Looking for a little light reading material? Well this isn't it. But if you're looking for something thoughtful the following stories from TomPaine.common sense might fit the bill.

Failing Grade
Robert Gordon

Just how are today's children going to earn enough money to squirrel away into their private accounts if George Bush decimates the public education system? Robert Gordon looks at Bush's education budget and sees an end to what little education reform the No Child Left Behind Act eked out, as the administration chose to fund the program at only one third its proper level. There's a vision for America: dumb, impoverished and indebted.

Black History Month, Bush Style
Dr. Maya Rockeymoore

Just in time for Black History Month, President Bush recently made the argument that his private retirement savings accounts would really benefit African Americans, whose shorter life expectancy means they don't get as many years of Social Security benefits. But the president is purposely missing the point, says Maya Rockeymoore of Black Commentator. Blacks have a shorter life expectancy because their access to good health care is severely lacking. If Bush really wanted to improve African Americans' chances for a stable retirement, he'd improve our health care system—so they could live to see it.


The Case For Waiting
David R. Francis

When Alan Greenspan fixed Social Security in 1983, the program was months from having to dip into general revenues. David Francis says there is no reason why we can't do the same thing again...that is, if we have to. With 75-year economic projections being highly inaccurate, there is no way we can predict what will happen by 2042. Thanks to Greenspan's example, we don't have to.



So Long, Erin Brockovich
Amanda Griscom-Little

Class-action litigation is important to an array of public interest issues. Here, Griscom-Little looks at how the Class Action Fairness Act—passed yesterday by the Senate—will affect environmental justice. At a time when the White House is weakening environmental defenses across the board, the bill would remove yet another avenue for citizens to keep corporate polluters in check.

For more stories go to http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/#003710