by Richard Eskow | May 17, 2010 | Blog
Anyone who's ever seen a Terminator movie knows that civilization ended when a computer system called "Skynet" came alive and tried to terminate the human race by starting a nuclear apocalypse. After last week's "flash crash" on Wall Street, they might have wondered...
by Eric Lotke | May 17, 2010 | Blog
Today’s news is the Supreme Court decision that juveniles cannot be confined in prison without the possibility of parole for offenses committed while juveniles (in this case, a very clumsy store robbery by a 16 year old with a crowbar). Yesterd ay’s news was the...
by Terrance Heath | May 17, 2010 | Blog
It's a wet, rainy day in Washington D.C. Enough to soak anyone who stands outside long enough. But it wasn't enough to put out the fiery anger of hundreds of activists who took to the streets of the capitol today, to deliver a message to Wall Street's K Street...
by Dave Johnson | May 17, 2010 | Blog
For Billionaire Mort Zuckerman it’s those damn unions that are the problem. For so many of the rest of us the problem is that we don't have a union. Zuckerman has been with us on lots of things, like what he wrote about the stimulus, “The fiscal program was a...
by Bill Scher | May 17, 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. Reid may move today to schedule...
by Sam Pizzigati | May 16, 2010 | Blog
Friends of the financially fortunate are trying to turn reality upside-down — and save our undertaxed rich mega billions in the process. But two new sets of data can help us set the record straight. Taxes on the wealthy in the United States run low. Many wealthy...
by Richard Eskow | May 14, 2010 | Blog
"Budgetball is an innovative sport that combines fiscal strategy and physical play." - Budgetball Rulebook, "Pass the Ball - Not The Buck" Billionaire Pete Peterson is funding an elaborate campaign to convince a nation with more than 15 million unemployed citizens...
by Sara Robinson | May 14, 2010 | Blog
As the debate over the climate bill heats up, there's one rule of thumb that may help you keep your bearings as the rhetoric becomes more gaseous and the weeds grow ever higher around the facts. It's this: There are, in the end, only four possible futures here. Future...
by Dave Johnson | May 14, 2010 | Blog, Economy
It is hard to imagine out here in the real world, but there seem to be people in the Congress who think they can get (or deserve to be) re-elected when they are failing to do anything about jobs or extending unemployment and COBRA with unemployment at 10%,...
by Bill Scher | May 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. Senate Leaders May Save Derivatives...
by Dave Johnson | May 13, 2010 | Blog
You and I pay income tax on our income. But if your income comes from having really, really wealthy parents you are entitled to really, really special treatment because that is how democracy plutocracy works. In the news: Kyl: Deal on the estate tax in the offing,...
by Dave Johnson | May 13, 2010 | Blog
What's the old saying about hose who cannot learn from history? Well, here we go again. In the news: Oil, Chinese imports boost U.S. trade deficit, Growing imports of oil and Chinese goods pushed the U.S. trade deficit to its highest level in 15 months in March. The...
by Zach Carter | May 13, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
The top Republican fundraiser in the Senate, John Cornyn of Texas, just gave a preposterous speech on Wall Street reform in which he pushed the plan recently promoted recently by disgraced J.P. Morgan Economist James Glassman. Cornyn is opposing the use of a...
by Leo Gerard | May 13, 2010 | Blog
Corporate CEOs, union-busting lawyers, and conservative politicians who pander to the rich condemned a National Mediation Board (NMB) Ruling this week. They complained that the NMB gave railway and airline workers the ability to obtain collective bargaining rights...
by Bill Scher | May 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. Weakening Wall St. Reform...
by Zach Carter | May 12, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
There are two consumer protection amendments getting serious attention on the Senate floor this week, one of them positive, one of them incredibly destructive. Both revolve around the concept of "preemption"—the ability of federal regulators to block states from...
by Richard Eskow | May 12, 2010 | Blog
The trade association for payday lenders objected to what they called my "name calling" in their blog yesterday ... then called me a "pig."Why? Because I quoted Aristotle and told a story about Jesus. Well, to be fair, I did suggest their industry might be "evil"...
by Dave Johnson | May 12, 2010 | Blog, Economy
The commute between Baltimore and DC is the 4th-most congested route in the country. But a high-speed rail line would make this trip an 18-minute breeze (and also free up some of that congestion). They have been talking about building this rail line since 1994....
by Bill Scher | May 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. Fed Beaten, But Bank Battle Not...
by Alex Lawson | May 12, 2010 | Blog
Last week I livestreamed the first closed door meeting of the president's fiscal commission. I did this out of frustration that we received no response to a letter that we sent from 81 organizations representing over 61 million Americans, asking that all the work of...
by Leo Gerard | May 11, 2010 | Blog
The governors of the Gulf Coast states, all Republicans, asked the federal government for help dealing with the BP oil spill -- yeah, the government, the very organization that their hero and mentor Ronald Reagan described as “the problem,” not the solution. “The...
by Robert Borosage | May 11, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
240 former legislators, bank committee staffers, and Treasury officials deployed to lobby. $600 million spent in lobbying, trade association activity and political contributions since March 2008. And that is just from the six biggest banks. The entire financial...
by Dave Johnson | May 11, 2010 | Blog, Economy
People care about jobs. They still care about jobs. And politicians who don't care about jobs will lose their jobs, because that is what motivates voters. Polling at Pollingreport.com proves that people are much more concerned about jobs than deficits. (Note there are...
by Zach Carter | May 11, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
The Senate approved an amendment from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that would subject the Federal Reserve's bailout operations to a one-time audit. The vote was 96 - 0 in favor of the measure. A stronger audit, sponsored by Reps. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., and Ron Paul,...
by Sam Pizzigati | May 11, 2010 | Blog, Economy
In 2010 America, schools, students, and teachers share the budget-cutting pain. The heirs to our mega rich, meanwhile, don't have to share anything. For the first time in nearly a century, we have no federal estate tax. A moment of silence, please, for Dan Duncan. The...
by Bill Scher | May 11, 2010 | Blog
While it is doubtful that Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan shares Chief Justice John Roberts' conservative judicial activist approach to the Constitution, their backgrounds upon nomination are similar. Both are accomplished lawyers who graduated from Harvard to serve...
by Bill Scher | May 11, 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. Senate Returns To Wall Street...
by Dave Johnson | May 10, 2010 | Blog
This is about jobs and the world's economy. China's currency manipulation gives goods made in China a huge price advantage -- some estimate as much as 40%! -- over goods made in other countries. It is a part (only a part) of the reason so many of our companies move...
by Zach Carter | May 10, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
Last week, Congress decided it would not confront Too Big To Fail, the single gravest threat to our collective financial security. But there are still several key Wall Street reforms worth fighting for—reforms that must be enacted before the next crisis hits. And...
by Richard Eskow | May 10, 2010 | Blog
There are basically two dimensions to the financial crisis. One is the way finance has evolved into a gambling operation that's fundamentally risky and fails to contribute to the real economy. The other is plain, old-fashioned greed - the kind that exploits the weak...
by Dave Johnson | May 10, 2010 | Blog
Have you noticed that there is a very odd logic around the DC Beltway deficit-cutting frenzy? Here is the basic argument: A) Things worked great back when taxes on the rich were high. We built up the infrastructure that made us prosperous, and we built up a middle...
by Alex Lawson | May 10, 2010 | Blog
Although best known as a retirement program, Social Security can provide substantial income to children and their families. Children receive Social Security benefits either directly or indirectly when a working parent dies, becomes disabled, or reaches retirement age....
by Bill Scher | May 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. Kagan Nomination Announcement...
by Roger Hickey | May 9, 2010 | Blog
Anne Kim and Jonathan Cowan of Third Way took to the Politico Arena op ed page (and url) on Thursday with the hoary slander that progressives care only about "expanding the entitlement state" and have no interest in economic growth or expanding wealth. Apparently...
by Dave Johnson | May 7, 2010 | Blog, Making it in America
Is China's industrial policy a "bigger" concern than their currency manipulation? That depends on what you think the meaning of "is" is. But China's currency manipulation and trade barriers are against trade rules, while having an industrial policy is just smart. A...
by Richard Eskow | May 7, 2010 | Blog
The country needs meaningful financial reform a lot more than it needs more political analysis. Yesterday, however, the two became even more intertwined than usual. By compromising on good policy on Thursday, it looks like Democrats have outsmarted themselves...
by Eric Lotke | May 7, 2010 | Blog
The April unemployment figures are out, and America added 290,000 new jobs. It’s good news, but still unemployment edged up to 9.9 percent. The problem has many layers. First, the American population continues to grow. It takes 127,000 new jobs every month just to...
by Zach Carter | May 7, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
Late last night, the U.S. Senate rejected the single most important element of Wall Street reform by a vote of 33 to 61. The SAFE Banking Act would have forced the break-up of the nation's six largestbanks, and dramatically reduced the political clout of America's...
by Bill Scher | May 7, 2010 | Uncategorized
BREAKING: 290,000 new jobs in April. Unemployment at 9.9% BREAKING: New April jobs report from Labor Dept. "Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 290,000 in April, the unemployment rate edged up to 9.9 percent, and the labor force increased sharply ... the number of...
by Dave Johnson | May 6, 2010 | Blog
