by Bill Scher | Nov 20, 2014 | Uncategorized
OurFuture.org's Roger Hickey gives progressives a path forward, "As in 2010, Dems Lost Without an Economic Message Worth Fighting For": "The big lesson in all this: progressives can’t afford to just let Democrats craft the message, while we attend to voter turnout and...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 20, 2014 | Blog, Retirement Security
Some surprising new polling results underscore the unpopularity – and long-term destructiveness – of Congress' ongoing attacks on the Social Security system. The new Republican Congress is expected to force additional office closures and impose additional cuts on the...
by Bill Scher | Nov 20, 2014 | Blog, Conservatism
On one hand, tonight's presidential announcement, removing the threat of deportation for up to 5 million of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in America, will be a historic moment cherished especially by immigrant families that no longer will...
by Roger Hickey | Nov 20, 2014 | Blog, Progressive Vision, Winning Issues for 2014
Election 2014 was a sad replay of 2010. And it didn't have to be that way. In early summer 2010, three progressive economic activists – myself, Dean Baker, and Robert Kuttner – met with Obama political adviser David Axelrod in his tiny office in the White House, steps...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 20, 2014 | Economy, Tax Reform
Walmart avoids paying on average $1 billion a year in federal taxes through aggressively exploiting tax loopholes – and it has an army of lobbyists working on cutting its tax bill by at least another $720 million, according to a report released today by Americans for...
by Joshua Holland | Nov 19, 2014 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Last summer, Barack Obama and leaders of the European Union announced that negotiations would commence on another trade deal, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a treaty that’s gotten significantly less attention than the TPP. Also known as...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 19, 2014 | Blog, Progressive Vision, Tax Reform
U.S. multinational corporations are hoarding an estimated $2 trillion "offshore" to take advantage of a loophole in our tax laws. At our 35 percent top federal corporate tax rate, that represents up to $700 billion in taxes owed but "deferred" because they are...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 19, 2014 | Financial Reform
Little-noticed articles in The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal in the past month disclosed that private equity firms – notorious for taking over companies and stripping them of jobs and investment to maximize profit for the private equity partners – are...
by Bill Scher | Nov 19, 2014 | Uncategorized
Speculation Rises Over Immigration Announcement Immigration announcement may come Friday in Vegas. The Hill: "A pair of local media outlets reported late Tuesday night that the president would be making a surprise trip to the city later this week ... A speech at Del...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 19, 2014 | Blog, Conservatism
Shutdown talk? Already? Republicans don't even take over the Senate until January, but already they're talking about shutting down the government. This time it's over the President's effort to provide some relief for the millions of families and thousands of...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 18, 2014 | Blog, Progressive Vision
The goals of the post-Ferguson movement for justice must reach beyond whether the grand jury indicts officer Darren Wilson in the death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. Too much depends upon its success. Over 100 days ago Wilson shot and killed Brown. In the...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 18, 2014 | Tax Reform
This week leaders in Congress are trying to decide what action to take on a set of "tax extenders" – a hodge-podge of tax breaks that range from the arguably meritorious to the patently absurd that could cost the government as much as $590 billion if Congress adopted...
by Leo Gerard | Nov 18, 2014 | Blog, Jobs and Growth, Retirement Security
At a chemical plant called Point Pleasant in a town named Apple Grove in a state John Denver labeled almost heaven, a man known as Freel Tackett helped negotiate three collective bargaining agreements that provided raises and decent benefits for workers and retirees....
by Bill Scher | Nov 18, 2014 | Uncategorized
Keystone Vote Drama Sen. Mary Landrieu short one vote before Keystone vote tonight. The Hill: "Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said Monday that they would vote against moving forward with the legislation, making it unclear whether supporters...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 18, 2014 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
[fve]http://youtu.be/lbjHRMCwh3Y?list=UUcnNWp-tx3-FaCWV4pMFTAg[/fve] We interviewed economist Dean Baker on the latest set of jobs numbers. The conclusion? Good news, but not nearly good enough. We still need a bold plan to reduce unemployment and underemployment,...
by Bill Scher | Nov 18, 2014 | Blog, Climate
In Alison Lundergan Grimes' losing campaign, she ran an ad that made one of the most insightful points of any ad in the 2014 midterm elections. Standing in front of a coal-fired power plant Grimes said, "They are shutting down half the plant and laying off their...
by Ady Barkan | Nov 18, 2014 | Economy, Jobs and Growth
The Center for Popular Democracy’s Federal Reserve campaign had an incredible week. Last Monday evening, we publicly launched our national coalition of 20 community-based organizations, labor unions, and policy shops; by Friday afternoon, we had met with Federal...
by Sam Pizzigati | Nov 17, 2014 | Blog, Economy
How much income do America’s households take in? How much do they have left after taxes? Do federal taxes leave the nation less or more unequal? Questions don’t get much more basic than these. Or more complicated either. How, for instance, do we define income?...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 17, 2014 | Blog, Conservatism
The Republicans intend to deliver for their constituents. What is their agenda, and who are the constituents who they will delivering for? Here are a few examples. (Leave more examples in the comments.) Oil and coal. First and foremost on any list of items on the...
by Bill Scher | Nov 17, 2014 | Uncategorized
GOP Doesn't Know How To Respond On Immigration Republicans struggle with shutdown possibility in wake of expected immigration action. The Hill: "A high-ranking Senate GOP leader on Sunday left the door open to a government shutdown if President Obama moves forward...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 17, 2014 | Progressive Vision
[fve]http://youtu.be/A1_Og-lfDtw[/fve] Zephyr Teachout, who challenged New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from the left earlier this year, encouraged other progressives to follow her lead at a recent forum in Washington – including fielding a primary challenge against Hillary...
by Bill Scher | Nov 17, 2014 | Blog, Progressive Vision, Winning Issues for 2014
As debate reignites between populist progressives and self-described "centrists" over why Democrats lost the midterms and how they should recalibrate, it's worth recalling that Republicans won in part by co-opting populist positions and themes. Sure, there were plenty...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 14, 2014 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
Should our government be for good jobs with good wages and benefits – the things most of We the People want in our lives? Or should it be for bad jobs, low wages, no benefits – the very things that a wealthy few (who like to call themselves "job creators") have become...
by Bill Scher | Nov 14, 2014 | Uncategorized
Obama Prepares Immigration Action Immigration action "going to happen," says Obama at press conference, but date not set. The Hill: "There is concern within the administration about rolling out the action before Congress agrees to a spending bill. Lawmakers have until...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 14, 2014 | Blog, Populist Majority
It remains true, as we have asserted time and again using findings on our Populist Majority website, that the American majority is firmly populist and broadly progressive. But we have also seen time and again – most recently in this month's elections – that people...
by Jeff Bryant | Nov 13, 2014 | Blog, Education
"Stop using tests to try to drive education reform." That's the conclusion from a recent in-depth report examining the pros and cons of new education standards called the Common Core and the standardized tests that accompany the new achievement targets. The report,...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 13, 2014 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
Starting next year, Republicans will be forcing big cutbacks in mail service so they can say government doesn't work, and make the case for privatizing our U.S. Postal Service. Friday is a day of action to tell Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe and the USPS Board of...
by Bill Scher | Nov 13, 2014 | Uncategorized
China Climate Deal Reverberates China climate deal could set stage for global agreement. NYT: "The agreement has given a fresh jolt of optimism to negotiations aimed at reaching a new international climate treaty next year in Paris, where the American and Chinese...
by Bill Scher | Nov 13, 2014 | Blog, Climate
Last month in Politico Magazine as I chronicled how Republicans lost the culture war, I recounted how they bet wrong on gay marriage: After 2003, many on the right were in a panic once the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court established equal marriage rights for gays...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 13, 2014 | Blog, Trade
Democrats failed to provide relief or even offer hope to people who haven't seen their pay go up for years – and Democrats paid for it in last week's elections. This week, President Obama is in Asia pushing yet another job-killing, "NAFTA-style" trade agreement. Is...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 12, 2014 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
"No matter what you do for a living, you need a transportation system that functions, that’s safe and reliable." Ed Wytkind is President of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO. That's a tough job right now because the country has backed off on funding...
by Robert Reich | Nov 12, 2014 | Blog, Progressive Vision
The President blames himself for the Democrat’s big losses Election Day. “We have not been successful in going out there and letting people know what it is that we’re trying to do and why this is the right direction,” he said Sunday. In other words, he didn’t...
by Bill Scher | Nov 12, 2014 | Uncategorized
Landmark Climate Deal US-China ink major climate pact. McClatchy: "...the United States would cut net greenhouse gas emissions 26-28 percent below 2005 levels in the next 11 years. At the same time, President Xi Jinping of China agreed that China for the first time...
by Robert Borosage | Nov 12, 2014 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
The defining issue is this country remains how to make this economy work for working people. A sensible first step must be to put government on the side of good employers and their workers, rather than subsidizing exploitative employers. Earlier this week, the...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 12, 2014 | Blog, Financial Reform
The 2010 Dodd-Frank law required the Securities and Exchange Commission to write "clawback" rules that make CEOs return compensation they receive when the money is earned through accounting gimmicks and not through actual performance. The SEC still has not done this....
by Bill Scher | Nov 11, 2014 | Blog
Two House Republican incumbents lost last week. One was Rep. Lee Terry, who represents Omaha, Nebraska. Terry couldn't escape his glib reaction to last year's government shutdown. When asked if he should keep getting paid while the government was closed, he said "Dang...
by Leo Gerard | Nov 11, 2014 | Blog
It’s the redding of America. Republicans spilled Democratic candidate blood across the country last week. Scarlet covers the map. Republicans took governorships in traditionally blue states. They won U.S. Senate seats in purple states. And they secured majorities in...
by Bill Scher | Nov 11, 2014 | Uncategorized
Dems Move In Different Directions Progressive Caucus pushes executive action on the economy. HuffPost: "[Rep. Raul] Grijalva and his fellow caucus co-chair, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), are putting their weight behind two proposals in particular: one executive order...
by Robert Borosage | Nov 11, 2014 | Blog, Progressive Vision
“When the American people choose divided government, I don’t think it means they don’t want us to do anything,” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told reporters. “We ought to start with the view that maybe there are things we can agree on to make progress for...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 10, 2014 | Blog, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is expected to become Chair the Senate Finance Committee. A Senate aide says Hatch wants to make Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) — "Fast Track" — one of his top priorities in the new Congress. Click here to tell Congress to vote no on "fast-track"...
