by Jeff Bryant | Mar 13, 2015 | Blog
Anyone who grew up in the 1960s, during the time of the Cold War, remembers our nation's response to the threat of nuclear war by enforcing "duck and cover" drills in our schools. The drill would start with the shrill whistle blast over the PA speaker at the front of...
by Bill Scher | Mar 13, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism
Winning the Congress has mainly given Republican a bushelful of problems, and a big one is right around the corner: How are they ever going to pass a budget? For years, the Republican House mocked the Senate Democrats for failing to pass a budget. It was an overblown...
by Jeff Bryant | Mar 12, 2015 | Blog, Education
What fun we had recently with North Carolina's recently elected U.S. senator, Republican Thom Tillis, who insisted we didn't need government regulations to compel restaurant employees to wash their hands in between using the toilet and preparing our food. His solution...
by Chuck Collins | Mar 12, 2015 | Blog, Economy, Education
There’s a generational time-bomb ticking — and the student debt crisis is the trip wire. Adults under 35 disproportionately bear the brunt of escalating inequality. America’s educated youth are graduating into an economy with stagnant wages and a torn safety net....
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 12, 2015 | Blog, Economy, Jobs and Growth
Washington looks like a city that has done remarkably well in the absence of a national urban agenda. The last decade has seen most of its once derelict neighborhoods undergo a striking revival, and the city is a fundamentally different place from what it was even 10...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 12, 2015 | Blog, Economy, Jobs and Growth
Next week, progressives in Congress will release their annual budget proposal. They do this every year, and every year the national news media largely ignores it. Will the elite media report on it this year? Make some noise, and maybe they will. There are alternative...
by Bill Scher | Mar 12, 2015 | Uncategorized
GOP Warned On Balanced Budget Pledge Leading deficit hawk warns GOP balanced budget in 10 years means unrealistic cuts. Politico: "'It will be about $5.5 trillion to get us to balance in 10 years,' Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal...
by Bill Scher | Mar 12, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism
Several observers have commented on the condescending "Schoolhouse Rock" tone of Sen. Tom Cotton's open letter to Iran. He explains the basics of the U.S. Constitution to note that the "next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 11, 2015 | Economy, Progressive Vision
At the office of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, more than 2,500 demonstrators, most wearing white "We Rise" T-shirts, staged a protest against cuts in Medicaid and other social services. In Albany, N.Y., more than 2,000 people marched to the state capitol to protest...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 11, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Over 100 law professors sent an open letter to Congress and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) saying they need to “protect the rule of law and the nation’s sovereignty” in trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). While TPP is still secret, leaks...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 11, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Paul Krugman gives a "thumbs down" to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) today on his New York Times blog "in TPP at the NABE." Taking it a bit further, he writes, ...it doesn’t look like a good thing either for the world or for the United States, and you have to...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 11, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
A newly launched public relations campaign in support of trade promotion authority, a.k.a. "fast track," and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) calls itself "the Progressive Coalition for American Jobs." At its foundation is a set of misleading (at best) claims that...
by Bill Scher | Mar 11, 2015 | Uncategorized
Union Full-Court Press Against Fast-Track AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka leads charge against fast-track. USA Today: "'We are going all out to oppose it: phone banks, leaf letting, door knocks in various congressional districts and Senate states in informing the general...
by Richard Eskow | Mar 11, 2015 | Blog, Retirement Security
The race for Barbara Mikulski's Maryland Senate seat has just begun. But Social Security is already shaping up as a major issue, especially between two leading contenders: Maryland representatives Chris Van Hollen and Donna Edwards. Van Hollen is favored by some party...
by Terrance Heath | Mar 10, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism
On Friday, Politico reported that no members of House Republican leadership were going to Selma, Alabama, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery. Thousands would attend, but House GOP leadership would be a no-show. Fifty years...
by Diane Archer | Mar 10, 2015 | Health
In a presentation to the National Academy on Social Insurance that traces Medicare’s 50-year history, influential Princeton health economist Uwe Reinhardt explains how Medicare controls costs despite the overwhelming influence of special interests in shaping Medicare...
by Bill Scher | Mar 10, 2015 | Uncategorized
Walker Signs Anti-Union Law Gov. Scott Walker signs "right to work" bill, then fundraises off of it. AP: "His sleeves rolled up and his suit jacket off, the Republican governor sat at a table with a banner that said 'Freedom to Work' as he signed the bill that makes...
by Bill Scher | Mar 10, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism
When we think of Citizens United putting our democracy for sale, we think of the Koch Brothers taking over the Republican Party and drowning our elections in attack ads. In fact, back during the 2013 shutdown I argued that the Supreme Court's campaign finance rulings...
by Bill Scher | Mar 9, 2015 | Blog
Yesterday on MSNBC's "Up With Steve Kornacki," I discussed my recent POLITICO Magazine analysis "What If Hillary Bows Out?" Of course, the former Secretary is highly likely to run, recent flaps notwithstanding. But exploring the matter is a way to assess the...
by Bernie Horn | Mar 9, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, Progressive Vision
Last week’s column bemoaned the fact that average Americans believe unquestioningly in “free markets,” even though there are no such things. Indeed, every market relies on a dense web of laws and regulations. Subsidies, loopholes, grants, contracts, trade policy,...
by Rev. William Barber | Mar 9, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, Progressive Vision
In 1950, fifteen years before the Selma-to-Montgomery march, William Faulkner, one of the South’s greatest authors, wrote, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” In 2015, as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, Faulkner’s insight is as true as...
by Bill Scher | Mar 9, 2015 | Uncategorized
Labor Steps Up Effort To Block Fast-Track Labor "ramping up a spring offensive" to stop fast-track. The Hill: "Hundreds of members from the various groups canvassed Capitol Hill, bringing their anti-fast-track message to more than 100 congressional offices ... The...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 9, 2015 | Blog, Trade
Trade is great. We all trade. A lot of us trade labor for money that buys other things. A farmer trades corn for money that buys other things, and so on. No one is "against trade." But is anything called "trade" always good for all involved? Imagine you're a farmer...
by Terrance Heath | Mar 6, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism
In what may be one of the dumbest political moves of the year so far, no Republican leaders will be going to the 50th anniversary ceremonies in Selma this weekend. Not a single one. They just never learn. Two years ago, Republicans were a no-show for the 50th...
by Bill Scher | Mar 6, 2015 | Blog
After today's Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report, Forbes contributor Dan Diamond spotted the spike in health care jobs over the past year: Republicans warned that Obamacare would kill jobs across the entire economy. Instead, 11 million jobs have been created since...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 6, 2015 | Blog, Economy, Trans-Pacific Partnership
[fve]http://youtu.be/W1WMiGsrhpA[/fve] (Video from Economy in Crisis through the USW Blog) The U.S. Census Bureau reported Friday that the January goods and services trade deficit was $41.8 billion in January, down $3.8 billion from $45.6 billion in December (which...
by Terrance Heath | Mar 6, 2015 | Blog, Economy, Jobs and Growth, Progressive Vision
On Wednesday, nearly fifty years after the “Bloody Sunday” march from Selma to Montgomery, the Department of Justice released a damning report of its investigation of the police department and municipal court system in Ferguson, Missouri. The Department of Justice...
by Bill Scher | Mar 6, 2015 | Uncategorized
More Jobs, Flat Wages BLS reports 295,000 new jobs in February but meager wage gains: "... the unemployment rate edged down to 5.5 percent ... The employment-population ratio was unchanged at 59.3 percent in February but is up by 0.5 percentage point over the year ......
by Robert Borosage | Mar 6, 2015 | Blog, Economy, Jobs and Growth
The February Jobs Report – 295,000 new jobs, official unemployment ticking down to 5.5% – exceeds Wall Street expectations. This is the 12th month of payrolls growing over 200,000, the longest streak since 1977 according to the White House. It marks a full five years...
by Anna Meyer | Mar 5, 2015 | Blog, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Food is more than just what we eat. It connects us to each other and our environment. And how we treat it is of tremendous importance to our democracy. Right now, the future of our food is being decided behind closed doors. The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a...
by Sam Pizzigati | Mar 5, 2015 | Blog, Tax Reform
Nearly a quarter-century ago, in 1991, a member of Congress angry about spiraling corporate CEO compensation introduced legislation he hoped would end that spiral — and help raise stagnant American worker wages. That legislative proposal from Rep. Martin Sabo, a...
by Bill Scher | Mar 5, 2015 | Uncategorized
All Eyes On Wyden Impasse on fast-track. W. Post: "Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) told reporters that his plans to introduce legislation to grant the administration additional powers to finalize the Trans-Pacific Partnership ... would be...
by Robert Borosage | Mar 5, 2015 | Blog, Trade
Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch just postponed the introduction of fast-track trade authority legislation until April. Fast track is designed to grease the skids for passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement that is still being negotiated behind closed...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 5, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Opponents of fast track and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are gaining momentum. In spite of a virtual media blackout, public awareness of the coming trade deal is increasing. More and more public-interest organizations are organizing and denouncing the rigged...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 5, 2015 | Democracy
Don't think of the ceremonies that will take place this weekend on the 50th anniversary of the voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. as a commemoration of a victory won. Let's use them instead as a call to renew fight for voting rights that are being...
by Terrance Heath | Mar 4, 2015 | Blog, Progressive Vision
In August, 100 social justice leaders, Members of Congress, faith leaders, artists, and activists signed an open letter to President Obama, laying out seven action areas in the wake of the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri. This week, the President’s Task Force on 21st...
by Leo Gerard | Mar 4, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, Jobs and Growth
To Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, America's labor union members are the same as murderous, beheading, caged-prisoner-immolating ISIS terrorists. Exactly the same. That's what he told the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last week. The governor said that...
by Bill Scher | Mar 4, 2015 | Uncategorized
Republicans Cave Republicans back down, fund Homeland Security. The Hill: "Tuesday’s roll call allows Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to finally turn the page on an ugly chapter in his leadership that consumed the opening months of the new Republican-controlled...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 4, 2015 | Blog
[fve]http://youtu.be/ftUeX6f_wzs[/fve] Silicon Valley is an area of contrasts. When you stop at a traffic light in Silicon Valley you will often find a Maserati or Tesla on one side of you and a beaten up, 15-year-old Accord on the other. It seems there are more...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 3, 2015 | Tax Reform
While conservatives (and many financial elites) attack progressives for harboring resentment against the wealthy, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee today reminded us that conservatives harbor their own resentments against the people Mitt Romney infamously...
