by Roger Hickey | Aug 3, 2011 | Blog
Are you disgusted with a Washington held hostage by right-wing Republicans, putting retirement security, health care, and public investment on the chopping block – and ignoring the jobs crisis? What's it going to take to end the Republican insanity and Democratic...
by Robert Borosage | Aug 3, 2011 | Blog
What did Republicans learn from the debt ceiling debacle? All the wrong lessons. Here is Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell gloating about taking the economy "hostage." "I think some of our members may have thought the default issue was a hostage you might take...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 3, 2011 | Blog
The American people have just endured a months-long bipartisan battering with words, as politicians and talking heads from both parties insist that they "take their medicine" by enduring severe austerity cuts. Against all evidence, they were told that this would be...
by | Aug 3, 2011 | Blog
The new CNN poll shows that the public thinks everyone is Washington acts like spoiled children and that they don't think default would have amounted to much. They are pretty much evenly divided as to whether or not this was a good deal. (Most people approve of the...
by Bill Scher | Aug 3, 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: Democratic "Super...
by Roger Hickey | Aug 3, 2011 | Blog
Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) should use their power to appoint members of the “Super Committee” created by the new debt ceiling legislation to make sure that the Democratic half of that powerful group will...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 2, 2011 | Blog, Economy
In the wake of a deal that included all the wrong things, today the President finally said all the right things. His agreement with the Republicans included no investment in economic growth, no job creation, no tax increases on the wealthy, no closing of corporate...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Aug 2, 2011 | Blog, Economy
Even Wall Street today rendered an unexpectedly brutal verdict on the passage of the deficit-reduction deal signed off on by President Obama and congressional leadership. Today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 265 points, falling below 12,000. The...
by | Aug 2, 2011 | Blog
By the time you read this, one of two things will have happened: Either the shouting about the debt ceiling will have turned into complete silence because the deal was enacted, or it will have grown into the decibel equivalent of a multiengine military jet going...
by Robert Borosage | Aug 2, 2011 | Blog
The debt ceiling agreement passed by Congress today sets up a 12-person "super committee" with extraordinary powers and the mandate to locate $1.5 trillion in spending cuts and/or increased revenues for expedited vote by December. The Republican and...
by Bill Scher | Aug 2, 2011 | Uncategorized
MORNING MESSAGE: Four Ways The Deal Hurts You OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "1. You'll be less likely to find a job if you're looking. If you've got a job, you're less likely to earn more money - and more likely to lose it ... 2. Your housing value is likely to...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 1, 2011 | Blog
The country has been held at gunpoint: a faction of the Congress, in service to a wealthy elite, were able to get away with threatening us, saying "give us everything we want or we will kill your economy." The other side, inured now to one-dollar-one-vote "market"...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 1, 2011 | Blog
Today we're watching the end of a brief manufactured crisis - and the beginning of a long national nightmare. The "debt ceiling" deal has been crafted so that "centrist" (i.e., right-wing) Democrats and Republicans can finally implement the draconian measures they...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 1, 2011 | Blog
How is this deal likely to affect your household? If you're in the top 1% of earners, there's no need to read any further because it probably won't affect you personally. Here are five ways it's likely to affect the rest of us: 1. You'll be less likely to find a job...
by | Aug 1, 2011 | Blog
This morning's hangover is worse than expected so bear with me. The good news is that we can finally stop talking about the debt ceiling and start talking about jobs. There's nothing we can do about that now, but maybe something will magically happen if we just say...
by Bill Scher | Aug 1, 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: Capitulation...
by Robert Borosage | Aug 1, 2011 | Blog, Economy
The raw deal on the budget ceiling has been cut. The Tea Party terrorists – the extremist faction willing to hold the economy hostage to get their way – have won. The Republic, common sense and decency have been trampled. With the economy deeply depressed, 25 million...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jul 31, 2011 | Blog
At times of national fiscal crisis, President Franklin Roosevelt ever so firmly believed, you don't give the awesomely affluent a free pass. You pound them — and then you pound them some more. Against a Congress where zealously rich people-friendly conservatives hold...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 31, 2011 | Blog
The Congress is fighting over how to cut the 10-year deficit, and this fight is at the edge of putting the country into default. The thing is, all of the things that polls show the public wants our government to do are off the table in these discussions. The public is...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 31, 2011 | Blog, Economy
Get out the togas; Congress is fiddling while Rome burns. As the grim economic numbers show, this economy is barely moving, crippled by government cutbacks that once more cost jobs. 25 million people are in need of full time work, a number that is growing as the...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 31, 2011 | Blog
I didn't think it was possible, but I found something more pathetic than John Boehner scrambling for GOP support for his debt limit bill, only to end up postponing the vote indefinitely. More pathetic even than Boehner telling is caucus to "get their asses in line"...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 31, 2011 | Blog
As House Speaker John Boehner today was busy getting his "asses" in line behind a horrific piece of budget legislation that would kill jobs and heighten the economic insecurity of millions of Americans, several hundred demonstrators gathered at the U.S....
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 31, 2011 | Blog
The clock is ticking toward a likely economic Armageddon, and House Speaker John Boehner is wasting time trying to score political points rather than address the need to raise the nation's debt ceiling and work toward a balanced solution to the nation's long-term debt...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 30, 2011 | Blog
You have probably been hearing about "the debt crisis." I can't open a newspaper or turn on the radio or TV without hearing about "the debt crisis." Well stop calling it that, because that isn't what is going on. There is no debt crisis; the only crisis going on is...
by Brian Dockstader | Jul 30, 2011 | Blog
Speaker John Boehner is having a heckuva time getting his very-right-wing caucus to support any debt ceiling increase that wasn't written on a stone tablet by Ayn Rand herself. What is really striking about the process of trying to appeal to the Republican caucus,...
by | Jul 29, 2011 | Blog
The failure of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to get enough votes yesterday from the Republican caucus to pass the deficit reduction/debt ceiling legislation he drafted has the federal budgeting world scrambling today for new options. With only four days...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 29, 2011 | Blog
"And in this week's economic news: They tried to make us go to rehab, we said no, no, no ..." Last week the world noted the decline and death of Amy Winehouse with sadness but no surprise. What a tragedy, people said, that she kept following her self-destructive...
by Bill Scher | Jul 29, 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: Stop Calling It A...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 28, 2011 | Blog, Chained CPI
Gandhi famously answered the question "What do you think of Western Civilization?" by saying "I think it would be a good idea." That phrase might come in handy the next time somebody asks what you think of a two-party democracy: It would be a good idea. As the economy...
by | Jul 28, 2011 | Blog
We are being lied to about the economy. That’s why I’ve been speaking out – working with MoveOn on videos like “The Economy Explained In 135 Seconds" and "Invest In America." And that’s why I’ll be at the Take Back the American Dream conference on Oct. 3 to talk with...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 28, 2011 | Blog
"Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself." ~ Mark Twain ~ If our economy was the RMS Titanic, Republicans would be like an ambitious first mate, so eager to seize power from the captain that he steers the...
by Bill Scher | Jul 28, 2011 | Blog
There's not a whole lot of difference between the proposals from Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The amount of new cuts is about the same, though the Senate proposal looks bigger because it (properly) includes savings from the war drawdowns...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 28, 2011 | Blog, Economy, Making it in America
In the middle of the DC frenzy over a contrived "debt crisis" a new, major poll shows what other polls have shown: voters want Washington to act on jobs (and jobs fix deficits), especially in manufacturing, but don't think that our elected officials are paying...
by Brian Dockstader | Jul 28, 2011 | Blog
How do you fire up a crowd of congressional Republicans to get them to blindly cast really really bad votes? Easy, just show them a clip from a violent movie! HELL YEAH!! Last night the GOP did just that at their closed-door caucus meeting. The movie of choice was...
by Bill Scher | Jul 28, 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: Why The GOP Aims...
by | Jul 27, 2011 | Blog, Economy
Even with an unemployment rate of 9.2%, the United States is unlikely be able to fill a projected 2.8 million science, technology, economy and manufacturing jobs that will be created by 2018. The problem? There will not be enough qualified people. Secretary of Labor...
by Jeff Bryant | Jul 27, 2011 | Blog, Education
Ask yourself if this is the type of school you'd like for your son or daughter: * At one charter school, an array of 48 "infractions"-- such as "Lying/falsehood” and "Sleeping in class" -- will get students suspended or expelled. * At another charter, students and...
by | Jul 27, 2011 | Blog
Rep. Keith Ellison is the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and will be a featured speaker at the Take Back the American Dream conference, being held in Washington, DC from October 3 to 5. The following originally appeared at The Huffington Post....
by | Jul 27, 2011 | Blog
Last week, in our series “Ignorance Index: Conservative Dogma Vs. The Facts,” Campaign for America’s Future’s Co-Director Robert Borosage eviscerated the logic (or lack thereof) that Republicans have used for years to justify the rapid deregulation of business. The...
by Bill Scher | Jul 27, 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: Grassroots vs. The...
