by Bill Scher | Jun 10, 2015 | Blog
With an year-and-a-half left to go in the Oval Office, President Obama and his Environmental Protection Agency continue to crank out plans to cut our carbon emissions before the clock runs out. Today, the EPA issued a legal finding that compels the agency to develop...
by Donald Kaul | Jun 10, 2015 | Blog, Democracy
When Dennis Hastert was indicted for trying to cover up some $3.5 million in hush money payments to a man he’d allegedly sexually abused decades ago, Washington was shocked. I wasn’t. I was shocked that Hastert, who’d spent the better part of his life in public...
by Bill Scher | Jun 10, 2015 | Uncategorized
Fast Track Vote Friday? GOP aiming for Friday vote, but nothing is firm. Politico: "Senior aides and lawmakers in GOP leadership are intent on scheduling the vote at the moment they believe they have the votes locked up — ideally by Friday, to spare supportive...
by Terrance Heath | Jun 10, 2015 | Blog, Democracy, Economy
Police violence against unarmed African Americans occurs against a too-often-ignored backdrop of economic disparity that both fuels and informs the resentments and racial tensions behind the events. As Rep. Keith Ellison wrote in an oped for The Guardian, encounters...
by Richard Long | Jun 9, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
The battle over fast-track trade authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership is coming down the home stretch. It's not clear as of this writing when the House vote will be, but the expectation is that House Republican leaders will call a vote as soon as they believe...
by Joshua Ferrer | Jun 9, 2015 | Education
In a step forward for the student debt movement, the Obama administration late Monday announced a process for “debt relief” for students who attended the now-defunct Corinthian Colleges. The announcement marks an end to a four-year investigation that has already...
by Jacob Woocher | Jun 9, 2015 | Democracy
When Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton last week spoke on voting rights at the historically black Texas Southern University, she sharpened the contrast between Democratic and Republican presidential candidates on how they address the right to vote. “We...
by Cormac Close | Jun 9, 2015 | Financial Reform
Just when they thought we weren’t looking, the Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee snuck through a bill last week that would provide “regulatory relief” to “small banks” that are not “systematically important.” While Republicans do have a well-known tendency...
by Leo Gerard | Jun 9, 2015 | Blog, Current Issues, Democracy
Americans know the ugly truth about money in politics. Though the wealthy conceal payoffs through dark money deposits into political pockets, it’s no secret to the American public that the rich are buying the government. The extent of Americans’ cynicism about...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 9, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
The "fast track" trade promotion authority vote in the House of Representatives could come this Thursday. If it passes, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is pretty much a done deal, even though it is still secret from the public. Presidential candidate Hillary...
by Bill Scher | Jun 9, 2015 | Uncategorized
House Yet To Set Fast Track Vote Uncertainty around fast track vote. Roll Call: "Backers of 'fast-track' legislation in both parties have enough confidence ... to talk about a possible vote later this week. But enough uncertainty remains that Republican leaders...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jun 9, 2015 | Education
Fairness in school funding is "the sleeper civil rights issue of our time," says Leadership Conference on Civil Rights president Wade Henderson. But it's clear from a new report by the Education Law Center that this issue comes with a loud alarm: In many states around...
by Emily Foster | Jun 8, 2015 | Jobs and Growth
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has officially joined the fight to raise the minimum wage to a living wage after feeling pressure from progressive candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. On Sunday, over 1,300 workers...
by Robert Reich | Jun 8, 2015 | Current Issues, Democracy
Washington has been rocked by the scandal of J. Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican speaker in the history of the U.S. House, indicted on charges of violating banking laws by paying $1.7 million (as part of a $3.5 million agreement) to conceal prior...
by Larry Cohen | Jun 8, 2015 | Jobs and Growth, Progressive Vision
This is an excerpt of a speech delivered today at the Detroit convention of the Communications Workers of America. We are here under a banner that reads “It’s Our Turn.” Can we challenge ourselves to march out of here fiercely determined to make that a reality? There...
by Bill Scher | Jun 8, 2015 | Blog
[fve]https://youtu.be/QZW60z0JnmU[/fve] While most of the overcrowded Republican presidential field is trying to break out of pack by showing they can pander the most to the far right, Sen. Lindsey Graham is daring to show he can move his party into the 21st century:...
by Bill Scher | Jun 8, 2015 | Uncategorized
Fast Track Whip Counts Tight Fast track supporters "bullish" on House vote, says The Hill: "Republicans familiar with the vote-counting operation say they’ve steadily been picking up new 'yes' votes on trade and that the numbers are moving in the right direction ... a...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 5, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Corporations are notorious for sneaking things into laws and regulations before the public can find out and rally to stop it. And we know from the conservative Supreme Court arguments against the Affordable Care Act that even what amounts to a typo can be used to...
by Terrance Heath | Jun 5, 2015 | Conservatism, This Is The GOP
This week, conservatives went out of their way to defend sexual abusers of children, both alleged and admitted, and showed that they have no idea how to treat a lady — especially if she happens to be transgender. The Hastert Rule When reports surfaced that former...
by Emily Foster | Jun 5, 2015 | Jobs and Growth
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay is announcing today a bill that will raise the city’s minimum wage to a living wage of $15 an hour for those who work for the city’s larger employers. The plan would steadily raise wages by $1.25 an hour per year until 2020. However, small...
by Jacob Woocher | Jun 5, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism
Hedge fund billionaire Leon Cooperman earlier this week became the latest of the super-rich to complain that they are being demonized for being wealthy and successful. Cooperman, CEO of Omega Advisors, took issue with some of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary...
by Joshua Ferrer | Jun 5, 2015 | Education
An elementary school kitchen manager from Aurora, Colorado was fired this past Wednesday for providing hot meals to students who were not paid up on their school lunch accounts. “I had a first grader in front of me, crying, because she doesn’t have enough money for...
by Bill Scher | Jun 5, 2015 | Uncategorized
Fast Track Backers Getting Closer Fast track gains some House votes. WSJ: "...some House members who had been on the fence on trade have made clear they will vote for the measure ... The list includes Democratic Reps. Jim Himes of Connecticut, Don Beyer of Virginia...
by Robert Borosage | Jun 5, 2015 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
The economy gained 280,000 jobs in May, with the official unemployment rate unchanged at 5.5 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The private sector now has added more than 12 million jobs over 63 straight months of job growth, the longest streak on...
by Emily Foster | Jun 4, 2015 | Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
When former Maryland governor and current presidential candidate Martin O’Malley spoke on Wednesday to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, he became the second Democratic presidential candidate to come out forcefully on the campaign trail against fast-track trade...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 4, 2015 | Blog, Trade
One of the problems with our trade policies is while they might set up rules for competition, these rules are meaningless if they are not enforced. And, by and large, they are not. We don't have very good trade enforcement even when we do use it – which we largely...
by Terrance Heath | Jun 4, 2015 | Conservatism, Election 2016, This Is The GOP
If nothing else, former Texas governor Rick Perry’s candidacy will prove once and for all that wearing glasses doesn’t actually make you smart. Nor will a new pair of specs and a extreme makeover be enough to get Perry — the “oops” candidate of 2012 — into the White...
by Jeff Bryant | Jun 4, 2015 | Blog, Education
While it's refreshing to see K-12 education become a prominent issue in the very early stages of the 2016 election campaigns, it's unfortunate to see support for the Common Core – the contentious new standards adopted by most states – become the focus of the debate....
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jun 4, 2015 | Conservatism, Economy, Greek Crisis
[fve]https://youtu.be/kAIa5X56_jk[/fve] There's a common thread between the appropriation bills being voted on in the House of Representatives this week and the Greek debt crisis, which also appears to be coming to a head this week: conservative austerity ideology...
by Robert Borosage | Jun 4, 2015 | Blog, Financial Reform
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday released a blistering 13-page letter to Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White, calling out her “extremely disappointing” leadership of what should be the chief cop on the financial beat, accusing her of "broken...
by Bill Scher | Jun 4, 2015 | Uncategorized
Warren Put Heats On White Sen. Warren levels explosive charge against SEC's Mary Jo White. HuffPost: "Nobody in the nation's capital is flipping a wig over the SEC's enforcement record, whatever the eventual consequences may be. But lying to a senator is a big no-no...
by Richard Eskow | Jun 4, 2015 | Blog, Retirement Security
Few political advisers would suggest running on a platform of open hostility toward the elderly. Most families include an older person, after all, and everyone who lives long enough will become older themselves someday. Seniors vote in greater numbers, too. That may...
by Jacob Woocher | Jun 3, 2015 | Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Congress felt the pressure today from millions of Americans opposed to fast-track trade authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. A coalition of organizations opposing the fast-track legislation presented members of the House of Representatives today with boxes...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 3, 2015 | Blog, Trade
The U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday that the April goods and services trade deficit was an enormous, humongous $40.9 billion, down from an enormouser, humongouser $51.4 billion in March. (March was revised to $50.6 billion in today's report.) The monthly U.S....
by Bill Scher | Jun 3, 2015 | Blog
Another group of environmental alarmists wants to strangle the economy and kill jobs by slapping a tax on greenhouse gas pollution: oil companies. Specifically, BP, Shell and the heads of four other Europe-based oil giants published a letter in the Financial Times...
by Bill Scher | Jun 3, 2015 | Uncategorized
Fast Track Full Court Press Fast track backers intensify whip drive, reports Politico: "...Obama has begun to barrage House Democrats with phone calls ... Republican leaders are sparing no effort ... In a sign of the GOP’s confidence, House Republican leadership...
by Alan Jenkins | Jun 3, 2015 | Blog, Economy
with Diego Iniguez-Lopez “What happens to a dream deferred?” asked Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes. “Maybe it just sags like a heavy load,” he opined. “Or does it explode?” We saw the answer in late April, when the deferred dream of equal justice and...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 3, 2015 | Blog, Trade
It's up to you now. Call your representative today. Call, call, call. The House of Representatives is getting ready to vote on fast track – any day now. Call and demand they vote NO on fast track. If we swamp them with phone calls, we will deliver a powerful message...
by Joshua Ferrer | Jun 2, 2015 | Democracy
In a typical Friday garbage dump, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, vetoed a bill that would have re-enfranchised 40,000 previously incarcerated Marylanders currently on probation or parole. These are citizens that have already served their time, yet still...
by Terrance Heath | Jun 2, 2015 | Conservatism, Election 2016, This Is The GOP
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham has announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. If you’re wondering, “Who is Lindsey Graham, and why is he running for president?”, here’s what you should know. Graham is the senior senator from South...
