by Leo Gerard | Jul 24, 2012 | Blog
John McCain and Mitt Romney share a secret. It’s 23 years of Mitt’s tax returns. Mitt gave them to McCain in 2008 when McCain, then the GOP presidential nominee, was vetting VP candidates. This time around, Mitt has won the GOP nomination, but now he’s hiding those 23...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 24, 2012 | Blog
(See update below.) Last week a Romney campaign ad used a fabricated quote, using doctored audio to make it appear that President Obama said something that he did not say. In Deceptive New Romney Ad Is Key Test For Media I asked if today's news media is up to the task...
by Jeff Bryant | Jul 23, 2012 | Blog, Education
When a leading conservative pundit compliments a labor union leader for getting something right, it's usually worth noticing. That's exactly what happened recently when The Washington Post's conservative op-ed columnist George Will praised Karen Lewis, the head of the...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 23, 2012 | Blog
Unless you've been off the planet for the better part of this year, you've heard all about Mitt Romney's vulture capitalist career at the helm of Bain Capital — the private equity firm founded by Romney, where he gained the experience he touts as his chief...
by | Jul 23, 2012 | Blog
Via TPM: Conservative columnist George Will said Sunday that the Aurora, Colo. shootings have little to do with the nation’s gun laws, describing it as the product of an isolated, deranged individual. “That’s what the problem is – an individual’s twisted mind,” he...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jul 23, 2012 | Blog
All those official government stats on the maldistribution of wealth in the United States — and the world — vastly understate the actual extent of our contemporary inequality, says a blockbuster new study on global tax havens. Are America’s rich getting richer?...
by | Jul 23, 2012 | Blog, Making it in America
American manufacturing is like apple pie to American voters: we love it and want more of it regardless of our politics, race, gender, income, or hometown. If you live in a swing state like Ohio, you already know that, because both presidential candidates have flooded...
by Bill Scher | Jul 23, 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 Minimum Wage...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 23, 2012 | Blog
Nowadays we outsource our madness to the movies. The violence enacted there channels our irrational rages and tantalizes us with our own dark fantasies until they're finally fulfilled in a climax of third-act satisfaction. Some say that Jesus died for our sins; action...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 22, 2012 | Blog, Minimum Wage
Economic issues make some people's eyes glaze over, so we'll put this plainly: Today's minimum wage is epic in its injustice and Dickensian in its cruelty. It's a shame that Dickens himself isn't here to write about it. Oh, and we almost forgot: Keeping it this low...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 20, 2012 | Blog
Our economy doesn't function well without strong government oversight, regulation and demand-creating "stimulus." We also need strong government to empower and protect us from those (foreign and domestic) who would keep us down and under their control. But the ones...
by | Jul 20, 2012 | Blog
With Michael Winship Ask any magician and they’ll tell you that the secret to a successful magic trick is misdirection — distracting the crowd so they don’t realize how they’re being fooled. Get them watching your left hand while your right hand palms the silver...
by Bill Scher | Jul 20, 2012 | Blog
Conservatives are taking a big risk throwing a hissy fit over the new HHS state waiver initiative to experiment with welfare-to-work methods. Charging President Obama with scheming to "gut" welfare reform's mission of moving aid recipients into the workforce is the...
by | Jul 20, 2012 | Blog
So I understand from the twitter scolds that we are not supposed to talk about this mass murder except to share clinical details about what happened and express condolences to the victims. The shutting down any discussion of the social, cultural and political...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 20, 2012 | Blog, Economy
On Thursday, Senate Republicans FILIBUSTERED to block a bill ending the tax breaks companies get when they send our jobs out of the country -- and giving a few breaks to companies that hire here. The question now: will this get reported to the public? Will they be...
by Bill Scher | Jul 20, 2012 | Uncategorized
MORNING MESSAGE: Grand Bargain v. Deal for All OurFuture.org's Isaiah J. Poole: "Congressional Progressive Caucus leaders Reps. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Keith Ellison, D-Minn., are trying to get political support for a congressional resolution that would repudiate...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 20, 2012 | Blog
Congressional Progressive Caucus leaders Reps. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Keith Ellison, D-Minn., are trying to get political support for a congressional resolution that would repudiate any "grand bargain" on the federal deficit that cuts Social Security, Medicare or...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 19, 2012 | Blog
The Romney campaign has released an astonishingly deceptive new ad, containing a blatant, flat-out lie. The new ad actually edits together snippets of words and sentences to make it sound as if President Obama said something he did not say, and then attacks him for...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 19, 2012 | Blog, Economy, Minimum Wage
Scratch the surface of just about any economic debate this election year, and you'll find one issue that goes all the way to the core: the yawning gap between the 1% and the rest of us, as skyrocketing income inequality. A new report from the National Employment Law...
by Radhika Raman | Jul 19, 2012 | Blog, Economy
I have an exercise for you. Don't worry: You can do it at your computer. Think about all the reasons why a multinational corporation would choose to move jobs to another country. Lower labor costs? More efficient and better educated workers? Potential to contribute to...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 19, 2012 | Blog
In a previous post, I wrote that Mitt Romney was booed at the NAACP convention when he reiterated his support for repealing health care reform was because, what health care reform means for African Americans. Many people in the audience probably knew what...
by Bill Scher | Jul 19, 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 Conservative...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 18, 2012 | Blog
Before Andrew Leonard's paean to paying taxes (inspired by his house catching fire) sparked me to write a different post on Friday, I'd intended to write a wrap-up post, comparing Mitt Romney's NAACP speech to Joe Biden's speech. Something Vice President Biden said in...
by | Jul 18, 2012 | Blog, The Sequester
Originally posted at Capital Gains and Games. There’s increasing nervousness on Capitol Hill these days about the one thing that has to be done on the budget before voters go to the polls. Unlike 2011, when multiple spending, tax and debt ceiling deadlines were...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 18, 2012 | Blog
I write from a patio overlooking the palmed courtyard of the Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The colonial vestiges have their appeal. Phnom Penh, which I imagined as a sleepy French influenced capital with rickshaws and tuktuks, is a bustling...
by Bill Scher | Jul 18, 2012 | Uncategorized
MORNING MESSAGE: Yes, Romney Is a "Modern Capitalist." OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "David Brooks says Obama's attacks on Romney's business record are 'about capitalism.' That's like saying an arrest for vehicular homicide is 'about driving.' … Brooks...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 18, 2012 | Blog
David Brooks says Obama's attacks on Romney's business record are "about capitalism." That's like saying an arrest for vehicular homicide is "about driving." Our economic "roads" are jammed with destructive drivers like Romney. They're menacing motorists with their...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 17, 2012 | Blog, Minimum Wage
Everyone wants to know, "What is Mitt Romney hiding?" Or - given that lately every day seems seems bring to another revelation about Romney's offshore accounts, or more evidence that undermines Mitt's story about just when he finally left Bain Capital - "What else is...
by Bill Scher | Jul 17, 2012 | Blog
Republicans used to oppose regulations on campaign contributions by saying all we needed was more disclosure so people would know who contributed to who, and could make their own judgements. Now, when Democrats introduce a DISCLOSE Act to do just that, Republicans...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 17, 2012 | Blog
The Jeff Daniels character from The Newsroom would know what to ask the operators of an allegedly "grass roots" group called "No Labels": "Why won't you publish your list of donors?" "What's wrong with having legislators debate the issues publicly? Isn't that how...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 17, 2012 | Blog, Economy
If our government just did the infrastructure work it has to do anyway eventually, much of the unemployment emergency would go away and the economy would get better. It's just that simple. But they won't. Infrastructure = Internal Improvements That Support Business...
by Leo Gerard | Jul 17, 2012 | Blog
Bankers love to recount the fabled story of the invisible hand. In their version, the superhero Invisible Hand effectively controls the market, thoroughly trust-busting and fraud-forestalling. Everyone lives happily ever after. Truth be told, however, the tale of the...
by Bill Scher | Jul 17, 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 No Labels Plan...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 16, 2012 | Blog, Making it in America
The big brouhaha over when Mitt Romney left Bain Capital began when the Obama campaign accused Romney/Bain of offshoring jobs. Romney called Obama a "liar," saying he left Bain before the company did most of its offshoring. Then a Washington Post investigation found...
by | Jul 16, 2012 | Blog
Susie makes a great point about Mitt's repulsive "free lunch" comments after the NAACP speech. Of course it was disgusting for its race baiting. That goes without saying. But I think most of us missed the humongous irony in what this privileged jerk was saying. Susie...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 16, 2012 | Blog
In a Sunday op-ed Arthur Laffer provides one of the funniest lines of the week, "Right-to-work laws provide individual workers with greater freedom to negotiate the terms of their employment." I almost spat out my coffee, thinking about what would happen to the worker...
by Bill Scher | Jul 16, 2012 | Uncategorized
MORNING MESSAGE: Individuals vs. Giant Corporations OurFuture.org's Dave Johnson: "In a Sunday op-ed Arthur Laffer provides one of the funniest lines of the week, 'Right-to-work laws provide individual workers with greater freedom to negotiate the terms of their...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 14, 2012 | Blog
The U.S. Olympic team's uniforms were made in China? This might be a WTF moment for the country, over the practice of sending our jobs, factories, industries and economy to China for the super-enrichment of a few. What next, a President made in China? Made In China...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 13, 2012 | Blog, Making it in America
Following is the talk I gave to the Take Back the American Dream conference panel, Making It In America: Reviving and Strengthening U.S. Manufacturing. You have undoubtedly heard the numbers, almost all of them bad. We have a trade deficit of more than $550 billion...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 13, 2012 | Blog
The Heritage Foundation today spread a falsehood about a change the Obama administration is instituting in the 1996 welfare reform law that has rapidly spread through the right-wing blogosphere. Letting Heritage and the right wing get away with this lie would do...
