by Dave Johnson | Mar 24, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, Economy, Jobs and Growth, Trade
In an interesting juxtaposition from Monday's New York Times, a Times article explains a Times op-ed. The op-ed calls for killing the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im), because it helps American companies compete globally. The news story reports that the anti-government Koch...
by Leo Gerard | Mar 24, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, Economy, Health, Progressive Vision
Shock and awe describes the budgets issued last week by Republicans in the House and Senate. The shock is that the GOP never stops trying to destroy beloved programs like Medicare. Awe inspiring is their audacity in describing their killing plans as moral. When the...
by Bill Scher | Mar 24, 2015 | Uncategorized
House GOP Struggles To Pass Budget House GOP sets up tricky budget votes Wednesday. The Hill: "House Republicans have decided to pursue the risky strategy of holding two separate floor votes on the GOP budget blueprint Wednesday ... One of the amendments allows a vote...
by Richard Eskow | Mar 24, 2015 | Blog, Progressive Vision
Former governor Martin O'Malley and former senator Jim Webb spoke at a firefighters' union event earlier this month. Both are the subject of renewed press interest as they contemplate entering the presidential race. Sen. Bernie Sanders has been publicly weighing a...
by Bill Scher | Mar 24, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, People's Budget
Over at Real Clear Politics, I explain why Republicans are taking a big risk by committing themselves to balancing the budget in a nine-to-10 year timeframe, without raising revenue or significantly affecting the military. The result is a budget that would completely...
by Terrance Heath | Mar 23, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism
In a speech at Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Va. — a right-wing school established by the Rev. Jerry Falwell — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announced his candidacy for the presidency in 2016. The announcement makes Cruz the first Republican, and the first major...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 23, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
As Congress prepares to consider fast track legislation to essentially pre-approve (without reading) the still-secret Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) opponents are working to get the word out and register opposition. Seattle's city council is preparing to vote on a...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 23, 2015 | Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Khalil Bendib, OtherWords The work of repairing the racial fissures that broke wide open in Ferguson, Missouri last year goes beyond the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. It also goes beyond ending the practices highlighted in a Justice Department...
by Bill Scher | Mar 23, 2015 | Uncategorized
Budget Votes Loom House faces delicate budget votes this week. Politico: "Some Republican deficit hawks will vote against the budget resolution. But Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) — who heads the House Freedom Caucus, a group of roughly two dozen hard-line conservatives —...
by Robert Borosage | Mar 23, 2015 | Blog, Progressive Vision
The editors of The Boston Globe called on Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren to run for president this weekend, joining over 300,000 “Run Warren Run” activists who have already built the largest field operation of any candidate in Iowa. The Globe argues that it would...
by Roger Hickey | Mar 23, 2015 | Blog, Education
The following are statements issued by the U.S. Student Association and the Education Trust. From: Maxwell Love, President, U.S. Student Association Alexandra Flores-Quilty, Vice President, U.S. Student Association FRIDAY, MARCH 20th, 2015 As you might have heard,...
by Terrance Heath | Mar 20, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism
Last week, Rep. Aaron Schock (R, Illinois) was defiant. “I’m not going anywhere,” the 33-year-old congressman assured everyone, despite the growing scandal over his lavish spending habits and questionable business dealings with his donors. This week things got so bad...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 20, 2015 | People's Budget, Progressive Vision
A new progressive platform for "Building a Movement for People and the Planet" was published this week by the Campaign for America's Future and National People's Action. That platform lays out 12 key planks of a progressive agenda that the two organizations expect to...
by Bill Scher | Mar 20, 2015 | Uncategorized
Republicans Move Towards Unity On Budget Senate Budget Committee advances budget in party-line vote. The Hill. "Before final approval, the panel accepted an amendment from Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) that increases the Pentagon’s war...
by Richard Eskow | Mar 20, 2015 | Blog, Retirement Security
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, is running for the Senate seat currently occupied by Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski. He is also running from his record – as a supporter of the “Simpson-Bowles” plan to cut Social Security and...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 19, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
[fve]https://youtu.be/B0xUvTpGTps[/fve] I took on the "TPP Tradenado" this past weekend when I joined my OurFuture.org colleague Richard Eskow on his radio show, The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow. The topic was trade, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Trade Promotion...
by Jeff Bryant | Mar 19, 2015 | Blog, Education
A nationwide rebellion to K-12 education policies that emerged in the spring of 2013 brought to the fore widespread grievances that students, parents, teachers, and citizens have with top down mandates that are ruining public schools. This Education Spring was fueled...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 19, 2015 | Blog, People's Budget, Progressive Vision
Last week's post, Will Media Continue Its Blackout Of Progressive Budget? made a simple point: the media just will not let the public know that there is a progressive budget alternative and what it includes. I asked, "Next week, progressives in Congress will release...
by Bill Scher | Mar 19, 2015 | Blog
Last week I asked "Are Republicans Insane Enough To Propose a Balanced Budget?" Because to do so in a 10-year window, especially without raising taxes or cutting military spending, simply devastates everything our government does to benefit the middle-class, lift...
by Bill Scher | Mar 19, 2015 | Uncategorized
Senate GOP Follows House Into Austerity Abyss Senate budget cuts nearly as deep as House. The Hill: "Senate Republicans released a budget Wednesday that would balance in 10 years and cut spending by $5.1 trillion ... [The House budget] balances in nine years and cuts...
by Richard Eskow | Mar 19, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, People's Budget
It's not often that I find myself agreeing with a congressional Republican on fiscal matters, but it's hard to argue with a recent statement from Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Ga.) of the House Budget Committee. “A budget is a moral document,” said the Georgia Republican. “It...
by Miya Pontes | Mar 18, 2015 | Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
A trade agreement created to benefit American corporations is being fast-tracked in secret, leaving economists and labor activists concerned. And today, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka took those concerns to an audience of economic and foreign-policy elites at the...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 18, 2015 | Economy, People's Budget
The Congressional Progressive Caucus officially released its "People's Budget: A Raise for America" today outside a chilly Capitol, as representatives of key progressive supporters stood beside Progressive Caucus co-chairs Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Keith Ellison...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 18, 2015 | Blog, Economy, Financial Reform
One part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform law requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to set up rules requiring companies to disclose the median annual total compensation of all employees, the total annual compensation of the chief executive...
by Richard Eskow | Mar 18, 2015 | Blog, Democracy
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE6df-5tPEw] Interview excerpt with Ryan Grim on The Zero Hour Merriam-Webster's first definition of "corruption" is "impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle." Another is "a departure from the original or from what...
by Bill Scher | Mar 18, 2015 | Blog
Jeb Bush, while very much a conservative, refuses to run as far to the right as possible to win the Republican nomination. This is rational. He knows winning the primaries with too much pandering means a likely loss in the general election. Instead, he is...
by Bill Scher | Mar 18, 2015 | Uncategorized
GOP Goes For Maximum Austerity Senate budget to be released today, will largely track House version. McClatchy: "...a GOP aide said the Senate proposal would resemble the House plan in three ways. Both generally would balance the budget at the end of a decade, the...
by Robert Borosage | Mar 18, 2015 | Blog, Economy, People's Budget, Progressive Vision
The Congressional Progressive Caucus unveiled its fiscal 2016 "People’s Budget: A Raise For America" one day after House Republicans released their “A Balanced Budget for a Stronger America” proposal. The CPC touted a $1.9 trillion investment in America’s future and...
by Terrance Heath | Mar 17, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, Health, People's Budget, Progressive Vision
Budgets, as Rev. Jim Wallis says, are moral documents. They contain choices that reflect our priorities and define our values. The Republican-led House Budget Committee’s fiscal 2016 budget proposal, “A Balanced Budget For A Stronger America,” is a document full of...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 17, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
How far have we drifted from our original intent to be a constitutional republic ruled by We the People? U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 8: "The Congress shall have Power ... To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations..." But today? Not so much. The following...
by Leo Gerard | Mar 17, 2015 | Blog
Gov. Scott Walker signed legislation last week to lower the wages of Wisconsin’s middle class workers. He wants pay cuts for hard working Wisconsinites. It’s part of a pattern established by Wisconsin’s Republican governor and the Republicans who control the state...
by Bill Scher | Mar 17, 2015 | Uncategorized
House GOP Goes First On Budget House GOP budget sticks with radical Ryan vision. NYT: "House Republicans on Tuesday will unveil a proposed budget for 2016 that partly privatizes Medicare, turns Medicaid into block grants to the states, repeals the Affordable Care Act...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 17, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, Economy
The federal budget battle begins. Republicans have the majority in the House and Senate, and it is up to them to come forth with a cohesive budget plan that they can pass. Here is a look at the (not) governing majority's factions as the budget battles begin – and why...
by Dean Baker | Mar 16, 2015 | Blog, Jobs and Growth, Progressive Vision
You probably missed this one, after all most news coverage told people that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed a “right to work” bill. According to the accounts, this bill means that workers will no longer be forced to pay a fee to the union that represents them....
by Bernie Horn | Mar 16, 2015 | Blog
Last week, the General Social Survey reported that gun ownership has declined to a record low. About half of all American households owned at least one gun in the 1970s. In 2014, only 31 percent had a firearm. The General Social Survey is considered the gold standard...
by Bill Scher | Mar 16, 2015 | Uncategorized
GOP Civil War Over Budget Tensions rise within GOP over budget. Politico: "House Republican leaders are alarmed that they’ll be unable to corral a majority to pass a budget in the coming weeks ... defense hawks are clashing with fiscal hard-liners over military...
by Mary Green Swig | Steven L. Swig | Richard Eskow | Mar 16, 2015 | Blog, Education
MaryGreenSwig Steven L.Swig RichardEskow Last month the “Corinthian 15,” in collaboration with the Debt Collective, announced that they would not pay the debts they had accrued while enrolled at schools run by the for-profit corporation called “Corinthian Colleges...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 16, 2015 | Blog, People's Budget
We've heard many conservative elected leaders adopt a new tone when they talk about income inequality, but this week House Republicans will double down on the same-old-same-old when they release their proposed federal budget, which will continue their push to enrich...
by Terrance Heath | Mar 13, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism
Americans were appalled this week, when video surfaced of Oklahoma University SAE fraternity brothers singing an incredibly racist tune. Wingnuts were appalled that the rest of the us were appalled. Family Research Council senior fellow Ken Blackwell blamed SAE’s...
by Bill Scher | Mar 13, 2015 | Uncategorized
Republicans Struggle To Craft Budget Republican leaders pull back from ambitious balanced budget goal. Politico: "The House and Senate Budget Committees won’t roll out their tax and spending plans until next week. But all indications are the savings target for...
