Why DC Doesn't Care About Jobs, Reigning in Oil Speculators and Corporate Personhood

[Christopher Hayes]

I'm in an undisclosed location for the week trying to get some book writing done, but thought I'd send along some of my latest work for The Nation.

Why Washington Doesn't Care About Jobs

"What these two numbers add up to is a governing elite that is profoundly alienated from the lived experiences of the millions of Americans who are barely surviving the ravages of the Great Recession. As much as the pernicious influence of big money and the plutocrats’ pseudo-obsession with budget deficits, it is this social distance between decision-makers and citizens that explains the almost surreal detachment of the current Washington political conversation from the economic realities working-class, middle-class and poor people face."

Will Federal Regulators Crack Down on Oil Speculation

"Though it seems like a distant memory now, for about six weeks during the 2008 presidential campaign during which all anyone talked about was the price of gas. John McCain and Hillary Clinton went so far to advocate for a temporary repeal of the gas tax, Congress held hearings and the Senate actually came close to passing legislation to crack down on oil speculation. And lest we forget, it was in this panic over the rising cost of living that the catchphrase "drill baby drill" was born...So the White House should not only be worried about oil prices and recovery. They should also be worried about the well-established fact that when price of gas spikes, the country's politics go haywire."

And here's the latest Breakdown, an interview with the amazing Dahlia Lithwick about the Supreme Court's views of corporate personhood.

Go Bulls. Yay Spring. Solidarity Forever.

-c