When I was a boy in, I think, the 4th grade, we spent one session each day for a semester studying civics, how the country was structured, how elections worked, and what the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were about. Public schools and religious schools, and some private schools don’t seem to teach that any more. As a result a third of Americans can’t even name the three branches of government. You cannot preserve a democracy when a large percentage of the population don’t even know how the government is structured. I think teaching civics ought to be mandatory in both elementary school, and again at a more sophisticated level in high school, and there ought to be approved by historians not politicians textbooks used in those classes.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA — Do you know your First Amendment rights? Can you name all three branches of the U.S. government? If you’re scratching your head, you’re not alone. A recent survey shows that, even in an election year, many Americans are still fuzzy on some basic civics concepts.
The Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey to celebrate Constitution Day on Sept. 17, offers a fascinating glimpse into what Americans know (and don’t know) about their government and constitutional rights.
First, the positive: nearly two-thirds of Americans (65%) can correctly name all three branches of government – executive, legislative, and judicial. It means most people understand the basic structure of our government and how power is divided.
When it comes to the First Amendment, though, things get a bit murkier. While almost everyone knows about freedom of speech (74% of respondents named it), the other four rights protected by this crucial amendment are far more problematic for Americans to name. Only 39% mentioned freedom of religion, 29% noted freedom of the press, 27% recalled the right to assembly, and a mere 11% identified […]
Could it be any clearer? On the christofascist side we have the corruption of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito and their wives, on the Democratic side we have Elena Kagan calling out for ethical standards. Here is the story. Can their be any doubt as to which side of the Supreme Court is honorable and ethical?
Even as Justice Elena Kagan leaned into her call for an enforcement mechanism, she retreated from a suggestion she made last year that Congress’ power to dictate ethics rules for the court was well established. Credit: Rich Pedroncelli / AP
NEW YORK, NEW YORK — Justice Elena Kagan is keeping up her public drive for an enforcement mechanism for the Supreme Court’s ethics code despite strident criticism from some voices on the right and skepticism about it among some legal ethics scholars.
“It seems like a good idea in terms of ensuring that we comply with our own code of conduct going forward in the future. It seems like a good idea in terms of ensuring that people have confidence that we’re doing exactly that,” Kagan said during an appearance Monday at New York University School of Law. “So, it seems like a salutary thing for the court.”
Humanity cannot seem to overcome our specie’s greed. We are allowing a small group of humans to feed like vampires on the wellbeing of humanity and Earth’s matrix of life. It is so very sad.
Gas flaring at an oil refinery. Credit: HHakim / E+ / Getty
While 155 countries have committed to reducing methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030 under the Global Methane Pledge, new research reveals that the world’s methane emissions have been rising at a record pace over the last five years.
In a new perspective article published in Environmental Research Letters, the researchers warn this dire pattern “cannot continue if we are to maintain a habitable climate.” The article was published with corresponding figures in Earth System Science Data.
Concentrations of methane in the atmosphere have grown to more than 2.6 times what they were during pre-industrial times and the highest the planet has seen in 800,000-plus years.
The IRS harasses middle class and working class tax payers endless over a few hundred dollars, but billionaires and millionaires with their lawyers and accountants rig their reports so that they cheat the country out of literally trillions of dollars. Here are the facts from someone who knows. It is just another part of the enormous corruption that shapes U.S. society.
Martin O’Malley, commissioner of the Social Security Administration, talks with Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) on September 11, 2024. Credit: Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call /.Getty
The Democratic chair of the Senate Finance Committee said during a hearing Wednesday that instead of tossing Social Security’s sacred guarantee “in the trash” by cutting benefits, lawmakers should crack down on mega-rich tax dodgers as a way to keep the New Deal program fully solvent for decades to come.
“The ultra-wealthy are avoiding nearly $2 trillion in taxes every 10 years,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said during a Senate Budget Committee hearing. “That is enough to keep Social Security whole till the end of this century.”
“That’s where we ought to go to start making progress,” Wyden added.
The senator’s remarks came during a hearing titled “Social Security Forever: Delivering Benefits and Protecting Retirement Security,” which featured testimony from Social Security Administration Commissioner Martin O’Malley and several expert witnesses.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who presided over the hearing, used […]
I have hung on to this story for a few days to see what else might happen, but nothing seems to have changed, except the scheme by MAGAt Republicans to defund the government; but I do not think that is going to happen. So if you are one of my readers on Medicare pay attention to this. It may affect you.
You can thank the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 for some of the biggest Medicare changes in the past few years — including a welcome reprieve from the high costs of prescription drugs.
Among the changes:
In 2023, Medicare capped covered insulin costs in Part D prescription drug plans at $35 a month and eliminated out-of-pocket costs for recommended vaccines.
In 2024, the government expanded eligibility for financial assistance from the Part D Extra Help program and announced results Aug. 15 of negotiations to reduce the costs of 10 of Medicare’s most expensive drugs. Those prices will take effect in 2026.
