by Bill Scher | Aug 13, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. Bottomless Pit of Right-Wing Lies and Hate ThinkProgress on fringe views of right-wing protesters: "Specter protestor Katy Abram advocates the repeal of...
by Bill Scher | Aug 12, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. WH Seeks To Claim Mantle of Calm WH explains health care strategy to W. Post: "Tuesday's town hall gathering was the start of what White House officials...
by Brian Dockstader | Aug 11, 2009 | Blog
O Sarah Palin, the gift that keeps on giving, no matter how earnestly we say, "no, really, we insist, we've had enough." We said this after Dr. Palin's informative essay, penned in the Washington Post about the big hoax of global warming and why we should do nothing...
by Sara Robinson | Aug 11, 2009 | Blog
Writing about fascism for an American audience is always a fraught business. Invariably, a third of the readers will dismiss the topic (and your faithful blogger's basic sanity) out of hand. Either they've got their own definition of fascism and whatever's going on...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 11, 2009 | Blog
Campaign for America’s Future has released a report, Pittsburgh —The Rest of the Story (pdf file, 12 pages). This report tells the story of "Pittsburgh's transition from the old to the new." A lot is happening in Pittsburgh this summer and fall. Netroots Nation is...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Aug 11, 2009 | Blog
When Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in May tried to get a 15 percent limit on credit card rates added to a bill imposing new regulations on the industry, the amendment only received 33 votes—and only one from a Republican. That defeat, though, has not killed the...
by Bill Scher | Aug 11, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. Obama To Mix It Up In NH Obama to conduct NH town hall at 1 PM ET. W. Post: "[Today] he will talk about people who are denied coverage because of pre-existing...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 10, 2009 | Blog, Making it in America
President Obama, at the "Three Amigos" summit today in Mexico, responded to Canadian and Mexican complaints about the “Buy American Clause” in the stimulus package, reiterated that the clause is legal within existing trade agreements and does not threaten our trading...
by Bill Scher | Aug 10, 2009 | Blog
Conservatives -- newfound lovers of political dissent -- are so very OUTRAGED at Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer for their USA Today oped, which says: "These [congressional town hall] disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid...
by Alan Jenkins | Aug 10, 2009 | Blog
A panel of federal judges has ruled that conditions in California’s overcrowded prisons violate the constitution. Quoting Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s words from 2006, the court found that "immediate action is necessary to prevent death and harm.” The state must...
by Bill Scher | Aug 10, 2009 | Uncategorized
Left, RIght and Center Attack Far Right Smearmongers Speaker Pelosi and House Maj. Leader Hoyer slam right-wing mob in USA Today oped: "These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views — but of the facts themselves. Drowning out...
by Sam Pizzigati | Aug 9, 2009 | Blog
A health care reform surtax on the rich makes great budget sense — and even more sense, over the long haul, for our actual health. Politicians and policy makers who adore the rich don’t adore the progressive income tax. They’re always looking for...
by Bill Scher | Aug 9, 2009 | Blog
This week's LiberalOasis Radio Show, broadcast Saturday 12 PM on WHMP led with my analysis of the right-wing mobs disrupting congressional town halls, and how they are backfiring on conservative obstructionists. Also in this week's show, Vijay Prashad on the upcoming...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Aug 7, 2009 | Blog
It's surprising that it took a full 69 minutes from the moment the Bureau of Labor Statistics July jobs report was released for the condemnatory news release from House Republican Whip Eric Cantor to reach my inbox. No doubt it was written hours of even days before,...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 7, 2009 | Blog
There is a simple answer to the far right's new favorite chant against health care reform — "What's Wrong With Pro
by Bill Scher | Aug 7, 2009 | Blog
Our own Roger Hickey was featured on MSNBC's The Ed Show yesterday, discussing the broad progressive response to the lobbyist-funded right-wing attempt to seize the congressional town halls. Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy...
by Bill Scher | Aug 7, 2009 | Uncategorized
9.4% Unemployment rate ticks down to 9.4%. AP: "Employers throttled back on layoffs in July, cutting just 247,000 jobs, the fewest in a year, and the unemployment rate dipped to 9.4 percent. It was a better than expected showing that offered a strong signal that the...
by Bill Scher | Aug 6, 2009 | Blog
In my personal experience, nothing makes a conservative madder than observing that the history of conservatism is sullied with racism. You'll immediately get an earful about Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd and his past with the KKK, as if the fact that many 60s-era...
by Brian Dockstader | Aug 6, 2009 | Blog
Another day, another town hall meeting, another angry mob of right-wing fanatics promoting lies and trying to shout down democratic discourse. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) was just one of many Democratic members of Congress to be descended upon by the angry right-wing...
by Tula Connell | Aug 6, 2009 | Blog, Economy
The unemployment data is due tomorrow, and it's likely to be bad, with an expected 300,000 to 320,000 jobs
by Leo Gerard | Aug 6, 2009 | Blog
Leo W. Gerard: Your chapter in the new book, “Benchmarking the Advantages Foreign Nationals Provide their Manufacturers,” describes in devastating detail how China in particular, but also other major U.S. trading partners, violate international rules. The abuses you...
by Bill Scher | Aug 6, 2009 | Blog
TPMDC picked up a Napa Valley Register report and separate editorial on another right-wing disrupting the town hall featuring Blue Dog Dem Rep. Mike Thompson. The initial article reported: Shouts of “This is America!” and “What’s wrong with profit?” emerged from a...
by Bill Scher | Aug 6, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. Bipartisan Deal Would Save Money By Covering Fewer People Preliminary Baucus caucus deal has no public option and covers less people than current bills. W....
by Dave Johnson | Aug 6, 2009 | Blog
When things are going wrong it is often good practice to go back and review the basics, and start again. In baseball you go back to batting and fielding practice. To master a musical instrument you practice your scales every day. Things have gone wrong with our...
by Sara Robinson | Aug 6, 2009 | Blog, Rick Perlstein
All through the dark years of the Bush Administration, progressives watched in horror as Constitutional protections vanished, nativist rhetoric ratcheted up, hate speech turned into intimidation and violence, and the president of the United States seized for himself...
by Robert Borosage | Aug 5, 2009 | Blog
It is time to go all in to support comprehensive health care reform. The stakes have gotten prohibitive. Republicans have essentially bet the House on it. Obama, for all intents and purposes, has wagered the White House agenda. The insurance and drug companies are...
by Bill Scher | Aug 5, 2009 | Blog
Marc Ambinder is spending a lot of blogging energy defending his peeps at CBS for this news report giving the right-wing Birther mob credit for representing concerns about health care reform from the electoral middle. He writes: A majority of the public supports...
by Bill Scher | Aug 5, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. Progressives Prevent Right-Wing Mob From Masquerading As The Middle MSNBC's Rachel Maddow thoroughly reviews the direct connections between lobbyists and...
by Brian Dockstader | Aug 4, 2009 | Blog
Let me preface this by explaining my rationale for labeling opponents of health care reform "health care deniers". I call them deniers, in much the same vein as global warming deniers and Holocaust deniers, and for the very same reason. These people deny that we have...
by Bill Scher | Aug 4, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. Obama Targets Right-Wing Health Care Lies WH ratchets up right-wing debunking effort with blog post "Facts Are Stubborn Things" and Linda Douglass video,...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 4, 2009 | Blog
Can one be called “protectionist” just for pointing out when other countries are being smart? Maybe so. I’ll get to that in a minute, but first… Language has tremendous power. People like George Lakoff and Drew Westin, who study the use of language in political...
by Bill Scher | Aug 3, 2009 | Blog
We're seeing more and more YouTube video of hostile constituents berating members of Congress to kill health care reform. Last month was the infamous Rep. Mike Castle town hall where the crowd demanded the congressman say that President Obama was not born in the USA,...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 3, 2009 | Blog
Government can work, and the “Cash for Clunkers” program proved it. So, naturally, conservatives have to hate on it. The “Cash for Clunkers” turned out to be one of the most successful government programs in some time. It was so successful that a program that was...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 3, 2009 | Blog
In an effort to defeat universal health care, conservatives are engaging in a campaign of lies that will ultimately cause more families to suffer needlessly at a most painful time. As someone who worked for years with end-of-life care issues, and spent years working...
by Sam Pizzigati | Aug 3, 2009 | Blog
To be effective, the lead executive pay reformer in Congress is now understanding, executive pay reform needs to go well beyond empowering shareholders. Barney Frank, the colorful Massachusetts Democrat, may be the most caustic quipster in Congress. Ask the...
by Bill Scher | Aug 3, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. Health Care Battle Lines Drawn For Summer Brawl Major grassroots effort with pushback against insurance lobby. NYT: "...President Obama, Congressional...
by Bill Scher | Jul 31, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. House Progressives Stand Up To Blue Dogs Progressive Caucus fires shot at Blue Dog compromise. The Nation's John Nichols: "The compromises on health care...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 31, 2009 | Blog, Minimum Wage
There are things you can see in front of your face, and then there are things that conservative “free market” ideologues tell you. One example is when they talk about the minimum wage. (An increase in the national minimum wage goes into effect today.) Conservative...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 30, 2009 | Blog
The Progressive Caucus and its allies are holding a press conference this afternoon to emphasize their bottom line on health care: If it doesn't have a strong public option, it does not get their vote. In fact, Progressive Caucus Chairman Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif.,...
by Sara Robinson | Jul 30, 2009 | Blog
Amid the huge media pile-on that's gradually taking down the Birther fantasy, nobody's actually bothered to point out that almost every element of their argument is based on a near-total ignorance about how U.S. citizenship works. There's nothing like moving abroad...
