by Jeff Bryant | Apr 26, 2012 | Blog, Education
So the "general election has begun" proclaims The Hill, and the exhortations from the punditry are for candidates to either, shore up their base or move to the center. One interesting bit of advice, coming from more than one source, is for the candidates to "talk...
by Jeff Bryant | Apr 26, 2012 | Blog, Education
This week President Obama derided the draconian budget conceived by Rep. Paul Ryan and endorsed by the clear frontrunner in the Republican presidential primary, Mitt Romney, as “laughable,” a “radical vision,” and "nothing but thinly veiled Social Darwinism.” But...
by Jeff Bryant | Apr 26, 2012 | Blog, Education
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, notorious for his flip-flops on a broad array of issues, seems to maintain this tendency when he's addressing policies governing education and public schools. But it would be a big mistake to conclude that there is not at...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 26, 2012 | Blog
In today's Progressive Breakfast: Republicans say student-loan interest rates are high because of "Obamacare." House Republicans are trying to block the Violence Against Women act, using a ruse. They oppose the Dream Act and offer a false compromise to make it look...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 26, 2012 | Blog
Genuine mental illness is a human tragedy that afflicts both the sufferer and those around him or her. Our healthcare system provides inadequate resources for its treatment,. It's no joking matter. Political craziness, on the other hand, is just crazy. It's sheer...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 26, 2012 | Blog
Tuesday the Senate voted 54 to 45 to reject a resolution disapproving of the NLRB decision to speed up union elections. The new rules take effect Monday. This is a victory for working people. The new rules simplify the process and and put off various challenges that...
by Bill Scher | Apr 26, 2012 | Uncategorized
MORNING MESSAGE: Student Debt Crisis Runs Deeper Than Rate Debate OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "Interest rates for student loans will double on July 1 unless Congress acts. That's outrageous - but the fiscal abuse of our nation's young people runs far deeper than...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 26, 2012 | Blog
Click here to tell Congress: Don't Double Student Loan Interest Rates! Interest rates for student loans will double on July 1 unless Congress acts. That's outrageous - but the fiscal abuse of our nation's young people runs far deeper than that. An entire generation...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 25, 2012 | Blog, Economy
I'm in Michigan to cover the GE shareholder meeting tomorrow. I grew up in Michigan and have to say that Mitt Romney was exactly right that the trees here really are the right size. The look of the houses, the layout of the roads, the birds, everything feels right. Of...
by Terrance Heath | Apr 25, 2012 | Blog
It comes to us all, eventually: that epiphanic, "come to Jesus moment" when the light of day finally penetrates our cloud of delusion, and undeniable reality slaps us hard across the face. That moment finally came for Newt Gingrich, who annouced that he will suspend...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Apr 25, 2012 | Blog
Two incumbent blue-dog Democrats were defeated in House primary races Tuesday night, in a sign that progressives are finding ways to successfully counter the corporate corruption in both political parties. In Pennsylvania's 17th District, east of Harrisburg, incumbent...
by Robert Borosage | Apr 25, 2012 | Blog
Mitt Romney opened the general election campaign last night in Manchester, New Hampshire, using his acceptance speech to unleash a fierce attack on Barack Obama's "false promises and failed leadership." He said little about his own policies, preferring to contrast his...
by Bill Scher | Apr 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: Don't Kick College...
by Terrance Heath | Apr 25, 2012 | Blog
When I graduated from high school, my parents expected that I would go to college. I say "expected," but it was really closer to a demand than an expectation. As my father said, "I don't know where you'll go, but you're going to somebody's university." Education was a...
by Robert Borosage | Apr 25, 2012 | Blog
Here’s the real debt crisis: student loan debt. Today, the average student graduates from college with a diploma and an anchor — $25,000 of debt. And if Congress doesn’t act, student loan interest rates will double on July 1. Don’t let Congress kick new graduates in...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 24, 2012 | Blog
In the coming days and weeks we'll be hearing a lot of misinformation about the Trustees Report from the Social Security Administration. It's time to separate the myths from the realities: Myth: "Social Security and Medicare have a cost problem." Fact: Medicare has a...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Apr 24, 2012 | Blog
The White House has ramped up its efforts this week for congressional action to prevent interest rates on the Stafford federal college loan program, now at 3.4 percent, from doubling on July 1. As important as addressing that crisis is, it is one skirmish in a much...
by Terrance Heath | Apr 24, 2012 | Blog, Minimum Wage
When Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos, in his statement concerning the austerity-driven suicide of 77-year-old pensioner Dimitris Christoulas, called on Greeks to "support those next to us who stand in despair," he either missed or ignored the same point that...
by Terrance Heath | Apr 24, 2012 | Blog
When 77-year-old Greek pensioner Dimitris Christoulas sat down under a tree in Athens' busiest public square and committed suicide — shooting himself in the head not far from Parliament, and leaving behind a letter blaming the government's austerity policies for...
by Bill Scher | Apr 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: There Still Is No...
by Leo Gerard | Apr 24, 2012 | Blog
Wear black on Saturday. It is Workers’ Memorial Day, a time devoted to commemorating those killed on the job. A month later, on soldiers' Memorial Day, the nation will recognize those who sacrificed their lives for American ideals, for a nation’s freedom. That...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 24, 2012 | Blog
Brace yourself for another round of ideologically-driven hysteria. It will be pushed by wealthy right-wing power brokers, aided and abetted by the entrenched power elite which Bill Clinton and his kind of Democrat have come to represent. They won't call it "hysteria,"...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 23, 2012 | Blog
Here are some headlines you won't see after the government releases new figures on Social Security and Medicare later today: "Social Security Trust Fund Even Larger Than It Was Last Year" "Growing Wealth Inequity Will Lead to Social Security Imbalance Later This...
by | Apr 23, 2012 | Blog
In 2009, I was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. It’s been tough, but I’m a three-year survivor. I was also born with cerebral palsy and use a wheelchair for mobility. After my breast cancer diagnosis, my husband James needed to take some time off work to care...
by | Apr 23, 2012 | Blog
90 days. That’s how long the American people and 11 million underwater homeowners have waited for President Barack Obama and his federal mortgage task force to get to work. The president announced on Jan. 24, during his State of the Union address, the formation of a...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 23, 2012 | Blog
"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time." This quote shows how far the Republican Party has drifted... (Hint: the quote is attributed to the party's founder. The...
by Bill Scher | Apr 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 Tax Evaders Of...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 22, 2012 | Blog
In Sunday's NY Times Tom Friedman fights hard to keep his ranking at the top of blogger honor lists. Friedman's op-ed Down With Everything is a masterpiece of false equivalence. In it, Friedman identifies various problems with our political system while he obscures...
by Sam Pizzigati | Apr 22, 2012 | Blog
Over two years ago, the IRS announced an ambitious new effort to subject the super rich to unprecedentedly intensive audits. How's that effort working out? Most lawmakers would rather you not ask. Every once in a while, our plutocrats drop all democratic pretense and...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 20, 2012 | Blog
Are we "going the way of Greece?" Should we cut spending to head off a "debt crisis" here? Conservatives in Europe and America say cutting back on what democracies do for their citizens is the solution to our economic troubles because it will bring economic growth...
by Robert Borosage | Apr 20, 2012 | Blog
The Washington Post's Ezra Klein takes issue with my argument -- detailed in The Zombie Rises: The Return of Simpson Bowles -- that the American elite consensus on austerity will take us down the same path that Europe is heading towards recession. But he misses the...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Apr 20, 2012 | Blog
If enough of us demand it, we can get the White House to answer a simple question: Will you or will you not stand with underwater homeowners and push for principal reductions—even if it means pushing aside the agency chief who is opposing that remedy? We're asking our...
by Robert Borosage | Apr 20, 2012 | Blog
Two weeks ago we called on top housing finance regulator and Bush administration holdover Edward DeMarco to reduce mortgage principal for struggling homeowners. “Move or be removed,” we said. Thousands of you responded. But it’s not just us. The head of the Mortgage...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Apr 20, 2012 | Blog
Key voices on Capitol Hill today echoed the message that underwater homeowners need the principal on their mortgages reduced, and that the government official responsible for keeping that from happening should either change his position or step down from his post....
by Richard Eskow | Apr 20, 2012 | Blog
Edward DeMarco is the beleaguered bureaucrat in charge of an agency called the Federal Housing Finance Agency. And because the FHFA is now managing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, DeMarco's in charge of most American mortgages. He's been the target of resignation demands...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 20, 2012 | Blog
I should start giving a false equivalence award. Today I have for you a glaring example. In a column about how Romney lies, a DC-elitist pundit tells you that Obama lies, too. False equivalence is when reporters and pundits in the "mainstream" news media feel they...
by Bill Scher | Apr 20, 2012 | Uncategorized
MORNING MESSAGE: The Means-Testing Scam OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "Conservatives are pushing the idea for three reasons: The first is to convince people that Social Security isn't really a social insurance program, or that they've earned their benefits. They'd...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 19, 2012 | Blog
Picture this: You're driving down the road one rainy day as someone bearing an uncanny resemblance to Mitt Romney approaches you from the other direction in a Cadillac. One of you hydroplanes and there's a collision. After both of you have confirmed that nobody's hurt...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 19, 2012 | Blog
The 99% Spring movement is starting to make itself heard at corporate shareholder meetings around the country. And next week it really gets started and will be big. (I'll be reporting from the GE shareholder meeting next week in Detroit.) Did you know that shareholder...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 19, 2012 | Blog, Making it in America
When President Nixon went to China in 1972, manufacturing was 22 percent of the nation's economy. It was still 20 percent of the nation's economy eight years later when China was granted most-favored-nation trading status. We're all too familiar with how the story of...
