IRS Seizes Money From Guiltless Americans on Mere Suspicion

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Oct 26, 2014 A controversial area of law empowers the IRS to confiscate significant sums of money from "run-of-the-mill business owners and wage earners without so much as an allegation" and "without ever filing a criminal complaint," leaving the owners "to prove they are innocent," The New York Times reports. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

What You Need to Earn to Rent a Decent One-Bedroom in America

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Apr 26, 2014 Unsurprisingly, the "housing wage" is much higher than the minimum wage in much of the country. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

C. Wright Mills Understood Why We’re So Lame

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Apr 19, 2014 In the 1950s, as the United States transitioned from a factory- to an office-based economy, the sociologist perceived that "if you wanted to find out what was wrong with American society and politics, you had to look to the white-collar worker," writes Nikil Saval in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

How Does Commuting Affect Your Health?

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Feb 13, 2014 "Commuters are more likely to be anxious, dissatisfied and have the sense that their daily activities lack meaning than those who don’t have to travel to work even if they are paid more," says a Guardian report on a study of commuting and personal well-being. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

A Tale of One of the New ‘Have Nots’

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Feb 9, 2014 "I used to have a house. I used to go on vacations. I used to shop at department stores, get my hair done and even enjoy pedicures. Now, I don't. I'm a member of the American 'Used-to-Haves,' " Kathleen Ann writes at The Huffington Post. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Why Are Wages Low? Blame Workers for Not Knowing They Are, in Fact, Workers

BLANK Jan 1, 2014 The anti-union movement won the battle of self-perception. Union-friendly blue-collar workers have been supplanted by white-collar office drones who don't see themselves as candidates for unionization because they don't really see themselves as workers, author Edward McClelland argues. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

The Return of the Working Class Hero

E.J. Dionne Jr. / Truthdig Dec 10, 2013 For more than three decades, working class Americans receded as cultural heroes, replaced in the popular imagination by swashbuckling entrepreneurs, brilliant innovators, and shrewd investors who make millions at the touch of a computer key. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

‘We Are Slowly Dying’: Fast-Food Workers Strike for Wages, Rights and Dignity

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Aug 3, 2013 Fast food and retail workers are striking for the right to unionize and a living wage in seven cities: Milwaukee; Chicago; St. Louis; Kansas City, Mo.; Detroit; Flint, Mich.; and New York City. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Indian Protesters: ‘Up With the Workers, Down With the Government’

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Feb 21, 2013 As many as 100 million Indians angry about high prices, low pay and poor working conditions walked off their jobs Wednesday as a two-day strike organized by 11 major trade unions closed banks, disrupted major transportation and reportedly saw two deaths, Al-Jazeera reports. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Case of the Missing Cuban Internet Cable

Staff / Truthdig May 29, 2012 The promised $70 million project to quicken Cuba's Internet connection speed was never delivered; German voters are on Angela Merkel's side when it comes to the European economy; meanwhile, a vial with Ronald Reagan's blood is being auctioned, along with one of Scarlett Johansson's used tissues. These discoveries and more after the jump. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

A Tribute to One of Occupy’s Intellectual Predecessors

By Peter Dreier, Truthout Feb 29, 2012 C. Wright Mills, the radical Columbia University sociologist who died 50 years ago at age 45, warned that America was becoming a nation of "cheerful robots," corrupted by an economic elite and heading toward a third world war. Dig deeper ( 13 Min. Read )

The Right’s Boon in Knox v. SEIU

Bill Blum / Truthdig Feb 11, 2012 On the surface, the case of Knox v. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) lacks blockbuster appeal. But in the wake of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, it has the potential to further rig the playing field in favor of big business and the right wing.In the wake of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, this case has the potential to further rig the playing field in favor of big business and the right wing. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )