Archive
Chinese Coal Mine Explosion And Protectionism
At the recent Netroots Nation gathering in Pittsburgh bloggers toured the J. Edgar Thomson steel mill. I asked the plant manager about competitiveness. She said that labor costs are not a big factor in the cost competitiveness of Chinese steel; a major component of...
Post-Speech: Conservatives, How Stupid Do You Feel Now?
I wrote last week about the absolutely shameful, shocking and appalling attacks from conservatives against President Obama in response to his plans to give students a back to school pep talk about the importance of education. I wrote at the time that the level of...
President Obama: Make Sure Families Can Afford the Insurance They Are Forced to Buy
When President Obama speaks before the Congress on Wednesday night, he will tell the nation in more specific detail what he wants to do to make the health care system work for everyone. He’d had better pledge to make sure good health insurance is...
Van Jones: Liberated to Lead Once More
The departure of Van Jones from the White House is a sorry chapter in our politics. Van is a gifted leader of ideas and of action. He makes connections, thinks beyond the box, and inspires others to join. As California chose to spend billions on prisons locking up...
How To Think
One of the teachers who influenced me the most was Mr. Harrison, my high school English teacher. He taught me that the purpose of education was not to teach me what to think, but how to think — how to examine and question what I was told; to not merely "know" what I...
Progressive Breakfast - 9/8/2009
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. Congress Returns, With Health Care #1 Priority Congress returns to DC, some more committed to pass health care reform than ever. W. Post: "'I think, if...
Who Else is Against American Manufacturing? III
"A country’s economic power comes from manufacturing. But while other countries have industrial policies, America has a de-inustrialization policy. We have handed our country’s manufacturing capacity over to other countries, and as a result we have to borrow more and...
The Speech I Hope the President Will Give
My Fellow Americans: I speak to you tonight at a crucial moment in our nation’s history. When you elected me president almost one year ago, you voted in favor of hope, and in favor of change. You voted for the idea that we are all in it together, and that we share a...
Conservative Derangement Syndrome: What Are They Thinking?
Over on the right wing, the conservatives are all a-Twitter because someone dug up a YouTube video from last February in which White House environmental staffer Van Jones calls Republicans "assholes." And then yesterday, Glenn Beck breathlessly revealed that back in...
Deja Vu All Over Again ... Again
Sometimes you think you've lived beforeAll that you live todayThings you do come back to youAs though they knew the wayOh, the tricks your mind can play! "Where or When," Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart "It seems we've stood and talked like this before," goes the...
