Author Archives: Jim Hightower

COVID-19 and the reality of ‘small government’ conservatism

With 200,000 dead, Americans are concluding that a more Rooseveltian response was in order.

Amazingly, America has become a nation of socialists, asking in dismay: “Where’s the government?” Continue reading

Beware corporate COVID propaganda

CEOs say they’re cutting their own pay in solidarity with laid off or hurting workers—only, not really.

COVID-19 has been a doubly-deadly disaster for millions of Americans, destroying both life and livelihoods. But one of the most heartening responses to the crisis has come from the least-expected place: corporate executive suites. Continue reading

Republican platforms, then and now

A look back at things Republicans believed before they lost their minds.

Wow, what a surprise! Have you seen the National Republican Party’s official platform? Continue reading

Where did the GOP go?

The Republican platform—and the Republican Party itself—has been reduced to one word: Trump.

With our national election looming, someone should put up “lost dog” signs in every neighborhood saying, “Missing: Republican Party Platform.” Continue reading

Trump’s USDA is serving up diseased chicken

Federal regulators recently okayed selling chickens suffering from Avian Leukosis, which produces cancerous tumors.

Top regulatory officials in Trump’s government keep chanting the same one-word mantra: “Deregulate. Deregulate. Deregulate.” Continue reading

Save our post office—and our right to vote

Trump is willing to destroy this prized national asset to cling to power.

As the recently departed progressive champion John Lewis warned, your right to vote “is not guaranteed. You can lose it.” Continue reading

This pandemic brings out the worst in our CEOs

Last year, CEOs signed a pledge to be better corporate citizens. Then the pandemic hit.

As horrible as the COVID-19 crisis is, it has brought out the best in the American people—the selflessness of front-line nurses and doctors, for example, as well as the generous community spirit of local food businesses. Continue reading

Want to get into some ‘good trouble’? Join the fight to save our post office

And that means fighting for our right to vote.

Every now and then an enormously beneficial soul comes along—someone whose work is so productive, honest and inspirational that he or she ought not be allowed to die. That’s how I felt last month when I heard that John Lewis had slipped away from us. Continue reading

The virus that’s really killing Americans? Greed

Health care giants are taking COVID-19 relief money while cutting jobs and paying CEOs millions.

The holy mantra of health professionals was coined about 2,500 years ago by the Greek physician Hippocrates: “Do no harm.” Continue reading

Meet the lobbyists shelling out for Trump 2020

Lobbyist insiders are hoping to get another four-year ride on the corrupt money-go-round.

The Donald is in a funk. He’s been outsmarted by an inert virus, his poll numbers are tanking, and even his demagogic pep rallies are falling flat. Continue reading

The GOP’s ‘moral insanity’ on health care

Republicans are trying to throw 23 million Americans off their health care—in a pandemic.

Six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the disease is raging anew because corporate-serving public officials rushed to “open the economy,” causing more infections and deaths. Continue reading

The far right’s absurd war on masks

Low-cost, low-tech masks save lives, but the nutball right has turned them into symbols of tyranny.

The chief cultural signifier of our times is this: Wearing a mask. Or not. Continue reading

Unmasking the mask profiteers

A former Trump staffer with no experience landed a $3 million federal contract for medical masks he couldn’t deliver.

Everyone should wear a protective medical mask—but some ought to be in ski masks, like those favored by bank robbers and muggers. Continue reading

Betsy DeVos wants to rob poor school districts

Times of great adversity not only bring out the best and worst in society, but they also flush out some of the stinkiest and slimiest creatures. Think of war profiteers, hucksters who prey on poor hurricane victims, or Betsy DeVos. Continue reading

How pro-Trump millionaires robbed small businesses of coronavirus aid

Thanks to a specially carved loophole, one multi-millionaire claimed 339 times more than the average small business received.

Monty Bennett was just another faceless right-wing millionaire on the long list of high-dollar donors to Donald Trump—until he suddenly surfaced in April as the nation’s biggest bagger of government cash in the emergency Paycheck Protection Program. Continue reading

CEOs aren’t pigs. That’s unfair—to pigs.

Pigs are intelligent animals with a sense of social responsibility. CEOs are looting taxpayers funds meant for small businesses.

There’s a general sentiment today that multimillionaire corporate chieftains are pigs. But I think that’s unfair. To pigs. Continue reading

Don’t let Trump gut the post office

What kind of leader thinks in a pandemic: ‘Here’s our chance to kill the Postal Service!’

What’s the gimmick in Trump’s plan to “rescue” the public Postal Service? Continue reading

The real disease is inequality

The forces of greed shoved working families to the edge—all it took was a virus to push them over.

In this horrible time of economic collapse, it is truly touching to see so many corporate chieftains reaching out in solidarity with the hard-hit working class. Continue reading

Most years, the Postal Service is a moneymaker

Most of the agency's deficits are phony paper losses, manufactured by Congress at the behest of corporate privatizers.

One public service that people really like and count on is the post office, which literally delivers for us. Continue reading

Coronavirus and small government sociopathy

As the devastating impact of Trump’s inaction becomes clear, Americans are discovering a hidden socialist streak.

Amazingly, America has become a nation of socialists, asking in dismay: “Where’s the government?” Continue reading

Stop the pandemic profiteers

It’s time for indignant citizens today to confront a new breed of shameful greed merchants: pandemic profiteers.

Wartime profiteering has been as common in our country as war itself. Continue reading

This pandemic can bring us together

The actual disease of our country is not a pathogen, but the widening separation of rich elites from the rest of us.

Suddenly, “social distancing” is our new national etiquette, abruptly supplanting handshakes, hugs, gatherings, and other forms of ingrained communal behavior by us humans. Continue reading

The opposite of progressivism? Pessimism

Polls show broad support for progressive ideas. So why aren’t more progressives voting for them?

There’s a short-circuit in the political convictions of some progressive-minded voters these days. Continue reading

Trump’s Afghanistan ‘peace deal’ is anything but

Why is there still fighting? Because our leaders don’t understand Afghanistan—and keep using military force when it won’t do any good.

When dealing in matters of war and peace, shouldn’t a president sort of know what he or she is doing? But that’s not Donald Trump’s way. Continue reading

The lie of health care ‘choice’

In our corporate-run health system, consumer ‘choices’ are shaped entirely by profit-seeking monopolists.

Lyndon Johnson had a saying about special interests trying to get his support to pass some blatantly self-serving legislation: “They can’t make chicken salad out of chicken (bleep)!” Continue reading

The embarrassing fall of Trump’s wall

A climbing group in Kentucky built a replica of Trump’s wall. One climber topped it in 13 seconds. Another did it while juggling.

Big, high walls can be troublesome. Ask Humpty Dumpty. Continue reading

The truth about corporate philanthropists

If they can ‘give back’ so much, it’s probably because they’ve been taking too much.

Our society has coined expressions like “philanthropist” to encourage and hail people’s charitable spirit. Continue reading

America’s rich refugee crisis

The prospect of a 2 percent tax on wealth over $50 million has rich Americans considering expatriating.

This is a make or break year for many migrants seeking to improve their families’ financial conditions. They say they’re being persecuted in their homeland, yet they fear being vilified for crossing the border. What to do? Continue reading

Rich and clueless? Buy a $500,000 armored car

If you’ve got more money than you can spend, you can spend your extra wealth on… guarding your extra wealth.

I’m guessing that being rich is a comfortable feeling—no money worries, you’re set for life! But is it possible that being too rich can be too much, even discombobulating? Continue reading

How do billionaires make money? By having money already

The world’s billionaires don’t grow their bank accounts with hard work. Their money does the work for them.

As Ray Charles wailed in a song of true-life blues: “Them that’s got is them that gets/And I ain’t got nothin’ yet.” Continue reading

Felonious democracy

The leaders of our democracy don’t actually like it when people participate, but Americans are a rebellious bunch

The awful truth about the corporate and governmental power elites in our democratic society is that they really don’t like democracy at all. They prefer to rule by buying lawmakers, hiring lobbyists, running Orwellian PR campaigns, and relying on authoritarian police power to control people. Continue reading

A holiday gift to the people, from the people

How small shrimpers in Texas beat a giant polluting corporation—just in time for the holidays.

It’s good to have a happy-ending story for the holidays—one that’s not sugar-plum sappy, but genuinely uplifting. Continue reading