Thomas Geoghegan (; born January 22, 1949 in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

) is an American

labor law Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...

yer and author based in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He has represented several unions and union groups, and written six books on labor unions, law, politics and his personal experiences. He has written for ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

'' magazine and contributed to several newspapers, and had commentaries on a number of radio and TV stations. Geoghegan ran in the Democratic primary for the

Illinois's 5th congressional district The 5th congressional district of Illinois covers parts of Cook and DuPage counties, as of the 2011 redistricting which followed the 2010 census. All or parts of Chicago, Elmhurst, Elmwood Park, Franklin Park, Hinsdale, La Grange Park, Nor ...

in 2009Tom Geoghegan for Congress - Official Campaign Website
/ref> and came in a three-way tie for third.

Life and work

In 1967, Geoghegan graduated from St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati. He later graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

. Geoghegan has represented the

United Mine Workers The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the Unit ...

Teamsters for a Democratic Union Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) is a grassroots rank and file organization whose goal is to reform the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), or Teamsters Union. The organization has chapters nationwide in the United States and Canada ...

, and currently works a
Despres, Schwartz and Geoghegan Ltd.
He has been a staff writer and contributing writer to ''

'' and his work has also appeared in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', ''

Dissent Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...

'', ''

The American Prospect ''The American Prospect'' is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and progressivism. Based in Washington, D.C., ''The American Prospect'' says it "is devoted to ...

'', ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'', and ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

''. His commentary has been featured on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

, ''

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the progra ...

'', ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

'', ''

CBS Sunday Morning ''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (normally shortened to ''Sunday Morning'' on the program itself since 2009) is an American news magazine television program that has aired on CBS since January 28, 1979. Created by Robert Northshield and original host ...

'',

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

, and

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

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-11. Geoghegan was a Democratic candidate for

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...

's seat in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. The

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

for the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

took place on March 3, 2009, and was won by Mike Quigley. The

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

was won by Quigley on April 7, 2009.

Views

In his books, articles and commentaries, Geoghegan has urged a number of reforms to increase America's commitment to democracy at home and abroad. Geoghegan supports the National Popular Vote compact for presidential elections on the grounds that it would increase electoral

responsiveness Responsiveness as a concept of computer science refers to the specific ability of a system or functional unit to complete assigned tasks within a given time. For example, it would refer to the ability of an artificial intelligence system to unde ...

, transparency and

accountability Accountability, in terms of ethics and governance, is equated with answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the publ ...

. He urges a reform of the redistricting of US congressional districts, arguing that currently over 90% of Congressional seats are "safe", such that no challenger has a serious chance of unseating an incumbent and this discourages voter participation. He argues against the

filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...

in the

US Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

as undemocratic and unconstitutional under current rules. Less than 9% of the population resides in 20 states representing 40% of the seats in the Senate. In regards to America's economy and quality of life, Geoghegan argues that Germany and other northern European countries "do both

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

and

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

better than we do."

Works

* 1991: '' Which Side Are You On?: Trying to Be For Labor When It's Flat On Its Back'' ( FSG), * 1998: ''The Secret Lives of Citizens: Pursuing the Promise of American Life'' (

Pantheon Books Pantheon Books is an American book publishing imprint with editorial independence. It is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.Random House, Inc. Datamonitor Company Profiles Authority: Retrieved 6/20/2007, from EBSCO Host Business Source ...

), * 2002: ''In America's Court: How a Civil Lawyer Who Likes to Settle Stumbled into a Criminal Trial'' (

New Press The New Press is an independent non-profit public-interest book publisher established in 1992 by André Schiffrin Prickly Paradigm Prickly Paradigm Press is a new incarnation of Prickly Pear Pamphlets, which was started in 1993, in Cambridge, England, by anthropologists Keith Hart and Anna Grimshaw. Together they published a series of ten pamphlets on a range of topics in a ...

), * 2007: ''See You in Court: How the Right Made America a Lawsuit Nation'' (New Press), * 2010: ''Were you Born on the Wrong Continent?'' * 2011:
Boeing's Threat to American Enterprise
' (

WSJ ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

) * 2014: ''Only One Thing Can Save Us: Why America Needs a New Kind of Labor Movement'' (

New Press The New Press is an independent non-profit public-interest book publisher established in 1992 by André Schiffrin Illinois's 5th congressional district special election, 2009 A special election was held in Illinois's 5th congressional district in 2009 to fill the seat vacated by Rahm Emanuel. On April 7, Democratic nominee Michael Quigley defeated Republican nominee Rosanna Pulido and Green nominee Matt Reichel. Qu ...

References

External links

Tom Geoghegan's website

“Infinite Debt: How Unlimited Interest Rates Destroyed the Economy"
''on Democracynow.org, March 24, 2009''
Tom Geoghegan for U.S. Congress
''official campaign website'' * *

David Sirota David J. Sirota (born November 2, 1975) is an American journalist, columnist at ''The Guardian'', editor for ''Jacobin'', author, television writer, and screenwriter. He is also a political commentator and radio host based in Denver. He is a natio ...

Six little words
''San Francisco Chronicle'', July 25, 2008 * Kathy G

''The G Spot'', July 31, 2008 *

James Fallows James Mackenzie Fallows (born August 2, 1949) is an American writer and journalist. He is a former national correspondent for ''The Atlantic.'' His work has also appeared in ''Slate'', ''The New York Times Magazine'', ''The New York Review of Book ...

br>Tom Geoghegan for Congress
''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', January 4, 2009
Articles
in ''

''
Articles
in ''

''
Review
by

Ted Frank Theodore H. Frank (born December 14, 1968) is an American lawyer, activist, and legal writer, based in Washington, D.C. He is the counsel of record and petitioner in ''Frank v. Gaos'', the first Supreme Court case to deal with the issue of '' cy ...

of Geoghegan's book ''See You In Court'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Geoghegan, Thomas American legal writers American social sciences writers Harvard Law School alumni Illinois lawyers Lawyers from Chicago Writers from Cincinnati Workers' rights activists Writers from Chicago St. Xavier High School (Ohio) alumni 1949 births Living people Illinois Democrats American labor lawyers