Chris Christie’s Epic Exxon Screw-up

Robert Hennelly Salon
Chris Christie's epic screw-up: Exxon giveaway is even more of an environmental disaster than thought. As public opposition to sweetheart pollution deal mounts, Chris Christie can't be bothered.

Obama-Backed Trade Bill Fails in the House

David Nakamura and Paul Kane The Washington Post
The vote on "Trade Adjustment Act" portion of legislation to allow President Obama to "fast track" the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), failed because Republicans were opposed to giving workers who lose their jobs due to the TPP any additional aid. "Liberal Democrats" voted to kill the TAA bill in order to stop the passage of the TPP, in a Republican controlled House of Representatives.

Worker Protections in the “New” Economy? There’s No App for That.

Susie Cagle Al Jazeera
The growing app-based service economy relies on legions of underpaid and underprotected contract workers. Today's self-employed workers pay an additional 7.5 percent in income tax and cannot qualify for an earned income tax credit. They have no guarantee of equal protection under laws mandating minimum wages, sick leave or family leave, nor do they have protection against workplace discrimination, harassment or injury, unless they prevail in a lawsuit.

A New Internationalism

Van Gosse and Bill Fletcher ZNetwork
In the second decade of the 21st century, it is high time that the Left rethink what it means to practice internationalism in this new world of collapsing states, extraordinary concentrations of wealth, and technologies that make the U.S.–the one world power, however much in decline—able to track or kill people, anytime and anywhere in the world.

This Is Your Victory: Fast Track for a Bad Trade Deal Is Derailed

Isaiah J. Poole Campaign for America's Future
The “allegedly unstoppable momentum” of the pro-fast-track forces just hit the immovable object called transpartisan grassroots democracy. Now the focus will be on “permanently retiring” the fast-track trade promotion authority process, borne out of the Nixon presidency, and replace it with a more inclusive, transparent process that instead of more job-offshoring can deliver trade deals that create American jobs and raise our wages.

Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders: Media Are Inept and GOP Agenda Is Hidden

Evan Halper Los Angeles Times
Sanders, the Vermont senator seeking the Democratic nomination, is mixing it up with the media. In a frank give-and-take with reporters, he scolded the media for covering the election like a baseball game. Nobody cares about Gov. Bush's campaign manager, he said, while the GOP has gotten away with murder hiding their agenda. He also questioned how rival Hillary Clinton could fail to have an opinion on such a big issue as President Obama's proposed Pacific trade deal.

When We Stand Up for Fifteen

Scenes from the biggest demos yet for a living wage for those who keep this country well, clean, and eating (if not eating well). These workers are near-saints, and they are marching on.

Documentary: The Look of Silence

In Joshua Oppenheimer's riveting indie film about the massacre of a million supposed Communists in Indonesia, the families of the victims get a chance to interrogate the killers.