Democratic Party

( Tomdispatch.com ) – “Look, folks, the air quality is in the red zone today. The EPA says that means people with lung or heart issues should avoid prolonged activity outdoors.” That was J.R. de Vera, one of two directors of UNITE-HERE!’s independent expenditure campaign to elect Biden and Harris in Reno, Nevada. UNITE-HERE! is […]

Campaign Finance

Creeping Plutocracy after ‘Citizens United’: How US Election Spending skyrocketed to the GDP of some whole Countries

The Conversation

By William C.R. Horncastle | – The amount of money spent on US elections eclipses the annual total economic output of some small countries. The total spending by candidates, political parties and independent campaign groups in the 2016 race was US$6.5 billion – comparable to the GDP that year of Monaco, Kosovo or Liechtenstein, and […]

Democratic Party

At Townhall, Biden Promises Big Green Infrastructure and Jobs: Spain’s Example Suggests he is Right

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In his townhall on Thursday evening, Joe Biden pointed to the way infrastructural investments in green energy will help the economy. He said, according to the ABC transcript, “For example, we’re going to invest a great deal of that money into infrastructure. And into green infrastructure. We’re going to put […]

Barack Obama

Who really defeated the Islamic State – Obama/Biden or Trump/Pence?

The Conversation

By Brian Glyn Williams | – One common claim by President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has been that his administration beat IS, or what’s formally known as the Islamic State terrorist group. It came up most recently in the vice presidential debate, when Mike Pence boasted, “We destroyed the ISIS caliphate. … You know when […]

Campaign Finance

Election 2020 sees record $11 billion in campaign spending, mostly from a handful of super-rich donors

The Conversation

By Richard Briffault | – Total spending in the 2020 federal elections is projected to set a new record of almost US$11 billion by November. When adjusted for inflation, that’s over 50% higher than 2016 election spending. This year’s federal election spending – for the presidency, the Senate and the House of Representatives – is […]

Climate Crisis

Kamala Harris’s best Zingers and Pence’s worst Lies

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Pence-Harris debate was what disagreements among normal people might look like, as opposed to the weird behavior of Trump in the first presidential debate. While pundits are saying that it lacked fireworks, that is not true if you define fireworks as policy disagreement as opposed to mud wrestling. The […]

Democratic Party

Trump Prospects Plummet as Public blames him for Illness, Independents desert him over Debate Bullying

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Those observers asking whether Trump would get a bounce of sympathy from falling ill with COVID-19, the way Ronald Reagan saw his popularity soar after he was shot and had to be hospitalized, now have their answer. No. An October 2-3 opinion poll conducted by Yahoo and YouGov from Friday-Saturday, […]

Democracy

If there ever is another Presidential Debate, the Corporations shouldn’t Manage it

John Buell

Southwest Harbor, Maine (Special to Informed Comment) – The organization most responsible for the debacle of the first Presidential debate offered an implicit apology and a promise. “Last night’s debate made clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues. The […]

censorship

Rethinking Saudi Arabia: A Biden administration could ensure that Khashoggi’s death was not in vain

Middle East Monitor

By Abderrahmane Amor | – Breaking News The Biden-Harris campaign releases a statement on the two-year anniversary of Khashoggi's murder stating that his death "will not be in vain." https://t.co/ZYEmx5kMem pic.twitter.com/rsl7pOWZEP — Abderrahmane Amor/عمور (@TheAmorTimes) October 2, 2020 ( Middle East Monitor) – In an interview a few days after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi […]