Portside

Obamacare was conceived at the Heritage Foundation, and birthed in Massachusetts by Mitt Romney. Obama took Romneycare, a program designed to keep the private insurance industry intact, and improved some of its provisions. In deciding what course, the question for the new administration, which successfully ran a campaign with a large plank to make major changes to the health care delivery system, try to go around the existing insurance industry or through it?

In a bleak year filled with bad news, people from Edward Snowden to Elizabeth Warren were brave enough to shake up the establishment. "Fighting the power," as people used to say, is no easy task. Victories are hard to come by and can quickly slide away because the power establishment of money, lobbying, lawyers, PR machines and out-and-out corruption are like Neil Young's rust: they never sleep.

The individual mandate was not necessary - the insurance companies like it because it does bring young, healthy people who aren't likely to get sick into the system.

The Republican Party last week quietly declared war on itself, in the process essentially confessing to a generation of failed governance and dumbed-down politics.

Buy less. Give five per cent of your earnings to others fostering change.

Activism brought changes in gay rights, marijuana laws, but guns, immigration, inequality and more stay unchanged. America’s ability to repair and renew itself rests, as ever, on the democratic spirit that burns within its citizenry.

The rampant capitalism that has brought the market into every corner of society needs to be reined in

"Hopefully, it is not also trying to hide or obscure a distressing system or set of facts.”

“This is an irresponsible bill and those who support it are irresponsible” .

UPS’s long-established practice of inadequately staffing their operations seems to have finally caught up with them.