by Bill Scher | Nov 10, 2014 | Uncategorized
Obama Pushes Trade Deal During Asia Conference Trade tops Obama agenda during 3-day China visit starting today. NYT: "The White House has methodically lowered expectations that a deal will be reached in Beijing. But the fact that Mr. Obama is meeting the other leaders...
by Sam Pizzigati | Nov 10, 2014 | Blog, Economy, Tax Reform
What can we expect Congress to do about America’s staggeringly top-heavy concentration of income and wealth over the next two years? Absolutely nothing. What do Americans want Congress to do about that concentration? A good bit. We know the first answer from the...
by Elizabeth Warren | Nov 9, 2014 | Blog, Economy, Progressive Vision
There have been terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Election Days for Democrats before — and Republicans have had a few of those, too. Such days are always followed by plenty of pronouncements about what just changed and what’s going to be different going forward....
by Terrance Heath | Nov 7, 2014 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
The 2014 mid-term elections are over, and the inmates have taken over the asylum. Prepare for wingnuttery like you’ve never seen before. Last Friday, I had a lot of fun poking at the nuttiest candidates on the ballot. Wednesday morning I woke up to a...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 7, 2014 | Blog, Economy, Tax Reform
Washington insiders are saying that one deal Republicans and President Obama think they can make is a deal to let corporations off the hook for taxes they owe if they "bring back" the money the multinational corporations have stashed outside of the country. The deal...
by Editors | Nov 7, 2014 | Democracy
Elise Scott understands voter suppression. She’s seen it first-hand, growing up in the south in the 1960s. “New voters had to be identified by two registered voters,” she recalled in an interview this week. “My father could not find two white men to identify him....
by Eric Lotke | Nov 7, 2014 | Blog
Democrats generally lost on Tuesday. But liberal, progressive ballot initiatives generally won. Five states voted to increase the minimum wage. Two states and the District of Columbia voted to permit marijuana for recreational use. Three states voted to protect a...
by Bill Scher | Nov 7, 2014 | Blog, Winning Issues for 2014
Two Democrats in competitive Senate races bucked the Republican tide. One is an incumbent, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and one a U.S. House Representative pursuing an open seat of a retiring Democrat, Gary Peters of Michigan. What did they do that the other...
by Bill Scher | Nov 7, 2014 | Uncategorized
How Long Can They Keep The Government Open? Senate Dems plan a busy lame duck. W. Post: "... including bills to revive dozens of expired tax breaks and avoid a government shutdown for another year. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) is also aiming to chip...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 7, 2014 | Jobs and Growth
The latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms what voters felt when they went to the polls Tuesday: Job growth continues slowly but inadequately, built on a weak foundation of weak wage growth and low labor force participation. There were 214,000...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 6, 2014 | Blog, Progressive Vision
Across the country progressive policies won at the ballot box, while Democratic candidates lost. Many of those Democratic candidates ran on "centrist" (i.e. "corporate") platforms that repudiated ("distanced themselves from") core Democratic policies and positions....
by Richard Eskow | Nov 6, 2014 | Blog, Democracy
[fve]http://youtu.be/4qG4Lnenx4w#start=945[/fve] On Wednesday we spoke with Celinda Lake, a leading strategist for Democrats and progressive organizations, about the election's results. Her key observations: ● It was a “wave” election. That can be seen in the...
by Jeff Bryant | Nov 6, 2014 | Blog, Education
The anticipated role education was presumed to have in this week's midterm election generally did not pan out. Most analysts have concluded the election results derived from a wave of voter "discontent" mostly due to widespread economic dissatisfaction. Republican...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 6, 2014 | Blog, Trade
A "week of action" starts Saturday against "fast-track" trade promotion authority legislation, which would be used to usher in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) "trade" (i.e. corporate rights) agreement. Click here to tell Congress to vote no on “fast-track”...
by Lynne Stuart Parramore | Nov 6, 2014 | Blog, Conservatism
Most of us did not escape that moment on the playground when the bully came over and demanded our candy. What could we do? The bruising boy and the mean girl used fear and intimidation to get their way. If that didn’t work, there were other methods. Sometimes the...
by Bill Scher | Nov 6, 2014 | Uncategorized
How Bad Was Dem Turnout? "Epic turnout collapse" says Cook Political Report: "...the story in House races was an epic turnout collapse and motivational deficit. Democrats' surprisingly large losses are attributable to 'orphan states' where there was little enthusiasm...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 6, 2014 | Blog, Economy
Call it the Election That Never Was. We've heard a lot of talk about this week's election, but the election we needed is the one we didn't see. The important issues, the issues that affected people's daily lives, were never debated. Voters never heard a genuine...
by Rev. William Barber | Nov 5, 2014 | Blog, Progressive Vision
DURHAM, NC: Now that the 2014 Midterm election results are in for North Carolina, the North Carolina NAACP and Forward Together Moral Movement have released the following statement: The diverse coalition that makes up the Forward Together Moral Monday movement came...
by Digby | Nov 5, 2014 | Blog
I know we're all supposed to be throwing on our hair shirts and wandering around the streets begging for forgiveness for being losers but I just don't have the stomach for it this time out. I expected this loss, everything pointed toward it and I don't think it says...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 5, 2014 | Blog, Economy, Progressive Vision
Politics is about delivering for your constituents. Underneath it all, this election was a statement by people against an economy that is not working for them. We've heard the story but here it is again. Most people say the country is still in a recession as far as...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 5, 2014 | Blog, Economy, Jobs and Growth
In an otherwise dismal election, progressive populist victories on state ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage reveal a way forward for Democrats who are paying attention. Going into the 2014 mid-term election, the odds — and deep-pocketed billionaire donors —...
by Bill Scher | Nov 5, 2014 | Uncategorized
Money Wins "Big win for conservative money" reports Politico: "Conservatives tweaked their playbook to spend bigger and earlier to crush tea party insurgents and define Democratic candidates. And Republicans won most of the Senate races in which they prosecuted that...
by Robert Borosage | Nov 5, 2014 | Blog, Democracy, Progressive Vision
Debacle. Bloodbath. Call it what you will. Democrats, as expected, fared poorly in red states in an off-year election. Worse, unpopular Republican governors survived. This was ugly. Yes, the electorate was as skewed as was the map. Many Republicans won office with the...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 4, 2014 | Blog, Progressive Vision
[fve]http://youtu.be/kh87T9v460A[/fve] Sean McElwee discusses voter turnout and its impact on democracy with Richard Eskow Sean McElwee, a writer and a research assistant at Demos, wrote an excellent piece laying out the importance of voter turnout in four charts....
by Richard Eskow | Nov 4, 2014 | Blog, Democracy
[fve]http://youtu.be/9kIfLigGGyk?list=UUcnNWp-tx3-FaCWV4pMFTAg[/fve] Here's an interview with CAF's very own Roger Hickey on the importance of this election, the factors shaping it, and what we've seen (and haven't seen) that have brought us to this point. Hickey also...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 4, 2014 | Blog
A personal note: Tonight I'll joining the live election-night television coverage from The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur. I'll be on the air from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time (5-8 p.m. Pacific). For those who aren't familiar with the show, Wikipedia describes it...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 4, 2014 | Blog, Trade
According to the U.S. Commerce Department the massive U.S. trade deficit jumped 7.6 percent in September, draining another $43 billion from our economy in a single month. U.S. exports fell to their lowest in five months. Meanwhile, August's trade deficit was revised...
by Bill Scher | Nov 4, 2014 | Blog
Republicans may have control of the Senate in their grasp, largely thanks to a skewed 2014 electoral map. But Republican candidates showed that they couldn't get there by running as conservative ideologues, as our campaign-long Midterm Ad Watch series shows. An actual...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 4, 2014 | Blog, Progressive Vision
Why bother voting today? Conventional wisdom and history say that a lot of people won't bother – and that more of them will be Democrats than Republicans. Again and again, polls show that the public prefers Democrats and the policies that Democrats favor, but the...
by Bill Scher | Nov 4, 2014 | Uncategorized
"Hollow Victory"? "Republicans expect gains, but many races close" reports Reuters: "Republicans are expected to pick up seats in the U.S. Senate, but polls show eight to 10 races are still toss-ups and it is unclear whether they can gain the six seats they need to...
by Leo Gerard | Nov 4, 2014 | Blog, Democracy
The rich always vote for themselves. They go for their self-interest, their tax breaks, their liability escapes (think Wall Street). Meanwhile, they've relentlessly instructed the non-rich that they too must vote for the rich. They've promised for decades that if the...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 3, 2014 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
[fve]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjnoMEPKqj8[/fve] Richard Eskow and Thom Hartmann discuss the “Caucus Room” conspiracy and the 2014 elections. On the eve of the 2014 elections, it’s important to remember that Republicans have been deliberately sabotaging both the...
by Dean Baker | Nov 3, 2014 | Blog, Economy, Jobs and Growth
By Dean Baker and Jared Bernstein Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen gave a speech a few weeks ago that was doubly unusual. First, she provided a welcome and trenchant analysis of inequality, focusing on the stagnant income and wealth of middle- and low-income...
by Lindsay Koshgarian | Nov 3, 2014 | Blog, Climate, Economy, Jobs and Growth
With Heidi Garrett-Peltier Imagine: The year 2034, late October. America is no longer dependent on coal and foreign oil. Consumption of these fossil fuels is down by 60 and 40 percent, respectively. Natural gas consumption is down by 30 percent. Fall is in the air...
by Bill Scher | Nov 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
Senate Hinges On Turnout "50,000 doors knocked in Alaska" reports W. Post: " In Alaska, Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska.) is betting on his ground operation to beat Republican Dan Sullivan. With an extensive network across the state, which his campaign claims to have...
by Robert Borosage | Nov 3, 2014 | Blog, Conservatism, Progressive Vision
Even on election eve, campaign 2014 is too close to call. Control of the U.S. Senate may not be determined until run-offs are held in January. Conservative Republican governors like Wisconsin’s Scott Walker are in frenzied, pitched battles to survive. Millions in...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 1, 2014 | Blog
When Lee Saunders talks about his mission as the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, he often refers to the fateful 1968 showdown between sanitation workers and the city of Memphis – the strike that brought Dr. Martin Luther...
by Dean Baker | Oct 31, 2014 | Blog, Health
Stealing a page from the Denver Broncos’ Super Bowl playbook from last year, the Democrats have spent the fall campaign hiding from the most successful federal government program since Medicare. In spite of all the obstacles thrown up by Republicans in Congress, state...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 31, 2014 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
Every election year, the GOP comes up with a new crop of wingnut candidates for office. This one is no exception. Todd Akin. Christine O’Donnell. Joe Miller. Sharron Angle. Back in 2010, they soared to new heights of wingnuttery. Will any of this election's nuttiest...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 31, 2014 | Blog, Trade, Winning Issues for 2014
Democratic North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan is running for reelection with ads that talk about trade. "Kay's going to bat for us against China." Trade is a huge issue for many blue-collar voters and in "rust-belt" regions that have been wiped out by the offshoring of our...
