John Funiciello

People who read and consider themselves well-informed about politics, the economy, and their lives, in general, will be a little less-well-informed today, because on Tuesday, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer stopped its presses. It was the last edition for yet another large daily newspaper and the loss is not just for the unionized workers who did every…

The introduction of the Employee Free Choice Act in Congress this week signaled the beginning of a battle royal between the Republican Party and American workers. It became very clear several weeks ago, when Congress was debating the bailout of the American auto industry that the Republicans believe American workers make too much money. They…

Many years ago, there was a meeting in New York City where a Washington union representative was explaining how we might get health care coverage for everyone. Unfortunately, the crux of the presentation was that coverage for all was to come from making the existing system more equitable. The existing system – if it was…

An airline pilot with many years of experience and skill and a whole lot of grace under pressure last month did what was considered by many to have been impossible: he ditched a plane in the January-cold Hudson River at New York City and lost not a single one of the 155 passengers and crew…

Now that the economy is in a free fall, caused in large part by those who measure their bonuses (now “incentive awards”) in the millions of dollars, the credit card companies are going to teach the common folk a lesson in thrift by tightening up credit. That simply means that they’ve taken a long look…

For decades, the mantra of politicians on the right has been: “Get the government off our backs.” One such anti-government, anti-tax advocate said and it’s been repeated many times – probably because it seems so absurd, yet he is dead serious – I want to halve the size of government in 25 years and “get…

When the 260 workers at Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago were told last December that they’d be without jobs in three days and that they would not be paid what they had coming, they did what any red-blooded workers would do. They occupied the plant. Right now, because they took such an action, the…

Why do people around the world say they like Americans, but say they just don’t like the government? It’s fair to say that U.S. government policy is set largely by what is good for business, and globally, American policy is set by what’s good for (transnational) corporations that may be headquartered in the U.S., but…

No one expects the Middle East to be easy to understand—what sets off one nation against another, one ethnic group against another, or one religious sect against another? The deaths of more than 1,300 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the wounding of thousands more and the destruction of the homes and schools of thousands…