by Isaiah J. Poole | Apr 2, 2010 | Blog, Economy
Moments after the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its report that the economy produced 162,000 jobs in March, this statement was issued on Capitol Hill: "“Any report showing that the economy added jobs is clearly a better alternative to one showing that it lost...
by Bill Scher | Apr 2, 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. BREAKING: Big Jobs Spike, But Not...
by Mary Bottari | Apr 1, 2010 | Blog
TALLY SHOWS THAT THE FEDERAL RESERVE IS THE REAL SOURCE OF BAILOUT FUNDS Today, the Real Economy Project of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) released an assessment of the total cost to taxpayers of the Wall Street bailout. CMD concludes that multiple federal...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 1, 2010 | Blog, Economy
Our economy is not structured to produce enough jobs. Tomorrow's jobs report is expected to show as many as 200,000 jobs created in March, but a lot of that is temporary Census hires, and even 200,000 jobs created is still 2-300,000 fewer jobs than number of new...
by Bill Scher | Apr 1, 2010 | Blog
Today, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said "The unemployment rate is still terribly high and it's going to stay unacceptably high for a long period of time." As my colleague Richard Eskow remarked last fall when White House economic adviser Larry Summers said...
by Leo Gerard | Apr 1, 2010 | Blog, Making it in America
America and China share a terrible delusion. They are in denial about currency manipulation. Both officially state that China is not devaluing its currency. In mid-March, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao flatly denied that China deliberately suppresses the value of...
by Bill Scher | Apr 1, 2010 | Uncategorized
No Immediate Vote Shifts After New Drilling Plan Grist's Jonathan Hiskes assess GOP and Big Oil reaction: "The question is whether Obama's move is getting him any Republican votes for the Senate bill, which hasn’t even been introduced yet. Nothing’s come to light yet,...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 1, 2010 | Blog
Do homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages deserve to lose their homes? That's what finance commentator Barry Ritholtz says, in a post called "More Foreclosures, Please." Ritholtz must have been channeling his inner Rick Santelli when he wrote that "the boom...
by Steven Capozzola | Mar 31, 2010 | Blog, Making it in America
As the Pittsburgh Post Gazette is reporting, U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is scheduled to visit Pittsburgh today, where he will be “greeted by a chorus of calls to bolster ailing U.S. manufacturers by taking action against China’s currency and trade policies.”...
by Bill Scher | Mar 31, 2010 | Blog
Forgive me if my Outrage-O-Meter registers low today despite the President's coastal drilling announcement. Candidate Obama announced his willingness to compromise on coastal drilling quite dramatically during the campaign. And the Senate climate bill talks have been...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 31, 2010 | Blog
As the manufacturing infrastructure of suppliers, technology knowledge, etc., moves to China, dependence follows. China appears to be ready to answer, "So what are you going to do about it?" The world is starting to realize this. Financial Times, yesterday, China...
by Robert Borosage | Mar 31, 2010 | Blog, Economy
The economy is said to be recovering, but the people are not. The jobs are gone, and haven't started to come back. Twenty-five million people are in need of full-time work. Incomes are stagnant; more and more are losing health care. Even the uptick in jobs that will...
by Bill Scher | Mar 31, 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. President To Announce Expanded Oil...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 30, 2010 | Blog
Dear Deficit Commission, It's not hard to figure out why we have a huge deficit. It's so easy I don't have to use words. Here are some pictures: Bill Clinton raised taxes on the rich. Bush cut them. The second chart kind of explains itself. The third chart can help...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 30, 2010 | Blog, Making it in America
I've been focusing on the Chinese currency manipulation problem because the Obama administration is supposed to make it's twice-a-year declaration on this on April 15. But even if this problem is addressed as it needs to be, keep in mind that it is just one piece of...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 30, 2010 | Blog
Are you gearing up for this year's "Tax Freedom Day" on April 9? If you've penciled in that date based on a report released today by the conservative Tax Foundation, you should know that your celebration is most likely going to be much later than it should. Tax...
by Terrance Heath | Mar 30, 2010 | Blog
There's only thing slightly less shocking than the arrest of nine members of the Hutaree Christian militia for plotting to plotting to kill law enforcement officers (with IEDs). That's conservative bloggers coming to their defense. Blue Texan at Firedog lake compiles...
by Bill Scher | Mar 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. "Smoking Gun" Bank Lobby Memo...
by Richard Eskow | Mar 30, 2010 | Blog
What secrets are hidden in the Federal Reserve's trillion-dollar shadow? Economic recovery depends on confidence, and confidence requires knowledge. But Senators like Chris Dodd and Judd Gregg don't want us to have that knowledge. They don't even want it themselves....
by Bill Scher | Mar 29, 2010 | Blog
The NY Times reports today that insurance companies are prepared to interpret the new health care law so they can deny coverage to children with pre-existing conditions between now and 2014. Insurers are daring to do so even though congressional leaders have made...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 29, 2010 | Blog, Making it in America
The "free trade" craze wiping out Haiti's farmers by flooding the country with cheap American rice. The same this happened in northern Mexico with cheap (heavily subsidized) American corn. On March 10 Bill Clinton apologized to Haiti. See With cheap food imports,...
by Terrance Heath | Mar 29, 2010 | Blog
This is too rich. See, during the campaign, I watched countless videos of McCain-Palin supporters. I compiled snippets of them for two post-election videos, and I collected the videos in an online playlist. (I've archived them offline, just in case they disappear and...
by Bill Scher | Mar 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. Pressure Builds For Bolder Action...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 29, 2010 | Blog
For many years we've been hearing about outsourcing and offshoring. President Obama has started taking steps to rebalance world trade and the pendulum is about to start swinging the other way. More and more often you'll be hearing new words: "insourcing," "on-shoring"...
by Sam Pizzigati | Mar 28, 2010 | Blog
The health care reform legislation President Obama signed into law last week takes a little-noticed but precedent-setting swipe at executive pay excess. The health care reform package that President Obama signed into law last week will give many millions of Americans...
by Robert Borosage | Mar 26, 2010 | Blog
The Congress just voted to take over $60 billion in subsidies to the banks and invest it in aid to college students. The students beat the banks; hard to believe but true. The reconciliation bill that featured the final “fixes” on health care also included a...
by Terrance Heath | Mar 26, 2010 | Blog
The big news, since President Obama signed health care reform into law, has been the threats made against Democratic lawmakers. [h/t, Prometheus.] But there is another threat looming, that isn't directed at Democratic officials, and isn't getting nearly as much...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 26, 2010 | Blog
When a policy is just wrong it's just wrong. I have written about how Chinese CEOs and Chinese economists have been making the case for China to bring its currency up to market rates. Even Chinese government officials are making the case for a stronger currency. In a...
by Bill Scher | Mar 26, 2010 | Uncategorized
Student Loan Reform Clears Congress With Reconciliation Students win, bank lobby loses. AP: "More needy college students will have access to bigger Pell Grants, and future borrowers of government loans will have an easier time repaying them ... the most sweeping...
by Richard Eskow | Mar 26, 2010 | Blog
Just when you thought you'd had enough of Goldman Sachs running things -- and running them into the ground -- along comes Meg Whitman. Most Californians know she's using her fortune to run for governor. They probably don't know that she was once on the board of...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 25, 2010 | Blog
Problem:: States shed government jobs as revenue plummets. Just last month: In Michigan, where the unemployment rate is 14.1 percent, the nation's highest, government jobs at all levels fell by 5,000. They accounted for one-third of the state's job losses....
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 25, 2010 | Blog, Economy
by Leo Gerard | Mar 25, 2010 | Blog
When President Barack Obama signed the historic health insurance reform bill, he said it was, “Change we can believe in.” He noted that his party has sought reform for more than half a century. The effort began long before President Harry Truman recommended to...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 25, 2010 | Blog
Yesterday I wrote about Chinese CEOs calling for China to bring its currency up to market rates. Today Chinese economists are joining the call. Chinese economist Gong Shengli, in his book, China is Very Happy, calls for a strong yuan, "In order for China to survive...
by Bill Scher | Mar 25, 2010 | Uncategorized
Financial Reform Moves Into Spotlight Financial reform rises to the next major legislative priority. NYT: "...two crucial Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and Bob Corker of Tennessee, said they expected the overhaul to pass this...
by Richard Eskow | Mar 24, 2010 | Blog
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner delivered a populist stemwinder of a speech the other day, bringing his rhetorical A-game with comments like these: "Listen less to those whose judgments brought us this crisis. Listen less to those who told us all they were the masters...
by Terrance Heath | Mar 24, 2010 | Blog
Well, that didn't take long. First members of Congress were pelted with bigoted slurs and spit upon, by a crowd cheered on by Republican members of Congress, to the point that the Speaker and congressional Democrats walked across the capitol complex flanked by police...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 24, 2010 | Blog
Let's get Part I of health care reform done. To do this the Senate should pass the bill that the House sent up, with no changes. THEN start the fight for the next phase of health care reform. There should be an alternative to the mandate to buy insurance from big...
by Bill Scher | Mar 24, 2010 | Blog, Economy
The tripartisan trio of Senators John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham are busily shopping around a draft climate protection bill to their colleagues in hopes of securing 60 votes. Politico reports today that the current draft is "it’s chock-full of sweeteners...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 24, 2010 | Blog, Making it in America
The pressure from the huge Chinese currency imbalance shows up in surprising places. Even Chinese CEOs are calling for China to increase the value of its currency to market rates. China CEOs Join Obama in Supporting Yuan Appreciation Yang Yuanqing, chief executive...
