by Sam Pizzigati | Nov 22, 2009 | Blog
Don't expect an answer from the ranters and ravers who frequent 'Tea Parties' — or the politicians who egg them on. You don’t have to dig particularly deep, in the United States today, to find some striking similarities between today’s virulently...
by Bill Scher | Nov 22, 2009 | Blog
During this week's edition of The Week In Blog on Bloggingheads.tv, Matt Lewis and I discussed blog reaction to the unveiling of the Senate's health care reform legislation, and how conservatives are responding to the Congressional Budget Office's projection of...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 20, 2009 | Blog
The first time I heard it, I did a double-take, because I thought I heard it wrong. The second time I heard it, I rolled my eyes. The third time I heard Sarah Palin, in her interview with Oprah Winfrey, suggest that women who choose to terminate pregnancies are...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 20, 2009 | Blog
There was a major victory for accountability this week in the financial reform fight, but there was also a demonstration that when it comes to protecting the profits of bankers at the expense of ordinary people, no institution does it better than the Party of No....
by Bill Scher | Nov 20, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. Paul-Grayson Fed Audit Plan Clears Committee NYT on House committee vote repudiating Fed: "Mr. Paul, a libertarian Republican who has called for abolishing the...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 19, 2009 | Blog
Have you heard of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission? Their job is to assess the national security implications of the trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People's Republic of China. Actually, that’s a big deal,...
by Leo Gerard | Nov 19, 2009 | Blog
It turns out a Texas windmill farm developer's request last month for nearly half a billion in stimulus funds to create 2,000 jobs in China doesn't rank first on the audacity scale. Shockingly for American taxpayers, and sadly for the staggering 10.2 percent of...
by Eric Lotke | Nov 19, 2009 | Blog
President Obama is home from China and the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission today releases its 2009 report to Congress. What have we learned? That we need to pay attention because we’re getting schooled. While Obama posed for photos on the Great Wall...
by Bill Scher | Nov 19, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day Senate Health Care Bill Cuts Deficit Senate bill will cut the deficit in each of the next two decades projects CBO. Bloomberg: "[The bill] cleared a major...
by Sam Pizzigati | Nov 18, 2009 | Blog
What has the potential to save more lives, the insurance reforms in the House health care bill or the higher taxes on the rich the bill imposes to pay for those reforms? This rather odd question, suggests a new study on inequality and health, really does merit asking....
by Dave Johnson | Nov 18, 2009 | Blog, Economy
The country needs a jobs program and needs it right now. Cash for Caulkers would be a good start. A new Civilian Conservation Corps would be another. But let's not allow a jobs program to cover over the need for real changes in the structure and core principles of our...
by Robert Borosage | Nov 18, 2009 | Blog, Economy
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gets it. No wonder she drives the wingnuts batty. With the Senate befuddled by the antics of Joe Lieberman and Max Baucus on health care and the White House Clintonistas lobbying President Obama to devote his January State of the Union...
by Bill Scher | Nov 18, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day Senate Bill And CBO Estimate Today (Really, Maybe, We Think) Reid to show bill to fellow Senators at 5 PM ET. Politico: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid...
by Bill Scher | Nov 17, 2009 | Blog
The online version of Foreign Policy magazine currently blares the wildly premature headline "Who Killed Copenhagen? FP Plays The Blame Game." This apparently is what happens when a thoughtful if staid non-profit publication gets sold to a for-profit corporation -- in...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 17, 2009 | Blog, Financial Reform
The banking lobby, as corporate lobbies are wont to do, can build a wonderful Potemkin village of consumer delights, where a defanged government beholden to business interests smiles as unfettered CEOs and marketers rack up their profits and where only the buyer need...
by Bill Scher | Nov 17, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day Obama Mentions Currency, Hu Doesn't Obama presses China on currency manipulation. Bloomberg: "'I was pleased to note the Chinese commitment, made in past...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 16, 2009 | Blog
President Obama is visiting Asia, and is blasted over and over about America's supposedly "protectionist" policies. "China on Monday accused the United States of increasing protectionism..."Think about it, the country with the massive trade surplus accuses the country...
by Leo Gerard | Nov 16, 2009 | Blog
A business group is honoring Roger Agnelli, the CEO of Vale, one of the largest mining companies in the world, which, coincidentally, is in the midst of its longest ever labor dispute. The award is for exceptional accomplishments in corporate social responsibility....
by Sam Pizzigati | Nov 16, 2009 | Blog
Unfortunately, lawmakers aren't doing too well either — and the big bank bonus grab has once again shifted into overdrive. The bankers at Goldman Sachs, Goldman's CEO pronounced last week, are doing “God’s work.” God, these days, must truly be...
by Alan Jenkins | Nov 16, 2009 | Blog
During a series of trips through Europe and Asia that I completed last week, I was reminded that the Americans with Disabilities Act really is the Americans with Disabilities Act, and why our nation should be so proud of that milestone. So many of the offices,...
by Bill Scher | Nov 16, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day Currency, Trade, Climate Focus of China Trip Time previews this week's US-China prez talks: "...the subject of 'rebalancing' will likely get top billing ......
by Terrance Heath | Nov 13, 2009 | Blog
Michelle Bachman's "Superbowl of Freedom" (or "Bachmannalia") was not the first protest with such attention grabbing signage, but merely the latest. September saw Glenn Beck's 9/12 marchers descend upon Washington. Again, they brought their message-bearing signs and...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 13, 2009 | Blog
This just in from Reuters: U.S. trade deficit widened in September. The U.S. trade deficit widened in September by an unexpectedly large 18.2 percent, the most in more than 10 years, as oil prices rose for the seventh straight month and imports from China bounded...
by Bill Scher | Nov 13, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day Announced Summit Renews Focus On Job Creation LA Times reports on planned WH jobs summit and Senate jobs bills: "...Obama said he would gather chief executives,...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 13, 2009 | Blog, Economy
President Obama's team made it clear months ago that he will brook no talk of a "second stimulus" at a time when the first stimulus is under significant criticism—from the right, to be sure, but also from the left. Nonetheless, Thursday's announcement of a White House...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 12, 2009 | Blog
I've used this quote (attributed to Maya Angelou) before: "When people show you who they really are, believe them." I guess in periods of tremendous change people really reveal who they really are. I'll return to this in more detail post, but the news and debate...
by Eric Lotke | Nov 12, 2009 | Blog
As President Obama packs for China, I thought I’d show him a picture of how China is manipulating its currency. Source: Federal Reserve: Yuan, Broad dollar index. Graphic idea compliments of AAM. The dollar stays flat against the Chinese Yuan, even as it loses value...
by Robert Borosage | Nov 12, 2009 | Blog
This week, Barack Obama trips to China as part of an eight-day trip to Asia. The White House paints a full agenda: Afghanistan, human rights, North Korean nukes, climate change, trade relations, and the economy. But it's really just the economy, stupid. For decades...
by Bill Scher | Nov 12, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day Reid Not Finished Making Changes To Health Care Bill Pushback against latest idea from Sen. Carper to bury public option. DailyKos' mcjoan: "A triggered co-op!...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 11, 2009 | Blog
Here is another story about Wall Street’s war on the real economy. US Steel was planning to invest $1 billion in building an environmentally-friendly new “coke battery” plant in Clairton, PA. The new battery would dramatically reduce the emissions used in the process,...
by Bill Scher | Nov 10, 2009 | Blog
All summer, traditional media reporters hyperventilated at every preliminary Congressional Budget Office estimate of draft health care bills.
by Bill Scher | Nov 10, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day CBO Expected To Score Senate Bill Soon, Kickstart Debate The Hill suggests Senate debate starts next week, passage by Christmas, final bill by State of the...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 9, 2009 | Blog, Economy
In the Wall Street Journal today, White House Hopes Trade Can Bolster Labor Market. By increasing exports to rapidly growing countries like China and India, the U.S. could put a dent in joblessness and foster long-term economic growth without stressing the federal...
by Sam Pizzigati | Nov 9, 2009 | Blog, Economy
Amid double-digit joblessness, two top U.S. corporations cut still another mega merger deal that enriches execs and tosses workers, by the thousands, out onto the street. You don’t have to be a high-flyer in high finance to get a kick — and a fortune...
by Roger Hickey | Nov 9, 2009 | Blog
The following statement was released by Roger Hickey and Diane Archer The Campaign for America's Future declares our strong public support for the "Affordable Health Care for America Act of 2009" (H.R. 3962). While we would’ve preferred stronger provisions in some key...
by Leo Gerard | Nov 9, 2009 | Blog
Taking candy from a baby: A consortium of Chinese and American companies goes to Washington and announces plans to build a $1.5 billion windmill farm in West Texas using $450 million in U.S. stimulus funds, which will create 2,330 jobs - 2,000 of them in China. The...
by Bill Scher | Nov 9, 2009 | Blog
The conventional wisdom in Washington is that Saturday night's historic vote for health care reform, including a public health insurance option, was that it was a "tough vote" -- that it was politically risky for congresspeople in swing
by Terrance Heath | Nov 9, 2009 | Blog
(The sixth in of a series of seven.) Nothing in Common If the cliché that a picture is worth a thousand words is true, then a couple of images might sum up the debate of over health care reform, and prove representative of the opposing sides. [Via Preemptive...
by Bill Scher | Nov 9, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. No Rest For The Weary As Health Care Moves To The Senate LA Times on Reid's timing: 'Reid is hoping to bring the issue before the Senate in a week or so, but...
by Alex Lawson | Nov 6, 2009 | Blog
On Thursday the 9/12ers were whipped up into an undifferentiated rage against most everything that is not Michele Bachmann or Fox News. The protest was brought to DC on an AstroTurf wave of Billionaire Koch dollars. The Billionaires for Wealthcare thought it would be...
