The Baines Report
By Ardian Shaholli Amid the inflation rate reaching a 40-year high, there is an understandable impetus for the Federal Reserve to take action. It has raised interest rates four times during the first seven months of this year, including two 0.75% rate hikes, the highest increase since 1994. Back in May of this year, Federal […]
In May, during the holy month of Ramadan, Israeli security forces teamed up with a bevy of far-right settler groups to raid, assault, and restrict worshippers at the Al-Aqsa mosque. The Israeli government justified the crackdowns as security measures needed to quell clashes between protestors and authorities over the eviction of 300 Palestinians in the […]
By Ardian Shaholli Right-to-work laws bar unions from requiring all workers covered by a union-negotiated contract from paying dues. In Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977), the U.S. Supreme Court codified the applicability of right-to-work laws to the public sector. It ruled that non-union employees must pay dues towards union activity that provides economic […]
By Ardian Shaholli Last September, the Supreme Court ordered that Texas’ SB 8 may take effect. The law bans abortions after six weeks (with no exception for rape or incest) and offers up to a $10,000 bounty for private citizens who sue abortion providers or those aiding in abortion access. Since the court issued the […]
By Ardian Shaholli As the child of Albanian immigrants, it took a trip to the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum in Dec. 2019 for me to fully appreciate my ancestral homeland’s heroics during World War II. My parents and grandparents had told me stories about the nation’s robust rescue efforts during the war. However, […]
A work of satire by Ardian Shaholli In recent years, corporate profits have soared to record highs – much to the chagrin of Big Worker. However, these fortuitous economic trends are a form of overdue reparations. A reassuring sign that our republic still works. It wasn’t until 1886 in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific […]
Democrats are at loggerheads over a progressive Trump-era revision to the tax code. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 slashed taxes for the rich and corporations — with 83 percent of the benefits trickling up to the top 1 percent. However, it also instituted a $10,000 deduction cap on state and local taxes […]
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hailed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan as a generational milestone. Superficially, his glowing endorsement makes sense. Most of the nation’s major infrastructure has not been improved since the 1960s. Consequently, a 2021 report by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) assigned a “C-” to our infrastructure — indicating […]
The time to abolish the filibuster is long overdue. The filibuster is not in the U.S. Constitution. It is not codified law. It is simply a procedural mechanism adopted by the Senate at the suggestion of Vice President Aaron Burr in 1805. Burr thought the previous question motion, which only required a simple majority to […]
Proposition B is garnering a lot of attention and controversy ahead of Austin’s May 1 special election. The ballot initiative would prohibit camping, sitting, lying down, or sleeping on public sidewalks around The University of Texas and downtown Austin. In 2019, the Austin City Council rescinded bans on these activities. Save Austin Now, a group […]
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