by Bill Scher | Oct 26, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. Reid To Decide On Health Care Bill Today Reid decision on public option to come today, reports CNN: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is poised to proceed...
by Roger Hickey | Oct 26, 2009 | Blog
“New Life for the Public Option” is the headline of Dan Balz’s excellent article in Sunday’s Washington Post. It’s not an accident that this powerful idea has made yet another comeback. And it is not surprising that public and...
by Sam Pizzigati | Oct 25, 2009 | Blog
The White House pay czar isn't reforming Wall Street. He's cutting deals with it. We need to understand the difference. Responsible people can do reckless things, most often when emotion clouds their better judgment — and no emotion probably clouds judgment any...
by Bill Scher | Oct 25, 2009 | Blog
On yesterday's The LiberalOasis Radio Show -- broadcast by WHMP -- OurFuture.org blogger Dave Johnson previewed the Oct. 29 Building The New Economy conference, outlining the economic challenges posed by a shrinking manufacturing base and an unfair trading regime, and...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 23, 2009 | Blog
This is something I wish I'd been a part of, and I hope they call me if they need an extra baritone next time. (It's rare that my vocal training and my politics intersect.) Plus, the guy who got "punk'd" was none other than Bill McInturff, the guy who gave us Harry...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 23, 2009 | Blog
The other day I wrote about how the dollar is falling - but not against the Chinese Yuan. A falling, or "weak" dollar is great for American manufacturers, and therefore American jobs, because it makes American goods cost less everywhere else. This means our exports...
by Robert Borosage | Oct 23, 2009 | Blog
Campaign for America's Future co-director Robert Borosage praised the House Financial Services Committee for taking steps to protect consumers from predatory financial practices by approving the creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, in an official...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 23, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. Bill Scher will return Monday. Wall Street did feel a bit of an earthquake on Thursday as a result of actions in Washington, but whether the shaking did more...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 22, 2009 | Blog
If you're tired of hearing about the recovery you can't feel, while seeing headline after headline about how well Goldman Sachs is doing — or who's getting big bonuses on Wall Street now, while the rest of the country is facing the grim reality of long-term...
by Bill Scher | Oct 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. Mixed Signals On House Whip Count Rep. John Larson tells Bloomberg: "We have the votes to pass a robust public option." But Blue Dogs tell The Hill they don't:...
by Bill Scher | Oct 21, 2009 | Blog
The allegedly centrist Senate Finance health care bill partially pays for reform by taxing expansive insurance plans. The original allegedly left-wing House bill raises revenue with a income surtax on the uber-wealthy. Guess which one is incredibly unpopular with the...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 21, 2009 | Blog
Conservatives are blasting President Obama, saying he is causing a "weak" dollar. The Drudge Report has a headline or a story pretty much every day blasting this message out. Republican e-mails warn that the dollar is "collapsing" under Obama. Blogs and talk show...
by Bill Scher | Oct 21, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. Robust Public Option Cuts Deficit, Could Be In Final House Bill Dems aides say House public option bill to get even better CBO score. Official numbers may come...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 21, 2009 | Blog
When I was up You would always come round But when I needed a friend Oh, you could never be found I got a hole Where my heart used to be I wouldn't treat a dog, no, no The way you treated me Cher, "I Wouldn't Treat a Dog the Way You Treated Me" Hey, Sen. Landrieu....
by Robert Borosage | Oct 21, 2009 | Blog, Economy, Minimum Wage
They are popping the bubbly on Wall Street. Million-dollar bonuses, the Dow at 10,000, the casino is open again. Forget President Obama, who says we can't go back to an economy where finance pockets 40 percent of the profits. We're already headed there. The...
by Alan Jenkins | Oct 20, 2009 | Blog
A report issued by the White House and the Education Department on Monday showed that the federal economic stimulus package (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) has so far created or saved 250,000 education jobs. The report is the first hard evidence of the...
by Bill Scher | Oct 20, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. Increased Support for Public Option Among Indys, Seniors For the millionth time, poll shows public option popular, while tax on expansive insurance plans still...
by Eric Lotke | Oct 19, 2009 | Blog
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke recognized today that America’s trade deficit played a central role in the global economic crisis. Then after he recognized the problem, he went on to solve a different one. Start with the real problem, America’s trade deficit....
by Terrance Heath | Oct 19, 2009 | Blog
I saw this on Friday, but didn't get around to writing something about it until today. Since then, of course, many other bloggers have covered it by now. But when a Democrat says something like what Sen. Mary Landrieu did on health care reform, I can't help chiming in...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 19, 2009 | Blog
Here is some news for you: Fed Chief Cites Trade Imbalances’ Role in Crisis, Ben S. Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, said on Monday that global trade imbalances played a central role in the global economic crisis and warned that both the United States...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 19, 2009 | Blog, Making it in America
A few weeks ago, in a case involving a tire import surge President Obama enforced our trade agreement with China. The agreement spelled out that a disruptive surge in imports would be remedied by imposing a tariff, which is what the President did. Of course he was...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 19, 2009 | Blog
Commentators, including our own Sara Robinson and author Neal Gabler, have observed a resurgent brand of conservatism that has taken on the characteristics of religious zealotry. It is a brand of conservatism that cannot be negotiated with because its adherents see...
by Sam Pizzigati | Oct 19, 2009 | Blog
Can excess on Wall Street ever be ended? Maybe. Some lawmakers in France have a plan that could end it. America’s biggest banks, amid the shakiest economic times since the 1930s, last week announced record profits — and deposited record billions into bonus...
by Bill Scher | Oct 19, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day Jockeying Continues As Reid Drafts Health Care Bill Sen. Harkin does a public option whip count for NYT: "'There are 52 solid Democrats for the public option,'...
by Leo Gerard | Oct 19, 2009 | Blog
The meeting got testy. Voices rose last Thursday among Democrats over differences in the Senate Finance and Health committee versions of insurance reform. Max Baucus defended his committee’s bill, voted out last week with one Republican, but lacking a public option...
by Roger Hickey | Oct 19, 2009 | Blog
This is the moment when Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and Majority Leader Harry Reid (and President Obama) should make history by producing a Senate health reform bill that makes health insurance truly affordable for all Americans, creates a strong...
by Bill Scher | Oct 18, 2009 | Blog
Many of us talk about how we need shift from being mainly a service-based economy and revitalize our manufacturing base. Few of us actually make the shift ourselves. On Saturday's The LiberalOasis Radio Show, which airs on WHMP in Western MA, "My River Chronicles"...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 17, 2009 | Blog
This is interesting: US, Mexico, Canada to hold talks on NAFTA. From the story, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a statement Thursday that he will host Mexico's Secretary of the Economy Gerardo Ruiz Mateos and Canadian Trade Minister Stockwell Day for talks on...
by Eric Lotke | Oct 16, 2009 | Blog
It's time to take on the banks. 74% of American voters agree that “greed and risky decisions of banks and financial companies led to the financial crisis and recession, and it's time that Congress cracked down on their reckless practices to protect consumers.” The...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 16, 2009 | Blog
This is already being done by plenty of other people, but I can't help myself. When a guy who just a month ago said "We need segregated buses," takes umbrage at the notion that people think he's a racist... Well, it's just too hard to resist. They are the ones with...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 16, 2009 | Blog
Mr. Big Stuff himself, as he used to be called on CNBC during his heyday, has spoken once again. But this time, Alan Greenspan has uttered an inconvenient truth. So, will Washington and Wall Street listen? The former Federal Reserve chairman's statement Thursday...
by Bill Scher | Oct 16, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day Dems Still Working On Health Care Consensus Senate Dems meet, reach no conclusions. NYT: "[Sen. Bernie Sanders] told Mr. Baucus that more than 60 percent of the...
by Bill Scher | Oct 15, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. WH, Senate Begin Work To Craft Final Bill HCAN releases report showing how Senate health committee bill better for middle-class than Senate Finance bill. WH...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 14, 2009 | Blog
Maya Angelou has been credited with saying "When people show you who they really are, believe them," which is sometimes expanded to "When people show you who they really are, believe them the first time." The idea is that doing so may be crucial to protecting your...
by Robert Borosage | Oct 14, 2009 | Blog
Even as the health insurance companies draw down on health care reform, another showdown is just beginning in Washington. On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee will begin marking up the first legislation to try to curb Wall Street's casino. And if you...
by Bill Scher | Oct 14, 2009 | Blog
Wonk Room's Brad Johnson reported that Sen. Lindsey Graham faced a legion of angry right-wing Teabaggers for working with Sen. John Kerry on carbon cap legislation. And in the video of his SC town hall, despite being called a "traitor" among other things, Graham does...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 14, 2009 | Blog
House members should beware when bank lobbyists come calling: Ceding to their wishes might get you campaign cash but it will likely cost you the next election. That's the message of a new poll released today by Celinda Lake and done for Americans for Financial Reform....
by Bill Scher | Oct 14, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. Finance Bill Hit From All Sides As Full Senate Poised To Weigh In Time previews what's next: "Over the next two weeks they will finish merging the two measures...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 13, 2009 | Blog
In the last several years we have all been fleeced, looted, robbed, swindled, thieved, tricked, cheated, scammed, exploited, ponzied, stung, conned, extorted, ripped off and bankrupted by the banks and other big financial companies. Finally the Congress is working on...
by Bill Scher | Oct 13, 2009 | Blog
Sen. Olympia Snowe, before breaking party ranks to join all Democrats on the Senate Finance in support of health care reform, said the most accurate thing of the day: "This will not be the final bill." Knowing that fact, one wonders why Snowe wanted to wait for a more...
