by Scott Hochberg | Apr 18, 2011 | Blog
On Face the Nation this Sunday, Sen. Mark Warner was asked by host Bob Schieffer why his ‘Gang of Six’ would take on Social Security reform in their forthcoming budget proposal. His response reflected a commonly-held myth about Social Security’s history that greatly...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 18, 2011 | Blog
Conservatives sure do get silly when they talk about taxes. I don't just mean the expressions they get on their faces, or how red their faces get, or the way their hair sticks straight up and their eyes get all big. And I don't mean the way they shake and sweat or...
by | Apr 18, 2011 | Blog
Many Americans believe that their Social Security contributions have been stolen, diverted to some unauthorized purpose. They are wrong – at least for now. Last Wednesday, Senators Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Mike Lee, R-Utah; and Rand Paul, R-Ky.,...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 18, 2011 | Blog, Reagan Revolution
It's Tax Day, so let's talk about taxes. Conservative ideology says cutting taxes makes the economy grow. This Tax Day let's explore whether this is, in fact, the case. In the last few decades we as a country have conducted textbook scientific experiments with taxes....
by Bill Scher | Apr 18, 2011 | Blog
You are a congressperson. You just voted for a budget that would destroy Medicare. Then you traveled home this week to meet with your constituents. Most of them like Medicare. What do you tell them? Tell them you want to "save Medicare." Bloomberg reports: House...
by Bill Scher | Apr 18, 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: Conservative Tax...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 17, 2011 | Blog
We provided live commentary for Al Jazeera English at the conclusion of the President's speech on the deficit and the Federal budget. That speech was Thursday, but we weren't able to receive and post the video until now. It's below: I know I look ghastly, darling. It...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 17, 2011 | Blog
Did an interview with RT Today on the meeting of the International Monetary Fund, and on the ways that IMF and World Bank policy reflect the same combination of austerity economics and a 'liberalized' financial sector that we're seeing here and in Europe. The video is...
by Sam Pizzigati | Apr 17, 2011 | Blog
Taxpayers, once again this year, are subsidizing over-the-top CEO pay by the billions. But now on the table: a promising new proposal that encourages corporations to share that excess — or else. The chief executives of America’s top 500 companies, Forbes...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 15, 2011 | Blog
Conservatives have been saying lately, "We're broke," and need to cut back on the things we (government) do to protect and empower each other. They have a unique definition of the word "we" when applied this way to Americans. For them "we" doesn't mean "We, the...
by Terrance Heath | Apr 15, 2011 | Blog
Of the two top items in my newsreader, I'm not sure which I like best. First, there's President Obama's open-mic incident after his big speech. Apparently, Obama had what he thought was a private conversation with campaign donors, but it turned out the microphone was...
by Robert Borosage | Apr 15, 2011 | Blog, Financial Reform
Today, a new poll was released by Democracy Corps and the Campaign for America's Future gauging public reaction to the Republican budget expected to pass the House today. What follows is an analysis of that poll from Democracy Corps pollster Stan Greenberg and CAF...
by Bill Scher | Apr 15, 2011 | Blog
I think this quote wins The International House of Pancakes Award for Most Creative Waffle: “I don’t necessarily think that just by voting for the budget, you’re signing on” to his proposals, said Missouri Representative Jo Ann Emerson... Of course, silly. Why would...
by Bill Scher | Apr 15, 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: Bachmann/Ryan...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 14, 2011 | Blog, Financial Reform, Minimum Wage
Remember all those mini-movies that summarized a broad topic in two minutes? Whether the subject was the Civil War, the magical things that happen when you multiply by ten, or the complete history of Western Civilization, these little films covered it all in one...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 14, 2011 | Blog, Making it in America
We can service each other till the cows come home but if we don't start making more things here and selling them there more and more jobs will be lost, more and more communities devastated and our standard of living will continue to drop. Everyone is focused on the...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 14, 2011 | Blog
The Republican budget is SO loony it's even scaring the right-wing nuts! How often does THAT happen? The Republicans are voting on their budget plan this week. The plan eliminates Medicare and guts Medicaid, guts the rest of the government (except the things their oil...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Apr 14, 2011 | Blog
With all of the attention around what looks to be a bad budget deal between the White House and Congress to avert a government shutdown, almost lost was the fact that progressive leaders in the House have produced the outlines of a budget that will do more to reduce...
by Terrance Heath | Apr 14, 2011 | Blog
"To whom much is given, much is required." As he stood with the Congressional Progressive Caucus to present the People's Budget yesterday, Democratic Minority Whip Hank Johnson echoed the words of John F. Kennedy as he compared the caucus's budget to Rep. Paul Ryan's...
by Bill Scher | Apr 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 Speech -...
by Robert Borosage | Apr 14, 2011 | Blog
Poetry graces the speeches of Barack Obama. Few political leaders have his skill of telling the progressive story of America in a way that draws us together. His budget speech delivered at George Washington was exemplary, portraying an America of both rugged...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 14, 2011 | Blog
This weekend the New York Times ran what seemed to be a somewhat overly flattering piece about right-wing anti-entitlement hawk Pete Peterson, and the piece included this paragraph: Progressives like Mr. Baker or Richard Eskow of the Campaign for America’s Future...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 13, 2011 | Blog
Apparently the august and statesmanlike Mr. Rush Hudson Limbaugh III (his real name) was a little displeased by our piece in the Huffington Post this weekend, "Why Progressives Keep Losing and the Right Keeps Winning." He read it out loud on his show this...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 13, 2011 | Blog
The President speech on the Federal deficit marked a brilliant return to what might be called his "holographic" style. Like a hologram, the President's speech was beautiful and evocative and shimmered with light. But like a hologram, what you see depends on where you...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Apr 13, 2011 | Blog
Our sister site, TheMiddleClass.org, is taking a dim view of the budget deal struck Friday between the White House and Congress for fiscal year 2011. It concedes that it is not as disastrous for middle-class and lower-income people as H.R. 1, the budget the House...
by Robert Borosage | Apr 13, 2011 | Blog, Economy
The President got big things right in his budget speech. He defended Medicare and Medicaid against the Republican effort to end them, and pushed accurately for reforming our health care system, not simply shifting costs to seniors and the disabled. He defended Social...
by Robert Borosage | Apr 13, 2011 | Blog
On Wednesday, the President will lay out his principles for deficit reduction, responding to the Republican FY 2012 budget put forth by House Budget Chair Rep. Paul Ryan. The Ryan plan is brazen and preposterous. It violates every common sense principle about dealing...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Apr 13, 2011 | Blog
RELATED POST Robert Borosage rates President Obama's speech against his "citizen's guide" to common-sense standards for the budget debate. Earlier this week at The Nation, Melissa Harris-Perry wondered if President Obama lost his ability to "tell the story"—in other...
by Bill Scher | Apr 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: Not Needed: An...
by Bill Scher | Apr 13, 2011 | Blog
There is so much awful and ridiculous about the House Republican budget that it can be difficult to explain the severity of its impact without getting lost in a blizzard of numbers and jargon. To its authors, that is a feature, not a bug. But why worry about picking...
by | Apr 13, 2011 | Blog, Making it in America
Deficit fever has swept through our capital, and President Obama has finally caught it. However, his speech is focusing on the wrong deficit. And that’s because, quite sadly, our political culture is obsessed with the wrong deficit. Yes, the American people want to...
by Robert Borosage | Apr 13, 2011 | Blog
The following was originally published by Politico. With his Wednesday address to the nation, President Barack Obama enters the lists in the debate over the nation’s deficits. His path, no doubt, will contrast with the plan offered by House Budget Committee Chairman...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 12, 2011 | Blog
Congratulations! The "grand compromise" will cut nearly thirty nine billion dollars in needed government spending, which proves how "serious" everyone is about reducing the deficit. The grand compromisers could have cancelled the next ten years of tax subsidies for...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 12, 2011 | Blog
Did Koch Industries write the budget deal? Or is it just a coincidence that so many of the the things Republicans demanded -- and got -- just happen to line up with the financial interests of the billionaires who fund the Tea Party and much of the “conservative...
by | Apr 12, 2011 | Blog
This is the second column in a series responding to Stephen Moore's central assaults on regulation and the prosecution of the elite white-collar criminals who cause our recurrent, intensifying financial crises. Last week's column addressed his claim in a recent Wall...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 12, 2011 | Blog, Economy
Cuts are all the rage now in Versailles D.C. They cut taxes for the rich (again), then to pay for the tax cuts they cut the things We the People (government) do for each other. No one is mentioning what all of this will do to the economy and jobs. Jobs and the economy...
by Bill Scher | Apr 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: Don't Do It, Mr....
by Leo Gerard | Apr 12, 2011 | Blog
Tragically, the government of Colombia exhibits the behavior of an addict. And, just as regrettably, the United States is co-dependent, so addicted to so called free trade that it plans to award Colombia an agreement based solely on promises. Addicts always promise....
by Richard Eskow | Apr 12, 2011 | Blog
Click here to send a message to the President: Don't Dare Cut Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. The President's scheduled to discuss Social Security, Medicare, and the deficit in a speech this Wednesday. Let's hope he isn't about to make a serious mistake. White...
by Bill Scher | Apr 11, 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 Vote This Week...
