Nation in the News

George Zornick: Ten Top Romney Donors Hold Billions Offshore

Nation in the News on July 12, 2012 - 12:46 PM ET

Romney won’t disclose what money he may be hiding overseas, but we do know where his donors put their billions. Ten of the eleven top contributors to Mitt’s campaign (who contribute through political action committees and employees, not directly) abuse offshore tax havens, and some are the most notorious in the business for doing so. Citigroup, for example, has over 1,200 offshore tax havens, and is the sixth biggest donor to the campaign. Nation writer George Zornick went on The Ed Show last night to shed more light on why the presumptive GOP candidate needs to open his books now.

—Zoë Schlanger

Ari Berman: Facts Don't Support Texas Voter ID Law

Nation in the News on July 10, 2012 - 4:16 PM ET

Attorney General Eric Holder called Texas's voter ID law a “poll tax” today, in reference to the estimated 1.4 million voters, the majority of whom are black and Hispanic, who would be disenfranchised by the measure. With the Justice Department now battling the state in court over the law’s discriminatory implications, Nation writer Ari Berman spoke with Alex Wagner about why Texas won’t win this one.

—Zoë Schlanger

Ari Berman: Why Republicans Are Challenging the Voting Rights Act

Nation in the News on July 9, 2012 - 3:49 PM ET

If Pennsylvania’s new voting law is enforced this November, the number of people without proper IDs needed to vote will exceed Obama’s margin of victory in 2008. And because the law disproportionately affects minorities, who tend to vote Democratic, the new law could actually hand the election to Romney. Nation writer Ari Berman appeared on Democracy Now! to discuss how the right is pursuing voter ID laws as a way to disenfranchise minority voters and undercut the Voting Rights Act.

—Max Rivlin-Nadler

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Rendered, Tortured, Discarded: Clara Gutteridge on US Prison Abuses Around the World

Nation in the News on July 6, 2012 - 12:06 PM ET

Tanzanian man Suleiman Abdallah was detained and tortured by US officials in Afghanistan on suspicion of being a terrorist. He survived five years of beatings, solitary confinement, forced nakedness and humiliation, before being quietly discharged with a piece of paper confirming his innocence. Democracy Now! highlighted reporter Clara Gutteridge’s new piece for The Nation Friday morning, in which she tells Abdallah’s story; a harrowing, human part in a web of secret US operations in Africa.

—Zoë Schlanger

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Justice Roberts's Legacy

Nation in the News on June 29, 2012 - 5:30 PM ET

Why did Chief Justice John Robertschange his mind on healthcare? Nation Editor Katrina vanden Heuvel joined the roundtable on NPR's On Point with Tom Ashbrook to help parse the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act, and talk about what this means for the legacy of the chief justice, the impact of the ACA on women and the role of government as a force for security and opportunity.

—Max Rivlin-Nadler

Ilyse Hogue and Ari Melber: The GOP's Unabashedly Partisan Voter ID Laws

Nation in the News on June 27, 2012 - 1:29 PM ET

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This weekend, Pennsylvania GOP Representative Mike Turzai was cheerily going down a list of achievements made by his party in the state congress this session when he dropped this line: “Voter ID, which is going to allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done.” It’s been bouncing around the news media ever since.

Gaffe or otherwise, Representative Turzai seemed to have finally laid out plain the GOP’s motives for the rollback of voting rights.

“We’re looking at a party where the ends justify the means,” said Nation writer Ilyse Hogue, speaking on The Ed Show last night. “This is positively anti-American.”

Hogue and Nation writer Ari Melber sat down with Republican strategist Susan Del Percio, who didn’t hesitate to concede her party has, “in certain circumstances,” gone too far.

—Zoë Schlanger

Greg Kaufmann: Why Can't Jamie Dimon Pay His Employees a Living Wage?

Nation in the News on June 27, 2012 - 10:43 AM ET

Last week, Adriana Vasquez, a janitor in Houston, went to Washington to ask JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon why his company can’t afford to pay her a living wage. Often having to run between floors to clean enough bathrooms before the end of her shift, Ms. Vasquez, a single mother of three, is paid only $8.35 an hour. The Nation’s Greg Kaufmann wrote about Ms. Vasquez last week, and appeared on NPR’s Here and Now to talk about the struggles of service workers, and just how cold-hearted millionaire CEOs can be.

—Max Rivlin-Nadler

Dave Zirin: The DOJ Wastes Money on Sports

Nation in the News on June 20, 2012 - 5:16 PM ET

Why did the Department of Justice just spend an estimated $2 to 3 million prosecuting former Major League Baseball player Roger Clemens when we’re in the midst of a financial crisis? The Nation’s sports editor Dave Zirin appeared on MSNBC’s NewsNation to question the government’s role in overseeing professional sports, and how its efforts are being misapplied by pursuing perjury charges instead of monitoring the health of athletes.

—Max Rivlin-Nadler

Ari Melber Sips Cosmos on 'The Daily Show'

Nation in the News on June 19, 2012 - 4:51 PM ET

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Last night we learned that Nation writer Ari Melber can hold a brimming cocktail at an unnatural height and give political advice at the same time. Or at least, if Jon Stewart asks him to.

Ari joined The Daily Show’s Samantha Bee last night as she contemplated attending the $40,000-a-plate fundraiser for Barack Obama held at Sarah Jessica Parker’s house. The spoof, complete with Sex and the City theme music, a few cosmos and a bedroom scene with a campaign finance reform expert, is a lighthearted reprieve from the fundraising horse race.

—Zoë Schlanger

Katrina vanden Heuvel: What Type of America Is Romney Fighting For?

Nation in the News on June 18, 2012 - 11:43 AM ET

The election-year battle for the economy should be simple: Obama has a jobs plan, and Romney does not. The president needs to be brutally clear on this point, and on the unambiguous choice Americans face in November, said Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel Sunday when she took part in the roundtable on ABC’s This Week, joined by former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, ABC political analyst Matthew Dowd and former Obama economic adviser Austan Goolsbee. For undecided voters craving a government for the 99 percent, knowing what type of America each candidate is fighting for is paramount.

—Zoë Schlanger