by Leo Gerard | Dec 28, 2009 | Blog
Leo W. Gerard: Tom, your new book, Up From Wall Street: The Responsible Investment Alternative, provides both cautionary tales for those responsible for investing workers’ pension funds and a field guide of practical assistance for institutional investors who want to...
by Terrance Heath | Dec 26, 2009 | Blog
Mike Elk couldn't have been more right in his thinking about what Martin Luther King, Jr. would have thought of the Teabaggers, Birthers, etc. He would have seen that those faces that at first glance seem twisted in anger are really twisted in pain. He would recognize...
by Richard Eskow | Dec 23, 2009 | Blog
Ezra Klein has responded thoughtfully to my criticism of him. I felt he should have mentioned the numerous studies which challenge the assumptions behind the excise tax, given his strong support for the tax. I'm glad he's done that. After all, the tax is...
by Terrance Heath | Dec 23, 2009 | Blog
Was there once a time when people robbed banks, instead of banks robbing people? Okay, maybe not, but it sounds like that's what Chase Bank did to Trina Lee — a nurse in Arizona who was laid-off two years ago, then had medical problems that keep her from working...
by Leo Gerard | Dec 23, 2009 | Blog, Making it in America
In Columbus Ohio, a 5-year-old girl jumped onto Santa's lap last month and asked if he could give her dad a job as an elf. Mike Smith, who works the Santa station at the Polaris Fashion Place in Columbus, asked why, the Wall Street Journal reported. The little girl in...
by Terrance Heath | Dec 23, 2009 | Uncategorized
Depending on your outlook, it's either "Bah Humbug" or a "Happy Holiday," as Senate Democrats approach a historic Christmas Eve vote for the biggest expansion in health care in decades. The particulars of the health care reform package will be the subject of debate...
by Eric Lotke | Dec 23, 2009 | Blog
I’m looking forward to the 2010 elections. We need them. Many dread how badly the election is shaping up. Commentators predict double-digit Democratic losses in the House and further retreat from the 60-vote threshold in the Senate. We fear a progressive era strangled...
by Richard Eskow | Dec 22, 2009 | Blog
Nothing brings the readers a-runnin' like the word "actuary" in a headline - especially at holiday time! Well, maybe not ... but this is important: An actuary with the respected Milliman firm has analyzed the excise tax and come to some striking conclusions. The tax...
by Dave Johnson | Dec 22, 2009 | Blog
It is possible that there is going to be a “deficit commission” to look for ways to reduce our country’s budget deficits. I have some questions for them to ask to help get things started in the right direction: 1) President Reagan increased Social Security taxes, but...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Dec 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
More proof this morning that the economy needs a new jolt of government intervention to keep it growing out of the Great Recession: The Commerce Department announced this morning a 2.2 percent increase in gross domestic product during the third quarter of 2009. CNBC...
by Roger Hickey | Dec 22, 2009 | Blog
The blogosphere is aflame with debate over the Senate health care bill. I've just been sent 10 reasons (in one blog post) why progressives should kill the bill and start over in the battle to really reform health care. Administration spokespeople add fuel to the...
by Richard Eskow | Dec 21, 2009 | Blog
The progressive "journo/blogospere" is sharply split over the Senate health bill. Some, like Jane Hamsher and
by Terrance Heath | Dec 21, 2009 | Uncategorized
T'was the weekend before Xmas And all through the Senate, There was talk of a bill With some health care reform in it. With Nelson and Lieberman Both finally placated, All that's left, it seems, Is for the bill to be debated. Progressives may grumble, But with no...
by Sam Pizzigati | Dec 20, 2009 | Blog, Economy
Who deserves to sit on this year's list of our most avaricious? We could pick ten eminently deserving greedy straight from any big bank on Wall Street. But why spoil all the fun? Has picking a year’s greediest “top ten” ever been easier? We don't...
by Richard Eskow | Dec 20, 2009 | Blog
Our new piece on the politics and policy of the Senate's health reform deal is up at The Huffington Post, and it addresses the excise tax at several points: "if you take that new revenue, add the unfair tax on higher-cost benefit plans (studies demonstrate its...
by Roger Hickey | Dec 19, 2009 | Blog
Here's my position. In these final days of the health care fight, progressives should work hard to improve the health reform bill in the Senate and in the conference with the (better) House bill. But we should support the passage of the best bill we can get - and then...
by Richard Eskow | Dec 19, 2009 | Blog
The pro-Senate health bill contingent keeps trotting out the example of Switzerland to buttress their arguments. Here's a quick recap of why the comparison doesn't work: First or all, Switzerland is a wealthier country: OECD figures show that the median...
by Richard Eskow | Dec 18, 2009 | Blog
Business columnist and Fortune Senior Editor Allan Sloan just wrote a piece in the Washington Post about the excise tax. It's smart, cogent, and well-written. (Translation: Wish I'd written it.) By using the work of Henry J. Aaron, a highly respected health economist,...
by Terrance Heath | Dec 18, 2009 | Uncategorized
The saga of health care reform continues with a hunt for votes. Next up to call the shots on health care, after Sen. Joe Lieberman, is Ben Nelson(D-AR). After rejecting an abortion compromise, word is that Ben Nelson may join a Republican filibuster. Steve Benen at...
by Dave Johnson | Dec 17, 2009 | Blog, Economy, Making it in America
This week the Obama administration came out with a new policy paper, "Framework for Revitalizing American Manufacturing" to coincide with a White House meeting with manufacturers. At the meeting, Vice President Biden ... announced administration support for a $5...
by Richard Eskow | Dec 17, 2009 | Blog
Many of us admire the wealth of talent on display in the White House, so it's disappointing when there is a breakdown in the accuracy or completeness of information being put forward by members of this Administration. Take Jason Furman, the Deputy Director of the...
by Terrance Heath | Dec 17, 2009 | Blog
Recent developments in the health care reform debate debacle saga remind me of a a scene — actually more like a repeated gag — from one of my favorite movies, Keenan Ivory Waynans' I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. I'll explain why at the end of this post, but first I want to...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Dec 17, 2009 | Uncategorized
As President Obama flies to Copenhagen later today to join dozens of other heads of state at the climate change talks there, The New York Times joins other media outlets in concluding that "continued bickering among delegations would seem to be making the...
by Richard Eskow | Dec 16, 2009 | Blog
I just put up a piece in The Huffington Post outlining what I consider 10 myths or assumptions that are currently being used to weaken resistance to the current draft of the Senate bill. While the post isn't exclusively about the excise tax, the tax does come up at...
by Robert Borosage | Dec 16, 2009 | Blog
Time Magazine's naming Ben Bernanke "Man of the Year" is a little bit like celebrating an arsonist for his heroics in putting out a fire that he set. Bernanke has done creative and bold work in staving off a fianancial free fall. But he would also be on any list of...
by Terrance Heath | Dec 16, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. Leiberman and the Remains of Reform The political blogosphere and pundit class are still reeling either from Sen. Joe Lieberman's none-to-surprising betrayal...
by Robert Borosage | Dec 16, 2009 | Blog
Enjoy the health care debate? Wait until the Senate takes on the big banks. It already looks like déjà vu all over again. Democrats, bloodied from self-inflicted wounds in the health care debate, may well commit seppuku over financial reform. The script is...
by Eric Lotke | Dec 16, 2009 | Blog
Things are supposed to be looking up. Today’s data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis gives a fuller picture: low wages and declining domestic production. Real average hourly earnings fell 0.5 percent from October to November, seasonally adjusted The U.S....
by Richard Eskow | Dec 15, 2009 | Blog
That somebody is Kate Pickert, who wrote about the excise tax at TIME's "Swampland" blog. Editors will be editors, so we can't necessarily blame her for the piece's misleading title: "Who Should Pay for Health Care Reform - the Rich or the Richly Insured?" But she...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Dec 15, 2009 | Blog
Our bloggers Terrance Heath and Bill Scher dive into the question that is now dominating progressive political debate: Has the health care reform bill been so seriously compromised—first with the dilution and ultimate elimination of the public option and now with the...
by Richard Eskow | Dec 15, 2009 | Blog
I have a piece up on my own blog which challenges numbers-whiz Nate Silver for his takedown of progressives. He doesn't think they should be fighting for a better health bill, and that they should be delighted with the one that's expected to pass the Senate. Warning:...
by Eric Lotke | Dec 15, 2009 | Blog
The Federal Reserve today releases industrial production data with good news. Will it draw the right conclusions? First the good news. Industrial production increased 0.8 percent in November, and capacity utilization for total industry moved up 0.7 percentage points...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Dec 15, 2009 | Blog, Economy
The last time I made a trip to Home Depot was for a space heater for my bedroom, and I did what I suspect many people are doing on purchases like this: In addition to comparing the price tags, looking for the "Energy Star" label and asking whether this heater is any...
by Bill Scher | Dec 15, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day Medicare Buy-In Expected To Be Dropped From Deal Medicare buy-in about to be jettisoned from Senate deal. USA Today: "Senate Democrats said Monday they are...
by Bill Scher | Dec 14, 2009 | Blog
The hot You Tube of the day -- dug up by The Plum Line, and spreading like wildfire -- is Sen. Joe Lieberman supporting the expansion of Medicare to 55-64 year-olds ... a mere three months before he announced his opposition to it yesterday. Of course, Lieberman needs...
by Dave Johnson | Dec 14, 2009 | Blog, Making it in America
Those advocating capitualtion on trade and manufacturing are hard at work. From the National Journal's Congress Daily today, Trade Restraint? Those who follow U.S.-Chinese trade frictions must be working overtime these days. The number of high-profile trade complaints...
by Richard Eskow | Dec 14, 2009 | Blog
The $149 billion number - the amount of revenue the CBO estimates the excise tax will bring in - has becoming gospel in Washington. But there's a very good chance the number is overstated, possibly by tens of billions of dollars, and the mistake seems to have been...
by Richard Eskow | Dec 14, 2009 | Blog
The battle to resist the excise tax continue, with a front line of resistance forming in the House and Senate. Efforts include the movement to drum up support for the Sanders-Franken-Brown Amendment, which replaces it with a high-earner tax similar to that contained...
by Richard Eskow | Dec 14, 2009 | Blog
Kirsten Powers has an editorial at the New York Post attacking the excise tax. "(N)no topic has gotten more ink during the health-care debate than cost," she observes. "This question has become the obsession distracting us from the moral imperative to provide health...
by Bill Scher | Dec 14, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day Lieberman's Double-Cross Flip-Flop Threatens Health Care Bill TPMDC reports Lieberman and Reid had a "confrontation in Reid's office" after Lieberman declared...
