by Digby | Aug 8, 2013 | Blog
David wrote about this Carville-Greenberg polling memo showing that seniors seem to be changing their minds about policy and the GOP. Its summary starts like this: There’s something going on with seniors: It is now strikingly clear that they have turned sharply...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 7, 2013 | Blog
President Obama’s Justice Department, under the direction of Attorney General Eric Holder, hasn’t indicted a single bank executive for the massive Wall Street crime wave that devastated the economy. The regulatory reform that followed the 2008 crisis wasn’t nearly...
by Thom Hartmann | Aug 7, 2013 | Blog
Many hard-right conservative voters are threatening to sit out the 2014 midterm elections, because they say some Republican lawmakers aren't doing enough to obstruct healthcare and immigration. Even Tea Party favorites, like Senator Marco Rubio, are under attack for...
by Digby | Aug 7, 2013 | Blog
I have my doubts that this will result in a change of heart among conservatives about the wisdom of cutting necessary government services, but it's at least possible. This is from Ari Melber on the judicial system's reaction to sequestration cuts hitting home: “A...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 7, 2013 | Blog
Two stories in the news today illustrate what is happening to the middle class. One story is about numbers showing how the middle is being squeezed. The other is about how people are literally being squished. "The new business model, apparently, is to shrink the...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 7, 2013 | Blog
Congress is in recess, and members are back in their home districts. This means House Republicans – especially the tea party caucus – will say some of the craziest things about politics. The most recent "crazy things conservatives say about health care" reveals just...
by Robert Borosage | Aug 7, 2013 | Federal Reserve Chair, Financial Reform
The chattering classes are fascinated by the Republicans’ internecine battle to redefine the party in the wake of the George W. Bush calamity and the Mitt Romney defeat — from Senator Rand Paul’s revolt against the neoconservative foreign policy, to intellectuals...
by Bill Scher | Aug 7, 2013 | Uncategorized
President Kickstarts Mortgage Reform Debate Obama draws line in housing before over 30-year fixed rate mortgage. NYT: "The president praised a bipartisan Senate effort to replace Fannie and Freddie with a system that would charge lenders for explicit government...
by Martha Burk | Aug 6, 2013 | Blog
McDonald’s really stepped in it this summer when the fast food empire created a budget for its underpaid employees to help them make ends meet on the low wages they bring home after flipping burgers all week. At first, the McBudget didn’t include any money for food or...
by Stan Collender | Aug 6, 2013 | Blog
I've referred back to this post so many times since it first went up more than two years ago that I almost have to apologize for doing it again. Almost, but not really, and especially not this time. For those who are new to CG&G (or who have blocked out any memory...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 6, 2013 | Blog
The blogosphere is talking about how Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor was caught in an outright falsehood about the country's deficit, and how PolitiFact backed him up. Cantor said Sunday that Congress should be "focused on trying to deal with the ultimate...
by Jeff Bryant | Aug 6, 2013 | Education
Last week's midair disintegration of a high-flying apparatchik in the movement known as education "reform" is still making headlines in local press and the national media. Tony Bennett was a hero of the national movement bent on reshaping public education along the...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 6, 2013 | Blog
Now this is interesting. Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, bought the Washington Post for $250 million after the newspaper went up for sale in what was described as a "highly secret" process. (That's right. An organization dedicated to discovering and reporting...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 6, 2013 | Making it in America
The enormous, humongous, vast, staggering, unbelievable, job-sucking, economy-sucking US trade deficit shrank to "only" $34.2 billion from a revised $44.1 billion in May. Exports of US goods and petroleum were up, imports of petroleum and consumer goods were down....
by Leo Gerard | Aug 6, 2013 | Uncategorized
Saturday began Congress’ traditional five-week, late-summer sojourn during which members engage in the customary sipping of mint juleps, kissing of fat cat donors and, oh yeah, jawing with select constituents. Since this Congress is on track to be the least productive...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Aug 6, 2013 | Uncategorized
Obama Backs Privatizing Mortgage Guarantees President Obama sides with ending Fannie Mae (AP): "President Barack Obama, seeking to buffer taxpayers from future housing market downturns, will urge Congress this week to back bipartisan efforts to shutter Fannie Mae and...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 5, 2013 | Blog
The campaign against Detroit is the latest battle in a long war against the American social contract. For that war to succeed, millions of Americans must be convinced to see their fellow citizens – working people, retired people, students, the poor – as the Other....
by Digby | Aug 5, 2013 | Blog
The New York Times featured a fascinating article today on the benefits of medical tourism for joint replacement surgery. It follows a man who had his hip replaced in Belgium at a fraction of the cost he would have had to pay in the US. (In this case, he would have...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 5, 2013 | Blog
Union and environmental leaders arrested together over immigration? What's up? Here is what's up: Corporate-funded conservatives ... "view us as one threat, and fundamentally we are acting like that now, as one threat." Corporate-Conservative War On Democracy For...
by Stan Collender | Aug 5, 2013 | Conservatism, Economy, This Is The GOP
August actually is a pretty good time to be in Washington. Yes, the weather usually is awful. But with Congress gone, getting to work isn't as stressful because there's less demand on roads and public transit. You can get up later and still get to work on time....
by Terrance Heath | Aug 5, 2013 | Uncategorized
Republicans vs. Reality Paul Krugman says the Republican party has fall for its own con: "Last week House Republicans voted for the 40th time to repeal Obamacare. Like the previous 39 votes, this action will have no effect whatsoever. But it was a stand-in for what...
by Bill Scher | Aug 4, 2013 | Blog
The August congressional recess is here, and many members of Congress will head home and touch base with their constituents. Some will have town halls. Others might conclude: better not. Especially if you're a House Republican. Because then you might have to answer:...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 4, 2013 | Uncategorized
When is it fair to say that some political battles aren't just disagreements over policy, but actually represent a struggle between 'good' and 'evil' points of view? And when, if ever, is it helpful to say so? There are those on the Right who debase the currency of...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 2, 2013 | Uncategorized
Republicans love to justify their hatred of food stamps by spouting the biblical line that, "Those who do not work shall not eat." The truth is, especially in this economy, there are millions of Americans who work — often working long hours, in very demanding jobs —...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 2, 2013 | Blog
This week was put up or shut up time for Republicans. After decades demanding unspecified budget cuts they finally had to put their vote where their budget outline was. So what did they do? They are taking a 40th vote on repealing Obamacare and then heading home for...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 2, 2013 | Uncategorized
If you reward bad behavior you create an incentive for the bad behavior to continue. This is certainly the case with taxes on profits made outside the country. Rewarding multinational companies for keeping profits outside of the country has cost us jobs and tax...
by Bill Scher | Aug 2, 2013 | Uncategorized
Recovery Fails To Take Off 162K net new jobs in July. NYT: "While July represented the 34th straight month of job creation, the relatively strong employment gains were still not on track to absorb the backlog of unemployed workers anytime soon. At the recent pace of...
by Robert Borosage | Aug 2, 2013 | Uncategorized
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a net gain of 162,000 jobs for July, somewhat below the slow growth we’ve witnessed over the past months. The decline of the official unemployment rate to 7.4 percent will be celebrated – as were “higher than expected” reports...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 1, 2013 | Blog
In the days before and after George Zimmerman was acquitted in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, Florida police posted PSA's encouraging blacks not to riot, and monitored social media for hints about when and where violence might occur. The judge even delayed...
by Bill Scher | Aug 1, 2013 | Uncategorized
Over at The Week today, I note that the Republicans enter into upcoming budget negotiations with a weak hand, because both parties know Republicans will blow their chances to win the Senate in 2014 if they force a government shutdown in 2013. Democrats can effectively...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 1, 2013 | Uncategorized
Republican Senator Ted Cruz says a government shutdown is no big deal, because the government shuts down every weekend. That's like saying it's OK to be dead, because you are dead every night when you go to sleep. Meanwhile a Fox News host says feeding old people is...
by Bill Scher | Aug 1, 2013 | Uncategorized
House GOP Fractures When Faced With Actual Spending Cuts Faced with bill including actual spending cuts, House Republicans flinch. Roll Call: "...it’s become the best available example of what President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans brought on themselves...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 1, 2013 | Uncategorized
For 13 weeks, the North Carolina state house in Raleigh was the focus of "Moral Mondays" — a progressive movement organized by the state's NAACP president, Rev. William Barber, in response to what he called North Carolina GOP's “mean-spirited quadruple attack” on the...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 31, 2013 | Uncategorized
This week the government changed the way it measures the size and growth of our economy. Its new figures deliver a clear message, one that reinforces President Obama's recent emphasis on shifting away from deficit mania and focusing on jobs. If you don’t want to...
by Bill Scher | Jul 31, 2013 | Climate
Above is the first speech from Gina McCarthy since Republicans stood down from filibustering her nomination to head the EPA. You can see why Republicans didn't want her. She's that good. Climate politics is extremely dicey for Democrats. As I've long noted, many swing...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 31, 2013 | Uncategorized
This week the President offered Republicans a corporate tax reform plan that basically gives them everything they want (before negotiations even begin,) in exchange for please allow We the People to have some jobs and infrastructure and education. The Republican...
by Jane Yurechko | Jul 31, 2013 | Student Debt Relief
Now that a student loan interest-rate bill has passed the Senate and is almost certain to pass the House this week, it is time to take a closer look at our long-term goal for higher education: making college affordable for all students. President Obama touched upon...
by Bill Scher | Jul 31, 2013 | Uncategorized
President Embraces Corporate Tax Rate Cut President proposes corporate tax reform in exchange for infrastructure spending. NYT: "Mr. Obama outlined the terms of his tax plan in early 2012 during the presidential election, when he said the corporate tax rate would be...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 31, 2013 | The Jobs Challenge
President Obama took his case for jobs to Chattanooga, Tenn., yesterday, with an Amazon warehouse as a discordant backdrop. The president repeated his powerful case that to rebuild the middle class, we need a serious long-term strategy that includes investments vital...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 30, 2013 | Financial Reform
Write a cookbook, go to jail? David Dayen points out the absurdity and hypocrisy behind the Obama/Holder Justice Department's decision to indict two stars of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" on charges of mortgage fraud while Wall Street's crooked bankers still go...
