Category: Social Justice

Elizabeth Warren? We Have Good News and Bad News

By Bill Clontz January 14, 2020 January 17, 2020 2 Comments on Elizabeth Warren? We Have Good News and Bad News

The Senator from Massachusetts Brings a Lot to the Table – Not All of It Good

A Good Early Start in Washington

I confess to having been something of an Elizabeth Warren fan for quite a while. Her performance in bringing the Consumer Protection Agency into being was nothing short of heroic. She clearly knew her stuff. She would have been a great first Director and should have been. Those about to be regulated were in mortal terror of her. When she decided to run for the US Senate, it seemed a long shot at best,

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There, but for Grace, Go I

By Bill Clontz November 18, 2019 November 19, 2019 3 Comments on There, but for Grace, Go I

There are life lessons and humbling experiences to be found at homeless facilities

Like many of you, I spend some time at homeless shelters, food banks, and feeding facilities. A lot of people do not do so, but they think about such places at this time of year. Kitchens that feed the needy and shelters that house them can go all year hurting for volunteers. Then, they are inundated with offers to serve on Thanksgiving or around Christmas.

I confess to my own biases about such places.

I am grateful for those that open their doors to all – men,

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The Conversation on Medical Care for All Comes into Focus

By Bill Clontz November 6, 2019 November 8, 2019 Leave a Comment on The Conversation on Medical Care for All Comes into Focus

We are Having Both the Right Conversation and the Wrong Conversation

Medical Care Front and Center

Among the more viable Democratic candidates for president, there are few differences on key issues. At least not in terms of priorities and goals. There are differences in how those goals can best be achieved. I start out with that statement to warn Democrats. Intertribal warfare over How should not lead to the What getting lost in the battle. As President Obama recently said, let’s not get too insistent on ideological purity.

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Go Fund Me and Go *X@! You!

By Bill Clontz October 29, 2019 October 29, 2019 Leave a Comment on Go Fund Me and Go *X@! You!

A Proposal for Taking Care of Important Parts of American Life

I had the great pleasure recently of attending the annual fundraiser for our regional Planned Parenthood team. It was a joyous, committed group that celebrated real values and gave a ton of their hard-earned money. The event brought to mind an idea that occurred to me a while back. It’s an idea I would love to see us carry out.

Running the Gauntlet

Every year four great institutions get drug through the political mud. This is done by people who have no interest in them except as punching bags.

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Use the Power of the Marketplace to Drive Social and Political Change

By Bill Clontz September 16, 2019 September 17, 2019 Leave a Comment on Use the Power of the Marketplace to Drive Social and Political Change

Changes People Seek by Politics and Government Can Be Helped by Free Markets

We Know the Big Issues

The case can be made that a good portion of the American public agrees on what we want as a nation, although we may have some differences on the details. This is the case even this far from the election. For example, most Americans want some version of the following:

Sensible gun policies. Break the growing randomness of deadly violence in public places. The vast majority want universal background checks and some form of registration.

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Immigration, Refugees, & The Human Condition – Who Are “The Others?”

By Bill Clontz September 2, 2019 September 3, 2019 Leave a Comment on Immigration, Refugees, & The Human Condition – Who Are “The Others?”

We have Learned – or Relearned – Some Hard and Important Lessons

First, a Correction

A few days ago, I mentioned three areas in this subject domain that are especially egregious. One of these became known the day I published the blog. This was denying automatic citizenship to children born of US parents serving overseas.

Two days later, the policy was clarified. While still reprehensible and immoral, it is much more narrowly focused than originally thought. Read more about it here: https://www.npr.org/2019/08/29/755506286/what-do-new-citizenship-rules-for-kids-of-u-s-military-workers-abroad-mean

Now, on to today’s discussion.

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It Has Come to This – And They Are Not Done Yet

By Bill Clontz August 29, 2019 August 30, 2019 3 Comments on It Has Come to This – And They Are Not Done Yet

If What You Are About to Read Doesn’t Enrage You, Relook Who You Are

Immigration – Big Scale, Human Scale

We will be talking in the coming days about immigration writ large. Not just current issues, but the broader and deeper nature of this part of humanity and how we might think about it. That should be a conversation that is balanced and reflective.

But before we get to that, we need to call out the worst of what is going on now in our name. There is not a lot of room for balance and reason for what we will discuss today.

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Safe, Secure, Trustworthy Voting – It Is Here for the Taking

By Bill Clontz August 21, 2019 August 23, 2019 Leave a Comment on Safe, Secure, Trustworthy Voting – It Is Here for the Taking

Three States Show Us How It Is Done – Russians Be Damned!

We Know What Works

We have talked before about how Washington and Oregon have responsive, secure, and low-cost voting systems. This happened because Democrats and Republicans decided this was important. They worked together to make it happen. Voter turnout is unimaginably higher than in other states. Stacey Abrams is continuing that effort in Georgia and nationwide, as are others.

Add to that list of states doing it right, Colorado, a state whose 2018 elections were models of effectiveness in every measurable area.

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The Power and Peril of People in the Streets

By Bill Clontz July 30, 2019 July 30, 2019 Leave a Comment on The Power and Peril of People in the Streets

Recent Events Remind Us of History’s Lessons

There is a line in a Mel Brooks movie wherein someone comes in to alert the king, “The peasants are revolting.” To which the king, completely misunderstanding the warning, says “They certainly are.”

Well, the peasants are revolting around the world of late, and “kings” must take note. This is how the Arab Spring started. That movement did not end well, but leaders were toppled.

You may have noticed of late that people are protesting. They often times do so in staggering numbers,

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Three Strikes and We Are Out

By Bill Clontz July 4, 2019 July 5, 2019 Leave a Comment on Three Strikes and We Are Out

History Called This Supreme Court Three Times: Three Times It Failed to Answer. The words at the front of this building are not ringing true.

A Unique Institution

The Supreme Court is a fascinating institution. Filled by people with lifetime appointments (more on that later), it represents the best and the worst of the American experiment. It has challenged us to be our best (Brown vs. Board of Education, for example). It has also reinforced the worst in us (Plessy vs. Ferguson, for example).

It has,

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