Stories by Roger Bybee

Roger Bybee is a Milwaukee-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in numerous national publications, including Z magazine, the Progressive, American Prospect and Foreign Policy in Focus. His e-mail address is winterbybee@gmail.com. subscribe to Roger Bybee's feed

6 Republican Economic Myths Obama and Dems Must Stop Repeating

Posted on: Dec 10, 2012, Source: AlterNet

It doesn't help your side to use the language of the opposition.

Take a Look at What Paul Ryan Did to His Own Congressional District, and Be Very Scared for Your Country

Posted on: Sep 19, 2012, Source: Progressive Populist

Child abuse and suicide is skyrocketing, the number of battered women has tripled, foreclosures have tripled, wages plummeting, and more.

Screwed in Scranton: Firefighters Pay Slashed to Minimum Wage

Posted on: Jul 17, 2012, Source: In These Times

While cutting back aid to local governments, Pennsylvania Governor Corbett has lavished long-term tax breaks for hugely profitable firms like Royal Dutch Shell Oil.

Message to Wisconsin: Fight the Power, Forget the Polls

Posted on: May 27, 2012, Source: In These Times

With the recall election for Walker coming up on June 5, every little development, every possible indicator of how the public mood is shifting, can cause ecstasy or agony.

Workers Battle ExxonMobil Over Safety at Baton Rouge Refinery

Posted on: May 13, 2012, Source: In These Times

Oil giant ExxonMobil is refusing to implement safety protections for the workers at its Louisiana refinery.

Detroit Union Applies its Radical History to Fighting Foreclosures with Direct Action

Posted on: Apr 22, 2012, Source: In These Times

Working closely with local groups and Occupy, United Auto Workers Local 600 has been an integral part of actions that have succeeded in blocking evictions.

GE Unleashes Propaganda Campaign To Hide Its Tiny Tax Burden and Mass Layoffs

Posted on: Mar 25, 2012, Source: In These Times

GE paid an average of 2.3% in taxes over the last ten years, while slashing its US workforce by 32,000 jobs. But its new ad campaign aims to whitewash all that.

Obama Promises to Bring Back Manufacturing Jobs, But His Plan Gives More Tax Breaks to Corporations

Posted on: Feb 21, 2012, Source: In These Times

If Obama does win a second term, it will be fascinating to see how working-class Americans respond when his soaring rhetoric collides with the reality of his timid program.

Contrived Catholic Contraception Controversy Boils Down to Workers' Rights

Posted on: Feb 12, 2012, Source: In These Times

Republicans would have had no opportunity to raise this issue if America had a single-payer healthcare system instead of the current employer-based structure.

What Liberals are Still Missing About Inequality: Decades of Outsourcing and Union-Busting by the 1%

Posted on: Jan 31, 2012, Source: In These Times

Many of America’s most liberal mainstream pundits have narrowed the debate over inequality, perhaps out of a desire to shield Obama from pressure coming from his left.

Wisconsin Recall Elections a Sure Thing, but New ID Law May Undercut Anti-Walker Vote

Posted on: Jan 20, 2012, Source: In These Times

Wisconsinites' efforts to protect democracy—in the workplace and through the ballot—are rapidly escalating on two key fronts.

Super Bowl-Level Stakes for Indiana Labor in Battle Over Union Rights

Posted on: Jan 9, 2012, Source: In These Times

Governor Mitch Daniels' attempt to pass a "right-to-work" law in Indiana extends the GOP's war on organized labor beyond the public sector and into the private.

Scott Walker and the GOP Reveal Depth of Their Voter-Exclusion Plan

Posted on: Sep 15, 2011, Source: In These Times

A new Department of Transportation memo reveals Wisconsin Republicans intend to make the newly imposed voter ID process as onerous as possible for people seeking IDs.

Attacks on NY AG Standing Up for Main Street Show Wall Street's Control Over Our Elites

Posted on: Aug 25, 2011, Source: In These Times

Attacks on New York's attorney general Eric Schneiderman expose the destructive thinking of our financial and political elites.

How Fox News and the GOP Help The Ultra-Rich Get Even Richer

Posted on: Aug 24, 2011, Source: In These Times

The CIA ranks the country 64th, behind Ivory Coast and Uganda—but Fox's banshees still scream 'class warfare' when Warren Buffett wants to tax the rich.

Payback Time: Wisconsin Progressives & Labor Ready For Recall Elections

Posted on: Aug 2, 2011, Source: In These Times

Polls are favorable as progressives head into the recall elections of eight Wisconsin State Senate Republicans who supported Scott Walker's union-busting.

Obama to Push Bogus 'Competitiveness' Theme in State of the Union Address

Posted on: Jan 25, 2011, Source: In These Times

Obama's claim that "we can compete with anybody in the world" is a slickly-disguised appeal to support corporate globalization.

Crisis = Opportunity for Single-Payer

Posted on: Apr 8, 2009, Source: Dollars and Sense

Fiscal crises may force Obama to save costs via a single-payer plan.

Why Obama Shouldn't Cave on Trade

Posted on: Sep 30, 2008, Source: Foreign Policy in Focus

Obama is coming under fire from the Beltway Establishment for questioning trade orthodoxy.