by Dave Johnson | Sep 29, 2010 | Blog
Last month Former Senator and Deficit Commission co-chair Alan Simpson said this about Social Security, and by extension about government itself, "We’ve reached a point now where it’s like a milk cow with 310 million tits!" Nice. We work and pay into Social Security...
by Eric Lotke | Sep 29, 2010 | Blog, Making it in America
Yesterday I attended a conference on the Renaissance of American Manufacturing in Washington DC. It included a variety of organizations with interests in trade, from the US Business and Industry Council to the International Association of Machinists and the U.S.-China...
by Bill Scher | Sep 29, 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. China Currency Crackdown Expected...
by Dave Johnson | Sep 28, 2010 | Blog
This discussion of whether to get rid of the Bush tax cuts for the rich has been a learning experience. I have been listening on the radio and reading the comments at blogs. The main thing I am concluding is that people just do not understand how tax brackets work....
by Robert Borosage | Sep 28, 2010 | Blog
Clive Crook, columnist for the Financial Times, urges President Obama to “betray” his base, and lead from the “centre.” Brits offering political strategy for American presidents are a bit like Americans telling Italians how to improve their pasta. And Crook’s analysis...
by Bill Scher | Sep 28, 2010 | Blog
It's been 20 months since America embraced a progressive path after decades of conservative failure. How have conservative leaders reacted since then? By reassessing what went wrong on their watch and offering fresh ideas? Or by completely losing their minds? For the...
by Bill Scher | Sep 28, 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. Income Gap More Like an Abyss...
by Richard Eskow | Sep 28, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
What happened to Moody's is what happens to every "agent" who thinks he can serve two masters. The sad thing is that it keeps happening, even though we've seen this movie before. Credit rating agencies are supposed to monitor debt that's issued by financial...
by Richard Eskow | Sep 27, 2010 | Blog
This week Leonard Downie, the former Executive Editor of the Washington Post, attacked blogs in general and the Huffington Post specifically, saying they're "parasites" who live off "journalism produced by others." His comment would have carried more weight if...
by Bill Scher | Sep 27, 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. Weak Roll-Out For GOP "Pledge To...
by Leo Gerard | Sep 27, 2010 | Blog
When Herbert Hoover ran for president in 1928, the Republican party promised his victory would assure the prosperity of “a chicken in every pot.” This week, Republicans proffered a similar pledge to America. Hoover won, and in 1929, after a decade of GOP rule in...
by Richard Eskow | Sep 27, 2010 | Blog, Economy, Financial Reform
Congressional Republicans released their "Pledge for America" today with a press event at a Virginia hardware store, and a hardware store was definitely the right choice: If these policies ever take effect you're going to get screwed. It was slightly amusing to see...
by Bill Scher | Sep 27, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
This Saturday, progressives will be marching on Washington for the One Nation Working Together rally. Should you bother? The New York Times reports: Predicting a crowd of more than 100,000, some 300 liberal groups — including the N.A.A.C.P., the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the...
by Terrance Heath | Sep 27, 2010 | Blog
I am not a burned down house. Like millions of Americans, I have a "pre-existing condition." But I am not a "burned down house", as Mike Huckabee and those who applauded his recent statement seem, to think. When Republicans attack health care reform, Democrats like to...
by Zach Carter | Sep 27, 2010 | Blog
I agree with everything Paul Krugman has to say about Max Abelson's excellent run-down of the Wall Street whinery, but his critique stops a little too short. Abelson's piece emphasizes that Wall Street isn't really upset about any policies the Obama administration has...
by Robert Borosage | Sep 27, 2010 | Blog, Economy
Over 300 economists and policy analysts just released a statement warning the Congress and the Administration that bold action is needed to put people to work and get the economy going. The statement—Don't Kill Jobs and Growth in the Name of Deficit Reduction—was...
by Zach Carter | Sep 27, 2010 | Blog
Larry Summers is out, and President Barack Obama now faces a critical decision. He can focus on policy, naming a replacement who wants to ease the economic strains on American households, or he can focus on politics, naming a candidate who appeases the corporate...
by Bill Scher | Sep 27, 2010 | Blog
The following was published by the Barry Kendall of the Progressive Ideas Network, summarizing the panel discussion I participated in while at Netroots Nation 2010. At this year’s Netroots Nation convention in Las Vegas, I moderated a panel called “Think...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Sep 27, 2010 | Blog, Economy
Less than a week after the U.S. Census Bureau reported record levels of poverty in the United States, congressional leaders have informed members of a progressive jobs coalition that there will not be a vote before the November elections on a jobs program for...
by Bill Scher | Sep 27, 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. Time To Rally NYT previews...
by Sam Pizzigati | Sep 26, 2010 | Blog
A modest tax on all U.S. personal fortunes over $1 billion could raise more than enough revenue from the Forbes 400 alone to erase the combined budget shortfalls of every state in the nation. David Rockefeller, Sr., the only surviving grandchild of America’s...
by Sara Robinson | Sep 24, 2010 | Blog
I haven't been blogging for the past few weeks because I was busy moving house. After nearly seven years in Canada, my husband and son and I packed up our things, and came home to the US. The decision was almost an accidental one -- it's a long and not very...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Sep 24, 2010 | Blog
Karen Nussbaum has seen first-hand that the conventional wisdom that has erstwhile progressive candidates running with their tails tucked between their legs in the face of Tea Party rhetoric is just plain wrong. She is the executive director of Working America, a...
by Terrance Heath | Sep 24, 2010 | Blog
When last we left our story, the young guns came galloping into a critical moment. The recession is over, and as the dust settles it reveals that the American economy and middle class lay bleeding: 45 million Americans are living in poverty, last year saw the largest...
by Dave Johnson | Sep 24, 2010 | Blog
The House Ways and Means Committee just approved a bill that pushes China to raise the value of its currency. It looks like the bill will go to a vote on the House floor next week. This is a very big deal because it is a "second front" pushing China to bring its...
by Dave Johnson | Sep 23, 2010 | Blog
Holy Toledo! I downloaded the Pledge To America document. Before reading I skimmed through it and noticed the photos. You try it. Download it and look at the photos. It is clear just who is and who is not "American" in their eyes. After looking at the pictures, read...
by Sara Robinson | Sep 23, 2010 | Blog
Now that the so-called Ground Zero Mosque controversy is slipping off the front pages for the first time in weeks, it's time to ask: Just what the hell was all that about, anyway? Why was it so important that we had to spend all that time discussing it? And why are...
by Bill Scher | Sep 23, 2010 | Blog
The country may be cynical. The country may be dissatisfied. The country may be angry. But the country does not want to stop Barack Obama. An ABC News poll this week found that: "For all their economic gripes, 52 percent of Americans say they'd rather have President...
by Dave Johnson | Sep 23, 2010 | Blog
It's election season and candidates who once hated on Social Security are hearing from the public and switching positions. At the same time members of Congress have sent a letter to the President declaring that they will not go along with any cuts to the program. Will...
by Dave Johnson | Sep 23, 2010 | Blog
As President Obama meets with Chinese Premier Wen, the House Ways and Means Committee announces it will vote tomorrow on a bill to take action if China does not bring its currency to market rates. This sends a loud and clear signal to China that action is coming, one...
by Bill Scher | Sep 23, 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. New Health Reform Benefits Kick In...
by Bill Scher | Sep 22, 2010 | Blog
Yesterday I noted that the highest ranking Senator on the White House deficit commission, Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, heeded the recent warning from 300 economists to put jobs before deficit reduction when he told Bloomberg that we shouldn't embark on deficit...
by Terrance Heath | Sep 22, 2010 | Blog
In keeping with the Western-themed title of Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders, allow me to set the scene: It's well past high noon, and as the dust settles the economy lies bleeding. Looks like it's all over but the dyin' and the buryin'. But wait!...
by | Sep 22, 2010 | Blog
We've been going back and forth the last few days about whether the president and the Democrats are wise to use the "hector the base" strategy to close the enthusiasm gap. I wrote this: More importantly, it's a complete misreading of what ails the base. It's not about...
by Terrance Heath | Sep 22, 2010 | Blog
Digby confirms a suspicion I've held since the Clinton years: part of the method to the right's madness is to exhaust their opponents with their insanity. It's related to what I previously dubbed "The Tyranny of the Tantrum." Those of you who went through the 90s will...
by Dave Johnson | Sep 22, 2010 | Blog
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will be in New York this week to attend the United Nations General Assembly. Reuters reports that Press Secretary Gibbs said in the White House briefing today that the President will meet with him tomorrow and will bring up the problem of...
by Bill Scher | Sep 22, 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. Speculation Rampant On Replacing...
by Richard Eskow | Sep 22, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
Now that Larry Summers is leaving, the President has a decision to make. His choice of a replacement will send a signal about the next two years of economic policy. That signal can restore consumer confidence and reinvigorate the electorate, or it can lead to even...
by Sam Pizzigati | Sep 21, 2010 | Blog
You want to be happy? You don't need to be rich, says some fascinating new academic research. But you do need not to be poor. So how much income must you actually have to achieve a reasonable facsimile of nirvana? Here's what the researchers are saying. How much money...
by Terrance Heath | Sep 21, 2010 | Blog
A few things become clear upon picking up Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders, the new book by Republican House members Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy. First, "young" is apparently a relative term in the GOP. Second, a better title might...
