by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 15, 2010 | Blog
There are 2 million people who are about to lose their unemployment benefits starting at the end of this month, and yet there is a real possibility that the lame-duck Congress that starts its work today will just let that happen. Some members of Congress will...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 15, 2010 | Blog, Economy
What is the matter with people in Washington and New York? There is obviously a jobs emergency and they're talking about deficits -- and in the middle of a frenzy of worrying about deficits they are talking about cutting taxes for the rich! ?? And, to make matters...
by Bill Scher | Nov 15, 2010 | Uncategorized
Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to affect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. Congress Reconvenes, Tax Cut Fight...
by Sam Pizzigati | Nov 14, 2010 | Blog
Localities the nation over can't afford to fill potholes or keep libraries open. Yet top corporate execs are continuing to stuff their pockets with our tax dollars. Here's how we can start the unstuffing. Americans don’t like the idea of their tax dollars making...
by Robert Borosage | Nov 14, 2010 | Blog
1994 was dubbed the “bloodbath.” Bush called 2006 a “thumpin.” 2010 will clearly be remembered as a “shellacking,” the president’s term for an election rout in which Republican picked up over 60 seats in the House, a record for post-World War II elections. Republicans...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 13, 2010 | Blog
I found a clip of yesterday's MSNBC appearance purely by accident. It had been posted by one of those automated advertising websites that scour the Internet for clips related to their product line, which in this case was - I kid you not - "Senior Dog Health Problems."...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 12, 2010 | Blog
The following was co-written with Roger Hickey. Wednesday, the Presidential Deficit Commission's co-chairs released a radically right-wing budget proposal. They acted without any prior announcement, just three weeks before the entire Commission was scheduled to...
by Mary Bottari | Nov 12, 2010 | Blog
Watch out, they’re coming. After an election cycle in which Republicans worked themselves into a lather in an attempt to convince voters that the deficit was the source of all their economic woes, the political elites and their Bankster backers are coming for...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 12, 2010 | Blog
Heard any good jokes lately? This headline was making the Internet rounds yesterday: "Sen. Conrad: Extend All Tax Cuts; Time to Get 'Serious' About Deficit." It's easy to see the humor in that. It's almost like saying you're serious about saving money but don't want...
by Bill Scher | Nov 12, 2010 | Uncategorized
Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to affect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. Simpson-Bowles Plan Slammed,...
by | Nov 11, 2010 | Blog
We're working with some of the best state-level bloggers from around the country to help us tell the truth about key economic and social policy issues, and to draw the contrast between the rhetoric of the right and the progressive alternative. Please visit our CAF...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 11, 2010 | Blog, Economy, Reagan Revolution
The recession ended in June, 2009? What? Seriously? No one told the millions of unemployed. And last week we got more bad news: 44 million of us living in poverty, and that was last year, before unemployment and COBRA subsidies started running out for the unemployed,...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 11, 2010 | Blog, Economy, Minimum Wage, Reagan Revolution
To lift the economy, we have to lift wages. Increased wages will restore demand. The changes that will increase wages will help restore democracy. The social contract used to be that citizens in our democracy share the benefits of our economy through increased wages...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 11, 2010 | Blog, Reagan Revolution
“Watch what we do, not what we say.” (Famous Republican advice.) The Reagan Revolution was first and foremost about cutting the taxes paid by the rich and corporations. Now, almost 30 years later, the United States of America is drowning in debt. And that is exactly...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 11, 2010 | Blog, Reagan Revolution
The conservative argument of the last 30-40 years boils down to this: "Hey look at this big pile of seed corn. Let's eat it!" Almost 30 years after the "Reagan Revolution" our infrastructure is crumbling around us. Since the Reagan-era tax cuts we have been deferring...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 11, 2010 | Blog
The terrible Gulf oil, West Virginia mining, Wall Street finance and government debt disasters all demonstrate the ongoing catastrophic and continuing results of conservative policies. Each of these is a direct consequence of letting corporate conservatives take over...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 11, 2010 | Blog, Economy, Minimum Wage
Businesses do not create jobs. In fact, the way our economy is structured the incentive is for businesses to get rid of as many jobs as they can. Demand Creates Jobs A job is created when demand for goods or services is greater than the existing ability to provide...
by Sara Robinson | Nov 11, 2010 | Blog
If last Tuesday showed us anything, it's this: We are not going to get America back on the right road -- the one that leads to a progressive, just, carbon-free, equal-opportunity future -- by political means alone. That was an illusion, and it's time to give it up. We...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 11, 2010 | Blog
In October Treasury Secretary Geithner sent a letter to the G20 member nations asking them to join and set targets limiting trade imbalances to ensure “orderly rebalancing of global demand.” The idea is to set up a general sustainable framework for the G20 countries...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 10, 2010 | Blog
A word of advice to the folks at the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform: it may be time to "slow your roll" as, we used to say where I come from. Based on their own admissions, and Alan Simpson's bedraggled look at the commission's...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 10, 2010 | Blog
Here's the plain truth about what's at stake in the unemployment insurance extension fight that is about to take place when Congress returns for its lame-duck session next week: If congressional Republicans succeed in blocking an extension of extended unemployment...
by Josh Rosenblum | Nov 10, 2010 | Blog
The Latest Battle to Take Social Security from the Middle Class, People of Color, and People with Disabilities Earlier today I attended a press conference in an elaborate 8th floor room overlooking the U.S. Capitol at the Newseum for an unveiling of billionaire Pete...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 10, 2010 | Blog
I have been writing about the Tea Party, and asking what they will do if/when the DC Republicans betray them. CAF has set up a page for the Tea Party Getting Played series. This is the latest in the series. The Tea Party candidates vowed they would be different, would...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 10, 2010 | Uncategorized
Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to affect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. The Social Security Onslaught...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 10, 2010 | Blog
The Chicken Little campaign orchestrated by billionaire Peter G. Peterson to rally public support behind cutting Social Security was kicked up a notch on Tuesday with the launch of the $20 million "Owe No" campaign. With references to "a growing crisis" that will...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 10, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
The conservative wing of the Democratic Party just drove it over a cliff, but you'd never know if from reading Matt Bai's latest New York Times piece. It's the latest in a series of Bai paeans to that odd mix of ideologies and opportunism that Washington types persist...
by Sam Pizzigati | Nov 9, 2010 | Blog
How much does inequality cost us? The United States holds far more wealth than any other nation in the world. Yet average people in 11 other countries, says landmark new UN research, are enjoying a higher standard of living than Americans. Twenty years ago, in 1990,...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 9, 2010 | Blog, Economy
If, in the future, Republicans ever again ask "Where are the jobs?" it will be because they've forgotten where they buried the ones they killed. For now, though, it's clear they remember all too well. Like a serial killer returning to a favorite dump site to reminisce...
by Leo Gerard | Nov 9, 2010 | Blog, Making it in America
No doubt voters sent a message last Tuesday. Deciphering it correctly is crucial. Republican cryptographers interpreted the election results that gave the GOP control of one house of Congress as a directive to demolish everything produced over the past two years –...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 9, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
I have been writing about the Tea Party, and asking what they will do if/when the DC Republicans betray them. CAF has set up a page for the Tea Party Getting Played series. So, how's that new Tea Party Congress working out for Tea Party supporters who expected that...
by Bill Scher | Nov 9, 2010 | Uncategorized
Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to affect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. Can The Korea Deal Be Fixed? WH...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 8, 2010 | Blog
The President could be on the brink of making a serious mistake, one with grave implications for his political future and even graver implications for aging Americans. If he responds to this election by adopting the Deficit Commission's recommendation to cut Social...
by Zach Carter | Nov 8, 2010 | Blog
This is a joke. Politico is floating the idea that notorious Wall Street crony Rep. Melissa Bean, D-Ill., could be tapped to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if she loses her close election with Republican Joe Walsh. Even for Politico's rumor-mill, this...
by Bill Scher | Nov 8, 2010 | Uncategorized
Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to affect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. 60 Minutes Interview Highlights...
by Sam Pizzigati | Nov 7, 2010 | Blog
Newly victorious lawmakers have wasted no time rushing to show they really do care — about keeping Wall Streeters lavishly rewarded. All in all, not a bad week for Wall Street. On last Tuesday, voters gave friends of high finance a lock grip over the U.S. House of...
by Zach Carter | Nov 5, 2010 | Blog
Welcome to the final edition of Campaign Cash, which tracked political spending during this year's midterm elections. Stay tuned for more reporting on money in politics from members of The Media Consortium. To see more stories on campaign funding, follow the Twitter...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 5, 2010 | Blog, Economy, Making it in America
Today's jobs report showed that the economy added 151,000 jobs in October, the biggest rise since May. The 159,000 increase in private sector employment was the second-largest monthly rise of the "recovery." The official unemployment rate stayed at 9.6 percent. NY...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 5, 2010 | Blog
First, let's just face it. For the next couple of years, at least, this is the end of any progress on jobs or the economy. Democrats will probably have to spend most of their time defending what they've gotten done. Whatever legitimate gripes progressives had with the...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 5, 2010 | Blog
It Won't Work Not to pick on Kathleen Parker, but the "narrative" she suggested the Democrats take from midterm elections — "You can't sell people what they don't want" — is more likely to end up being the narrative the Republicans take...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 5, 2010 | Blog, Making it in America
A poll released today by the Campaign for America's Future and Democracy Corps proves what we've been saying this week about the message voters were sending to the White House and Congress. Conservative leaders in both parties are flat wrong to claim they have a...
