In the health care debate, Republicans and Democrats have been arguing over issues like the public option and abortion for over a year. As a French citizen, I was shocked that these issues are provoking such heated debate inside the American society, given that public health care has been part of the French system and culture for centuries and reproductive health care rights since the 1980’s.

The mainstream moderate-to-liberal press is finally starting to get it: America's high unemployment rate is having a devastating effect on individuals, their families, and their communities.  Fortunately, the emerging news coverage and commentary are sharp and insightful, reminding us that job loss is more than simply an economic event.  Here are three cover/lead articles worth printing out and reading...

Oregon voters yesterday, January 19, 2010, demonstrated that American voters can be grown up about taxes. They voted to raise the state income tax on individuals with incomes over $250,000 and on corporations.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) just announced that labor union density held steady in 2009, with 12.3 percent of American workers belonging to unions compared to 12.4 percent in 2008.  This came on the heels of two successive years of modest increases in the percentage of unionized employees.  These numbers, however, mask significant warning signs for organized labor.

Ted Kennedy's Senate seat is now up for grabs, and the leading contenders are Democrat Martha Coakley (currently the state Attorney General) and Republican Scott Brown (currently a State Senator).  In a state with an overwhelming Democratic advantage in voter registration, this should be the proverbial slam dunk for the Dems.

Now is the time for citizens to become indignant, rise up, and insist that President Obama and Congress rein in the bankers so they can't kneecap us again. Watch Bill Moyers. Read Mother Jones January-February 2010.

As the Terrible 2000s come to a close, it’s fair to say that this was not a great decade for American workers and workplaces. Consider some of the evidence:

Taxing "Cadillac Care" is based on a myth, according to the Washington Post's respected business columnist Allan Sloan. Yet today the Post editorializes that the tax is "endorsed by   health economists of  every ideological stripe."

On December 18th, the D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty offered an early Christmas present to the LBGT community when he signed the marriage equality bill into law.

Wednesday’s interview by Jim Lehrer on Fed Chair Ben Bernanke underscored the problem facing the future of government regulation for the financial markets. ADA Vice-President James Galbraith, pointed out that we would not have needed saving if Bernanke had been on the ball in the first place.