by Leo Gerard | Jul 31, 2012 | Blog, Making it in America
It’s a damning report because it says America has endangered itself by allowing both its manufacturing sector and its infrastructure – like dams, roads and bridges -- to deteriorate. The report, Preparing for 21st Century Risks, issued by the Alliance for American...
by Bill Scher | Jul 31, 2012 | Uncategorized
Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to effect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. MORNING MESSAGE: More GOP Layoff...
by Jeff Bryant | Jul 31, 2012 | Blog, Education
If you've noticed lately the tendency in car commercials to show the vehicle against a background of an empty city street, you can assume it's likely due to the abundance of empty city streets available in the place famous for being home to the major automotive...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 31, 2012 | Blog, The Sequester
The defense industry and its Republican allies in Congress are up in arms - metaphorically speaking,of course - over the possibility that an agreement which the GOP signed might actually take effect as agreed. They hate when then happens. So they're cooking something...
by Bill Scher | Jul 30, 2012 | Blog
At yesterday's Jerusalem fundraiser, Mitt Romney praised Israel's single-payer, government-run health care system as better than America's. The NY Times quoted Romney as saying: You spend eight percent of G.D.P. on health care. You’re a pretty healthy nation. We spend...
by | Jul 30, 2012 | Blog
You think all this caterwauling about the deficit is just a bunch of useless jibber-jabber that will never go anywhere? Well, we have millionaire Bill Keller basically telling non-millionaire baby boomers to cut their own throats and then "save" the next generation by...
by | Jul 30, 2012 | Blog
Originally posted at Capital Gain and Games. It was almost two weeks after the statutory deadline and released on a Friday afternoon in late July so you know the White House doesn't want it to be big news, but the fiscal 2013 mid-session budget review published on...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 30, 2012 | Blog
The New York Times contains another elite-columnist attack on our Social Security and Medicare systems today. This time it's in the form of an op-ed by Bill Keller. Recently and regularly, New York Times columnists David Brooks and Tom Friedman have also gone after...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jul 30, 2012 | Blog
The movers and shakers of scandal-ridden Wall Street are busy scapegoating a 'few rotten apples' — and hoping the rest of us don't notice they're still holding billions in ill-gotten gains. . Remember Ina Drew? This past spring Drew had her 15 minutes of fame as the...
by Bill Scher | Jul 30, 2012 | Uncategorized
Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to effect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. MORNING MESSAGE: The "Let's Cut...
by Bill Scher | Jul 29, 2012 | Blog
This week the House, like the Senate last week, is expected to vote on competing tax bills: a Democratic proposal that would allow the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy to expire as scheduled while extending them for the middle-class, and a Republican proposal that will...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 27, 2012 | Blog
Try this on for size: This week Republicans voted to cut them on the wealthy, while raising them on the poor and middle class. Repeat, this week Republicans voted to cut them on the wealthy, while raising them on the poor and middle class. Once again, this week...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 27, 2012 | Blog
Ask half a dozen people about the latest report on gross domestic product ( GDP ), and you're likely to get half a dozen answers about just what it means. You may also be tempted to ask what it even measures, and why it matters. The short answer is that it measures...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 27, 2012 | Blog
You are all too familiar with the myths and hyperbole the right uses to foist its debilitating austerity agenda on the general public — that federal spending is out of control and the government itself is too big, that our tax burden has become untenable (cue the...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 27, 2012 | Blog
The press has had a field day highlighting British reactions to Romney’s mild criticism of the Olympic preparations. Tory P.M David Cameron slaps him down. London Mayor Boris Johnson scorns him before a crowd of 60,000. Tabloid press goes off. Much tut-tutting on how...
by | Jul 27, 2012 | Blog
He speaks a tiny bit more clearly, but he's just as big a clod on the international stage as George W. Bush: The US presidential candidate Mitt Romney has questioned the readiness of London 2012, saying there have been "disconcerting signs" in the buildup to the Games...
by Bill Scher | Jul 27, 2012 | Uncategorized
Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to effect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. MORNING MESSAGE: The Nakedness of...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 27, 2012 | Blog, Economy
It's truly unbelievable: At no time in modern memory has the privileged class been richer, the middle class more endangered, or the number of people in poverty been so high. And yet the Republican Party, whose leaders are overwhelmingly wealthy themselves, is openly...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 26, 2012 | Blog
Again and again ads are showing up that use doctored quotes to fool the public into thinking that President Obama said something he didn't say. If the election is won using lies, what will the country be like in a few years? In Oakland this week President Obama said...
by Bill Scher | Jul 26, 2012 | Blog
Yesterday the Senate passed legislation to end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, but extend them for annual income below $250,000. This passed with only Democratic votes, as Republicans for once decided not to filibuster. The agreement not to filibuster included the...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 26, 2012 | Blog
Mitt Romney has either stumbled into or gotten himself into a bit of a "sticky wicket," during his visit to Great Britain. Not only has he managed to offend his hosts, but that Daily Telegraph article. The article, which appeared in one of the U.K.'s leading...
by | Jul 26, 2012 | Blog, The Sequester
Originally posted at Capital Gains and GamesThe Senate yesterday passed "The Sequestration Transparency Act" that requires the president to explain to Congress what he plans to cut to implement the sequester -- the across the board spending reductions that were...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 26, 2012 | Blog
Conservative senators were set Wednesday afternoon to hold tax relief for 98 percent of Americans hostage so that the 2 percent of Americans who earn more than $250,000 a year would not have to pay an additional dime in taxes. But a Senate majority made a statement:...
by | Jul 26, 2012 | Blog
In case you were wondering if there was something more to the tax cut showdown in the Senate today than a set of competing spin points on the campaign trail, I think this is probably the tactical objective: Wednesday’s development places the onus of avoiding the full...
by Steven Capozzola | Jul 26, 2012 | Blog, Making it in America
Kudos to Matt Miller in the Washington Post for asking the $295 billion question-- WHO'S GOT THE GUTS TO FINALLY GET TOUGH ON CHINA? While ManufactureThis has been saying for years that it's time to tackle China's egregious cheating at world trade, it's nice to see...
by Alan Jenkins | Jul 26, 2012 | Blog
Dramatic developments this month have underscored our nation’s progress, as well as our continuing peril, when it comes to Home Opportunity—the deeply held American ideal that everyone should have access to an affordable home under fair conditions. These developments,...
by Bill Scher | Jul 26, 2012 | Uncategorized
MORNING MESSAGE: 44 Senators Say Rich Pay Too Much, Poor Pay Too Little OurFuture.org's Bill Scher: "How many Senators voted to raise taxes on the poor and the middle class, while cutting them for the wealthy … and then refused to back the Democratic bill...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 25, 2012 | Blog
The wealthiest Americans live in gated communities, designed to shield them from the intrusion of those Ann Romney calls “you people.” Now Mitt Romney has taken that a step further, offering Americans a gated candidacy, with whole areas walled off to keep “you people”...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 25, 2012 | Blog
First, Mitt Romney goes to the NAACP convention and basically tells a room full of Black folks, "If you knew what's good for you, you'd vote for me," without seeming to realize how condescending and arrogant he sounded. Then Ann Romney drops the "you people" bomb...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 25, 2012 | Blog, Making it in America
A new report says American is too dependent on non-US suppliers. If there were to be a catastrophic event or serious emergency -- or war -- our country could not respond quickly enough, because of the offshoring of critical manufacturing sectors and a reliance on...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 25, 2012 | Blog, Economy
It was a dream come true for the austerity crowd when Great Britain's conservative/"centrist" coalition government took power in 2010. And for commentators like Slate's Anne Appelbaum it was that kind of dream. Her celebratory column reflected the orgiastic glee with...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 25, 2012 | Blog, Economy, Making it in America
Yesterday Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Larry Cohen spoke to a very-well-attended "Bring Jobs Home" rally in San Francisco. The event was organized by the California Labor Federation and the CWA. There was a very...
by Bill Scher | Jul 25, 2012 | Uncategorized
Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to effect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. MORNING MESSAGE: Austero-Erotic...
by | Jul 25, 2012 | Blog
Originally posted at Capital Gains and Games. Two reports over the past two days by the most credible organizations that do budget analysis prove that, no matter what they say publicly, congressional Republicans don't actually give a damn about reducing the federal...
by Brian Dockstader | Jul 25, 2012 | Blog, Climate
If you've watched any cable news show in the last year, chances are you've probably seen one or a thousand ads from the fossil fuel industry attacking regulations and/or trying to paint their products as necessary for prosperity. If nothing else, the sheer volume of...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 24, 2012 | Blog
Last week Republicans filibustered the Bring Jobs Home Act, when polls show dramatic support for ending tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas. Last week Republicans filibustered the DISCLOSE Act which would at least let us know who is pumping hundreds of millions into...
by | Jul 24, 2012 | Blog, Minimum Wage
Today is a day of action to raise the minimum wage. Legislation is being introduced in Congress to increase the federal minimum wage to $9.80 an hour and index it to inflation so that people at the bottom of the wage ladder don’t keep falling behind. Join the day of...
by | Jul 24, 2012 | Blog, The Sequester
Originally posted at Capital Gains and Games. Ask the question in the headline above to a politician, and he or she is very likely to respond with something about how the pressure of the intentional and inadvertent spending cuts and tax increases that are scheduled to...
by Bill Scher | Jul 24, 2012 | Uncategorized
Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to effect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. MORNING MESSAGE: Media Letting...
by Bill Scher | Jul 24, 2012 | Blog
On CNBC yesterday, Mitt Romney said: What the president should do is say look, we're going to extend for at least a year the--well, I'd like to see it permanent, but at least a year--the current tax environment. This sequestration related to defense spending, in...
