by Dave Johnson | Jun 1, 2012 | Blog, Economy
Combine a too-optimistic administration with a Republican Party that is sabotaging the economy as a campaign strategy and what do you get? You get today's terrible jobs report. First, though, remember that the economy lost 818,000 jobs in the last month of the Bush...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jun 1, 2012 | Blog, Economy
Today's unemployment report, reflecting an anemic increase of only 69,000 new jobs in May and an unemployment rate up to 8.2 percent, is the best evidence yet that conservative obstruction measures that would put Americans back to work is crippling the economy. That...
by Bill Scher | Jun 1, 2012 | Uncategorized
MORNING MESSAGE: Chief Justice Roberts' Choice The New Republic's Jeffrey Rosen: …I’ve been giving him the benefit of the doubt for the past six years. But Roberts has already presided over a Court that has struck down campaign finance reform and affirmative...
by Dave Johnson | May 31, 2012 | Blog
Mike Elk, of In These Times, attempted to ask Honeywell CEO David Cote a question, at a Capitol Hill event. Watch what happens. More from Republic Report: Video: On Capitol Hill, Reporter Attacked For Daring To Ask A Question To A Powerful CEO, Republic Report...
by Terrance Heath | May 31, 2012 | Blog
Before Greece, before Spain, before Germany, France, or even Britain there was Ireland. Just two years ago, the Heritage Foundation placed Ireland in the top ten of its "Index of Economic Freedom." That was two years after the "Celtic Tiger" that was the Irish economy...
by Isaiah J. Poole | May 31, 2012 | Blog
Ruby Brown of Minneapolis says that for the past four years, she has been "struggling to keep Bank of America from taking my home," trying to convince the bank to reset the principal on her mortgage to its current market value. But the bank has refused, and she fears...
by Tula Connell | May 31, 2012 | Blog, Economy
Ever see a construction worker hanging off a bridge while making essential repairs and wonder what it takes to do a job like that?The same rare skills, along with many others, also are necessary to build and maintain the nation’s growing number of wind turbines—and...
by Steven Capozzola | May 31, 2012 | Blog
Last fall, we pondered whether Apple could start building iPads and iPhones in the U.S. Our conclusion was, YES, Apple could indeed start assembling products in the U.S. Some key points: 1. Labor costs are not the key factor. As Michele Nash-Hoff...
by | May 31, 2012 | Blog
Are you wondering where your tax dollars are going? Then take a look at the $642.5 billion stuffed into the National Defense Authorization Act, which the House of Representatives recently approved. House Republicans may spout plenty of concern about the nation's...
by Bill Scher | May 31, 2012 | Uncategorized
MORNING MESSAGE: December Surprise? OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "They just named a street after Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco, while there's a strong argument for putting Robert Rubin's name on a subpoena. But the Liberal Democrat and the Wall Street Democrat are...
by Richard Eskow | May 30, 2012 | Blog
On a recent Meet the Press face-off between Democrats and Republicans, a politician claimed we urgently need to cut government spending. He embraced a plan to slash vital government programs and gut retirement security, while actually cutting taxes for the rich. The...
by Mary Bottari | May 30, 2012 | Blog, Minimum Wage
Many are wondering if making Wisconsin a "Right to Work" state is next on Governor Scott Walker's agenda if he wins the recall election on June 5. Right to Work laws weaken unions by allowing members to opt out of paying dues. Workers get the benefit of working in a...
by Dave Johnson | May 30, 2012 | Blog, Minimum Wage
Democracy properly applied brings widespread prosperity because when people have a say what they say is give everyone good wages, benefits and a share of the pie. They say reinvest some of the profits in infrastructure and education to keep the good times rolling....
by | May 30, 2012 | Blog
I wrote a bit about the Chris Hayes flap over a Mother Jones earlier. I think he was perfectly respectful and thoughtful as always and that his point was well taken. But his apology opened up a new topic that I think is worth exploring: It does raise a question in my...
by Terrance Heath | May 30, 2012 | Blog, Economy
When I read about the recent polls indicating a huge shift among African-Americans towards supporting same-sex marriage — a Public Policy Polling survey showing that 57% of African Americans say they're likely to support Maryland's marriage equality law, and a...
by | May 30, 2012 | Blog
Originally published at Capital Gains and Games. My guess is that Paul Krugman thought that this post was one of the more trifling economic-oriented pieces he has written in a while. It was short and probably took little time. It was also seemingly commonplace. After...
by Bill Scher | May 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: How Obama Can...
by Isaiah J. Poole | May 29, 2012 | Blog
By the time you read this, we should be at the 25th hour of what is, even though it shouldn't be, one of those 24-hour stories, namely Chris Hayes' comment about our country's casual use of the word "hero" for all of our military personnel and the knee-jerk right-wing...
by Richard Eskow | May 29, 2012 | Blog
There's a lot we don't know about the deal between Sen. Mike Lee, Tea Party Republican of Utah, and America's largest bank. But we already know something's very, very wrong: Why is it that most Americans can't get a principal reduction from Chase or any other bank,...
by Alan Jenkins | May 29, 2012 | Blog
The ink’s barely dry on the historic settlement of “robo-signing” and other abusive foreclosure practices by five big banks. But, already, some states are raiding the settlement funds to finance activities having nothing to do with preventing foreclosures or...
by Leo Gerard | May 29, 2012 | Blog
Mitt Romney made a boatload of money for himself and his fellow fat cats. No doubt about it. Billions. But he made it the way Americans hate most – Wall Street style wheeling and dealing. Americans hate it because when all that scheming went bad, when the market...
by Bill Scher | May 29, 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: How We Win In...
by | May 28, 2012 | Blog
Two years ago, the corporate-backed Tea Party didn’t just win an election. It won the argument. Conservatives defined the agenda that we’ve had to fight against ever since. This year, to save the nation, progressives must get back on offense and drive the agenda. We...
by Sam Pizzigati | May 28, 2012 | Blog
A perfectly respectable business panel is urging corporate boards to ditch the ridiculous rationalizations for CEO pay excess and narrow the gargantuan corporate pay gap. Step one: end CEO stock options. In Corporate America, the emperors have no clothes. The entire...
by Dave Johnson | May 28, 2012 | Blog
This spring the spirit of the Occupy Wall Street movement arrived at corporate shareholder meetings, with the 99% Power coalition demanding decent corporate governance that serves the interests of We, the People rather than just a few people. There are results inside...
by Dave Johnson | May 28, 2012 | Blog
The Mitt Romney campaign is airing an ad promising that on his first day in office Romney would "stand up to China" and demand "they play by the rules." Romney has the opportunity right now to demonstrate that he will live up to these words. He can ask Republicans in...
by Bill Scher | May 28, 2012 | Blog
Yesterday the EPA released a new rule setting greenhouse gas emission limits on new power plants, which are strict enough to effectively ban new coal plants that lack the ability to capture and sequester carbon. This is a major step in the Obama administration's "Plan...
by Jeff Bryant | May 25, 2012 | Blog, Education
In this week's round in the nation's presidential contest, education got tossed into the ring and slapped around by the opposing candidates and their spokespeople. Who won the round is anyone's guess, but poor education got mauled in the process and tossed into the...
by Isaiah J. Poole | May 25, 2012 | Blog
The gauntlet has been thrown down in the tax fairness fight. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor earlier today announced that House Republicans will schedule a vote before the August recess on making the Bush tax cuts permanent for everyone, including the rich and...
by Terrance Heath | May 25, 2012 | Blog, Economy
Earlier this week, I tried to explain what the Bain debate is really about. It's not about capitalism vs. "socialism." It's about choosing what kind of capitalism we want. It's about the future, and deciding what kind of economy we want. It's about deciding who and...
by Richard Eskow | May 25, 2012 | Blog
More and more people are calling for Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, to resign from the Board of the New York Federal Reserve. His latest scandal, combined with Dimon's hypocrisy and relentless self-promotion, make him an obvious target. But Dimon isn't alone....
by Bill Scher | May 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: Romney’s...
by Bill Scher | May 25, 2012 | Blog
This week, Mitt Romney made the bold prediction that in four years, his policies would reduce the unemployment rate … to the level economists project it will be if we don’t do anything: 6%. At least It fits on a bumper sticker. Mitt Romney: Reach For The Baseline. But...
by Isaiah J. Poole | May 24, 2012 | Blog
Thursday's reports that unemployment claims are edging downward take on a slightly different cast after reading a complaint filed with the Labor Department detailing how a new Florida law is hindering unemployed people from claiming the benefits that are rightfully...
by | May 24, 2012 | Blog
Melissa Harris-Perry will be a featured speaker at the Take Back the American Dream conference, convening June 18 to 20 in Washington, DC, as part of the plenary session, "2012 and Beyond: Victory Necessary, Not Sufficient." The following is an excerpt of an article...
by Dave Johnson | May 24, 2012 | Blog
At today's Amazon shareholder meeting in Seattle the company announced that it is dropping support for ALEC, while fudging questions about its taxes and voting down proposals to report its efforts to address climate change and to disclose its political spending. The...
by Terrance Heath | May 24, 2012 | Blog
This strange political season gets stranger by the day. The things I'm hearing and seeing from Newt Gingrich and Cory Booker today reminded me of a song from one of the last (and, in my opinion, underrated) albums by Culture Club; my favorite band from my 80's youth....
by | May 24, 2012 | Blog
One thing about Ayn Rand's influence is that, for the most part, it tends to wane as people grow up and wise up. But until they do, they tend to be insufferably single minded and painfully aggressive about it. So, does this seem like a good idea? Armed with an...
by Bill Scher | May 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: GOP Chooses...
by Dave Johnson | May 23, 2012 | Blog
I have "Build Me Up Buttercup" stuck in my head and I think I figured it out. President Obama is coming to Redwood City today (and I am fleeing, heading to Seattle to cover tomorrow's Amazon shareholder meeting.) Look at the marquee at the downtown Fox Theater: ABBA...
