by Dave Johnson | Jul 30, 2013 | The Jobs Challenge
The President visits Chattanooga today to continue to promote his job-creation campaign. But Amazon? Really? Why is President Obama using Amazon to tout his ideas for job creation? President Welcomed To Chattanooga Today in Chattanooga the President visits an Amazon...
by Jeff Bryant | Jul 30, 2013 | Education
[The following is from a talk given at a meeting of the Young Elected Officials last week in Washington, D.C.] Thanks for having me here today. I'm feeling a little out of context at a meeting for the Young Elected Officials. And it's not because I'm not an elected...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 30, 2013 | Uncategorized
Today is the 48th birthday of Medicare! President Johnson signing the Medicare program into law, July 30, 1965. Photo credit: LBJ Presidential Library. Before Medicare only half of older Americans had any health insurance at all. The elderly had on average half the...
by Leo Gerard | Jul 30, 2013 | The Jobs Challenge
The cliché is alluring: A rising tide lifts all boats. Former Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush promised it would be true as they cut taxes on the rich. If the rich got richer, Reagan and Bush contended, some of their extra cash would trickle down...
by Bill Scher | Jul 30, 2013 | Uncategorized
Obama To Propose Compromise For Jobs Obama today to propose new "grand bargain": corporate tax reform for infrastructure investment. Reuters: "Obama wants to cut the corporate tax rate of 35 percent down to 28 percent and give manufacturers a preferred rate of 25...
by Dean Baker | Jul 30, 2013 | The Jobs Challenge
Last week President Obama gave a speech at Knox College in Illinois in which he announced plans to return his focus to the economy. The agenda he outlined centered on policies to rebuild the middle class leading to growth "from the middle out," as he put it. The basic...
by Jane Yurechko | Jul 29, 2013 | Student Debt Relief, This Is The GOP
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) thinks that it is not Congress’s job to keep college affordable. That’s what she said at a House Education and the Workforce Committee markup last week of a GOP-backed bill that would prevent the U.S. Department of Education from enforcing...
by Thom Hartmann | Jul 29, 2013 | Blog
Republicans are gearing up to hold our economy hostage yet again. The last fight over the debt limit cost our economy $18 billion dollars, and despite that, the GOP is ready to do it all over again to try and force President Obama to accept even more extreme...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 29, 2013 | The Jobs Challenge
The President is pushing a jobs agenda to grow the economy "from the midddle out." Insider DC is mocking him because the ideas -- infrastructure, American manufacturing, fund our schools -- are not "new." Here is what else isn't new: budget cuts take money out of the...
by Digby | Jul 29, 2013 | Uncategorized
A friend in Washington told me this last week: The president, Larry Summers, a dirty hippie and the pope were all on Air Force One when it started to have engine trouble. The pilot opened the door of the cockpit and said with terror in his voice, “The plane is going...
by Bill Scher | Jul 29, 2013 | Uncategorized
GOP Backs Off Shutdown Threat Senator behind government shutdown threat over ObamaCare, says there will be no shutdown. Politico: "Pressed repeatedly on 'Fox News Sunday' by host Chris Wallace on whether he's prepared to shut down the government over defunding the new...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 28, 2013 | Federal Reserve Chair, Financial Reform
It’s a real-life disaster movie, one that’s left neighborhoods in ruins all across the country, killed thousands of people, and ruined millions of lives. You might call it a “Banknado.” Yes, we know the “Sharknado” craze ended about ten days ago. The sci-fi movie’s...
by Nehemiah Rolle | Jul 26, 2013 | Uncategorized
With 2014 midterm elections looming on the horizon, a recent survey by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner for Democracy Corps and the Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund illustrates how important it is for elected officials and candidates to address women’s economic needs....
by Bill Scher | Jul 26, 2013 | Uncategorized
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy On MSNBC earlier today, I joined MSNBC.com's Benjy Sarlin and Amanda Terkel for a panel discussion on whether Rep. Steve "Immigrant Children Are Drug Mules" King is dictating immigration...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 26, 2013 | Climate
House Republicans just passed a bill to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of authority to regulate coal ash. Maybe they plan to "save money" by putting it in school lunches? In 2008, a levee broke on a coal ash impoundment in Tennessee, spilling more than 5...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 26, 2013 | Making it in America
Hey wouldn't it be great to pass a law requiring government agencies to try to boost American jobs when they award contracts and buy supplies? Or how about giving contract and purchase preference to companies that didn't send jobs out of the country in the prior year?...
by Bill Scher | Jul 26, 2013 | Uncategorized
Senate Dems Resist Summers Senate Dem group pushes Yellen over Summers for Fed chair. Politico: "The letter does not specifically mention Summers, but he has long been a lightning rod for liberals and other Wall Street reform advocates ... It’s not clear how many...
by Bill Scher | Jul 25, 2013 | Uncategorized
President Obama in 2012 expressed hope that "when we're successful in this election ... the fever may break" and Republicans would stop relentlessly obstructing everything in sight. In May of this year he conceded, "it’s not quite broken yet." Last week, Politico...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 25, 2013 | Federal Reserve Chair, Financial Reform
Whoever said, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you” doesn’t know much about economics. That goes double for the nomination of Lawrence Summers to head the Federal Reserve. For all the ink that's been spilled on the topic, there’s at least one surprise ending people...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 25, 2013 | This Is The GOP
Imagine a political party that keeps government from helping people, because that might lead people to support government. Imagine a political party that hurts parts of the country because those parts tend to not vote the way they want. Imagine a political party that...
by Jane Yurechko | Jul 25, 2013 | Uncategorized
By passing a student loan bill that raises rates in the very near future, the Senate showed a lack of compassion for students that didn’t seem possible. The Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act passed the Senate with a vote of 81-18 (45 Republican votes, 35...
by Bill Scher | Jul 25, 2013 | Uncategorized
Obama Renews Economic Vision Obama previews plans to help economy without Congress. National Journal's Jill Lawrence is skeptical: "That is not the same as raising the minimum wage (which many conservatives say is bad for business); finding money for universal pre-K...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 25, 2013 | The Jobs Challenge
In a speech delivered at Knox College in Illinois, President Obama launched his final campaign: a campaign to revive the American Dream. The speech, less eloquent and windier than the best of Obama, told Americans a clear story, and called on them to support a clear...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 24, 2013 | Uncategorized
If Thomas Friedman didn’t exist, America’s high-tech entrepreneurs would have had to invent him. Come to think of it, maybe they did. The dark science-fiction vision he celebrates serves them well, at pretty much everyone else’s expense. Friedman's vision is worth...
by Martha Burk | Jul 24, 2013 | Minimum Wage
As of today, it's been four years since the last increase in the federal minimum wage, to $7.25 per hour, or $15,000 per year for full-time work. In the lead-up to this anniversary, CEPR has released four blog posts with infographics that illustrate many different...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 24, 2013 | Federal Reserve Chair, Financial Reform
Larry Summers for the Fed? Seriously? There are better choices for Federal Reserve chair; in particular, Janet Yellen is more than qualified and would do a great job. Ezra Klein writes in, "Right now, Larry Summers is the front-runner for Fed chair," "The word among...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 24, 2013 | Federal Reserve Chair, Financial Reform
Sheila Bair, the former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and one of the few insider voices of sanity in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis, made the case for Federal Reserve vice chair Janet Yellen to replace Ben Bernanke as Fed chair when his...
by Bill Scher | Jul 24, 2013 | Uncategorized
Obama Delivers Major Economic Speech Today Halting economic recovery provides backdrop for Obama economic speech. McClatchy: " The speech comes as some economic indicators continue to show only modest rebounds and months before Obama and Republican lawmakers face a...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 24, 2013 | The Jobs Challenge
Today President Obama will travel to Illinois to turn attention back to jobs and the economy. He does so amid an economy that is still in trouble. Mass unemployment continues its devastating toll. Over 22 million people are in need of full-time work. Wages for...
by Jeff Bryant | Jul 23, 2013 | Education
A mantra recited by those who pride themselves as adherents to a movement known as "education reform" is that for too long policies governing public schools have favored "the adults" in the system at the expense of children. This rhetoric has framed any objections...
by Bill Scher | Jul 23, 2013 | This Is The GOP
Republican leaders understand political reality well enough to grasp that they can't survive as the anti-immigrant party. They insist they want to pass some sort of immigration reform, just nothing "comprehensive" with too many "pages." And now they are starting to...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 23, 2013 | Climate, Making it in America
"Going down to Mississippi wages does not signal a bright future for American economy." - Harold Meyerson President Obama campaigned with a promise to add 1 million new manufacturing jobs in his second term. So far only 13,000 have been added. The AAMeter illulstrates...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 23, 2013 | Minimum Wage
The floor is falling out from under workers. The federal minimum wage is not enough for a full-time worker to lift a family of three out of poverty. That is not right. The minimum wage for tipped workers – a miserly $2.13 an hour – hasn’t been raised in two decades....
by Leo Gerard | Jul 23, 2013 | Uncategorized
Wall Street held itself a big fat profit party last week. The nation’s six largest banks reported $23 billion in profits. That’s for one quarter – three months. Pop the Champagne. Buy another Lamborghini. Well, if you’re a Wall Street banker, that is. Not if you’re a...
by Bill Scher | Jul 23, 2013 | Uncategorized
Republicans Ready Fresh Hostage-Taking Operation Republicans consider threatening government shutdown over ObamaCare. The Hill: "Senate Republicans, including two members of the leadership, are coalescing around a proposal to block any government funding resolution...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 22, 2013 | Financial Reform
Here's an economic free-association test. Read the following sentence: The federal government should bail out Detroit city worker's pensions so that retirees can be paid in full. Some people will approve of the idea. But others will be shocked or angry. They'll...
by Jane Yurechko | Jul 22, 2013 | Uncategorized
Senators are set Tuesday to vote on a terrible student loan deal that would ultimately raise rates to 8.25 percent for undergraduates and 9.5 percent for graduate students. They claim the deal will lower rates from their current point of 6.8 percent, but this is only...
by Bill Scher | Jul 22, 2013 | Uncategorized
Last week, Media Matters released a report showing that traditional media outlets typically do not put raw budget numbers in any sort of understandable context. In other words, the media will usually breathlessly sensationalize a budget deficit of 750 BILLON DOLLARS...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 22, 2013 | Making it in America, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Trans-Pacific Partnership – the corporate sovereignty treaty – is coming and they're going to try to push it through Congress with "Fast Track." It's really, really important to pay attention to this one. You have seen what the "free trade" agreements have done to...
by Bill Scher | Jul 22, 2013 | Uncategorized
Obama To Stump For Jobs President to drive economic agenda this week. CNN: "Obama will return to Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois on Wednesday to kick off a series of speeches about his economic plan ... The president will also visit Warrensburg, Missouri, on...
