Archive
Austerity Discredited, Not Defeated -- Time to Fight for Jobs and Growth
For four long years after the recession officially ended, conservative austerity policies have sabotaged America's economic recovery, condemning millions of Americans to unemployment and poverty. And in Europe, the same policy regime of spending cuts aimed at deficit...
Oregon Takes a Step Towards Debt-Free Degrees
I got a check from the U.S. Treasury in the mail this week. It was both a surprise and a mystery. It was a surprise, because I wasn't expecting any checks, least of all from the federal government. At first the reason why the government sent me a check was a mystery....
Should Obamacare Provision Be Delayed?
Yesterday, the Obama Administration announced that one of the major provisions in the Affordable Care Act will be delayed for one year. Under the law, starting in 2014, businesses with over 50 employees would have been required to provide healthcare to workers or pay a fine. That provision will now not take effect until 2015, after next year's midterm elections. Assistant Treasury Secretary Mark Mazur said, “We have heard concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more time to implement them effectively.”
The Forgotten Americans
Yesterday was the Fourth of July. That's the day we celebrate the vision and courage shown by our nation's founders. July 4th is the day they published a document which said it was "self-evident" that everyone has "certain unalienable rights," including the rights to...
QOTD: Wall Street Journal editorial board
You have to give them credit for consistency: Egyptians would be lucky if their new ruling generals turn out to be in the mold of Chile's Augusto Pinochet, who took power amid chaos but hired free-market reformers and midwifed a transition to democracy.
Jobs Report: 'New Normal' Is Neither New, Normal nor Acceptable
This month’s lackluster jobs report – 195,000 net jobs created in the month of June with the unemployment rate unchanged at 7.6 percent – leaves Americans adrift. More than 22 million Americans remain in need of full-time work. The participation rate in the labor...
"Gimme Five": Fight For A Full Labor Relations Board
Here’s a scary thought: On Labor Day, a day celebrating the contributions that the labor movement has brought Americans – the 40-hour workweek, the weekend, minimum wage – there may be no one to enforce labor law. The National Labor Relations Board is the five-person...
May Trade Deficit Drained $45 Billion From Our Economy And Democracy
The trade deficit is a measure of how much money and how many jobs we are transferring in or out of the country. The May trade deficit was just reported, and it jumped sharply. Other countries see themselves as countries and compete with us as a country while we...
An Independence Day Imperative: Defeat the 'Dollarocracy'
How did we get so far from the albeit naïve but nonetheless noble vision of the America that President Obama offered on his election night in 2008, that we are not just "a collection of red states and blue states" but "the United States of America"? One reason,...
Will Pro-Immigration Republicans Debunk Right-Wing Smears?
Over at TheWeek.com, I explain how Sen. Marco Rubio missed his moment to lead on immigration reform, as the final Senate deal got done without him and he was unable to woo conservative opinion leaders despite his best efforts. But I also note Rubio can still play a...
