by Zach Carter | Oct 15, 2010 | Blog
A lot of frequently credible publications have been pumping out drivel lately blaming borrowers for the ever-widening foreclosure fraud scandal. Fortune Magazine has the latest of these blame-the-borrower narratives. It would be nice to be able to dismiss this kind of...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 15, 2010 | Blog, Making it in America
I have just learned that tonite's "Keep It Made In America" Town Hall in Wheeling, West Virginia will be webcast live starting at 5:15PM EST. Visit the Wheeling Town Hall - Live page for the webcast. From their page: With the election less than three weeks away, West...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 15, 2010 | Blog, Making it in America
Yesterday I was in Jackson Michigan to attend the 2010 "Keep It Made In America" Town Hall Tour meeting. It was a very well-attended event, and everyone I spoke with seemed energized because someone is out there talking about what they consider an important issue, and...
by Zach Carter | Oct 15, 2010 | Blog
Chris Hayes from The Nation talked to me for his excellent weekly podcast, The Breakdown. We're talking about foreclosure fraud, mortgage-backed securities fraud, illegal mortgage fees, and all kinds of really nasty things happening on Wall Street. Give it a listen:...
by Leo Gerard | Oct 15, 2010 | Blog
Republican fund-raisers are treating Americans like little children, as if the GOP knows best and must shelter the youngsters from the truth. It’s like when a kindergartner asks his father if mommy is coming home soon, and the widower replies that she’s on a long...
by Bill Scher | Oct 15, 2010 | Blog
It's been 20 months since Barack Obama was inaugurated, 19 months since the Recovery Act began investing billions in producing clean energy, 16 months since the House passed carbon cap legislation and 10 months since the EPA declared it was obligated, following a...
by Bill Scher | Oct 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. Fed Poised To Act "Bernanke Signals...
by Bill Scher | Oct 14, 2010 | Blog
The Tea Party has long attempted to portray itself as a populist movement -- angry both at Wall Street bailouts and social spending. The notion of government action working to save the private sector from collapse was literally depicted as a giant step towards Nazism,...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 14, 2010 | Blog, Making it in America
I am joining and writing about the "Keep It Made In America" Town Hall tour. (Click through for more info and a map.) The tour is from October 12-29 and I will be joining from October 13-19, starting tomorrow in Jackson, Michigan. The official tour announcement:...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 14, 2010 | Blog, Making it in America
I will be joining and writing about the "Keep It Made In America" Town Hall tour. (Click through for more info and a map.) The tour is from October 12-29 and I will be joining from October 12-19. The official tour announcement: Creating Jobs Takes Center Stage at...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 14, 2010 | Blog
I am in Flint, Michigan today, getting ready to drive down to Jackson for this evening's "Keep It Made In America" Town Hall. Flint has been through it and has come out the other end. Now the rest of us are going through what Flint has been going through. Many people...
by Richard Eskow | Oct 14, 2010 | Blog
Heard the one about the Social Security Trust Fund that holds nothing but "IOUs"? That phony claim goes back to at least 1939, when a rabidly anti-Roosevelt journalist named John T. Flynn used a colorful analogy about a tin box in a drawer in order to argue that...
by Richard Eskow | Oct 14, 2010 | Blog
Appeared on the Jaco Report on Fox News in St. Louis. We had a good talk about foreclosure fraud, the "automated greed factories," and the dead soul of modern banking: Richard Eskow Jaco St Louis Fox 10-13-10
by Terrance Heath | Oct 14, 2010 | Blog, Minimum Wage
Here's another reason to vote in the mid-term elections this November: Conservatives think you need a pay cut. As I've said once or twice before, conservatives' bottom line message is simple: America has economic problems because too many people have had it good for...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 14, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
Populist Anger And The Midterm Elections View more presentations from OurFuture.org. There are still ways for progressive candidates to win the support of working-class, blue-collar candidates, even in today's particularly hostile campaign environment, according to...
by Bill Scher | Oct 14, 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. No Public Schools, No Estate Taxes...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 13, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform, Making it in America
Editor's Note: We're publishing a series of "Making Sense" fact sheets on key economic issues to help you win the debate on the core issues facing middle-class families. Each fact sheet contains information, talking points and resources you can use to make the case...
by Bill Scher | Oct 13, 2010 | Blog
The world is rightly cheering the ongoing rescue of the trapped Chilean miners. But let's not forget how they got there: horrible safety regulations and enforcement. In These Times' Lindsey Beyerstein reported back in August that the miners would have escaped right...
by Bill Scher | Oct 13, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
Editor's Note: We're publishing a series of "Making Sense" fact sheets on key economic issues to help you win the debate on the core issues facing middle-class families. Each fact sheet contains information, talking points and resources you can use to make the case...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 13, 2010 | Blog
Reps. Barney Frank and Ron Paul top a list of 55 signers of a letter to the White House Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform calling on the commission "in the strongest terms" to "include among its recommendations substantial reductions"...
by Bill Scher | Oct 13, 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. States Move To Investigate...
by Richard Eskow | Oct 12, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
The foreclosure fraud scandal is a big deal (or a big "effin'" deal, as Joe Biden might say). But its real significance is an even bigger deal. Foreclosure fraud is one domino, and if it falls others will follow. The result could be an end to the "invisible bailout" -...
by Zach Carter | Oct 12, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
If senior White House adviser David Axelrod’s comments this weekend are any indication, the Obama administration is woefully misreading the foreclosure fraud crisis currently gripping the U.S. economy. Axelrod refused to commit the administration to a national...
by Richard Eskow | Oct 12, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
Two seemingly unrelated stories from the past week illustrate a fundamental problem with today's financial system. While this problem may seem "philosophical" or abstract, it's very real, and we won't put our economy back on a sound footing until we get a handle on...
by Zach Carter | Oct 12, 2010 | Blog
There are plenty of reasons why the foreclosure fraud crisis sweeping the nation's housing market is an economic disaster. Banks are charging borrowers illegal fees, kicking the wrong people out of their homes and even hiring thugs to illegally break into houses. But...
by Bill Scher | Oct 12, 2010 | Blog
Discrediting corporate-funded right-wing smears remains the greatest challenge to advancing progressive change. Health Care For America Now's new campaign Stop Spewman starring Jack Black is off to a fantastic start. It's always important to do the tedious work of...
by Bill Scher | Oct 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. No Foreclosure Freeze WH resists...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 11, 2010 | Blog
America used to have a top tax rate of around 90%. This meant that after a person earned a lot of money in a year, additional income beyond that amount was taxed at the higher rate. Back then government worked a lot better. We didn't have deficits, the schools and...
by Sam Pizzigati | Oct 10, 2010 | Blog, Economy
Over recent decades, recoveries from U.S. recessions have become steadily weaker and weaker. Over these same decades, executive pay has been steadily soaring. Could these two trends be somehow related? Shocking new economic realities don’t suddenly jump up onto...
by Leo Gerard | Oct 10, 2010 | Blog
Japan, no economic small fry, challenged China last month. The conclusion of the dispute is a cautionary tale for countries confronting China about currency manipulation. In September, Japan seized a Chinese trawler captain after his boat collided with two Japanese...
by | Oct 8, 2010 | Blog
These remarks were delivered at a dinner in Washington commemorating the 40th anniversary of Common Cause on October 6, 2010.Thank you for inviting me to join in this 40th anniversary of Common Cause. Your founder, John Gardner, profoundly influenced my life and I...
by Zach Carter | Oct 8, 2010 | Blog
Anybody looking for a primer explaining why the current foreclosure fraud issue is a major systemic risk for the financial system should check out Mike Konczal's new post for the Roosevelt Institute. I'm going to try and simplify it even further here, and present the...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 8, 2010 | Blog, Economy
The September jobs report is out and conservatives got exactly what they wanted: less government, less stimulus, less aid to states, less help for small businesses, less infrastructure investment, less help for the unemployed and ... a bad jobs report. Conservatives...
by Bill Scher | Oct 8, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
It's been 20 months since Barack Obama was inaugurated, and two months since Wall Street reform was signed into law, and two weeks since Elizabeth Warren was appointed to set up the first agency designed to protect consumers of financial products. It may be in vogue...
by Zach Carter | Oct 8, 2010 | Blog, Economy, Financial Reform
I attended two big economic gatherings this week, one on financial reform organized by finance blogger Mike Konczal for The Roosevelt Institute, another on the economic outlook, presented by the American Enterprise Institute. Each event was depressing in its own...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 8, 2010 | Blog, Economy
Just a short note here, to repeat and amplify what Krugman said: And right now, by any rational calculation, would be an especially good time to improve the nation’s infrastructure. We have the need: our roads, our rail lines, our water and sewer systems are...
by Bill Scher | Oct 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. Another Anemic Jobs Report Labor...
by Alex Lawson | Oct 7, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
Editor's Note: We're publishing a series of "Making Sense" fact sheets on key economic issues to help you win the debate on the core issues facing middle-class families. Each fact sheet contains information, talking points and resources you can use to make the case...
by Zach Carter | Oct 7, 2010 | Blog
I'll have plenty to say about the escalating foreclosure fraud scandal later this week. For now: This is a big, big deal. It isn't a clerical error, it's an aggressive attempt to slap borrowers with thousands of dollars in illegal fees for the luxury of being...
by Zach Carter | Oct 7, 2010 | Blog
UPDATE: President Obama vetoed the foreclosure fraud bailout this afternoon, but plenty of other battles are already raging. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., is calling for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the newly-established Financial Stability Oversight Council...
