Welcome to our late-summer picnic!

In these sultry, dog days of August, the Lowdown presents a summer picnic of political snacks, meaty developments, both sweet and sour sides, and--of course--some mixed nuts.
A silhouette of Trump against green streams of code

Let’s decode Trump’s Afta-Nafta trade deal

Global trade deals are and always have been large-scale hustles, filled with hypocrisy, deceit, and greed. Promoted as fair and good for all, they're invariably rigged with profiteering schemes that lock into law advantages for corporations over the common good of consumers, the environment, labor, independent businesses, governments, and all other democratic forces. The USMCA is no different-- and is, in fact, worse.


Koch Brothers


Since the middle of the last century, greedy schemers have mounted a sneaky, slow motion coup of attrition, moving methodically from one political venue to another, donning multiple organizational guises to strike down a law here, reverse a public policy there, demonize "others," and ambush progressive groups all along the way. Its chief instigators are the multibillionaire Koch boys, Charles and David, who've been consistently financing and implementing this ongoing assault since the 1960s.

GOP state legislatures are attacking local democracy

We the People are being burgled. Again. The most recent hit is just the latest in a long string of political robberies, a nationwide crime wave being pulled off by moneyed elites and their political henchmen.
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A blue/red movement

You might expect such liberal bastions as Boston, Madison, Boulder, and San Francisco to call for an end to corporate electioneering, but this is a nationwide blue/red movement, including the people of these co... Read more...
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The protest spreads

In order of the date of passage, here are the 16 states that have already petitioned Congress to let their citizens vote on a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s edicts: Hawaii, April 2010... Read more...
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Do the three hop

To see how easy it is for millions of innocent citizens to get caught up in NSA's vast electronic web, consider the "Three HOP Analysis." It's a dance of search-and-seizure that begins with NSA's know-all metad... Read more...
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America’s new political landscape

FOX TV YAKKER Bill O'Reilly was a sad old man on election night. "The white establishment is now the minority," he keened, adding, with a tremulous moan: "It's not a traditional America anymore." Yeah, old w... Read more...
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Who is the Tea Party Congress?

Seems like this would be an easy question to answer, but it turns out that we could find no group, including the tea party’s own organizations, that has made a complete list, or at least they’ve not made one pu... Read more...