by Isaiah J. Poole | May 6, 2010 | Blog
The current drumbeat of commentary on the right that the Obama administration was too slow in responding to the BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf raises two obvious questions. One: Is it true? The answer is “no,” according to, among other things, a...
by Zach Carter | May 6, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
Word is circulating through Capitol Hill right now that Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) has agreed to back a comprehensive audit of the Federal Reserve, paving the way for the almost certain passage of the measure. This is a major victory for serious Wall Street reform, and...
by Dave Johnson | May 6, 2010 | Blog
There have so been many examples lately of the wealthy and the executive class having a sense that they are superior and entitled to fleece and feed off of the rest of us. Here is one more. BP CEO Tony Hayward on who will be responsible for paying oil spill damages,...
by Richard Eskow | May 6, 2010 | Blog
Harry Reid got it right when he said that the GOP is "making love to Wall Street" - and when politicians and bankers "make love" it's the public that gets screwed. Sen. Shelby's so-called "consumer protection amendment" failed, as expected.(!) But what happens next?...
by Zach Carter | May 6, 2010 | Blog
2:20 I agree in theory with just about everything that Tim Geithner said over the past two hours. The trouble is, his solutions-- a systemic risk regulator, giving regulators more powers -- won't be enough to fix the system. You need hard rules in place that force...
by Bill Scher | May 6, 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. Populist Charge On Senate Floor...
by Sara Robinson | May 5, 2010 | Blog
Suppose they gave a tea party and nobody came? That's pretty much what happened on Tuesday, as the first wave of Tea Party primary candidates all went down to abject humiliation at the hands of the voters. Skippy the bush kangaroo surveys the catastrophe (note:...
by Richard Eskow | May 5, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
Now that the ideological defense of Wall Street behavior has collapsed, brought down by the wreckage of deregulation, bankers and lobbyists are pursuing a new strategy: fighting the democratic process itself. They're suggesting that this issue is a little too...
by Sara Robinson | May 5, 2010 | Blog
George W. Bush -- who knew a thing or two about addiction -- was right about one thing: America is addicted to fossil fuels. Looking at the recent headlines, it's becoming clear that history, Gaia, and our neighbors have all had enough. Look around the room. Look at...
by Zach Carter | May 5, 2010 | Blog
9:00 Here we go. Bill Thomas is offering a very silly analogy between the automobile and the financial system. Both were simple 40 years ago, then both got complicated, and now when you need a very sophisticated specialist to fix problems with either cars or finance....
by Eric Lotke | May 5, 2010 | Blog
The agenda of the Blue Green Alliance is brilliant and visionary. Build a “new, clean energy economy in America, and put [people] to work creating the American jobs of the future.” The blue green coalition includes environmentalists and organized labor, and its...
by Terrance Heath | May 5, 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 Audit Endangered? First it was...
by Alex Lawson | May 5, 2010 | Blog
Probably not going to be the most riveting livestream ever. Video streaming by Ustream
by Zach Carter | May 4, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
J.P. Morgan Chase, America's largest warehouse of arrogant financial elites, has issued yet another deceptive lobbyist smear in the guise of an "analyst report." Yesterday, the megabank's Chief Economist James Glassman launched a broadside against Sen. Carl Levin...
by Isaiah J. Poole | May 4, 2010 | Blog
There's a new study today that shows once again how insanely wrong conservatives are when they say that extending unemployment benefits in today's economy only discourages people from finding work. \ Just ask the people who participated in the study of the long-term...
by Isaiah J. Poole | May 4, 2010 | Blog, Economy
The BlueGreen Alliance is a coalition of union and environmental organizations "Green is gold," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as she stressed the importance of the coalition in building on the job-creation work started by the Recovery Act last year. "Know your power...
by Bill Scher | May 4, 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. Lobbyists Aim To Kill Bank Reforms...
by Richard Eskow | May 3, 2010 | Blog
An anonymous email's been making the rounds on Wall Street from some loser who thinks he's a shark. It's a nasty piece of work that reveals the mentality of the people that have been running our economy for some time, thanks to deregulation and political influence...
by Alex Lawson | May 3, 2010 | Blog
I am a founding member of The Other 98% and I am really proud of this growing organization. We are speedily closing in on 30,000 facebook fans since the beginning of April. I am really proud of the awesome video that we made to showcase our involvement in the Show...
by Terrance Heath | May 3, 2010 | Blog
The only things more astounding than conservatives' record of failure, are their denials of "personal responsibility" for the ensuing disasters, and their attempts to blame somebody — anybody — else. Their response to the growing ecological...
by Zach Carter | May 3, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
Despite all of the attention heaped on the Treasury Department and the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Federal Reserve served as the chief bank bailout engine in the U.S. economy during the . But unlike the Treasury, the Fed isn't subject to basic government...
by Dave Johnson | May 3, 2010 | Blog, Economy
Things are good for the plutocrats. Stock market soaring, bonuses are big... Thinks are going mighty fine. So fine, in fact, that the urgency of extending unemployment, COBRA and programs to help the people harmed by the financial disaster is moving off the table. But...
by Isaiah J. Poole | May 3, 2010 | Blog
In June 2008, former Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr.—a conservative who is now seeking the Republican nomination to get his old job back—was at an education conference in which he touted charter schools, private institutions that operate in competition to public...
by Bill Scher | May 3, 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. Wall Street Reform Amendments...
by Sam Pizzigati | May 2, 2010 | Blog
What happens to societies that don’t share the wealth? They spend — and waste — a fortune guarding it. The latest over-the-top example: Oracle has spent $4.6 million on “residential security” for billionaire CEO Larry Ellison. The Great...
by Mary Bottari | May 2, 2010 | Blog
The financial services reform bill is on the Senate floor this week. The recently announced criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs, the bumbling testimony of Goldman's "Fabulous Fab" and the rocking Wall Street protest last Thursday show that momentum is with...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 30, 2010 | Blog
We thought we'd write a little radio ad for the SAFE Banking proposal being put forward in the House and Senate. But this ad's not just promoting a policy - it's selling a litmus test. This amendment finally gives us a chance to find out whether those politicians who...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Apr 30, 2010 | Blog
by Dave Johnson | Apr 30, 2010 | Blog
Suddenly the word is all over the place that the Congress is not going to extend unemployment benefits further! It seems that the economy is booming (for Wall Street, top corporate executives, and Washington legislators) so it doesn't feel like there is a need to keep...
by Terrance Heath | Apr 30, 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. Financial Reform Debate Begins...
by Terrance Heath | Apr 29, 2010 | Blog
OK. Maybe just a Barnum world — P.T. Barnum, that is. This legendary promoter of famous hoaxes comes to mind once again as I watch the various congressional hearings related to the financial crisis, or read of the testimony from those hearings. Why? Because the most...
by Steven Capozzola | Apr 29, 2010 | Blog
Recently, the U.S. Treasury Department delayed publication of its semi-annual report on currency. The three-month rollback was intended to give China an opportunity to demonstrate progress on adjusting its undervalued currency, the Yuan. This grace period will likely...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 29, 2010 | Blog, Economy
When you think about building a new mass transit system, or funding (and cuts) top operate bus and rail lines you tend to think about the construction, manufacturing, operating and maintenance jobs created (or cut). That's a lot of jobs, but those jobs are almost...
by Bill Scher | Apr 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
GOP Looks To Weaken Wall Street Reform On Senate Floor Republican drop filibuster without bipartisan deal in place. W. Post: "Reid said he would allow votes on numerous GOP amendments ... Shelby and Dodd agreed that they had made headway ... Dodd agreed to drop a...
by Zach Carter | Apr 29, 2010 | Blog, Financial Reform
Today is the big day: thousands of people will march on Wall Street this afternoon to protest big bank abuses. After watching Wall Street stack the economic deck against, well, just about everybody, it's time for reform. Big Banks secured the most generous bailout in...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 28, 2010 | Blog
What we've been witnessing in Washington isn't just political positioning by one party looking to deny the other a victory, although it's certainly that. We're also seeing the death struggle of a dying ideology. This ideology provided intellectual cover to business...
by Leo Gerard | Apr 28, 2010 | Blog
Don Blankenship, the man ultimately in charge of Massey Energy's West Virginia mine where 29 workers died in an explosion April 5, assured financial analysts last week that safety is paramount in his operation. Massey, the country's fourth largest mining company,...
by Robert Borosage | Apr 28, 2010 | Blog
Senate Republicans have perfected the art of saying no. But in blocking a debate on financial reform, they have begun to imitate Goldman Sachs traders, selling positions that they are betting against. Blocking financial reform is, not surprisingly, financially...
by Terrance Heath | Apr 28, 2010 | Blog
Tim Wise says what I was thinking a few weeks ago: What if the tea party was black? Let’s play a game, shall we? The name of the game is called “Imagine.” The way it’s played is simple: we’ll envision recent happenings in the news, but...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 28, 2010 | Blog
Yesterday I compared China's stimulus plan with our own. China made a major investment in public infrastructure but a key strategic part of that was that they focused on developing strategic industries. For example, because China's government has invested heavily...
