Archive
Progressive Breakfast - 5/27/2009
Confirmation Expected of First Latina Supreme Court Justice NYT sizes up the SCOTUS battle ahead, or lack thereof: "The left was quiet Tuesday. Aside from commending the president’s pick of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, most liberal groups kept their comments to a minimum so...
The United States Needs a Cohesive Industrial Policy
Clyde Prestowitz is absolutely right that the United States needs a cohesive, forward-looking national industrial policy. And furthermore, he is correct in pointing out the “policies of China, Japan, Korea and others to undervalue their currencies.” Such...
U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Betting Against the American Middle Class
Randel K. Johnson, vice president of that esteemed group, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, recently revealed a corporate-squelched truth in a slip of the tongue. During a debate on May 15 with Stewart Acuff of the AFL-CIO about the Employee Free Choice Act, Johnson...
The Weekly Audit: Why Accountability Matters
With workers all over the globe trudging through a catastrophic recession, it's almost a given that governments will be battling the economic slide for a long time. Part of the effort to rebuild must involve new rules and regulations, but meaningful systems for...
Progressive Breakfast - 5/26/2009
Sotomayor Expected To Join Supreme Court Christy Hardin Smith lauds: "She grew up in the projects in the Bronx, lost her father at the age of nine, and was raised along with her brother (who is now a doctor) by her single mother. That's some life experience to bring...
On Wall Street, Back in the Saddle Again
The awesomely affluent of high finance, if current trends continue, seem almost certain to survive the mess they’ve created — with their wealth and power largely intact. And Treasury and Congress don't appear to really mind. The American economy...
2044: Big Brother Inc.
I just finished a new novel, 2044. 2044 starts where George Orwell’s 1984 left off. The problem isn’t Big Brother and the leviathan government. The problem is Big Brother Inc., and the all-powerful marketplace. Orwell was right for his time, of course. Europe lay in...
Progressive Breakfast - 5/22/2009
Climate Bill Clears First Hurdle "Legislation imposing the first nationwide limits on the pollution blamed for global warming advanced in the House late Thursday ... The Energy and Commerce Committee approved the sweeping climate bill 33-25 after repeatedly turning...
Wall Street Probe Needs Your Vigilance
President Obama's signing of a financial fraud crackdown bill this week has been largely overshadowed by the erroneous and irresponsible rantings of Vice President Dick Cheney and his right-wing fear-monger allies, and that's unfortunate for two important reasons....
Take the Pledge: Buy America
So, the world isn't flat after all. Not that some of us ever bought into Thomas Friedman-speak. But many in this country did, especially those running the political show, and now we have a chance to shape a progressive future on the ashes of such failed visions. And...
