Archive
Sweeten the Deal
The bailout package failed. Republicans didn’t line up behind their leadership, unconvinced about the size, the urgency or even the rightness of rescuing tycoons from their own mistakes. Congress may soon try again, especially because the market showed its contempt...
After the Revolt
The fix was in. The leadership of both parties in Congress, both major presidential candidates, media poobahs, financial statesmen from Warren Buffett to Bob Rubin, all weighing in to support giving Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson a $700 billion revolving fund to...
Bailout Defeated: Now Can We Get It Right?
The House has just voted down the $700 billion bailout bill. We have not yet seen the roll call, but the numbers suggest that a significant bloc within the Progressive Caucus on the left and the Republican Study Committee on the right held firm against the...
AFL-CIO Calls For A Stimulus Package
Whatever you think of the Wall Street bailout bill that was voted on in the House of Representatives today, there is one thing we all should agree on: Congress must take steps this week to help the working families who are being hurt by this economic downturn. Here's...
Weekend Watchdog Wrap-Up
While the Sunday shows were, true to form, heavier on the politics of the bailout than substance, it was actually one of the better days for the Watchdog. On ABC's This Week, Sen. John McCain was asked about the need for additional economic stimulus -- albeit not as...
Countering The Lie About Race And The Meltdown
The pernicious lie that a law designed to increase lending to people of color and in lower-income neighborhoods played a key role in the financial meltdown in Wall Street won't go away, even though there's no evidence to support it. And now House conservatives are...
Weekend Watchdog
Every Friday in our Weekend Watchdog feature, we post suggested questions for scheduled Sunday guests. You can add your own questions in the comment thread. We'll also include contact information for the shows, so we can let them know what their viewers want asked....
With Whom Should White House and Congressional Leaders Be Negotiating?
Apparently, everyone in Washington is falling over themselves to pacify House conservatives, who instead of taking responsibility for the deregulation that led to this financial crisis, are throwing another one of their predictable temper tantrums. No one in Congress...
CEOs Get Bailed Out. Workers Get Sold Out
Before she became the first female Labor secretary in 1933, Frances Perkins had seen firsthand the tragedy of Manhattan’s 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist fire. Locked in by their employer, 146 mostly young girls died when they couldn’t escape the burning building...
The Deal That Blew Up
The following is the text of the "agreement on principles" that blew up yesterday at the White House, as House Republican leader John Boehner blindsided negotiators by saying Republicans wouldn't support the deal. Sen. John McCain who had arranged the photo op refused...
