Portside

The Justice Department “simply has no more credibility in this litigation,” Dunn told the Texas Tribune after the government’s latest brief. “For six years, the Department of Justice stood on the side of voters arguing that Texas’ unnecessary voter photo ID law was enacted with discriminatory intent, then after the new administration was sworn in, one of DOJ’s first acts was to back out of the case.”

Improved understanding of long-term effects of greenhouse emissions on climate sensitivity helps resolve apparent discrepancies between historical data and predictions.

EPA Director Scott Pruitt wants to undermine climate science not only because the best available science bolsters the policies he wants to repeal, but also because it will likely show his policies will cause preventable deaths due to pollution and higher temperatures. So, Pruitt and his allies are, among other tactics, trying to stack the EPA’s Scientific Advisory Board, which evaluates the science behind agency regulations, in his (and the polluters’) favor.

But now, in an act of political judo, Trump is trying to use the same anti-establishment, pro-American rhetoric from his campaign to craft a neoliberal NAFTA renegotiation that will include everything demanded in the recently scuttled TPP—and more. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, as well as others in Trump’s administration, have been surprisingly straightforward about these intentions.

The treaty is intended to bar countries from developing, testing, manufacturing, acquiring or even possessing any kind of nuclear weapon.

The now-rejected proposed contract deal included wage hike totaling 11% over four years and some job security promises, but also increased employees' healthcare contributions to cover insurance premiums to 29% by 2020.

Real tax reform is hard. So a growing bloc of tax-cut enthusiasts wants to rewrite the rules of the game to secure rate reductions for the rich.

The assault on government employee unions

A native of Chicago, the poet Philip C. Kolin laments how the City of Broad Shoulders has become a death trap for the young.

Republican lawmakers have been subject to protests during their break, and reports suggest the GOP’s path to passing the bill could be tenuous.