by Isaiah J. Poole | Jun 18, 2015 | Blog, Democracy
It was not a matter of if, but from where, some disgusting and barbaric reaction would come to Wednesday night's terror attack at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. in which nine people died. Not surprisingly, Fox News was among the first out of the gate. The...
by Emily Foster | Jun 18, 2015 | Education
Colleges and universities depend on positive ratings from private accrediting organizations to not only attract students but to be eligible for the federal loans and grants those students receive. But too often, those ratings don’t reflect reality; top ratings go to...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 18, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
When Wall Street and the giant corporations want something from Congress, Congress finds a way to give it to them. With only a few hours notice, the House of Representatives snuck in another fast track vote, and it passed 218-208. The bill now must return to the...
by Jeff Bryant | Jun 18, 2015 | Blog, Education
For years, there's been an agreement – a “Washington consensus” – among Beltway policy makers and political elites that America’s schools are in “crisis” and only a punitive program of standards, testing and accountability can remedy it. Both Republicans and Democrats...
by Bill Scher | Jun 18, 2015 | Uncategorized
House Vote On Fast Track Today Second fast-track House expected today. The Hill: "Under the plan, the House and Senate would vote for a second time on passing fast-track ... The problem for Obama and Republicans is that they must first convince Senate Democrats to...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 18, 2015 | Blog, Tax Reform
A new report released Wednesday that Walmart is dodging taxes by stashing $76 billion of profits outside of the country using 78 subsidiaries in 15 tax havens raises a question: Why is Congress and the White House considering policies that reward tax dodgers like...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 18, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Wall Street and the big corporations don't like to lose. It looks like The Money has told the Republicans to try again to get fast track through and they are preparing to vote before we can rally and organize people to try to stop it again. News reports say the House...
by Bill Scher | Jun 18, 2015 | Blog, Climate
Twenty years ago Pope John Paul II delivered an encyclical, an authoritative letter to all Catholic bishops, that urged them to champion a "culture of life," by opposing abortion, contraception, euthanasia, war and capital punishment. Republican politicians quickly...
by Cormac Close | Jun 17, 2015 | Conservatism, Economy, Greek Crisis
Greece’s negotiations with its creditors are approaching a climax accompanied by dire headlines of impending collapse, but meanwhile most Americans feel that the economic drama unfolding across the Atlantic, while lamentable, is not really our problem. Three...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jun 17, 2015 | Tax Reform
Walmart got a modest lift to its reputation when it announced that it was lifting wages for many of its 1 million-plus employees. But a report released today by Americans for Tax Fairness reminds us that Walmart is still a tax cheater, robbing the public of revenue...
by Terrance Heath | Jun 17, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016, This Is The GOP
After threatening to run for years, real estate mogul and reality television star Donald Trump on Tuesday announced his candidacy for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. For real, this time. For years, Donald Trump has been one of the most famous non-candidates for...
by Bill Scher | Jun 17, 2015 | Uncategorized
GOP Plots New Fast Track Strategy House may vote on fast track again this week. The Hill: "The plan is to vote as soon as this week on the fast-track bill approved by the House on Friday ... then approve a TAA bill in a separate vote at a later date ... If fast-track...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jun 17, 2015 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
The severe damage that President Obama's obstinate pursuit of fast-track authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership did to his relationships with the labor movement and his progressive base, and his loss of face with the business community when an overwhelming...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jun 16, 2015 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
The Federal Reserves Open Market Committee started a two-day series of meeting today, and on Wednesday Fed Chair Janet Yellen is expected to announce the latest verdict on if, and perhaps when, interest rates will begin to rise. The conventional wisdom is that as the...
by Robert Borosage | Jun 16, 2015 | Current Issues, Populism2015, Populist Majority
In the early stages of any presidential campaign, the race for money is accompanied by an “ideas primary” as candidates begin to frame the purpose and platform of their campaigns. What’s striking about the salad days of the 2016 race is that populism is leading the...
by Emily Foster | Jun 16, 2015 | Jobs and Growth
FedEx says it “lives to deliver.” Last Friday, more than 2,000 of its workers finally received a delivery of justice from a federal judge. A settlement in the case filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of the workers, Alexander v. FedEx Ground, means the company will...
by Bill Scher | Jun 16, 2015 | Uncategorized
Fast Trackers Grope For Way Out WH, GOP try to revive fast track. NYT: "...House Republicans took steps Monday night to give Speaker John A. Boehner until the end of July to try again ... Republicans were also exploring whether it would be possible to advance the...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 16, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Something unusual happened Friday. Regular Americans were able to beat Wall Street and the giant corporations in Congress, winning a battle over "fast tracking" so-called "trade" agreements. This sort of thing just doesn't happen very often, but it has been happening...
by Cormac Close | Jun 15, 2015 | Blog
Chances are, if you are a woman, African American or Latino and financed an automobile at a dealership, you paid more than a similar white customer. Even in 2015. It’s essentially a “black tax” of around $500 on many vehicles purchased by women or people of color. And...
by Jeff Bryant | Jun 15, 2015 | Blog, Education
Making public education more accountable has been the solemn pledge of government officials for years, including the Obama administration and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Yet that same level of accountability doesn't seem to apply to the fastest growing sector...
by Terrance Heath | Jun 15, 2015 | Conservatism, Election 2016, This Is The GOP
Finally declaring his candidacy for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination may be Jeb Bush’s last, best hope of turning around his lackluster campaign. In the weeks before announcing his candidacy, Bush seemed to stumble from misstep to misstep. For a while there,...
by Jacob Woocher | Jun 15, 2015 | Economy
The appropriations bills that Republicans are sending to the floor of the House of Representatives aren't getting much attention, but they should – as statements of who conservatives really are and where they set their priorities. For example, last week the...
by Bill Scher | Jun 15, 2015 | Blog
Scott Walker hopes to overcome Jeb Bush's millions and broad establishment backing by consolidating the conservative base. One problem: He's beginning to lose some of that base over his support for spending $250 million in taxpayer funds on a new basketball stadium...
by Bill Scher | Jun 15, 2015 | Uncategorized
Fast Track Fight Not Over House may vote again on TAA piece of fast track package. Politico: "...it’s not clear what’s happened since last Friday’s trade votes that could change the minds of the more than 70 Democrats Obama needs ... House Democratic sources say that...
by Robert Borosage | Jun 15, 2015 | Blog, Progressive Vision
The setting was electric: The Four Freedoms Memorial on Roosevelt Island in New York City, with the city shimmering in the background. The sky was clear; the sun bright. The crowd was young, diverse and well-mannered. “A place,” as Hillary Clinton said, “with...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 15, 2015 | Blog, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Twenty-eight Democrats on Friday sided with Wall Street and the big multinational corporations against 99 percent of Americans. They voted to pass fast-track trade promotion authority, which preapproves the still-secret Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and future...
by Emily Foster | Jun 12, 2015 | Education
In an interview with Capital & Main published today, former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich calls for free higher public education and debt-free college. “I think we’ve got to move to a system of free higher education,” said Reich. Reich includes the idea of...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jun 12, 2015 | Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
You did it. Despite furious lobbying by the Fortune 500, entreaties from the Republican leadership in Congress and personal, last-minute appeals from President Obama, fast-track trade authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership has been thrown off-track. A sweeping...
by Terrance Heath | Jun 12, 2015 | Conservatism, This Is The GOP
In the world of Fox News, alleged and admitted sexual abusers of children get a pass, but African-American youth have to be “saints” to avoid police violence. What gives? Last week, Fox News broke its silence on the Josh Duggar molestation scandal, with an exclusive...
by Joshua Ferrer | Jun 12, 2015 | Democracy
Hillary Clinton gave a powerful and historic speech last Thursday on voting rights at Howard University. She called voting a “fundamental American principle,” and put forward many great policy proposals, including repairing the Voting Rights Act, instituting mandatory...
by Bill Scher | Jun 12, 2015 | Uncategorized
Final Fast Track Showdown Today House Dems might thwart fast track today by killing Trade Adjustment Assistance first. NYT: "The trade assistance measure, long opposed by Republicans as ineffective and unnecessary, was devised to attract support for the trade...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 12, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
After a narrow and suspenseful 217-212 approval Thursday on a procedural vote, the House is scheduled today to have a series of debates and votes that could lead to passage of "fast track" trade promotion authority (TPA) for the still-secret Trans-Pacific Partnership...
by Bernie Horn | Jun 12, 2015 | Blog, Education
Last week, a very distinguished panel convened by the National Research Council published an Evaluation of the Public Schools of the District of Columbia. The report is 341 pages long and cost millions of dollars to produce. What’s most impressive about this...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 11, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Friday on the fast track trade promotion authority (TPA) bill to, in essence, preapprove the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and future so-called "trade" agreements. The vote is expected to be close. If the House...
by Joshua Ferrer | Jun 11, 2015 | Climate
Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) waded deep into enemy territory Wednesday by introducing their revamped carbon tax bill at a conservative think-tank, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). The “American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act of...
by Jeff Bryant | Jun 11, 2015 | Blog, Education
If you want to see how far off track the nation’s current education policies have gotten, just look at what is going on in Oregon. As an Oregon news outlet recently reported, the Oregon House overwhelmingly approved a bill that would “inform parents twice a year of...
by Bill Scher | Jun 11, 2015 | Uncategorized
Fast Track Friday Boehner sticks with plan to begin voting process today with final vote tomorrow, despite last-minute dispute. Politico: "...Boehner agreed to drop [a Medicare] offset and revert to more stringent tax restrictions to pay for Trade Adjustment...
by Robert Borosage | Jun 11, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Push has come to shove on the fast-track trade bill. The vote is slated for Friday. The unholy alliance of Republican leaders, multinational corporate lobbies and the White House – does not yet have the votes in hand. So the fever of deal making, rule inventing,...
by Cormac Close | Jun 10, 2015 | Financial Reform
It’s safe to say that Mary Jo White’s leadership of the Securities and Exchange Commission has been pretty disappointing. On her watch, bankers and traders have felt free to break the law again and again, knowing the SEC is too craven and impotent to do any more than...
by Emily Foster | Jun 10, 2015 | Education
[fve]https://vimeo.com/130400133[/fve] More than 400,000 signatures in support of a congressional resolution calling for debt-free college were delivered to Congress today by a coalition of organizations that included the Campaign for America's Future. Those who...
