Audio

My colleague Bill Scher and I review this week's posts on "Creating the Progressive Moment" and outline plans for continuing the discussion in Denver. The interview outlines the several fronts on which progressives have to work in the coming weeks to change the direction of the country.

While the public is profoundly disenchanted with the state of the economy and have soured on conservative economic policies, progressives still have the challenge of coming up with the right message that convinces voters that progressive solutions are better. In this podcast, pollster Celinda Lake and Emory University psychology professor Drew Westen discuss that challenge, which is being tackled by the Making Sense 2008 economic "war room."

The conservative failure in public investment, and progressive solutions for addressing that failure, is the subject of my interview with Eric Lotke, the research director of the Campaign for America's Future, on WHMP-AM, where I was substituting for Bill Dwight. Lotke points out the consequences of years of disinvestment in public assets, including examples of how we are falling behind other countries, and discusses some solutions now being considered by progressive-minded leaders in Washington.

Even though polls show majorities of the public favoring progressive positions on issues, Bernie Horn—senior fellow at the Campaign for America's Future and author of the book, "Framing the Future"—fears that the movement could lose opportunities to win elections this year because of how advocates talk about issues with swing voters. Horn explains how the "Making Sense" project is equipping progressives to win the battle with conservative opponents for the support of persuadable voters.

In this interview with Bill Scher for his “Liberal Oasis” radio show, David Sirota warns that the populist uprising reverberating across the country will not by itself translate to progressive change unless the movement becomes more effective in harnessing that demand for change. Sirota shares insights from his latest book, "The Uprising."

Research director Eric Lotke, in an interview with Bill Scher on his Liberal Oasis radio show, uses the Campaign For America's Future report "The Stress Test" to show how Bush administration policies have harmed the economy. The Stress Test offers vital statistics on the effects of rising living costs and disappearing jobs, and Lotke puts the figures in context.

Lawrence Mishel, the president of the Economic Policy Institute, says in this podcast that there is further confirmation that we are in a recession in Friday's unemployment report. Policymakers need to respond with a much more robust program of job creation and extended unemployment benefits than that being advanced by the Bush administration and conservatives.

In the podcast, Mishel puts these numbers in context:

• The economy lost 22,000 jobs in April, but the employment picture was particularly bad in manufacturing and construction, which lost 110,000 jobs, and in retail trade, which was down 27,000 jobs.
• The number of persons working part time for economic reasons increased in April by 306,000 to 5.2 million. This level was 849,000 higher than in April 2007.
• The first-quarter gross domestic product was reported earlier this week as growing at an annual rate of 0.6 percent, not nearly enough to assure needed growth in job opportunities.

Roger Hickey, co-director of Campaign for America’s Future, says that in reality, Sen. John McCain’s plan for health care will “dismantle the employer provided system,” which will force “millions of us who now get decent health insurance on the job to instead buy whatever they can find on the individual market.” He says McCain’s plan will actually drive the cost of health care up. (0:41)

Even though a fight for union representation rights has stalled in Congress, the Jobs with Justice coalition is not only being persistent but is optimistic as it prepares for its upcoming national conference.

The grassroots organization of labor and community activists has had several recent successes at the state and local level, and a major focus of its conference—in Providence, R.I., from May 2-4—is building on those successes to win passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would facilitate union elections without corporate interference, living wage ordinances and civil rights protections for immigrant workers.

In this interview, Jobs with Justice executive director Sarita Gupta discusses the agenda of the conference and the challenges the organization will tackle in the coming months.

More details are available at the conference registration page.

Rick Perlstein explores the life of Richard Nixon and the impact he is having in today’s politics in his just-released book, “Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America.” He talked about the book at a reading April 14 at Georgetown University sponsored by the Toqueville Forum. Steven F. Hayward, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of his own book on Nixon, was the respondent. The book is now available at major bookstores.