by Robert Borosage | Jan 16, 2014 | Budget Talks, Conservatism
“In Defeat for Tea Party, House passes $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill,” The New York Times reports. The compromise bill that will sail through the Senate by the end of the week is celebrated for heralding a return to “regular order,” to the bipartisan cooperation needed...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Dec 13, 2013 | Budget Talks, Economy, Unemployment Benefits
On Thursday, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi reportedly told her fellow Democrats to embrace the suck" and vote for a federal budget deal that, in the name of bipartisan compromise, compromised away financial support for more than a million of the long-term...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Dec 12, 2013 | Budget Talks, Unemployment Benefits
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today said that continuing extended unemployment benefits to the long-term unemployed will be the first order of business in the Senate when it returns after Congress' Christmas vacation. Good, but not good enough for the 1.3 million...
by Bill Moyers | Dec 12, 2013 | Budget Talks, Economy, Minimum Wage, Progressive Vision, The Jobs Challenge
I met Supreme Court Justice William Brennan in 1987 when I was creating a series for public television called In Search of the Constitution, celebrating the bicentennial of our founding document. By then, he had served on the court longer than any of his colleagues...
by Robert Borosage | Dec 12, 2013 | Budget Talks, Economy
The bipartisan budget agreement released late Tuesday is being celebrated, largely for showing that a deal is possible. The deal is admittedly small ball, reducing about half of the sequester cuts in 2014 and one-quarter in 2015, a total of $41.7 billion in increased...
by Derek Pugh | Dec 12, 2013 | Budget Talks, Populist Majority
It’s true that the American public is tired of gridlock in Washington and would welcome signs that conservative obstruction is ending. But let’s be very clear here. The federal budget deal reached in Congress this week is not one that is supported by the majority of...