Michael O. Allen

Category: Homepage

  • A Plug for Unions

    The New York Times published a story yesterday about a study (done at Harvard and elsewhere involving income data from millions of people) that found In Climbing Income Ladder, Location Matters. If you’re born in the bottom 20 percent in New York City, for instance, you’ll wind up on average around the 40th percentile. People…

  • The 2013 State of the Union Address

    February 13, 2013 | 1:01:01 | Public Domain Remarks by the President in the State of the Union Address U.S. Capitol Washington, D.C. 9:15 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, fellow citizens: Fifty-one years ago, John F. Kennedy declared to this chamber that “the Constitution makes us not rivals…

  • Sanders’ October 2010 Filibuster Against Corporate Greed

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhOAzqfMoms[/youtube]So many people are talking about Rand Paul’s filibuster of John Brennan’s CIA nomination in the U.S. Senate that I thought I would remind people of Vermont’s Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders made a much loved speech on the senate floor that was turned into a book. It was in Oct. 2010 and the U.S. Senate…

  • Pieces of Me

    This site is, of course, the archive of mostly my newspaper journalism. I have written other places, too. I don’t know if it is wanderlust, nostalgia, whatever, I found myself looking around the web for some of my past writings and came across these pieces scattered around the Internet. Some of these pieces, I posted…

  • Inaugural Address by President Barack Obama–January 21, 2013

    Inaugural Address by President Barack Obama–January 21, 2013 11:55 A.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: Each time we gather to inaugurate a President we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy.…

  • Mitt and the Bain Capital Chronicles

    In an all too familiar tale, during its heydays, when Mitt Romney and his posse rode into town on behalf of Bain Capital, someone’s dream was going to get crushed, usually a lot of someones. Hopes and aspirations are swiftly snuffed out. “I don’t think Mitt Romney is a bad man. I don’t fault him…

  • Michelle Obama Rocks the House

    September 4, 2012 Charlotte, NC–Transcript of first lady Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, as prepared for delivery: Thank you so much, Elaine…we are so grateful for your family’s service and sacrifice…and we will always have your back. Over the past few years as First Lady, I have had the extraordinary privilege of…

  • SEIU President Mary Kay Henry at the DNC

    CHARLOTTE — The following is a transcript of a speech, as prepared for delivery, by Mary Kay Henry, International President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, September 4, 2012. Mary Kay Henry International President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Hello, delegates, and hello to my…

  • Mitt Romney’s Extraordinary Lie

    He didn’t have to tell this particular lie because it gains him absolutely nothing. Yet, he felt need to perpetrate this particular fiction. Why? Mitt Romney said during his acceptance speech last night that Republicans rallied behind President Obama when he won in 2008, hoping that he would succeed. “We are a good and generous…

  • The 2012 State of the Union

    Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address United States Capitol Washington, D.C. 9:10 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans: Last month, I went to Andrews Air Force Base and welcomed home some of our last troops to serve in Iraq. Together,…