by Bill Scher | Aug 16, 2013 | Uncategorized
Can Republicans Govern? "Three interlocking fiscal disputes" raise prospect of shutdown or debt limit breach, reports NYT: "Perhaps easiest to resolve is the effort by some conservative Republicans to eliminate financing for the new health care law in return for...
by Bill Scher | Aug 15, 2013 | Blog
The House Republican leadership, clearly desperate to avoid presiding over a government shutdown, floated a trial balloon to two conservative journalists suggesting a new plan to defund ObamaCare. Since threatening shutdown over defunding ObamaCare is, per the...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 15, 2013 | Conservatism
Once again, Newt Gingrich is telling hard truth and offering good advice to Republicans. There is almost no chance the GOP will listen. Just like a stopped clock, every once in a while Newt Gingrich gets something right. It's happened before; like when Newt exposed...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 15, 2013 | Blog
Two new stories today that just happened to be located one after the other in my news feed illustrate the divide between what most of us are experiencing, and how the Very Serious People at the top -- the ones who can actually do something to improve things for...
by Digby | Aug 15, 2013 | Economy, Making it in America
We have much to be proud of in America. But having the most economic inequality is one of our most dubious achievements. I guess we just have a very few people who are excellent happiness pursuers. Or maybe it's something else entirely: Now, all societies are unequal,...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 15, 2013 | Blog
Cancel the sequester and stop the cuts. The deficit is already down by more than half. The cuts are cruel and stupid. They hurt people and they hurt the economy. Sequester = 900,000 Jobs Lost I included this as a part of a post the other day, in Jobs, Jobs, Jobs....
by Richard Kirsch | Aug 15, 2013 | Blog
President Barack Obama is pledging to make the rest of his time in office about “making this country work for working Americans again.” That means one branch of government is on the case. After rejecting White House proposals to create good jobs that would rebuild our...
by Bill Scher | Aug 15, 2013 | Uncategorized
America The Unequal The US leads in inequity. The Atlantic's Matthew O'Brien: "...all societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others. The question is why the U.S. has become more so than just about any other rich country the past 30 years. After all, if...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Aug 14, 2013 | Retirement Security
Happy birthday, Social Security! You're looking good for a 78-year-old – and it's no wonder, given how hard you work to keep the nation's seniors, people with disabilities and survivors financially secure. I've been reading the report done for your birthday by Social...
by Bill Scher | Aug 14, 2013 | Blog
Yesterday's Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block the proposed American Airlines-US Airways merger is just the latest action in the Obama administration's strategic turn towards aggressive antitrust law enforcement. As Quartz's Gina Chon explains: The move is...
by Thom Hartmann | Aug 14, 2013 | Economy
Most Americans may not know it by listening to Republicans, but reality shows that our deficit is shrinking. And, if you didn't know that, you're not alone. A new Google poll found that nearly half of Americans think that the deficit is actually increasing. During the...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 14, 2013 | Blog
On Monday WBAI radio’s “Building Bridges” program in New York City.examined Detroit’s financial issues. Hosts Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg interviewed Ross Eisenbrey, Vice President at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), and me. The program title, Detroit: Pensions,...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 14, 2013 | Making it in America
Wow, it sure is convenient for Republicans and Wall Street to blame unions and working people and government for Detroit's problems. (It's what they do.) They talk about crime and corrupt inner-city politicians – Republicanspeak for "black people." (It's also what...
by Dean Baker | Aug 14, 2013 | Economy, Federal Reserve Chair, Financial Reform
The supporters of Larry Summers drive to be Fed chair are desperately trying to rewrite history so that this world class champion of financial deregulation was actually a prescient supporter of tighter regulation all along. Exhibit A in this historical rewriting is a...
by Bill Scher | Aug 14, 2013 | Uncategorized
House Dems Aim To Shape Budget Deal House Dems seek role in budget talks. The Hill: "House Democrats are making it known that they won’t serve as a rubber stamp for fiscal deals that the White House negotiates this fall. They say their views must be taken into account...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Aug 14, 2013 | Jobs and Growth
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has launched a "Stand with Detroit" campaign this month to rally support for the city, which was driven to declare bankruptcy last month. But this is not just a campaign on behalf of a single troubled...
by Jeff Bryant | Aug 13, 2013 | Education
I have this recurring nightmare – one that, I fear, is about to become reality for most of America's school children. In my dream, I'm back in elementary school. It's testing day and I'm struggling to remember my locker combination and get to class on time. My...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 13, 2013 | Blog
Serious People were saying that budget deficits hurt the economy. Then we increased taxes on the rich so now deficits are wayyyyy down. So Serious People are saying that taxes hurt the economy. Or is it spending on schools and infrastructure that is going to kill the...
by Bill Scher | Aug 13, 2013 | Blog
Two weeks ago, I noted that the collapse of the House transportation and housing appropriations bill shattered Republican leverage for upcoming budget talks. As both moderate and conservative Republican factions ran in opposite directions when faced with voting for...
by Leo Gerard | Aug 13, 2013 | Blog
Last month, McDonald’s gave its workers a little gift – a budget purporting to show how to survive on the starvation wages the burger behemoth pays. The bizarre financial plan made millionaire McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson look like a real clown. Wearing oversized...
by Bill Scher | Aug 13, 2013 | Uncategorized
Republicans Hide From Tea Party Republicans skipping town halls this August recess. NYT: "Most of the efforts to shame members of Congress who are not holding town halls are aimed at Republicans. Tea Party groups are focused mainly on pressuring fellow Republicans —...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 13, 2013 | Blog
Jobs. Jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. Please. Just fix the country's crumbling infrastructure, and there's millions of jobs right there. JOBS! This is work that has to be done anyway, we are behind on it, and people need the jobs. Bridges are falling down. Literally...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 12, 2013 | Blog
After writing about the tragedy of Greek austerity for more than a year, I've love to (finally) have some good news to share. But when it comes to austerity, the news is never good. In Greece, the news is bad and getting worse. The latest news is that Greece's economy...
by Sam Pizzigati | Aug 12, 2013 | Blog
A rather ruthless billionaire has grabbed one of the world's great newspapers. But you don't have to be a high-tech plutocrat, the paper's previous regime has demonstrated, to help make our world more unequal. Jeff Bezos, the bezillionaire Amazon CEO, has bought the...
by Dean Baker | Aug 12, 2013 | Blog
Glenn Hubbard, along with Tim Kane, had a column in the NYT today decrying the budget deficit. The column begins by repeating the warnings of that well known economic expert, Admiral Mike Mullen, that the debt is the “single biggest threat to our national...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 12, 2013 | Making it in America, Trans-Pacific Partnership
The giant multinationals are pushing a trade deal that will literally let them bypass our laws. This deal is called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and it is coming at us in the next few months. The corporations are trying to switch this gravy-train onto the "Fast...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 12, 2013 | Blog
Four years after Wall Street's malfeasance dealt a telling blow the economy, and long after tens of billions of dollars have been paid out for banker fraud, reports say that we're about to see the first arrests of Wall Street bank employees. What's more, the suspects...
by Thom Hartmann | Aug 12, 2013 | Blog
ALEC is holding its annual conference in Chicago, where corporate lobbyists and Conservative lawmakers will get together - have a few drinks - and create more corporate-friendly, middle-class-destroying legislation. At annual ALEC meetings, corporate lobbyists sit...
by Bill Scher | Aug 12, 2013 | Uncategorized
Fractured GOP May Mean Shutdown Politico's Ben White and MJ Lee argue shutdown could really happen this time: "The House GOP is hopelessly fractured on spending strategy. Senate Republicans who might otherwise broker a deal face primary challenges that make compromise...
by Robert Borosage | Aug 12, 2013 | Blog
Most babies born in the U.S. today are children of color. In three decades, more than half of our population will be people of color. By 2050, 42 percent of our workforce will be African American and Hispanics. (Today that figure is 27 percent). Yet, even as diversity...
by Thom Hartmann | Aug 9, 2013 | Blog
There’s an undeclared war going on between the rich and the poor right here in the United States and the rich think they’ve found a way to win it. They’ve locked themselves into gated communities, lily-white suburbs, and wealthy urban neighborhoods and they’ve...
by Greg Kaufmann | Aug 9, 2013 | Blog
Congressman Paul Ryan recently said that Republicans “don’t have a full-fledged” plan to fight poverty “because we need to do more listening to people who are in the trenches fighting poverty.” He had the perfect opportunity to do just that at a recent House Budget...
by Bill Scher | Aug 9, 2013 | Uncategorized
Staff Shift May Lead To Shutdown Departure of top McConnell negotiator seen as increasing chances of shutdown. W. Post: "[Rohit Kumar] has been at McConnell’s side through every major fiscal deal since President Obama took office ... One administration official, who...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 8, 2013 | Blog
Fast food workers have been conducting one-day strikes for better wages and working conditions in several American cities. They’ve also been doing much more than that: They’re shown the entire country real leadership. They’re fighting for all of us, and their fight is...
by Dean Baker | Aug 8, 2013 | Blog
A bipartisan group of senators recently put forward a proposal for new Glass-Steagall legislation that would restore a strict separation between commercial banks and speculative trading. Anyone familiar with the ways of Washington knows that such legislation is badly...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 8, 2013 | Blog
Giving unemployment benefits to unemployed people keeps them from going to your boss and offering to do your job for half what you are paid. Better yet, asking government to make sure everyone has a job means your employer has reason to keep you happy and well-paid so...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 8, 2013 | Blog
"People are living longer so we have to increase the Social Security age." You hear that a lot. Here is why this is just wrong. "Life expectancy" is a technical term used in statistics. It almost always means "life expectancy at birth" instead of what people think it...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 8, 2013 | Uncategorized
A new study shows obesity rates among children from low-income families declined in 19 states and U.S. territories between 2008 and 2011. That's good news, as those children are less likely to be obese as adults, and more likely to avoid the health problems that often...
by Bill Scher | Aug 8, 2013 | Uncategorized
Obama Slams Sequestration Obama takes on sequestration at Camp Pendleton. NYT: "President Obama stood at this desert base on Wednesday before nearly 3,000 Marines, sailors and their families — and a captive audience of two Republican adversaries from Congress — and...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 8, 2013 | This Is The GOP
Republicans are going to spend August "blaming President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats for Americans' unhappiness with government." Their theme will be "Government is the problem." That's right, they're going to blame government, not themselves. But in the...
