by Bill Scher | Feb 22, 2011 | Blog
Demanding bold solutions to today's jobs crisis.Read the series » Register for The Summit on Jobs & America's Future » Thousands are rallying in Wisconsin and across the nation to oppose conservative governors who are attacking the collective bargaining rights of...
by Dave Johnson | Feb 22, 2011 | Blog
Big things are happening in Wisconsin in response to Governor Walker's assault on the rights of working people. The Governor is trying to end 50 years of collective bargaining for Wisconsin workers, and has threatened to call out the National Guard to enforce it. The...
by | Feb 22, 2011 | Blog
[Originally posted at RobertReich.org.] New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican presidential hopeful, says in order to "save" Social Security the retirement age should be raised. The media are congratulating him for his putative "courage." Deficit hawks are...
by Mary Bottari | Feb 22, 2011 | Blog
Tens of thousands of Wisconsin residents are flooding the State Capitol in Madison in protest of Governor Walker's proposed budget "repair" bill that would end 50 years of collective bargaining for Wisconsin workers. CMD reporters will be out providing live...
by Robert Borosage | Feb 22, 2011 | Blog
Governor Scott Walker, the self-described “Tea Party Governor” of Wisconsin, likes to present himself as a faux populist, standing against powerful public employee unions for the little guy. In fact, he’s part of a conservative assault on workers, designed to...
by | Feb 22, 2011 | Blog
... and just join the GOP: Bradley Tusk, a former Illinois deputy governor and New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s 2009 campaign manager, said that if Walker succeeds in the fight, “this will be portrayed as a major change toward fiscal sanity and protecting taxpayers.”...
by | Feb 22, 2011 | Blog
E.J. Dionne is half right: Take five steps back and consider the nature of the political conversation in our nation's capital. You would never know that it's taking place at a moment when unemployment is still at 9 percent, when wages for so many people are stagnating...
by Bill Scher | Feb 22, 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: Bust The Unions?...
by Richard Eskow | Feb 22, 2011 | Blog
Some condescending politicians and pundits never miss an opportunity to talk down to the American people, especially when it comes to budgets. The members of Washington's political "center" encounter one another at social events, often in pleasant halls where the...
by Alan Jenkins | Feb 21, 2011 | Blog
This month, as protests swept the Middle East and toppled strongmen in Egypt and Tunisia, thousands of American adolescents rushed to see rising teen pop star Greyson Chance in concert. Trust me, there’s a connection. Greyson Chance’s career simply could not have...
by Dave Johnson | Feb 18, 2011 | Blog
In Wisconsin the Governor and Republican majority are trying to strip state employees of the right to collective bargaining. The are literally trying to "ram through" in a very short time, out of nowhere, a bill that removes employee rights. The Democrats in the...
by Terrance Heath | Feb 18, 2011 | Blog, Making it in America
I'll say it again. When progressives and conservatives talk about jobs, we are not talking about the same thing. Nor do we talk about jobs for the same reasons, it seems. The more I watch the ongoing floor debate in the House, over the nearly 600 amendments to...
by Robert Borosage | Feb 18, 2011 | Blog
Rep. George Miller calling out mock tough conservatives -- and Gov Christie for that matter. What is the measure of political courage? It isn't tough to kick poor kids. Finally someone challenges the bullies. From the interview: "All morning long people have been...
by Bill Scher | Feb 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: Cuts vs. More...
by Bill Scher | Feb 18, 2011 | Blog, Financial Reform
Demanding bold solutions to today's jobs crisis.Read the series » Register for The Summit on Jobs & America's Future » Earlier this week, Senate Democratic leaders said their budget would adhere to the President's five-year freeze on non-military discretionary...
by Bill Scher | Feb 17, 2011 | Blog
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is being puffed up by many conservatives as the refreshing, straight-talking principled budget slasher that could lead a nationwide right-wing resurgence. Yesterday, conservatives drooled as Christie gave a trademark performance at...
by Richard Eskow | Feb 17, 2011 | Blog, Financial Reform
Somebody said that regulators need real power in order to be tough and effective. He said a strong, independent consumer protection agency is needed to help prevent the next financial crisis. And that we should help the millions of "responsible" homeowners hurt by the...
by Terrance Heath | Feb 17, 2011 | Blog, Economy
With a turn of phrase that ranks right up there with "I'm alright, Jack," "We care about the small people," and "Let them eat cake," House Speaker John Boehner voiced the Republican response to concerns about the consequences the GOP's...
by Sam Pizzigati | Feb 17, 2011 | Blog
A spectacular triumph of computing power invites us to think a bit about the work only we humans can do. The game show Jeopardy! drew record ratings earlier this week as two human former champs on the show squared off against an IBM computer — named...
by Bill Scher | Feb 17, 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: "So Be It"...
by | Feb 16, 2011 | Blog
It looks like the Republicans have decided they don't need the votes of any people who work for the government or any of their families: If House Republicans succeed in cutting tens of billions of dollars in discretionary spending over the next six months, some of the...
by Terrance Heath | Feb 16, 2011 | Blog
Covering CPAC was like stepping through the looking glass. It was like a lot of political conferences I've seen, just with the context flipped. Usually, these conferences are mix of pragmatists and true believers. Ideally, that blend yields a message with broad...
by Bill Scher | Feb 16, 2011 | Blog, Economy
Demanding bold solutions to today's jobs crisis.Read the series » Register for The Summit on Jobs & America's Future » Yesterday, Speaker John Boehner didn't shed one of many tears at the prospect of his proposing spending cuts destroying 200,000 jobs. Today,...
by Richard Eskow | Feb 16, 2011 | Blog, Financial Reform
Thanks to the generous support of billionaires and self-interested corporations, think tanks have seeded our political discourse with a lot of mistaken ideas about government spending and deficits. For too many journalists, consultants, and policy makers, these ideas...
by Terrance Heath | Feb 16, 2011 | Blog
Believe it or not, the appearance of Donald Trump at CPAC was not the most surreal moment of my first day at the conference. That came later, but not by much. In his second "surprise appearance" this week, the curiously coiffed real estate mogul, and...
by Terrance Heath | Feb 16, 2011 | Blog
Demanding bold solutions to today's jobs crisis.Read the series » Register for The Summit on Jobs & America's Future » I have to admit, I got a little excited during Mitt Romney's speech at CPAC. It began so well, in a sense. I wrote yesterday that I heard (and...
by Robert Borosage | Feb 16, 2011 | Blog, Economy
The blizzard of budget numbers flurrying around Washington is disorienting. Republicans are talking about cuts in the next seven months. The president's budget proposes cuts in FY 2012 that begins in October. But both paint the same picture: deficits are high, cuts...
by Bill Scher | Feb 16, 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: 6 Things Everyone...
by Terrance Heath | Feb 15, 2011 | Blog
President Obama is right. The Democrats got a "shellacking" in the midterm election. But not from the people who voted. And in a sense, the pundits and prognosticators are maybe half right. The president and his part were sent a message in this election. But...
by Dave Johnson | Feb 15, 2011 | Blog
Demanding bold solutions to today's jobs crisis.Read the series » Register for The Summit on Jobs & America's Future » Governing for We, the People, or gutting for the benefit of the rich? This budget fight is about a stark choice: jobs and growth for We, the...
by Dave Johnson | Feb 15, 2011 | Blog, Economy
The country has been waiting for the promised action on jobs and unemployment since the new Congress came in. Nothing yet. We've had the show-vote on health care, we've had abortion, we've had silly conservative fluff bill after sily conservative fluff bill, but...
by Dave Johnson | Feb 15, 2011 | Blog
Will DC wake up and smell the real economy? In DC and Wall Street the economy is just fine. In fact it couldn't be better. Corporate profits and the stock market, after all, are way up -- the Fed has worked it's bubble-pumping magic yet again! And if you are in that...
by Dave Johnson | Feb 15, 2011 | Blog, Economy, Making it in America
Demanding bold solutions to today's jobs crisis.Read the series » Register for The Summit on Jobs & America's Future » Did you see the Chrysler Super Bowl ad? Advertisers understand that Americans are hungry to be able to buy American-made goods again. And...
by Bill Scher | Feb 15, 2011 | Blog, Economy
Demanding bold solutions to today's jobs crisis.Read the series » Register for The Summit on Jobs & America's Future » There's a risk that the budget battle descends into a race to the bottom to see which party can cut the most. But that is not an inevitability....
by Bill Scher | Feb 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: Jobs v. No Jobs...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Feb 14, 2011 | Blog, Economy
LISTEN Deborah Weinstein of the Coalition for Human Needs explains how irresponsible federal budget cuts being proposed by conservatives in Congress will ultimately make the economy worse. The federal budget cuts being proposed by conservatives on Capitol Hill are not...
by Richard Eskow | Feb 14, 2011 | Blog, Financial Reform
The President's budget has just been released, and so has a Republican alternative from the House Appropriations Committee. Reading them is like watching two people play a video game and confusing it for the real world. These budgets don't reflect competing visions so...
by Robert Borosage | Feb 14, 2011 | Blog
With the submission today of the President’s proposed budget for next year (FY 2012), Washington descends further into the furious debate about less. How much less will government do? The president pledges to freeze domestic spending for five years, reducing it to a...
by Bill Scher | Feb 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: Citizens Guide To...
by Bill Scher | Feb 13, 2011 | Blog
Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure the American people didn't vote last November for fewer jobs, teachers and cops and more sickness, pollution and hunger. In fact, I'm sure the crazy one in this story is the House Republican caucus, which late Friday night proposed,...
