Vendettas of the Week

 Policy CornerVendettas of the Week

Public Health Enemy #1

Christopher Law May 27, 2015

The California Senate… References and FootnotesTara Haelle, "California Vaccination Bill SB 277 Clears Senate - And Will Save Taxpayer Money If It Becomes Law," Forbes, May 18, 2015, accessed May 23, 2015. http://www.forbes.com/sites/tarahaelle/2015/05/18/california-vaccination-bill-sb-277-clears-senate-and-will-save-taxpayer-money-if-it-becomes-law/. ↩Jen Christensen and Nadia Kounang, "Childhood Vaccines Are Safe. Seriously," CNN, July 1, 2014, accessed May 23, 2015. http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/01/health/vaccines-for-kids-safe ↩ Max Read, "Medical Journal Calls Anti-Vaccination Study an 'Elaborate Fraud,'" Gawker, January 6, 2011, accessed May 23, 2015, http://gawker.com/5726216/medical-journal-calls-anti-vaccination-study-an-elaborate-fraud. ↩Carrie Dann, "Jeb Bush: 'Parents Ought to Make Sure Their Children Are Vaccinated,'" NBC News, February 4, 2015, accessed May 23, 2015, http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/measles-outbreak/jeb-bush-parents-ought-make-sure-their-children-are-vaccinated-n300236. ↩Dan Merica, "Hillary Clinton Hits GOP with Pro-vaccine Tweet," CNN, February 3, 2015, accessed May 23, 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/02/politics/hillary-clinton-vaccines/.[/ref] have shown support for vaccines, there is still much opposition to mandatory vaccinations. Rand Paul"Rand Paul: Vaccines Can Lead to 'Mental Disorders,'" States News Service, February 3, 2015, accessed May 23, 2015, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-399964521.html ↩“Six Reasons To Say NO to Vaccination,” The Healthy Home Economist, May 25, 2010, accessed May 25, 2015. ↩ Bahar Gholipour, "Vaccination Has Saved 732,000 Children's Lives Since 1994," Live Science, April 24, 2014, accessed May 23, 2015. ↩ Alexandria Sifferlin, "4 Diseases Making a Comeback Thanks to Anti-Vaxxers," Time, March 17, 2014, Accessed May 23, 2015. http://time.com/27308/4-diseases-making-a-comeback-thanks-to-anti-vaxxers/. ↩Jason Beaubien, "Measles Vaccination Rates: Tanzania Does Better Than U.S.," NPR, February 6, 2015, accessed May 23, 2015, http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/02/06/384068229/measles-vaccination-rates-tanzania-does-better-than-u-s. ↩

Policy CornerVendettas of the Week

The Wage Is Too Damn Low

Brian Chernick May 21, 2015

The federal minimum wage peaked in 1968… References and Footnotes“Minimum wage since 1938,” CNN Money, 2013, http://money.cnn.com/interactive/economy/minimum-wage-since-1938/[/ref] If you adjust for inflation that's an impressive $10.79. However, the current federal minimum wage sits at $7.25 – thirty-two percent less than it was forty-seven years ago. And while it has increased twenty-one percent since 1990, so has the cost of living – by sixty-seven percent. “Overworked America: 12 Charts That Will Make Your Blood Boil,” Mother Jones, July/August 2011, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/06/speedup-americans-working-harder-charts[/ref] Nineteen million U.S. workers currently earn at or below the federal minimum wage, with nearly half of them being over twenty-four years old. “5 Facts about the Minimum Wage,” Pew Research, December 2013 http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/12/04/5-facts-about-the-minimum-wage/ ↩ “Studies Look at What Happened when Cities Raised Minimum Wage,” The Seattle Times, March 2014, http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/studies-look-at-what-happened-when-cities-raised-minimum-wage/ ↩ “The Great Decoupling of the US Economy,” Andrew McAfee, December 2012, http://andrewmcafee.org/2012/12/the-great-decoupling-of-the-us-economy/ ↩“As Cities Raise Their Minimum Wage, Where's the Economic Collapse the Right Predicted?” Mother Jones, April 2015, http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/04/economic-collapse-prediction-minimum-wage-raise ↩ Lynn Thompson, Seattle Times, March 12, 2014, accessed May 21, 2015, http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/studies-look-at-what-happened-when-cities-raised-minimum-wage/. ↩ “Will a Higher Minimum Wage Close a Beloved Bookstore?” The New Yorker, February 2015, http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/minimum-wage-dilemma-san-francisco ↩“Do Small Businesses Deserve Exemptions From the Minimum Wage?” Mother Jones, May 2015 http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/05/small-businesses-exemptions-minimum-wage ↩ “Here's How America's Minimum Wage Stacks Up Against Countries Like India, Russia, Greece, And France” Business Insider, August 2013, http://www.businessinsider.com/a-look-at-minimum-wages-around-the-world-2013-8 ↩ “Marco Rubio says He Opposes Minimum Wage Laws. What About the Other GOP 2016 Hopefuls?” Daily Kos, February 2013, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/14/1187136/-Marco-Rubio-says-he-opposes-minimum-wage-laws-What-about-the-other-GOP-2016-hopefuls ↩ “Jeb Bush Calls For The Elimination Of The Federal Minimum Wage,” Think Progress, March 2015 http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/03/17/3634877/jeb-bush-minimum-wage/ ↩“Sen. Cruz: Minimum Wage Hike Would Cost Jobs for Young People, Hispanics, African Americans” CNS News, February 2013, http://cnsnews.com/news/article/sen-cruz-minimum-wage-hike-would-cost-jobs-young-people-hispanics-african-americans ↩“Fact Sheet #32: Youth Minimum Wage - Fair Labor Standards Act,” U.S. Department of Labor, July 2008, http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs32.pdf ↩

Policy CornerVendettas of the Week

A Shadow Over Democracy: The Ineffectiveness of Torture

Christopher Law May 20, 2015

On December 14,… References and FootnotesB. Carson, (2014, December 16), Democrats' Wasteful Torture Report, The Washington Times, retrieved May 6, 2015, from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/16/ben-carson-democrats-torture-report-points-away-fr/ ↩A. Seitz-Wald, "Where Is Hillary Clinton on Torture?" MSNBC, December 9, 2014, accessed May 6, 2015, http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/where-hillary-clinton-torture. ↩D. Corn, "Rand Paul: GOP Should Reject Cheney for Defending ‘Torture,’" Mother Jones, April 10, 2014, accessed May 6, 2015, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/04/rand-paul-bush-cheney-torture. ↩ S. O’Mara, (n.d.), Torturing the Brain, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 497-500. ↩Ibid. ↩R. Janoff-Bulman, (2007), Erroneous Assumptions: Popular Belief in the Effectiveness of Torture Interrogation, Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 2007, 429-435. ↩ Vincent Iacopino, and Stephen N. Xenakis, “Neglect of Medical Evidence of Torture in Guantánamo Bay: A Case Series,” PLOS Medicine, 2011. ↩

Policy CornerVendettas of the Week

Tug-O-War: Lower Gas Prices or Stop Drilling?

Joyce Chu May 20, 2015

Who doesn’t like… References and Footnotes Timothy Gardner, “Here’s Why Obama is Approving Arctic Drilling Again,” Reuters, April 1,2015, accessed May19, 2015, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/01/usa-shell-arctic-idUSKBN0MS54K20150401. ↩ Christopher Joyce, “ In Arctic Drilling Debate, A Dispute over Cleanup Preparedness,” NPR, May 15. 2015, accessed May 18, 2015,http://www.npr.org/2015/05/15/407071574/environmentalists-say-shells-arctic-drilling-plan-presents-safety-risks. ↩Brian Palmer, “The C-Free Diet: If we didn’t have California, What would we eat?”  Slate Magazine, July 10, 2013, accessed May 19, 2015, http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/explainer/2013/07/california_grows_all_of_our_fruits_and_vegetables_what_would_we_eat_without.html ↩EPA, “Climate,” accessed May 19, 2015, http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/ecosystems.html#ref1. ↩

Policy CornerVendettas of the Week

End 215 in 2015

Brian Chernick May 14, 2015

The first step towards regaining some semblance of privacy took… References and Footnotes“NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily,” The Guardian, June 6, 2013, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order ↩“Report From The Field: The USA PATRIOT Act At Work,” U.S. Department of Justice, July 2004, http://www.justice.gov/archive/olp/pdf/patriot_report_from_the_field0704.pdf ↩Ibid. ↩ “The Whole Haystack,” The New Yorker, January 26, 2015, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/26/whole-haystack  ↩ “Independent review board says NSA phone data program is illegal and should end,” The Washington Post, January 23, 2014, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/independent-review-board-says-nsa-phone-data-program-is-illegal-and-should-end/2014/01/22/4cebd470-83dd-11e3-bbe5-6a2a3141e3a9_story.html ↩“More Excuses on the Patriot Act,” The New York Times, May 1, 2015, http://nytimes.com/2015/05/02/opinion/more-excuses-on-the-patriot-act.html ↩“White House Confirms: If Section 215 Expires, So Does Bulk Phone Records Collection,” Electronic Frontier Foundation, March 24, 2015, https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/03/white-house-confirms-if-section-215-expires-so-does-bulk-phone-records-collection ↩

Policy CornerVendettas of the Week

Brick by Brick: Building a Durable Strategy Against ISIS

Maya El-Darzi May 14, 2015

His name was Fadi. He was… References and Footnotes"Homeland Security Secretary Johnson on ISIS, Ebola, and Preventing Homegrown Terrorism," Council on Foreign Relations, September 10, 2014, accessed May 13, 2015, http://www.cfr.org/homeland-security/homeland-security-secretary-johnson-isis-ebola-preventing-homegrown-terrorism/p35716 ↩"ISIS By the Numbers: Foreign Fighter Total Keeps Growing," NBC News, February 28, 2015, accessed May 13, 2015, http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/isis-numbers-foreign-fighter-total-keeps-growing-n314731 ↩"Homeland Security Secretary Johnson on ISIS, Ebola, and Preventing Homegrown Terrorism," Council on Foreign Relations, September 10, 2014, accessed May 13, 2015, http://www.cfr.org/homeland-security/homeland-security-secretary-johnson-isis-ebola-preventing-homegrown-terrorism/p35716 ↩ "FACT SHEET: Strategy to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)," The White House, September 10, 2014, accessed May 13, 2015. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/09/10/fact-sheet-strategy-counter-islamic-state-iraq-and-levant-isil[/ref] Finally, President Obama has ordered systematic airstrikes against ISIS held territories, in hopes of protecting “U.S. personnel and facilities in Baghdad and Erbil…, kill[ing] ISIS fighters, destroy[ing] ISIS equipment, [and] protect[ing] Iraqi critical infrastructure…” Ibid ↩Ibid ↩U.S. Department of Defense, “Operation Inherent Resolve,” April 2015, accessed May 13, 2013, http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2014/0814_iraq ↩RT News, “Jimmy Carter slams Obama’s handling of ISIS: ‘We waited too long,’” October 8, 2014, accessed May 13, 2015, http://rt.com/usa/194224-jimmy-carter-obama-isis ↩Richard Hall, “Just how many civilians have died in the West's campaign against ISIS?” The Week, April 23, 2015, accessed May 13, 2015, http://theweek.com/articles/551128/just-how-many-civilians-have-died-wests-campaign-against-isis ↩ Ibid ↩ "Ready for War with ISIS?" Foreign Affairs, December 14, 2014, accessed May 13, 2015, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/syria/2014-12-14/ready-war-isis ↩Max Boot, "Defeating ISIS," Council on Foreign Relations, November 14, 2014, accessed May 13, 2015 ↩Thomas Ricks, "Fighting ISIS (II): To Work, This Must Be More than Just a Military Operation," Foreign Policy, October 30, 2014, accessed May 13, 2015. http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/10/30/fighting-isis-ii-to-work-this-must-be-more-than-just-a-military-operation ↩