Bill Moyers's Blog, page 10

A Single-Payer Solution?

(Photo by Robin Holland)

In this week's JOURNAL, Bill Moyers sat down with physician and activist Dr. Margaret Flowers, who was recently arrested for an act of civil disobedience – trespassing – as she attempted to deliver to President Obama a letter urging him to resuscitate the stalled effort at health reform and consider a Medicare-for-all plan, known colloquially as "single-payer."

Flowers said:

"I went into medicine because I really do...

Michael Winship: Lobbyists Retreat But Never Surrender

(Photo by Robin Holland)

Below is an article by JOURNAL senior writer Michael Winship. We welcome your comments below.

"Lobbyists Retreat But Never Surrender"

By Michael Winship

George Washington's birthday is approaching and with it will come the attendant mythology: hatchet and cherry tree, wooden teeth, throwing a silver dollar across the Potomac River – or the Rappahannock.

Of course, as the old joke goes, a dollar went a lot further then. Today, if you tried to hurl a silver dollar across t...

Corporations, Political Spending, & the Supreme Court

(Photos by Robin Holland)

This week on the JOURNAL, Bill Moyers spoke with legal experts Zephyr Teachout and Monica Youn about the Supreme Court's controversial ruling last week on the case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

In a 5-4 decision, the Court cited the First Amendment to strike down laws that restricted corporations and unions from spending funds from their general treasuries on political communications in periods shortly before elections and primaries. The decision...

Assessing Obama's State of the Union Speech

(Photo by Robin Holland)

In this week's JOURNAL, Bill Moyers had a wide-ranging conversation with AFL-CIO leader Richard Trumka about the relevance and agenda of the labor movement, as well as how unions are evaluating President Obama's performance in office thus far.

Trumka had this to say about Obama's State of the Union speech on Wednesday night:

"I think the speech was interesting in a lot of ways. [Obama:] knows that there's a lot of...

R.I.P. Howard Zinn

On Wednesday, historian and activist Howard Zinn, author of A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, passed away at the age of 87. In December 2009, Zinn appeared on the Journal to discuss his film THE PEOPLE SPEAK and the continuing resonance of people's movements throughout history. We invite you to watch that conversation here.

Why Did Democrats Lose in Massachusetts?

(Photos by Robin Holland)

This week on the JOURNAL, Bill Moyers spoke with liberal academics Melissa Harris-Lacewell and Eric Alterman about why Democrats lost Ted Kennedy's former seat in Massachusetts' special election for Senate and how progressives should proceed from here.

Melissa Harris-Lacewell, who worked on Obama's 2008 campaign, said that the significance of the Massachusetts election has been overstated, but that the loss reflects the failure of both the administration and its...

Powering America's Future

(Photos by Robin Holland)

In this week's JOURNAL, Bill Moyers talked with policy analysts Jean Johnson and Scott Bittle about how America's energy policy should change to reflect 21st century realities.

Jean Johnson suggested that America's current dependence on oil is untenable even if one thinks the threat of global warming is exaggerated:

"In China, until recently, not that many people had a private car. If the Chinese will begin to own...

Michael Winship - Progressives: Don't Mourn, Organize

(Photo by Robin Holland)

Below is an article by JOURNAL senior writer Michael Winship. We welcome your comments below.

"Progressives: Don't Mourn, Organize"

By Michael Winship

Tragic events continuing out of Haiti make all the bad news for progressives this week wither in comparison. Nonetheless, over these last few days, for liberals in particular, there has been no joy in Mudville – aka American politics.

Just for starters: Thursday's Supreme Court decision opening the floodgates for...

Peace Through Education

(Photo by Robin Holland)

This week on the JOURNAL, Bill Moyers spoke with humanitarian Greg Mortenson, best-selling author of THREE CUPS OF TEA and STONES INTO SCHOOLS, about his work promoting education and building schools in remote areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mortenson said:

"I really think that fighting terrorism is based in fear, but promoting peace is based in hope... Peace is about hope, it's about compassion, it's about love....

A New Decade

(Photo by Robin Holland)

In this week's JOURNAL, Bill Moyers talked with historian and columnist Thomas Frank about the state of the Union when President Obama took office last January and the lessons of the years he calls "a low, dishonest decade."

Frank suggested that the scandals of the 2000s, culminating with the economic collapse in 2008, rooted from conservatives' excessive devotion to free markets and contempt for government. He said that Americans are now quickly forgetting the...