Archive
Over a $100 Barrel
When the price of oil broke $80 a barrel more than three months ago, I noted that George W. Bush ran in 2000 on a pledge to drive down oil costs. That was when oil was $30 a barrel. Today, oil broke $100 a barrel for the first time. According to the New York Times,...
"Who's Minding The Store?"
On Friday, PBS' The Newshour caught up with our old friend Nancy Nord, the toy industry's good friend heading up your Consumer Product Safety Commission. And she was in full corporate hack mode, spinning like a top: Toys are one of safest products in the American...
Conservatism -> High Energy Costs -> Foreclosures -> Starving Citizens
My local paper in Western Mass., the Daily Hampshire Gazette (sub. req'd), today reported on the strain being put upon area food banks. Food banks across Massachusetts, already hobbled by state and federal budget cuts, are struggling to meet the increasing demands of...
The Danger of Compromise
It's understandable that congressional Democrats would go ahead with an energy bill that raises auto fuel-efficiency standards to 35 miles per gallon, after conservatives filibustered bolder renewable energy provisions. They had worked extremely hard just to win...
Sunday Shows Bat .001 on Global Warming
Since we began our Weekend Watchdog feature eight months ago, we've called on the Sunday shows to ask questions about global warming and clean energy seven times. Not once have the Sunday shows responded to our call. But we won't take it personally. Because the Sunday...
We Write Letters
After California's insurance regulator charged Blue Shield with illegally dropping health coverage for more than 200 of its customers, Institute for America's Future's own Diane Archer wrote a letter to the LA Times, published today, explaining how we can prevent...
Record-Breaking Obstruction: How It Screwed You
On this historic yet soon-to-be infamous day of record-breaking conservative obstruction, our "Block and Blame" report (PDF) reminds me of Sen. Trent Lott's all-too-candid words from April, "The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail ... and so far it's...
The Mortgage Crisis: Yet Another Conservative Failure
On Sunday, ABC's This Week failed to hold Alan Greenspan accountable for his role in the mortgage crisis. But today, the New York Times did, picking up where Salon.com left off. And as the NYT report shows -- like every other failure of the Bush Era -- Greenspan's...
From "Front Edge of a Recession" To "Storm Clouds"
The Bush Administration came into office seven years ago talking down the economy -- saying we're on the "front edge of a recession" in hopes of setting a low bar of expectations for themselves to clear. But the bar just kept dropping. Seven years later, when...
Weekend Watchdog Wrap-Up
Another sorry day for the Sunday shows as they go 0-for-3 for the Watchdog. Despite last week being the week when Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the Nobel Peace Prize for rallying the world to combat global warming, and the week where...
