by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 25, 2014 | Blog, Unemployment Benefits
House Speaker John Boehner has decided to stand firmly in the way of more of 2 million people who need emergency jobless benefits. The Hill newspaper quoted Boehner as saying that a Senate compromise plan that would renew jobless benefits for people who have been out...
by Terrance Heath | Mar 25, 2014 | Health
Wendell Potter writes, in a series of posts about the poor state of dental coverage, that millions of Americans — 36 percent, according to a 2013 survey —put off visiting the dentist because of the cost of dental care. Last year, I became one of them. In pain, and in...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 25, 2014 | Blog, Conservatism
A building in Harlem blows up because of a gas leak, killing at least eight people and injuring at least 70 others. A bridge collapse in Minneapolis killed 13 and injured 135. New Orleans' levees needed to be fixed but weren't, and more than 1,800 people died as a...
by Bill Scher | Mar 25, 2014 | Uncategorized
Begich Bucks Austerity To Win In 2014 Red state Dem bets on expanding Social Security. W. Post's Greg Sargent: "'When you tell seniors, "We want to make sure your dollars rise as your costs do," there is automatic excitement because they recognize we understand what...
by Leo Gerard | Mar 25, 2014 | Blog, Progressive Vision
In the olden days, buying votes was a risky business. That’s not because the purchaser faced felony charges. No, the real peril was that the guy bribing voters wouldn’t get what he wanted. The process was too indirect. The man with “walking around money” would tell...
by Richard Eskow | Mar 25, 2014 | Blog, Conservatism, Unemployment Benefits
At a time when so many Americans are struggling economically, our nation continues to pay a steep price for its global empire – and in more ways than one. Consider this: On March 12 a bipartisan Senate deal was reached which would extend urgently needed unemployment...
by Joshua Holland | Mar 24, 2014 | Progressive Vision
The Pew Research Center recently released a study finding that the Millennial generation – those born between the early 1980s and 2000 – is increasingly alienated from the major institutions of American society. Many are turned off by religion and see little...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 24, 2014 | Education
An article posted on Politico today adds new evidence of the damage being done to K-12 education under the guise of "school choice," and how much many of us are paying to place some of our own core values under attack: about $1 billion across 14 states with school...
by Alan Jenkins | Mar 24, 2014 | Economy
Earlier this month, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs released a discussion draft of legislation to overhaul the nation’s housing finance system. Early analysis indicates that, while the draft acknowledges the important role that the...
by Sam Pizzigati | Mar 24, 2014 | Economy
Let us pause now to pay our respects to Bunny Mellon. She died last week on her 4,000-acre farm in Virginia’s fabled horse country. But no tears, please. Bunny — nobody called her by her given name Rachel — lived a long and rich life. Very long. Very rich. One hundred...
by Bill Scher | Mar 24, 2014 | Uncategorized
Boehner Roadblock To Aid For Long-Term Unemployed Senate poised to pass aid to long-term unemployed, but Boehner dismisses. UPI: "'It is extremely disappointing that, no matter what solution is reached, there is some excuse to deny these much-needed benefits,' [GOP]...
by Bill Scher | Mar 24, 2014 | Unemployment Benefits
Congress returns from its March recess today. High up on the Senate agenda is the bipartisan deal to restart unemployment insurance for the long-term unemployed, which had expired in January. But it's nowhere to be found on the House agenda. It's up to us to put it...
by Matt Murray | Mar 21, 2014 | Trade
Jobs, jobs, jobs! That is what every member of Congress said they were going to create if we elected them. President Obama said he would create one million new manufacturing jobs. The President has not met his goal yet, but there are a few things we can do to reduce...
by Terrance Heath | Mar 21, 2014 | Conservatism
It's been a rough week for two of the GOP's leading lights. Tumultuous town halls showed that two of conservatism’s biggest stars, Paul Ryan and Chris Christie, may be crashing to earth, and taking the GOP’s 2016 hopes down with them. Paul Ryan — “The Brain" Rep. Paul...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 21, 2014 | Trade
In my recent post Trade: Who Advocates For American Interests? I wrote that, "other countries advocate for the interests of their economy, businesses and working people, and our own elites also advocate for the interests of other countries’ economies, businesses and...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 21, 2014 | Retirement Security
When this story broke earlier this week, it did not get nearly the attention it deserved, so it bears repeating now: 36 percent of workers, according to one poll, have less than $1,000 saved for their retirement. That comes from the Employee Benefit Research...
by Terrance Heath | Mar 21, 2014 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
March Madness is upon us, in more ways than one. We know that right-wingers will howl with outrage over anything President Obama does — from using Air Force One to encouraging students to stay in school, and vacationing in Hawaii in stead of Pigeon Forge. So it’s no...
by Bill Scher | Mar 21, 2014 | Uncategorized
Global Economy Still Awful The world is settling for too little economic growth, argues NYT's Paul Krugman: "In Europe, for example, they’re crowing about Spain’s recovery: the country seems set to grow at least twice as fast this year as previously forecast....
by Richard Eskow | Mar 21, 2014 | Economy
Bernie Madoff recently had some choice words about the politicians he thinks are spreading “socialism” and “wealth distribution," while billionaires Tom Perkins and Ken Langone both likened critics of oligarchic wealth to Nazis. Perkins and Langone should take heed:...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 21, 2014 | Trans-Pacific Partnership
How often do you hear the argument that it is alright for our trade agreements to hurt our own workers because people in other countries are getting work or better pay? Here is the problem with that: The world's countries follow an adversarial system, with each...
by Lynne Stuart Parramore | Mar 20, 2014 | Economy
t? Didn’t matter how much money you made now, or in the future. Nobody would ask about your job status or how many kids you have. The check would arrive in the mailbox, no matter what. Sounds like a far-fetched idea, right? Wrong. All over the world, people are...
by Bill Scher | Mar 20, 2014 | Uncategorized
Senate Jobless Aid Bill Hits House Roadblock "Bipartisan Bill to Extend Jobless Aid Divides Republicans" reports National Journal: "House Speaker John Boehner and the Republican architect of a Senate bill to extend benefits up to June are clashing over a letter from...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 20, 2014 | Better Off Budget
[fve]http://youtu.be/MPoAc7FVk0E[/fve] "Full employment," according to some economists and policymakers, is not as full as it used to be. The upshot is that many people in Washington are beginning to regard as "normal" what should be unacceptable. That's one more...
by Jeff Bryant | Mar 20, 2014 | Education
For people who like to think of themselves as being "exceptional," Americans can sometimes abandon the very principles their exceptionality is founded on. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the current debate of education policy. A feature that has long made...
by Bill Scher | Mar 19, 2014 | Conservatism
After Paul Ryan executed a triple face-flop in his attempt to seize the debate on poverty, I thought conservatives could use a little advice. So the good people at the Daily Caller today published my "Advice from a liberal: 4 things conservatives must do to be taken...
by Thom Hartmann | Mar 19, 2014 | Conservatism
There are a whole lot of useful idiots in America. Yesterday, a caller called into my radio show, and echoed Congressman Paul Ryan’s recent comments, blaming the black community for poverty in America. He threw out a Fox So-Called News phony statistic, arguing...
by Richard Eskow | Mar 19, 2014 | Education
Social progress is never a straightforward, linear process. Sometimes society struggles to recognize moral questions that in retrospect should have seemed obvious. Then, in a historical moment, something crystallizes. Slavery, civil rights, women’s rights, marriage...
by Bill Scher | Mar 19, 2014 | Uncategorized
Weak Union Morale Could Hurt Dems Union frustration may hold Dems back in November. The Hill: "... building trade union leaders joined with the American Petroleum Institute to blast the Obama administration for stalling on the approval of the Keystone pipeline ......
by Robert Borosage | Mar 19, 2014 | Conservatism
“The rich strike back” reads the headline in Politico, reporting that “the denizens of Wall Street and wealthy precincts around the nation” aren’t going to put up with populist politicians making “class-based appeals.” And that politicians in both parties are...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 19, 2014 | Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Former Clinton Chief of Staff Thomas 'Mack' McLarty has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal calling on Democrats to support more "free trade." His basic argument: More trade is always better. But is the goal more trade, or trade that benefits We the People of the...
by Terrance Heath | Mar 18, 2014 | Conservatism
In Charlie Daniel's 1979 hit, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" looking for a soul to steal. Today the Moral Mondays movement brings its brand of righteous progressivism to the Georgia state capitol, to demand accountability from Georgia lawmakers and better lives for...
by Richard Eskow | Mar 18, 2014 | Better Off Budget
[fve]http://youtu.be/2O6RQSUoSwA[/fve] The Congressional Progressive Caucus "Better Off Budget," which was released last week, is a more "mainstream" or even "small 'c' conservative" budget than some commentators might suggest, economist Joshua Smith of the Economic...
by Thom Hartmann | Mar 18, 2014 | Economy, Progressive Vision
First the oligarchs came for our economy, and we said nothing. Then they came for our government, and again, we said nothing. Now, they’ve come for science, and we’re not saying a word. Thanks to Republican-backed austerity measures, our nation’s scientific...
by Bill Scher | Mar 18, 2014 | Climate
Today the American Association for the Advancement of Science published a 20-page report, "What We Know" summing up the scientific consensus on the reality and urgency of climate change. The scientific panel explained that "about 97% of climate scientists have...
by Leo Gerard | Mar 18, 2014 | Blog
[fve]http://youtu.be/SDIucari3HQ[/fve] Republicans despise America’s poor and jobless. The GOP made that perfectly clear by repeatedly denouncing them and cutting food stamps and unemployment benefits. But last week, Republicans revealed that they also hate...
by Bill Scher | Mar 18, 2014 | Uncategorized
Justice Effort On Banks Under Fire Sen. Warren, Rep. Waters & Rep. Cummings call on AG Holder to explain audit criticizing bank investigations. W. Post: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Md.) and Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) expressed concern...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 18, 2014 | Conservatism
One way the corporate/plutocrat/conservative agenda gets foisted on us is through what I call "sneak laws." These are laws that sneak through state legislatures and the Congress before We the People get a chance to learn about them and organize opposition. (Read to...
by Thom Hartmann | Mar 17, 2014 | Economy, The 2015 Budget
President Obama sent Congress a $3.9 trillion dollar budget. Although his 2015 plan has been deemed more politics than policy, it's a blueprint of how to start repairing our economy. The 2015 fiscal plan would move us away from austerity, and start us back on a path...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 17, 2014 | Jobs and Growth
On Feb. 26, UPS fired a Maspeth, N.Y. UPS worker known for being a union activist. In a "wildcat" protest, 250 other UPS drivers from Teamsters local 804 walked off the jobs, and it appears that UPS has fired them, too, in response. There is nothing in the news media...
by Joshua Holland | Mar 17, 2014 | Economy, Education
Last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) kicked off a new campaign called “Higher Ed, Not Debt” to tackle the nation’s staggering burden of student loan debt. The campaign will be fought by a broad coalition of unions and progressive groups including the Working...
