by Richard Eskow | Nov 6, 2013 | Blog
We wrote an extended piece, available at AlterNet and Salon, on a new poll funded by Esquire magazine and NBC News which claims to have discovered the existence of something called “the New American Center.” The methodology is flawed, the questions are biased,...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 6, 2013 | Jobs and Growth
USA Today on Thursday published a new installment in what is an old, familiar story: Fortune 500 companies raking in billions in profits while paying next to nothing in taxes. This comes as House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is proclaiming that House Republicans would...
by Bill Scher | Nov 6, 2013 | Uncategorized
Rough Election Night For Conservatives Virginia, New Jersey gubernatorial elections spotlight GOP fractures. W. Post's Dan Balz: "[Chris] victory in a solidly blue state will be touted as a model for a party that needs to expand its coalition in national campaigns....
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 5, 2013 | Conservatism, Progressive Vision
It matters a lot that Terry McAuliffe won the election in the Virginia gubernatorial race Tuesday, but it also matters what McAuliffe didn't win – and what progressives thus must find a way to win in the political fights ahead. A major key to forging an enduring...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 5, 2013 | Conservatism, Progressive Vision, This Is The GOP
This week the Senate will very likely a pass a bill prohibiting anti-LGBT discrimination in the workplace. The President and a majority of the American people support it. Only the GOP stands in the way of an important step towards justice for all. The Employment...
by Melissa Tomlinson | Nov 5, 2013 | Conservatism, Education, This Is The GOP
Letter to Governor Christie from the New Jersey Teacher He Screamed At (via LA Progressive) Dear Governor Christie,Yesterday I took the opportunity to come hear you speak on your campaign trail. I have never really heard you speak before except for sound bytes that I...
by Leo Gerard | Nov 5, 2013 | The Jobs Challenge
Anthony Tenny told Clearwater Paper several times that he was concerned about working in excessive red cedar dust at its Lewiston, Idaho, sawmill. But nothing changed. So he reported his fears to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Within a month...
by Robert Borosage | Nov 5, 2013 | Blog
On November 6, Elizabeth Warren will do a star turn before 400 progressive leaders, activists and legislators at the annual awards gala sponsored by the Campaign for America’s Future. Her prominence is a tribute to her stunningly rapid ascension as a leader of what...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 5, 2013 | Uncategorized
Election Day Updates Races say as much about future as Election Day [CNN]: "Welcome to Election Day 2013, where two gubernatorial contests and the race for mayor of the nation's biggest city will be settled and a GOP primary battle for a U.S. House seat in Alabama is...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 4, 2013 | Blog
"To a hammer," the old saying says, "everything looks like a nail." And to the Beltway insiders who push corporate-friendly "bipartisanship," every election proves that voters really want to be governed by an amalgam of elites from both parties. For some reason they...
by Bill Scher | Nov 4, 2013 | Health
As the troubles of Obamacare persist, many liberals are panicking, while many conservatives are wishfully predicting, that a failed rollout will be a death blow for liberalism. I can't quibble with the notion that an impeccable rollout would have been good for...
by Thom Hartmann | Nov 4, 2013 | Health
Surprise, surprise... Insurance companies are trying to cheat customers out of more money. Since the start of Obamacare, we've heard various reports of companies canceling insurance policies, and charging customers hundreds of dollars more each month to continue...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 4, 2013 | Blog
There is consensus across the (sane) spectrum that the country absolutely needs to repair and modernize our infrastructure. There is widespread agreement this will help the economy now and in the future, and will create jobs. But Republicans in Congress refuse to...
by Robert Borosage | Nov 4, 2013 | Budget Talks
Washington is girding for another bruising budget crisis. Agreement is needed for funding the government by mid-January to avoid another shutdown. The debt ceiling must be lifted by February to avoid default. The last shutdown ended only with an agreement on the...
by Bill Scher | Nov 4, 2013 | Uncategorized
Has Obamacare Been Sabotaged? "The Lesson of Obamacare: Sabotage Works", argues Mother Jones' Kevin Drum: "...nder normal circumstances, even an opposition party would end up cutting a deal eventually to shore up the missing funding. Not this time, though. As one...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 3, 2013 | Blog
Joshua Holland of BillMoyers.com offers an important counterpoint to today's slanted political dialogue with his new essay on “the high cost of low taxes." This hidden cost needs to become the center of our public debate. Washington’s obsession with tax cuts and...
by Sam Pizzigati | Nov 3, 2013 | Blog
People who cut food stamps — and gut child labor laws — most all had empathy when they came into the world. So what squeezed the empathy out? Analysts are pointing to inequality. Scrooge has come early this year. We’re kicking our Tiny Tims. This holiday...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 1, 2013 | Blog
Germany's economy, like China's, is geared toward exports. They engineer their economy in ways that bring in money from other countries, and then complain that those countries aren't cutting back enough. As a result the world economic system is way out of balance. So...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 1, 2013 | Conservatism, Health, Shutdown, This Is The GOP
Paul Krugman writes that the GOP’s hostility towards the poor and unfortunate has become an all-out “war on the poor.” The consequences of the painful cuts to food stamps taking effect today offer a glimpse of the casualties and collateral damage to come. Today,...
by Joshua Holland | Nov 1, 2013 | Conservatism, Health
How a Wildly Misleading Obamacare Horror Story is Born (via Moyers & Company) Far too many breathless news stories about insurance plans being “canceled” or people facing “sticker shock” fail to convey even the most basic context: this is almost exclusively a...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 1, 2013 | Blog
Senate Democrats, there have been over 400 filibusters. What are you going to do about it? We the People want to know. We thought we had elections. We thought things were decided and the country could finally move forward. Are We the People the boss here, or are the...
by Bill Scher | Nov 1, 2013 | Uncategorized
Filibuster Reform Is Back Federal judge and FHFA chief picks filibustered. Politico: "The GOP blocked [Mel] Watt’s nomination because they saw him as a political pick, rather than a housing policy expert. Republicans objected to [Patricia] Millett because they believe...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 1, 2013 | Progressive Vision
Pull back the curtain of many of the key moments of progressive history over the better part of the last five decades and you will find Marge Tabankin, encouraging, supporting and agitating. It's something that comes naturally to her. In an interview she did last year...
by Richard Eskow | Oct 31, 2013 | Financial Reform
The Senate’s role in presidential nominations is usually described as “advise and consent,” not “obstruct and prevent.” And yet, continuing their extreme break with past Senatorial traditions and practice, Senate Republicans rejected another Presidential nomination on...
by Digby | Oct 31, 2013 | Budget Talks, Economy, Retirement Security
Just a reminder here that the Grand Bargain was not conceived as a "deal" between the Republicans and Democrats to cut the "entitlements" in exchange for some "revenue." That's the "Balanced Approach" that was set forth by the President in the 2012 campaign. The Grand...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 31, 2013 | Blog
The Economic Policy Institute released a report today titled, The Legislative Attack on American Wages and Labor Standards, 2011–2012. The report was written by Gordon Lafer, EPI research associate and associate professor at the University of Oregon. According to the...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 31, 2013 | Blog
At next week's Celebrating America’s Future 2013 Awards Gala United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard will be honored as a Progressive Champion. Labor is progressive, and progressives recognize labor's partnership in the fight for democracy and prosperity for...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 31, 2013 | Conservatism, Economy, This Is The GOP
Millions of Americans will plunge over the “Hunger Cliff” tomorrow, when $5 billion in cut to food stamps go into effect tomorrow. While Congress negotiates even more cuts, millions of Americans will face negotiating where their next meal will come from. It wasn’t...
by Bill Scher | Oct 31, 2013 | Uncategorized
Obama Defends Obamacare WH apologetic over website, defiant in support of law. NYT: "Senior advisers to the president said they understood that the bungled rollout of the insurance marketplace has given Republicans another opportunity to litigate the political case...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 31, 2013 | Blog
Manufacturing jobs (and, of course, the manufacturers) are so important to any economy. That's why countries like China go to such efforts to get them. But for some time our country has been neglecting this sector in favor of the financial sector. This week Senate...
by Emily Foster | Oct 30, 2013 | Economy, Retirement Security
On Wednesday, a panel discussion and press conference were held to examine Social Security’s role in the retirement income crisis. Representatives from groups such as AARP, the Economic Policy Institute, the Alliance for Retired Americans, and others joined with...
by Bill Scher | Oct 30, 2013 | Progressive Vision
One week from today, progressives will gather in Washington, DC for the Celebrating America's Future 2013 Awards Gala and honor, among other progressive champions, Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II with the Paul Wellstone Citizen Leadership Award. Rev. Barber is the head...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 30, 2013 | Conservatism, Economy, Shutdown, The Sequester, This Is The GOP
In Charlie Daniels' 1979 hit single, the Devil went down to Georgia looking for a soul to steal. The Washington Post went down to Georgia looking for a story about anger over economic distress in tea party districts. Like the Devil in Daniel’s song, the Post comes...
by Bill Scher | Oct 30, 2013 | Uncategorized
Obama Stumps For Obamacare In Boston Obama in Boston today will compare Romneycare and Obamacare rollouts. Yahoo! News: "Jonathan Gruber, an MIT economics professor and an architect of the Massachusetts health care law, told reporters on a conference call organized by...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 30, 2013 | Trans-Pacific Partnership
You've probably been hearing warnings about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) "trade" agreement that is being negotiated. And you might have heard that the big corporations are going to push to use something called "fast track" trade promotion authority (TPA) to...
by Jeff Bryant | Oct 29, 2013 | Education
This past week, two videos captured just about everything you need to know about the status of the movement known as "education reform." The first filmed event was a staged encounter between two prominent advocates for what is conventionally thought of to be "opposing...
by Joshua Holland | Oct 29, 2013 | Conservatism, Economy, Health, Progressive Vision, The Jobs Challenge
The Great American Ripoff: The High Cost of Low Taxes (via Moyers & Company) Editor’s note: This is the first in a series on the high cost of low taxes. The American people pay a similar amount for social services – health care, retirement security, disability and...
by Leo Gerard | Oct 29, 2013 | Blog
Pope Francis has the antidote for what ails the United States. He gave the Catholic Church’s 1.2 billion followers a dose last week when he suspended the Bishop of Bling. The German bishop, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, bought himself a $20,000 bathtub while spending...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 29, 2013 | Blog
Amtrak doesn't "make money" so Republicans want to cut back on service to rural areas. This is America's ideological tension: democracy serves We the People, plutocracy and markets serve the people who have money. Of course you read Progressive Breakfast every morning...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 29, 2013 | Blog
You may have heard the early estimate putting the cost of the shutdown at $24 billion. Time's Swampland has the number, in Here’s How Much The Government Shutdown Cost The Economy. That was an early and very low estimate. It included, About $3.1 billion in lost...
