November 20, 2008 – 9:27 am
For Release Sunday, November 23, 2008
© 2008 Washington Post Writers Group
By Neal Peirce
Barack Obama’s history in grassroots organizing got its first real blast of national attention from the Republicans. Rudy Giuliani, keynoting the GOP’s convention in St. Paul, provoked a wave of snickers and catcalls by sneeringly asking, “What’s a community organizer?” [...]
November 13, 2008 – 10:48 am
For Release Sunday, November 16, 2008
© 2008 Washington Post Writers Group
By Neal Peirce
Is there a chance that election of Barack Obama, combined with financial meltdown, will start turning us away from the hyper-individualism of recent years?
What’s hyper-individualism? Like pornography, you can recognize it when you see it. Lifestyle choices such as picking [...]
October 30, 2008 – 10:18 am
For Release Sunday, November 2, 2008
© 2008 Washington Post Writers Group
By Neal Peirce
It’s happening again. Some of us live in states jumping with candidate visits and presidential election season excitement. But in others visits and attention are rare–a sort of electoral Siberia. Seventy-five percent of all presidential candidate visits are going [...]
October 23, 2008 – 11:00 am
For Release Sunday, October 26, 2008
© 2008 Washington Post Writers Group
By Neal Peirce
The next president should appoint a White House chef who believes in preparing locally-grown meals. Much of the food should be incredibly fresh–grown right outside the door, on a 5-acre organic fruit and vegetable garden to be carved out of prime [...]
October 16, 2008 – 9:01 am
For Release Sunday, October 19, 2008
© 2008 Washington Post Writers Group
By Neal Peirce
Before the fiscal crisis, there was the global climate crisis. After the fiscal crisis, we’ll still have the global climate crisis — for the rest of our lives.
A nightmarish future awaits our children unless we can forge international accords, with [...]
October 9, 2008 – 11:33 am
For Release Sunday, October 12, 2008
© 2008 Washington Post Writers Group
By Neal Peirce
For many years, official Washington — its own “echo chamber,” as some say — has been ignoring the financial needs and prospects of state and local governments.
That era is now coming to a crashing end.
The headline event is Gov. Arnold [...]
October 2, 2008 – 10:09 am
For Release Sunday, October 5, 2008
© 2008 Washington Post Writers Group
By Neal Peirce
Imagine the next president of the United States moving decisively to slow down the world’s population growth as it arcs from today’s 6.7 billion toward a predicted and perilous 9.2 billion by 2050.
The cost to the U.S. Treasury could reach $1 billion [...]
September 25, 2008 – 8:56 am
For Release Sunday, September 28, 2008
© 2008 Washington Post Writers Group
By Neal Peirce
With the Wall Street mortgage meltdown so massive its costs could reach toward $1 trillion, where’s the economic plan to rebuild America’s cities and infrastructure, to retool our businesses and people for a risky century?
It seems totally missing in official Washington today. [...]
September 18, 2008 – 9:08 am
For Release Sunday, September 21, 2008
© 2008 Washington Post Writers Group
By Neal Peirce
CHICAGO– Obama versus McCain, and the places we live — what difference will this election make? After the speeches, ads, debates, saturation media, are over and the voters have spoken, how will the new president work with the cities and metropolitan [...]
September 11, 2008 – 9:58 am
For Release Sunday, September 14, 2008
© 2008 Washington Post Writers Group
By Neal Peirce
For years, in company with most journalists, I’ve been ducking the population issue. We Americans seem to have it on our DNA — we believe that all economic development and growth, no matter the consequences, is a positive thing.
But a new [...]