On the Road With Our American Selves

By Mattea Kramer / TomDispatch Nov 23, 2016 After the fluorescent circus of Election 2016, I imagine what would be truly exceptional: an America that values all human life in the same way. Dig deeper ( 9 Min. Read )

Putting Out the Syrian Fire: Can Diplomacy Do What War Couldn’t?

By Jo Comerford and Mattea Kramer, TomDispatch Oct 19, 2015 In late September, Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., corralled 54 of his colleagues into asking President Obama for international negotiations toward ending the Syrian civil war -- and, reportedly, Obama is listening. Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

The Pentagon’s Phony Budget War

By Mattea Kramer, TomDispatch Mar 7, 2014 Despite cries of doom since the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration surfaced in Washington in 2011, the Pentagon has seen few actual reductions, and there is no indication that will change any time soon. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

What Was ‘Essential’ and What Wasn’t

By Mattea Kramer and Jo Comerford, TomDispatch Oct 19, 2013 The opinion polls were clear. One after another, they showed that Americans opposed the shutdown and were hurting because of it. Nearly one in three said they felt personally affected not by too much government, but by too little. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

Beating Swords Into Solar Panels

By Mattea Kramer and Miriam Pemberton, TomDispatch Sep 20, 2013 War, the military-industrial complex, and the national security state that go with it cost in every sense an arm and a leg. And that, in the twenty-first century, is where so many American tax dollars have gone. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

How America Became a Third World Country: 2013-2023

By Mattea Kramer and Jo Comerford, TomDispatch May 22, 2013 The streets are much darker now, since money for streetlights is rarely available to municipal governments. The national parks began closing down years ago. Reports on bridges crumbling or even collapsing are commonplace. It’s 2023 -- and this is America 10 years after the first across-the-board federal budget cuts known as sequestration went into effect. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

A Tax Day Plan for Righting the Republic

By Mattea Kramer, TomDispatch Apr 11, 2013 If we had a government capable of honoring the collective desire for more jobs, smaller deficits, more education funding, reduced reliance on fossil fuels and Medicare and Social Security benefits preserved, our future could be guaranteed at tax time in no time. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )