by Bill Scher | Sep 14, 2011 | 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 Phony Solyndra...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Sep 13, 2011 | Blog
The Census Bureau reports that the percentage of people living in poverty in the U.S. is at its highest level in almost two decades. But not to worry, says the conservative Heritage Foundation: Poor people are doing just fine: Few of the 46.2 million people identified...
by Terrance Heath | Sep 13, 2011 | Blog
Just when I think I've heard and seen it all, along come the Republican presidential debates. Judging by a couple candidates' of biggest applause lines, the GOP base is quite enthusiastic about (someone else's) death, and apparently don't care who knows it. The most...
by | Sep 13, 2011 | Blog
Robert Reich will be a featured speaker at Take Back the American Dream, convening in Washington from Oct. 3 to 5. On Monday the President will offer ways to pay for his $467 billion American Jobs Act mostly by increasing taxes on the wealthy. I’m all in favor, but...
by | Sep 13, 2011 | Blog, Reagan Revolution
Sally Kohn will be a featured speaker at Take Back the American Dream, convening in Washington from Oct. 3 to 5. The following was originally published at The American Prospect. It's beyond ironic that the pack of extremist ideologues running in the Republican primary...
by Bill Scher | Sep 13, 2011 | 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: Progressive Caucus...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Sep 13, 2011 | Blog, Economy
On the morning after President Obama sent his "American Jobs Act" legislation to Capitol Hill, the Progressive Caucus is responding with its "Rebuild The American Dream Framework," six pillars that progressive leaders in Congress are using to...
by Terrance Heath | Sep 12, 2011 | Blog
Given what I've been writing for the past few years about upward mobility and the state of "the American Dream," it doesn't come as a surprise to me that downward mobility is the trend that seems likely to dominate the next decade — especially if Washington...
by Dave Johnson | Sep 12, 2011 | Blog
Why are "capital gains" taxes so much lower than taxes on other income? The reason capital gains taxes are lower is because most of the income of the rich is from capital gains. And the reason most of the income of the rich is from capital gains is because capital...
by Bill Scher | Sep 12, 2011 | Blog
Presidential candidate Rick Perry has an oped about Social Security in USA Today ludicrously titled, "I am going to be honest with the American people." It is ludicrous because the goal of the oped is to lie to the public and suggest he thinks Social Security should...
by | Sep 12, 2011 | Blog
I'm not going to write a remembrance of 9/11. David did a lovely one this morning and I have nothing of substance to add to it. Like everyone else, I remember what I felt and thought on that day with crystal clarity and I'll never forget it. I had nightmares for years...
by Bill Scher | Sep 12, 2011 | 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: Plutocracy With A...
by Richard Eskow | Sep 11, 2011 | Blog
Joe Biden famously said of Rudy Giuliani, "There's only three things he mentions in a sentence -- a noun, a verb, and 9/11. There's nothing else! There's nothing else!" Great line. But this is not a day to talk about Joe Biden or Rudy Giuliani. But it is a day for...
by Sam Pizzigati | Sep 11, 2011 | Blog
Not all plutocrats scheme in the shadows like the rabidly right-wing Koch brothers. We need to learn how to recognize plutocracy's more subtle putches. The best primer? The battle over education's future. “Plutocracy” first burst big-time into our national political...
by Terrance Heath | Sep 9, 2011 | Blog
Well, he did it. President Obama went big. Big for him, anyway. While the presidents plan isn't bold enough to satisfy many progressives, he accomplished something that may cause Republicans some regret if they fail to realize it and the president presses his...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Sep 9, 2011 | Blog
I've just purchased tickets to see the new movie "Contagion," about a mysterious virus that spreads with deadly havoc around the globe. But after reading this article by the Los Angeles Times, I'm realizing that the real health horror story is not coming from...
by Richard Eskow | Sep 9, 2011 | Blog, Economy
This is not your father's (or mother's) GOP. During a time of national crisis, the President has submitted an urgently-needed jobs bill that is well within the mainstream for Republicans as well as Democrats. But today's Republicans are a new breed, dedicated not to...
by Dave Johnson | Sep 9, 2011 | Blog
President Obama has taken a step in the right direction with his speech and jobs plan. It was a small step - but it has to be to present Republicans with the choice to cooperate or get pushed out of the way. If this passes it is a win for jobs and the economy -- and...
by | Sep 9, 2011 | Blog
In two short years, we have gone from a nation hungry for change — to a nation with too many who are just hungry. Today, working and middle-class Americans are increasingly feeling as if no one is listening. How did we lose control of the conversation? How do we...
by Terrance Heath | Sep 9, 2011 | Blog
Last month, in one week, the DC Metro Area was hit with an earthquake (5.9 on the Richter scale) and the remnants of Hurricane Irene. This week, we're being it with heavy rains (a month's rain in a week, according to the Baltimore Sun), from tropical storm Lee, and...
by Bill Scher | Sep 9, 2011 | 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: Jobs -- Action Now...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Sep 9, 2011 | Blog, Economy
Today 68 major progressive organizations have sent a letter to President Obama urging him to present a "big, bold" jobs program to the nation in his anticipated post-Labor Day address. Some of the organizations signing the letter, while praising the...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Sep 9, 2011 | Blog, Economy
Zero. That was the number of net jobs produced by the economy in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Zero is the number that looms above President Obama as he delivers his address Thursday to a joint session of Congress. The imperative for the...
by | Sep 9, 2011 | Blog
This Labor Day, please join me in taking a little time to recognize the value of work and all who do it. It’s a time to honor the transit workers who get us where we need to go every day. The teachers who will spend their Labor Day getting classrooms ready for our...
by Roger Hickey | Sep 9, 2011 | Blog
Today's unemployment report, which shows zero net job creation and 14 million people officially unemployed, shows that the economy is dead in the water, and the focus on deficit reduction and austerity measures is systematically damaging employment and growth. Cuts to...
by Richard Eskow | Sep 9, 2011 | Blog, Economy
Rest. A time of rest from long hours of work. That's the principle enshrined in Labor Day, a 125-year-old American holiday that celebrates the spirit of organized labor. It's the spirit behind the six-day workweek, too. A day of rest was enshrined in monotheism's holy...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Sep 9, 2011 | Blog, Economy
President Obama's speech before a joint session of Congress Thursday will be measured in a number of ways, but for the millions of unemployed and underemployed people in America only one measurement counts: the specific proposals Obama places before the country to get...
by Terrance Heath | Sep 9, 2011 | Blog
House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor asked to meet with President Obama, to "discuss potential areas of bipartisan agreement," before his (hopefully) big jobs speech. Either they were hoping to crib some ideas, because they're...
by Robert Borosage | Sep 9, 2011 | Blog, Economy
Drawing the Line Last night, President Obama powerfully called on the Congress to end the “political circus” and act on jobs. His agenda featured proposals that have traditionally gained bipartisan support. He indicted the failed conservative notion “that the only...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Sep 8, 2011 | Blog, Economy
One of the House Progressive Caucus co-chairs, Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., is expected to introduce a bill later today that will require the 12-member congressional deficit-reduction "super-committee" to vote on a plan to create 3 million jobs—before acting on...
by Jeff Bryant | Sep 8, 2011 | Blog, Education
My guest today is Rob Levine. Rob is the founder of Cursor.org and Mediatransparency.org. He blogs about education issues and other topics at his personal blog thecuckingstool.blogspot.com. As the federal government's primary help for schools that educate...
by Dave Johnson | Sep 8, 2011 | Blog, Making it in America
In last night's Republican Presidential debate, former US Ambassador to China and Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman was asked about Gov. Mitt Romney's call to confront China over their trade policies. Huntsman appeared to say that we should not confront China over...
by Digby | Sep 8, 2011 | Blog
I write a lot about the Villagers' endless preening about "shared sacrifice", as if forcing old ladies to live on even less than they do now is somehow equal to asking corporations to depreciate their corporate jets over a longer period. It drives me crazy. But this,...
by Bill Scher | Sep 8, 2011 | 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: Republicans On...
by Dave Johnson | Sep 8, 2011 | Blog
One part of Mitt Romney's "Jobs Plan" is worth pointing out and commending: he is right when it comes to China. Romney calls for steps to make China "play be the rules" including sanctions for currency manipulation and blocking China's use of third-party countries to...
by Richard Eskow | Sep 8, 2011 | Blog
Red's the designated Republican color, but the shades used for Wednesday’s GOP debate have never been glimpsed in nature. Ranging from scarlet to carnelian to a kind of raspberry-magenta blend, they would have induced psychosis in any self-respecting interior...
by Josh Rosenblum | Sep 7, 2011 | Blog
This past Friday night in Washington, a New York Mets pitcher threw the type of pitch President Obama must use in his march to stop any new proposals to cut Social Security if he plans to make it through the game of the deficit talks and his reelection. In the recent...
by Bill Scher | Sep 7, 2011 | 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 "Jobs" Plan...
by Dave Johnson | Sep 6, 2011 | Blog
Have you heard any news in the major corporate media about the Contract For The American Dream, from The American Dream Movement? Probably not. And this means you probably didn't know there were over 400 protests in 32 different states against 85 members of Congress...
by Richard Eskow | Sep 6, 2011 | Blog
There's no better barometer of Washington's debased values and historical blindness than the Washington Post, that trade paper of the professional governing class. Today it attacked Eric Schneiderman, the New York Attorney General taking a brave stand against a cushy...
