Paid Family and Medical Leave is an investment in our people and our communities, and in our emotional, physical and mental health.

As the pandemic draws to a close, California is sitting pretty with an operating budget surplus of $75 billion. This is the product of a surging economy and the collection of capital gains taxes. It would seem that a few rich Californians did not move to Texas after all.

Some advocates and analysts have been suggesting a symbiotic link between strong unions and a vibrant democracy. Their argument is that union organizing is an important, if not essential, tool in building a vibrant democracy, and has been almost since our founding.

During the welcome reduction of COVID-19 cases and deaths, it was widely reported many people were refusing to go back to work, because for some, their unemployment and other government benefits were higher than their previous wages. It’s human nature.

Almost from its start in 1906, the Department of Agriculture has pushed just one kind of efficiency: labor. The most common measure of labor efficiency is income per farmer, so the USDA has pushed factory farming to produce more income per farmer. But it comes at the expense of efficient use of land and machinery. Not to mention the quality of food.

Ours is the greatest revolution the world has ever known. It succeeded where so many others have failed, delivered a severe blow to monarchy and aristocracy, inspired republican movements around the world, and won the independence of a country whose power and ideals have influenced the course of history for the better.

How often do African Americans have to save the Democratic Party from its left wing? With Black voters having just thrust a moderate ex-cop to the head of the pack in New York City’s mayoral race, it’s the second time in just over a year they’ve done it.

More than 90 days after being tasked to stem the record flow of migrants into the U.S., (Vice President Kamala) Harris finally went to the southern border, falsely claiming, “We’ve made progress.” She visited El Paso, Texas, while the real problem is in the Rio Grande Valley. Clearly, neither she nor her handlers wanted pictures of people wading, walking and jumping fences to get into the U.S. with her there.

Many Americans are still techno-optimists in some ways. Technology is the factor cited most as having improved life over the last half century. But in recent years, it seems like this optimism has been gradually eroded, replaced in part by skepticism and fear.

Credulous reporting about space aliens from the highest reaches of the government might make it seem as though we have entered a new phase of U.S. history — but we haven’t. In fact, since the early republic, U.S. officials have been worried about space aliens.