatorships. It's based on three fundamental principles. Trump is violating every one of them.

The first is that no person is above the law, not even a president. Which means a president cannot stop an investigation into his alleged illegal acts.

Yet in recent weeks, Trump fired Attorney ...Read more

The New York Times revealed last week that Facebook executives withheld evidence of Russian activity on the Facebook platform far longer than previously disclosed. They also employed a political opposition research firm to discredit critics.

There's a larger story here.

America's Gilded Age of the late ...Read more

The New York Times revealed last week that Facebook executives withheld evidence of Russian activity on the Facebook platform far longer than previously disclosed. They also employed a political opposition research firm to discredit critics.

There's a larger story here.

America's Gilded Age of the late ...Read more

The New York Times revealed last week that Facebook executives withheld evidence of Russian activity on the Facebook platform far longer than previously disclosed. They also employed a political opposition research firm to discredit critics.

There's a larger story here.

America's Gilded Age of the late ...Read more