Archive
How Good Is the White House Deal With Labor Over the "Cadillac Tax"?
Labor leaders met with the White House last week to hammer out a deal on the health excise tax. Depending on the outcome of today's Senate race in Massachusetts, that deal is likely to become law. So how good is it? Here's an overview: The ceiling -...
Japan’s Stunning Hubris: Automotive Protectionism
Here’s a scenario you didn't see: The North American International Auto Show got underway last week and not a single Japanese car was allowed. Such a slight would be unthinkable, but it’s not far from what Japan did recently when it chose to exclude U.S. autos from...
On The Ground In Massachusetts: An Election About Everything. A Campaign About Nothing.
I dread all the Washington spin that will follow today's Massachusetts special election, more than usual. Because I live in Massachusetts and the predictable oversimplifications will literally hit close to home. While everyone will say the election results mean this...
Progressive Breakfast - 1/19/2010
Health Care Reform Holds Breath For Mass. Vote... NYT reports Dem leaders considering passing Senate bill in House without changes, if Senate Dems "waver" after Mass. Senate election today: "'“Let’s remove all doubt,' [Speaker Pelosi] added. 'We will have health care...
A Banker Bonus Dilemma for Reformers
Would a stiff tax on banker bonuses blunt Wall Street profiteering — or let the vast majority of America's wealthy off the hook? “Wall Street,” the New York Times observed earlier this month, “is confronting a dilemma of riches: How to wrap its...
Michael Steele Sides With ... Big Banks
Eugene Robinson thinks maybe Michael Steele is crazy like a fox. I think he's just plain crazy (and only slightly crazier than the GOP for hiring him in the first place), for a number of reasons, the latest of which is a real humdinger. And, no, I'm not talking about...
Sen Dodd: Don't Abandon the Consumer Financial Protection Agency
The Wall Street Journal reports that Sen Chris Dodd, chair of the Senate Banking Committee, is thinking of abandoning the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, the centerpiece of Obama finanical reforms designed to create an independent watchdog to protect consumers...
Threaten To Destroy The Country - Media Calls You A "Centrist"
The country has a very large debt. This debt was caused by: 1) Conservative tax cuts for the rich under Reagan and Bush. 2) Conservative spending increases, mostly on military. 3) Interest that must be paid each year on the debt from 1 and 2. 4) Emergency spending...
Progressive Breakfast - 1/15/2010
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day Union Leaders Back Tax Deal McClatchy describes the deal struck between the White House, congressional leaders and union leaders to modify high-premium...
WSJ Calls for More Regulation
Yes, the apostle of free markets, the scourge of regulation and taxation, the bastion of nutcase supply side economics – the Wall Street Journal editorial page – has come out foresquare for more regulation… For Haiti, at least. The Journal editorial contrasts the toll...
