In 2007 Nation contributors Joshua Kors

and

exposed different facets of the corrupt and tragic US occupation of Iraq. February 19 Kors and Scahill were honored for their work with George Polk Awards

–one of America’s most prestigious journalism prizes. Kors was awarded the magazine prize for uncovering a stunning pattern of benefit denials by the Department of Veteran Affairs (see “Thanks for Nothing” and “Specialist Town Takes His Case to Washington”). Cataloging scores of incidents where the VA had refused care to soldiers by misdiagnosing them with “personality disorder,” Kors’s reporting led to Congressional hearings, an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act and back benefits for many of the affected veterans.

Scahill was awarded the book prize for Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army, published by Nation Books

. Scahill’s investigation of Blackwater’s role in Iraq appeared more than two years ago in our pages in a series of muckraking articles–culminating in his April cover story, “Bush’s Shadow Army.”

PROGRESSIVES FOR… Barack Obama

narrowly leads Hillary Clinton

in endorsements from members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus

. Obama has twenty-seven endorsements compared to Clinton’s twenty-five; nineteen are still uncommitted. Obama backers include CPC co-chair Barbara Lee

; House Judiciary Committee chair John Conyers

; Keith Ellison

, the first Muslim elected to Congress; and George Miller

, Nancy Pelosi’s confidant. Clinton boosters include CPC co-chair Lynn Woolsey

; Out of Iraq Caucus chair Maxine Waters

; and Tammy Baldwin

and Barney Frank

, the only openly gay members of Congress. Prominent undecideds include Bernie Sanders

, Dennis Kucinich

and Henry Waxman

.

TEARS FOR TIERS:

After posting nearly $40 billion in losses last year, General Motors

has offered its remaining 74,000 hourly employees a fat new buyout package in another effort to drive down labor costs. They will be replaced by entry-level workers earning almost $50 less an hour after benefits. For the UAW

, it’s surely a bitter pill to swallow. Since signing a disappointing contract last fall, the union has watched its biggest concession–a deep pay cut for all new hires–become industry standard. Having pushed the union to accept a two-tiered labor market, GM is now hard at work wiping out the top tier altogether. The New York Times hailed the move as a sign of a “turnaround” in the domestic auto industry. But it’s also a sign of the steady erosion of well-paid union jobs that were once the economic lifeblood of the industrial heartland. Similar buyout plans are on the table at Ford

and Chrysler

.   MAX FRASER