by Terrance Heath | Jul 15, 2010 | Uncategorized
Conservatives Say Yes To Tax Cuts, No To Helping The Jobless The GOP says no to helping the unemployed, but yet to tax cuts for the wealthy: "Republicans almost unanimously oppose spending $33.9 billion for extended unemployment benefits for some 2.5...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 15, 2010 | Blog
Conservatives have reverted back to calling for corporate tax cuts to stimulate the economy and put people to work. Consider this mindless reflex rather than policy. Corporations are sitting on $1.7 trillion in cash, yet not hiring people. A furious argument is waged...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 14, 2010 | Blog
Voters are in a surly temper. The economy stinks. Jobs are scarce. Wages are under pressure. One in 4 homes with mortgages is underwater. Retirement savings have been butchered; pensions are at risk. Bailed out bankers are paying themselves record bonuses; the oil...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 14, 2010 | Blog
The ManufactureThis blog is liveblogging the hearing on the National Manufacturing Strategy Act of 2010 before t
by Terrance Heath | Jul 14, 2010 | Blog
There are times when you wonder a politician actually believes what he's saying, is just seeing how much he can get away with saying, doesn't know how reality-challenged he sounds, or doesn't care. In Mitch McConnell's case, his statement that "there's no...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 14, 2010 | Blog
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's "jobs summit" today is less a "jobs summit" and more an effort to further sabotage the Obama administration's efforts to reform the economy and make the economy work for working people. It is also a whine-fest, chock full of right-wing,...
by Zach Carter | Jul 14, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
Too-big-to-fail is a much bigger problem than you thought. We've all read damning accounts of the government saving banks from their risky subprime bets, but it turns out that the Wall Street privilege problem is far more deeply ingrained in the U.S. legal system than...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 14, 2010 | Blog, Minimum Wage
"Everyone knows Americans are lazy, shiftless, always looking for a way to shirk their responsibilities. People don't want to work so we have to make them work. And good dose of humiliation is good for the soul. If you let them have any dignity they might get uppity."...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 14, 2010 | Uncategorized
h3>As Progressives Pledge To Address Pain of Unemployment, The Right Keeps Arguing To Make It Worse Democratic Senators returning to D.C. renewed their push Tuesday for unemployment benefits (but still no vote this week), McClatchy reports. "The unemployment insurance...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 13, 2010 | Blog
Less than two months ago, economist Nouriel Roubini, the "Dr. Doom" who foresaw the 2008 economic implosion, told our own Zach Carter in an interview for Alternet that the United States needed to focus on lowering its federal deficit, and "drugging the...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 13, 2010 | Blog
From the Citizens Trade Campaign Earlier this year, 130 members of Congress sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner urging him to designate China as a currency manipulator. This week, the Treasury Department once again refused. Today, July 13th, call your...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 13, 2010 | Blog
In a nation wracked with unemployment and recession, Wall Street firms are still paying billions of dollars in bonuses - and they're hiring, too. The Federal Reserve recently affirmed its right to regulate executive pay, but has yet to take action on it. It should....
by Dave Johnson | Jul 13, 2010 | Blog, Reagan Revolution
Cut spending? Wait - where did that terrible idea come from? Government is We, the People and its job is to protect and empower us. Why in the world would we want to cut back on that? WSJ today, The Bush Tax Cuts and the Deficit Myth, "Runaway government spending, not...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 13, 2010 | Uncategorized
Editor's Note: Progressive Breakfast was delayed this morning due to technical difficulties beyond our control. 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,...
by Alan Jenkins | Jul 13, 2010 | Blog
The Washington Post reported this week that a coalition of over 150 social justice and public interest groups has come together to call for job creation and investment in opportunity, including for the country's hardest hit communities. They'll launch their call in a...
by Leo Gerard | Jul 13, 2010 | Blog, Making it in America
For 110 years America has reigned as the world’s number one manufacturing nation. Next year, China is expected to wrest that title from the United States. Last year, the U.S. manufactured $1.7 trillion worth of goods; China fell second at $1.6 trillion. Next year,...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 12, 2010 | Blog
At the AFL-CIO Blog: Call-In Day, July 13: Tell Congress to Pass Currency Legislation. On July 13, tens of thousands of manufacturers across the country—members of the Fair Currency Coalition and the Coalition for a Prosperous America—will join with union members and...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 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. Bill Scher is off this week. Senate...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 12, 2010 | Blog
Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, what will you say to Jeff Sumner of Louisville when the lights go out in his house at the end of this week? How proud will you be of your votes against extending unemployment insurance to him and millions of other workers? Sumner is one...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 12, 2010 | Blog
McClatchy news story, No full Social Security benefits until age 70? Young Americans might not get full Social Security retirement benefits until they reach age 70 if some trial balloons that prominent lawmakers of both parties are floating become law. Don't fall for...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jul 11, 2010 | Blog, Economy
Over half of America has already felt the Great Recession, personally and profoundly. Yet life at our economy's summit remains ever so sweet. That's a bitter reality we really ought to start confronting. The ranks of the hurting — in Great Recession America...
by Bill Scher | Jul 11, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
The following was my contribution to The Hill's weekly "blogger face-off," as the conservative Ace of Spades and myself answered the question "Like Sen. Graham said, will the Tea Party movement die out?" Tea Party: Nothing New. Nothing Big. Was GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 9, 2010 | Blog, Economy
President Obama gave a major talk on the economic crisis today. While the choice of Las Vegas for its location might be considered ironic, given the fact that Big Bank gambling created the crisis, there's good news: The President's speech could serve as a blueprint...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 9, 2010 | Blog
I just talked to an old friend yesterday and got bad news. He was another programmer laid off in the dot com crash, in his late 40s at the time, so he hasn't been able to get anything since then except the odd short-term contracting gig. Certainly not anything that...
by Sara Robinson | Jul 9, 2010 | Blog, Rick Perlstein
What we need is a new Progressive Dictionary. This dawned on me last week when I spent 1,500 words trying to explain that, no, the word "bureaucrat" was not always a swear word that carries dark connotations of suspect parentage; and that yes, once upon a time, we...
by Bill Scher | Jul 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. WH Seeks To Defuse "Anti-Business"...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 9, 2010 | Blog
The Washington Post's Neil Irwin today offers a good summary of foreboding reality: in the halting economic recovery, the global ec
by Dave Johnson | Jul 8, 2010 | Blog, Making it in America
In April Treasury Secretary Geithner sidestepped an official declaration that China is manipulating its currency by acknowledging that China "pegs" its currency and that this is harming the world-s economy, but put off a formal declaration of currency manipulation....
by Mary Bottari | Jul 8, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
You know that Wall Street reform bill pending in the Senate? Some last minute insertions add up to a surprisingly big win for the developing world. Oil Companies Required to Detail the Dough Paid to Foreign Governments First, kudos to Senators Dick Lugar (R-Indiana)...
by Eric Lotke | Jul 8, 2010 | Blog
The progressive movement that fueled Obama’s stunning 2008 election victory is out of work. Sure, lots of people are unemployed — but the demographic groups at the heart of the Obama coalition have been hit especially hard. That’s why it’s so bitter to watch Obama so...
by Bill Scher | Jul 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. Scramble To Stimulate Something...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 8, 2010 | Blog
Fareed Zakaria is an interesting writer who says some sensible things, as when he called the intensity of the war in Afghanistan "disproportionate" to the threat. But he also reflects the biases and distorted perceptions of a punditocratic subculture that continues to...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 7, 2010 | Blog, Economy, Making it in America
President Obama touted his National Export Initiative this week, boasting that in the first quarter of this year, exports were up 17% from a year ago. Increased exports abroad generate jobs at home. Given the failure of the Senate to pass badly needed jobs bills, the...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 7, 2010 | Blog
Tell us your own story in the comments, please! Here is a fact: There. Are. No. Jobs. Well, there are approx. 10 "official" job-seekers for each job that opens up. (Remember the underemployed figure, known as "U-6" is 21.7% in California 16.7% nationally.) You have to...
by Zach Carter | Jul 7, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
When the nation's most prestigious investment banks found themselves on the verge of total annihilation in the fall of 2008, the most radical and effective government response was not the infamous $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. The wildest salvation...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 7, 2010 | Blog
In his State of the Union speech President Obama announced the National Export Initiative, a campaign to double US exports within 5 years. Today he gave a progress report and announced the members of his Export Council, with a number of CEOs (and one labor leader)...
by Bill Scher | Jul 7, 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. Prez Pushes Exports Today In Latest...
by Zach Carter | Jul 6, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
Heavy-hitting Wall Street political donors are withholding their money from the Democratic Party's campaign coffers, according to a Washington Post report making the rounds on Capitol Hill today. In a political environment in which almost no group is as publicly...
by Leo Gerard | Jul 6, 2010 | Blog
Leo W. Gerard: Stewart, you talk about power in a book you’ve written with economist Dr. Richard A. Levins. You called the manual, “Getting America Back to Work.” What’s the relationship between power and getting people back to work? Stewart J. Acuff: A big part of...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 6, 2010 | Blog
The country is in an economic emergency. Unemployment -- especially long-term unemployment -- is at extremely high levels and the recovery is faltering. Conservatives are obstructing efforts to solve this because they believe it helps them in the November election. To...
