by Richard Eskow | Jun 3, 2014 | Blog
Earlier today we had a wide-ranging conversation with Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio about the fight to expand Social Security and the social safety net. We began by discussing the bill Sen. Brown has co-sponsored , which would lift the payroll tax cap (which means...
by Rev. William Barber | Jun 3, 2014 | Minimum Wage
Recently, I marched with McDonald's workers from three dozen cities to the company's corporate headquarters outside of Chicago. After they refused to leave the corporate campus of the fast-food giant with its $5.6 billion in profits last year, 101 workers were...
by Leo Gerard | Jun 3, 2014 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce threw a little hissy fit last week, stomping its Gucci-shod feet over a new rule requiring corporations to report the difference in pay between their median workers and their CEOs. As usual, the navel-gazing Chamber got it all wrong. The...
by Bill Scher | Jun 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
Historic Climate Rule Proposed EPA climate rule will create jobs and lower energy bills, says WH. The Hill: "'This proposed rule will, when implemented, save Americans on their electricity bill and significantly reduce the amount of carbon emissions into our air,'...
by Bill Scher | Jun 3, 2014 | Blog, Climate
I've argued both here and at Real Clear Politics that the EPA climate regulations announced Monday, while critical to the planet, are politically treacherous for Democrats, especially this November when several Democrat-held Senate seats in coal and oil states are up...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 2, 2014 | Blog, Trade
The House of Representatives last week passed H.R. 4660, a bill that includes funding for the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). This bill included an amendment (Amdt. 761), passed by voice vote, "to prohibit use of funds to negotiate an agreement that...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 2, 2014 | Blog, Trade
Last week 153 Democratic members of Congress – three-fourths of the Democrats in the House – signed a letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman demanding that trade negotiators focus first on protecting the rights of working people to organize before...
by Harvey J Kaye | Jun 2, 2014 | Blog, Progressive Vision
[fve]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiHcm5fnrgI[/fve] To my amazement, Varney & Co. of FOX Business News invited me on their show on Friday May 9 to talk about my new book "The Fight for the Four Freedoms: What Made FDR and the Greatest Generation Truly Great." I...
by Dean Baker | Jun 2, 2014 | Blog
Robert Samuelson is correct to point out that income inequality in the United States at present is not anything like what it was back in the 1920s because of the social welfare state. We have programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps that are...
by Richard Eskow | Jun 2, 2014 | Blog
Conservatives in all corners of the globe must have felt their hearts sing, if only for a moment, when the Financial Times ran a piece entitled "Piketty findings undercut by errors." Sadly for them, the FT's claims proved untrue. But if you think that put an end to...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 2, 2014 | Blog
Believe it or not, all four of the statements below are currently being made in Congress and in the hallowed halls of elite opinion: “We’re broke” and we have to cut the budget. – House Speaker John Boehner. America just can't afford more government spending like...
by Derek Pugh | Jun 2, 2014 | Education
This week Senate Democrats will begin turning their attention to the 40 million Americans whose lives are being hampered by student loan debt. The goal is passage of a bill with a provision that will allow these Americans to refinance their loans at lower rates. Not...
by Bill Scher | Jun 2, 2014 | Uncategorized
Climate Day EPA to announce historic carbon cap regs this morning. NYT: "Gina McCarthy, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, will outline the regulations, issued under the Clean Air Act, at the agency’s Washington headquarters at 10:30 a.m. The...
by Terrance Heath | May 30, 2014 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
Well, that didn’t take long. As Americans were still reeling from the latest gun massacre, right-wingers wasted no time blaming liberals, Hollywood, and gay marriage for all shooting rampages. As usually, the facts are decidedly against wingnuts. It’s been almost a...
by Dave Johnson | May 30, 2014 | Blog
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has been forced out. A scapegoat has been found. Maybe now we can step back and look rationally at the real problems at the VA. These problems include: Inadequate funding. Not enough primary care doctors. Not enough clinics....
by Thom Hartmann | May 30, 2014 | Climate, Conservatism
Republicans in the House of Representatives are not only denying climate science – they're actually blocking the Pentagon from taking any action on it. Earlier this month, the House passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act which bars the...
by Bill Scher | May 30, 2014 | Uncategorized
House GOP Rigging More Rules For Big Business House Ways and Means Committee clears another business tax break without offset. The Hill: "The House Ways and Means Committee cleared a permanent extension of the tax break, known as bonus depreciation, along with five...
by Bill Scher | May 30, 2014 | Blog, Climate
In December, House Speaker John Boehner famously slammed the Heritage Foundation and other groups that opposed his bipartisan budget agreement before it was announced, saying: "When groups come out and criticize an agreement they've never seen, you begin to wonder...
by Robert Borosage | May 30, 2014 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
The U.S. economy contracted in the first three months of 2014, according to revised figures issued by the Commerce Department, down a “seasonally adjusted, annual rate” of 1 percent. With the economy expected to bounce back in the second quarter – April to June – the...
by Terrance Heath | May 29, 2014 | Populist Majority, The New Populism
At the New Populism Conference, Rev. William Barber reminded progressive populists that we must know why we fight, and what we're fighting for. We must not shrink from battle, when we have all we need to fight and win. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D, Massachusetts), in her...
by Dave Johnson | May 29, 2014 | Blog, Conservatism
Republicans are beginning to harvest the fruits of their obstruction. The strategy is to set the stage for the election by obstructing everything that could help the economy get better, as well as anything that might make our lives better. They understand that they...
by Richard Eskow | May 29, 2014 | Blog, Financial Reform
Economists Amir Sufi and Atif Mian have been researching the housing crisis and its impact on the economy for more than six years. They have now written a book for general audiences entitled “House of Debt: How They (and You) Caused the Great Recession, and How...
by Sam Pizzigati | May 29, 2014 | Economy
Have you heard about Domino’s Pizza CEO J. Patrick Doyle? He pocketed $43 million over the last three years running an operation that stiffs low-wage workers and rakes in taxpayer subsidies. That news prompted the New York Post to open its coverage with a rather...
by Bill Scher | May 29, 2014 | Uncategorized
Obama's Climate Plan Taking Shape Details of upcoming carbon cap rule emerge. NYT: "President Obama will use his executive authority to cut carbon emissions from the nation’s coal-fired power plants by up to 20 percent, according to people familiar with his plans, and...
by Jeff Bryant | May 29, 2014 | Blog, Education
Michelle Obama is very upset. According to reports from CNN, the First Lady finds it's "unacceptable" that Republicans lawmakers in the House are pushing to allow schools to opt out of nutrition regulations that were part of a 2010 law that established new...
by Isaiah J. Poole | May 29, 2014 | Blog, Populist Majority, The New Populism
Here's how to get in less than 20 minutes all that we've been saying about what the populist majority supports and the winning political message that will get them to the polls: Watch pollster Celinda Lake's presentation at The New Populism Conference last week. Her...
by Dave Johnson | May 28, 2014 | Blog
A recent AP "big story" tries to explain why CEO pay soaring and everyone else's is stagnant or falling. It says more than it intends about the state of our economy and our governing system. AP's "The CEO Got A Huge Raise. You Didn't. Here's Why," by Josh Boak boils...
by Lynne Stuart Parramore | May 28, 2014 | Economy
The media are all abuzz with the changing nature of work. Exciting words like “creativity” and “adaptability” get thrown around, specifically in connection to the shift away from steady, full-time employment to a gig economy of freelancers and short-term contracts....
by Bill Scher | May 28, 2014 | Uncategorized
Michigan Raises The Minimum Wage Under pressure, GOP governor of Michigan signs minimum wage hike. AP: "Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation Tuesday to raise the state’s minimum wage by 25 percent gradually over the next four years to $9.25 an hour, as...
by Robert Borosage | May 28, 2014 | Blog, The New Populism
A powerful new populist challenge is emerging from the reality of an economy that is not working for working people. It is expressed not by the Koch-funded, rabidly anti-government Tea Party, but by the new populists, inside and outside the Democratic Party. Sen....
by Dave Johnson | May 27, 2014 | Blog, Populist Majority
At last week's New Populism conference, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) talked about how the multinational corporations rig the game against working people. "Why are trade deals secret? ... because if the American people knew what was going on, they would be opposed."...
by Digby | May 27, 2014 | Conservatism
Ezra Klein makes a good point in this piece in which he acknowledges the VA revelations for the scandal they are --- nobody should be denied needed health care --- by showing the vast numbers of people affected by Republican governors' cynical decision to refuse the...
by Bill Scher | May 27, 2014 | Blog, Climate
During MSNBC's "Up With Steve Kornacki" on Sunday, I was asked if Tom Steyer's $100 million campaign to defeat Republican climate science deniers in 2014 would make the climate issue less brutal for Democrats. My short answer: no. Because on Monday, it's a whole new...
by Bill Scher | May 27, 2014 | Uncategorized
Countdown To Climate Rules Upcoming climate regs may spark global response. NYT: "President Obama is expected to announce on Monday an Environmental Protection Agency regulation to cut carbon pollution from the nation’s fleet of 600 coal-fired power plants, in a...
by Richard Eskow | May 27, 2014 | Blog, Populist Majority, The New Populism
[fve]http://youtu.be/f3_FrPkFLi0[/fve] “Democratic movements are initiated by people who have individually managed to attain a high level of personal political self-respect,” historian Lawrence Goodwyn wrote nearly four decades ago. “They are not resigned; they are...
by Lynne Stuart Parramore | May 23, 2014 | Conservatism
On the June cover of the conservative magazine American Spectator, a vision arises from the collective unconscious of the rich. Angry citizens look on as a monocled fatcat is led to a blood-soaked guillotine, calling up the memory of the Reign of Terror during the...
by Terrance Heath | May 23, 2014 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
This week saw a number of right-wingers being pulled up short, one way or another, including some of the biggest names in wingnuttia. For each wingnut up to his tinfoil hat in trouble of his own making, I can only say, “It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.” It’s hard to...
by Dave Johnson | May 23, 2014 | Blog, Populist Majority, Progressive Vision
After Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) gave her rousing speech at the New Populism Conference Thursday, she, of course, was asked if she was going to run for President. (The crowd was chanting "Run, Elizabeth, Run!") Warren replied, "I am not running for president,"...
by Bill Scher | May 23, 2014 | Uncategorized
Unemployed Left Hanging Senate Dems now look to highway bill to help long-term unemployed get benefits. Roll Call: "None of the long-shot scenarios for additional Senate action on an unemployment extension materialized before the Senate skipped town for another recess...
by Richard Eskow | May 23, 2014 | Blog, Financial Reform
In 10th century Japan a "pillow book" was a form of diary, a place to gather notes, lists and other scraps of paper and reflect upon them before retiring to bed. A "court lady" to the Empress used hers to depict life in the royal household, and today "The Pillow Book...
