Op-Ed

Don't Subsidize Big Boxes at Local Shops' Expense

smitchell — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 07:21:04 -0500

Sifting though the postmortem news of Borders Group’s demise, I came across a local newspaper story about a California town that had spent $1.6 million to lure a Borders bookstore to a local shopping center.

Handing out multimillion-dollar subsidies to large chains has become commonplace in much of the country. But when governments use public money to woo national chains, economic growth and job creation are negligible, and independent retailers suffer, Stacy Mitchell argues in this commentary for Business Week.

Why is Michelle Obama’s food initiative promoting Walmart?

smitchell — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 08:04:31 -0500

I winced yesterday when James Gavin, chair of the Partnership for a Healthier America, said he'd like to see Walmart double its U.S. store count. He was speaking at Michelle Obama's event announcing that several retailers will open stores in "food deserts." It was a sort of half-jokey remark, but, still, in a conversation about food in America, the suggestion that Walmart should have an even bigger role in our food system is pretty disturbing. This is a company that already captures 25 percent of grocery sales nationally and more than 50 percent in some metro areas.

Whose Internet? NC Communities Should Defend Freedom to Build Networks

admin — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:19:40 -0600

Who should decide the future of broadband access in towns across North Carolina? Citizens and businesses in towns across the state, or a handful of large cable and phone companies? The new General Assembly will almost certainly be asked to address that question.

With the fastest and most affordable networks in North Carolina being owned by the public, the answer is obvious.

Obama vs. FDR on Social Security

dmorris — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:13:08 -0600

Today, 75 years and 4 months since Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, a Democratic president is ignoring his wisdom and abandoning his strategy for protecting the program from shifting political winds.

If congressional Democrats go along with Obama on this, it could mark the beginning of the end of Social Security as we have known it.

Will the Real Voice of Small Business Please Stand Up?

smitchell — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 14:50:17 -0500

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which describes itself as "the voice of business" and is widely considered to be the most influential lobbying group in Washington, insists that its political activities serve the interests of American business in the broadest sense. But a growing number of small independent businesses and even local chambers are challenging that notion, arguing that the Chamber's real allegiance is to the giant corporations that fund it.

Misrepresenting Small Business

smitchell — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:31:11 -0500

The two groups that have traditionally spoken for small business in Washington often push an agenda that only big business could love, writes the New Rules Project's Stacy Mitchell in this commentary for Business Week.

For six years, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has tried to give a tax cut to businesses in his state. And year after year the Democratic governor's proposal has been stymied by a surprising foe: the state's business lobby.

ACORN deserves an apology, too

dmorris — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:43:27 -0500

Shirley Sherrod has her job back and a presidential apology. ACORN is still waiting.

The cases are remarkably similar. Both Sherrod and ACORN were demonized by highly edited videos appearing on right-wing websites and widely publicized by Fox News and conservative radio hosts. In both cases the mainstream media and the federal government rushed to judgment without seeing the full unedited video. Within hours, Sherrod was fired. Within days, Congress cut off federal funding to ACORN.

Lenders Have it Wrong and PACE Advocates Should Fight Back

jfarrell — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 07:31:09 -0500

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued guidance yesterday that drew a line in the sand against municipal energy financing, a.k.a. Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs. These innovative initiatives provide energy efficiency retrofits for homeowners that are repaid through a property tax assessment. Since homeowners falling behind on payments must repay their PACE assessment before their mortgage, giant lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will consider participating households in default on their mortgages for receiving an energy efficiency retrofit via PACE. Their rationale is paper thin.

Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) makes partners of solar PV and energy efficiency

jfarrell — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:30:50 -0500

Property assessed clean energy (PACE) does not make energy efficiency the enemy of solar PV. Instead, it helps optimize the use of solar PV for participating property owners so that an optimally sized solar PV array that is partially paid for through the energy savings from efficiency improvements.

Putting Wal-Mart's Green Moves in Context

smitchell — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:18:58 -0600

What journalists and even environmentalists so often fail to do in reporting on Wal-Mart's sustainability announcements is to provide some context.

Context is everything. Consider Wal-Mart's latest announcement: It will push some of the factories that supply its stores to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. That's a good thing in and of itself, but what happens when we measure it against Wal-Mart's overall impact on the production of goods?