The energy in the 2020 Democratic campaign has been coming from the left. Candidates are pushing Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, a wealth tax and other ideas that are more progressive than anything a recent Democratic nominee has favored. Much of this shift — which has been focused on economic policy — is […]

To the Editor: Re “Justice Thomas Calls for Reconsideration of a Landmark 1964 Libel Ruling” (news article, Feb. 20): Two points concerning Justice Clarence Thomas’s plea to abandon New York Times v. Sullivan and its progeny: First, Justice Thomas’s cramped reading of Sullivan misses the Supreme Court’s central claim. The court wasn’t protecting freedom of […]

Call me a sentimental old fool, but I’ve a soft spot for Micheal Martin. For decades, Fianna Fail strutted around Government Buildings as though the party owned the place. If you know your history, you know there was a time when FF represented a kind of modernity and competence. The party offered a limping country […]

To the Editor: Re “How a ‘No Deal’ Brexit Could Create Irish Unity” (news article, Feb. 16): Twenty years of peace in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement cannot mask the continued commitment of the Irish to the ultimate reunification of Ireland, here in America as well as there. There are no good options […]

Say this for Donald Trump: He’s provided us with many iconic quotations, which will surely be repeated in histories and textbooks for decades if not generations to come. Unfortunately, they’ll be repeated because they are extremely clear examples of bad ideas. In economics, the line you hear most is Trump’s declaration that “trade wars are […]

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The sovereign wealth fund of Qatar is seeking a stake of at least 5 percent in Deutsche Bank, a German magazine reported on Friday. Der Spiegel, citing unidentified sources, said the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) could buy the stake on the open market or from Chinese conglomerate HNA, which has a 6.3 […]

To the Editor: Re “Getting Answers on Drug Prices” (editorial, Feb. 25): As an attorney representing whistle-blowers in cases against the pharmaceutical industry, I know firsthand that drug prices and pharmaceutical marketing tactics are driven by promises to Wall Street and not the cost of research and development or medical necessity. The issue is not […]

In the window of calm between Michael Cohen’s testimony and the allegedly almost-at-hand delivery of Robert Mueller’s report, it’s worth returning for a moment to the document that established the darkest interpretation of all the Russian weirdness swirling around Donald Trump: the intelligence dossier created by Christopher Steele, late of MI6, on behalf of Trump’s […]

It’s akin to a boxer spoiling for a fight and raring to go. The rules of the game say he must try and pummel his opponent into submission. And if he gets him on the ropes he should show no mercy. But what if he has to slug it out – all the while hamstrung […]

CHICAGO — Few voters imagined two black women would win the most votes in last Tuesday’s crowded mayoral primary race. A former police board president, Lori Lightfoot, will face a county board executive, Toni Preckwinkle, in a runoff on April 2, inaugurating a new era for the city’s racialized political landscape and notorious Democratic machine. […]