by Dave Johnson | Jun 14, 2011 | Blog
Today in Washington White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee argued against efforts to boost the economy, saying that the jobs market "is on a trajectory of improvement." He was probably trying to evoke a reaction using the initials of the President's slogan...
by | Jun 14, 2011 | Blog, Economy
The sudden weakening of the economic recovery is now undermining even the stock market. As usual, however, Wall Street is worried about profits and a possible double-dip recession. But what the press and the Obama administration have not adequately taken up is how...
by | Jun 14, 2011 | Blog, Economy
Originally published on the SCEPA Blog The Federal Reserve's Ben Bernanke could not avoid admitting this week that the American economic recovery was faltering. GDP growth of less than 2 percent annualized in the fourth quarter was a severe disappointment....
by Robert Borosage | Jun 14, 2011 | Blog, Financial Reform
The following is an oped published in USA Today, rebutting the paper's editorial stance against additional stimulus. You can read the editorial board's case here. Twenty-five million people are in need of full-time work. This is a human, social and economic calamity;...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jun 14, 2011 | Blog
There are unfortunately many states where we will be able to see the disastrous effects of conservatism run amok over the coming months, but Florida bears particular watching. The Republican-dominated legislative session there ended earlier this month, and Gov. Rick...
by Bill Scher | Jun 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: Speaker Misquotes...
by Alan Jenkins | Jun 14, 2011 | Blog, Economy
Conservatives in Congress and their echo chamber have backed President Obama, and the American people, into a dangerous corner. Private sector job creation is desperately needed for our national recovery and to begin rebuilding the economic security of our people....
by Richard Eskow | Jun 13, 2011 | Blog, Economy
I never expected I'd be called upon to write an open letter to the Speaker of the House because he used my words in a misleading way. And I certainly never expected that letter to include detailed descriptions of the plot and weaponry used in the Star Wars movies. But...
by Terrance Heath | Jun 13, 2011 | Blog
Every once in a while, something extraordinary happens in Washington, D.C.: Lawmakers actually pay attention to what Americans really want, and then stand up for policies that reflect what most Americans want. It looks like that's what happening with Medicaid and the...
by Bill Scher | Jun 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: Bad Debt Limit...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 12, 2011 | Blog
Yet another poll is out, showing that the public wants taxes raised on the rich and on Wall Street and the giant multi-national corporations, and does not want cuts in the things We, the People do for each other. Other polls show the public wants cuts in military...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 10, 2011 | Blog
Some say that maybe it is a bad idea to base a political party's ideology on a belief that altruism, democracy and Christianity are "evil." Others say that maybe it is a bad idea to base a country's policies on fictional novels rather than science and history. Still...
by Terrance Heath | Jun 10, 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: If The President...
by Richard Eskow | Jun 10, 2011 | Blog, Economy
When it comes to jobs, sometimes it seems as if the White House is from Mars and the middle class is from Venus. And Republicans act like they're from the Death Star, patrolling the economy in their Imperial Cruisers directing laser blasts at every job initiative they...
by | Jun 9, 2011 | Blog
The White House is considering adopting a temporary Social Security tax cut on employers to stimulate the economy as part of the debt ceiling negotiations with the Republicans, according to a Bloomberg News article. If the Administration so much as puts another Social...
by Jeff Bryant | Jun 9, 2011 | Blog, Education
Just as climate scientists warn Americans to brace for a long hot summer, anyone paying attention to the nation's public schools can expect a summer of more of the same, heated cross-fire between the "reformist" politicians and pundits, and the growing population of...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 9, 2011 | Blog
Another bad jobless claims report... and this time Washington seems to have finally noticed that there are some unemployed people out here in the sticks. But instead of jobs programs the geniuses are proposing ... what else? ... even more tax cuts. (And after a few...
by Robert Borosage | Jun 9, 2011 | Blog
It really is very simple. Will the President name the best leader -- Elizabeth Warren -- to head the Consumer Finanical Protection Bureau? Nominate her. Challenge the Senate Republican threat to filibuster her (or any) nomination. And if a minority blocks her...
by Bill Scher | Jun 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: Will The President...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jun 8, 2011 | Blog, Financial Reform
One of Wall Street's most brazen disinformation campaigns ever on behalf of a naked money grab from consumers comes to a head on the Senate floor this afternoon, in a vote that will force senators to choose between protecting consumers and legalizing extortion. Sen....
by Bill Scher | Jun 8, 2011 | Blog
The Republican presidential field can be divided into two groups: the politically sane (Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman), and the politically insane (Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Michelle Bachmann, Ron Paul and Herman Cain). The politically sane trio...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 8, 2011 | Blog, Economy
The NY Times has an editorial on trade today, Keeping Protectionism at Bay. The editorial, written by well-paid New Yorkers living far from the devastated communities of the "rust belt," explains down to us that it is a bad thing to "protect" our jobs and our...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 8, 2011 | Blog, Economy, Making it in America
Our trade agreements have pitted working people in countries that do not protect rights or people against the working people here who fought to win the protections of democracy. The result has been devastating to our communities, our economy and our democracy. America...
by Bill Scher | Jun 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: We Can't Cut Our...
by Richard Eskow | Jun 8, 2011 | Blog
Anthony Weiner wanted to get off, while Evan Bayh wants to get rich. Weiner serviced himself in public, while Bayh's abusing his public service. Guess which one will be a pariah in Washington and which will still attend all the right parties? Ex-Senator Bayh, who was...
by | Jun 7, 2011 | Blog, Minimum Wage
Washington conservative elites seem to be taking it for granted that raising the minimum wage in a recession will destroy the already fragile job market. However, what proof do we have that this is true? New research being conducted by prominent economists is yielding...
by Terrance Heath | Jun 7, 2011 | Blog
Today is an unhappy anniversary for progressives, and for America as a whole. It is the anniversary of a giant step towards the mess we find ourselves in today. It's the anniversary of the day conservatives set a fiscal trap from which America has yet to extricate...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 7, 2011 | Blog, Economy
Have you seen the People's Budget discussed in the media? Nope. Have you heard that we need to be more "business friendly" by cutting taxes on the rich and cut the things We, the People do for each other? Yep. Did you know that polls show the public overwhelmingly...
by Bill Scher | Jun 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: 5 Progressive Tax...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jun 6, 2011 | Blog
Federal agencies are now preparing new regulations for enforcing the Dodd-Frank banker pay reforms enacted last summer. These new regs, says the AFL-CIO, need to prohibit the 'incentive' that's still stuffing bankers with billions. If you wear a power suit to work...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 6, 2011 | Blog
It is 10 years since the Bush tax cuts passed. When Bush took office (and never forget the Supreme Court's 5-4 role in that) The Onion famously declared, “Our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over.” They had no way to know how prescient they...
by | Jun 6, 2011 | Blog
There’s been a great deal of talk about tax reform recently. However, much of it has been, as Representative Sander Levin, D-Mich., put it on Friday, “discussed only in glittering generalities” that distort reality. At a time when the middle class is saddled...
by | Jun 6, 2011 | Blog
In light of ongoing tepid job growth, Jared Bernstein had some good advice for the White House the other day: Someone just asked me, “how does the White House pivot from targeting deficits to targeting jobs?” How’s this? “Based on new information, we are now pivoting...
by Dave Johnson | Jun 6, 2011 | Blog, Economy
We have a jobs emergency. We have a stagnant economy. We are falling behind in economic competitiveness. We have developed a terrible concentration of income and wealth. We can address all of these at once. Robert Kuttner, writing in The Economic Relapse at the...
by Terrance Heath | Jun 6, 2011 | Blog
Stan Collender is right. The NY-26 election special election will change the budget debate. In fact, it already has. Democrat Kath Hochul's victory over Republican Jane Corwin, in a solidly Republican district, in special election that became a referendum on Rep. Paul...
by Terrance Heath | Jun 6, 2011 | Blog
In my previous post, I covered what Republicans want to do to Medicaid. In this post, I intend to delve into why Republicans want to gut Medicaid. Republicans present their budget proposal as a solution to the "problems" of Medicaid and Medicare, which their...
by Bill Scher | Jun 6, 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: 10 Years Of Bush...
by Roger Hickey | Jun 6, 2011 | Blog
Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. And we're going to commemorate these costly handouts ... by taking action to get rid of them. 10 years of Bush tax cuts is enough! Click here to demand your representative supports the Fairness in...
by Robert Borosage | Jun 3, 2011 | Blog
This is a classic "small d" democratic moment. The economy is in deep trouble -- immediate and long term. Washington is oblivious, compromised by moneyed interests, knotted by ideological divides. It will take an angry and aroused citizens' movement to...
by | Jun 3, 2011 | Blog
Rep. Barney Frank made the following statement today in support of having Elizabeth Warren head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. You can send a message to the Senate Republicans obstructing her potential nomination by going to OurFuture.org/Warren. It is...
