by Robert Borosage | Jul 30, 2009 | Blog
Obama's opening speech set the stakes: "The relationship between the United States and China will shape the 21st century, which makes it as important as any bilateral relationship in the world." (emphasis added) The U.S., the world's largest debtor, met this...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 30, 2009 | Uncategorized
"Deal" Is Announced, And Congress is "Gone 'Til September" Call it a call it a breakthrough, or call it a betrayal (and it will be called many things during the next month or so), but a deal has been made on Capitol Hill, concerning health care reform. Whether it's a...
by Bill Scher | Jul 29, 2009 | Blog
Pundits keep saying that the President is more popular than his policies, undercutting his mandate to take bold action. But on health care, the opposite is true. Last week, I noted that one W. Post reporter repeated the knee-jerk conventional wisdom, when in fact, his...
by Bill Scher | Jul 29, 2009 | Blog
Last week I noted that right-wing Birther conspiracy theorists were simultaneously fueling right-wing rage against health care reform, distorting perceptions of public opinion in Washington and making current legislation appear less popular than it actually is. Today,...
by Bill Scher | Jul 29, 2009 | Uncategorized
Health Care Jaw Jaw Continues Bloomberg on the state of talks: "Democratic Senator Max Baucus, leading the talks among six Democrats and Republicans on the finance committee, said they made progress and will meet again today. House Democrats have failed to reach a...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 28, 2009 | Blog
Henry Louis Gates and I are very different people. He is a Harvard Professor. The closest I got to the Ivy League was a weekend visit to Yale. He is a successful author. I am a blogger whose aspirations may outstrip his abilities. He is world renowned. I am, well,...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 28, 2009 | Blog
A cabal that includes the nation's largest financial institutions, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and some leading right-wing think tanks has succeeded in postponing congressional consideration of a consumer financial protection agency, and they are aiming to use the...
by Bill Scher | Jul 28, 2009 | Blog
It looks like the small 6-member subgroup of the Senate Finance Committee is close to an agreement on health insurance legislation. It looks like it will be bad. It will likely not only ditch a public plan option, but also include what Angry Bear's Robert Waldmann...
by Alan Jenkins | Jul 28, 2009 | Blog
Only two people know what actually went down between Professor Henry Louis Gates and Sergeant James Crowley last week, and even they disagree—apparently in good faith—about what transpired. So as the two prepare to have a beer with President Obama later this week,...
by Bill Scher | Jul 28, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. Bipartisan Deal Drops Public Plan, Adds Regressive Tax AP reports Baucus bipartisan compromise will lack public plan and employer mandate: "After weeks of...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 28, 2009 | Blog
I am pro-corporate. I’ll go a step further with that and proclaim that I believe that there are no bad corporations, and that I haven’t seen any corporations do anything wrong. I see the way you are looking at me. I’d better explain. The reason I say there are no...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 27, 2009 | Blog
The phrase “industrial policy” sounds so Walter Mondale, 1970s, smokestacks and brick factory old-fashioned. I suspect the subject turns people off, eyes glaze over, hands reach under the table for iPhones and Blackberries… But this is SO important. China has an...
by Bill Scher | Jul 27, 2009 | Uncategorized
House Renews Health Care Talks As August Battle Brews Reformers and obstructionists gear up for August battle. Politico: "A White House official said the administration is still in the process of making plans for the recess, but labor leaders and other administration...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jul 26, 2009 | Blog
Opponents of the proposal for a 5.4 percent health care reform surtax on America’s wealthy seem to be getting a bit desperate. They've even turned their fire onto middle-income Americans. Friends and fans of privilege have been striking their indignant pose the...
by Leo Gerard | Jul 24, 2009 | Blog, Minimum Wage
This week the minimum wage rose by 70 cents to $7.25 an hour, a beggar’s lot really, but still corporations across America decried it. Good times or bad, somehow Wall Streeters walk away with $700,000 bonuses, you know, on top of their salaries, but a 70-cent minimum...
by Sara Robinson | Jul 24, 2009 | Blog
One of the big differences between the 1993 Hillarycare debate and our current conversation is that we're hearing a lot more fact and lot less fiction about how other countries' systems actually work. Thank the Internet. Back in 1993, the "Harry and Louise" ads...
by Tula Connell | Jul 24, 2009 | Blog, Making it in America
The Chamber of Commerce--that's the U.S. Chamber of Commerce--proved once again how anti-American it is when it comes to supporting U.S. industry. In Findlay, Ohio, unions had been organizing a parade and all-day event for this Saturday to highlight American-made...
by Bill Scher | Jul 24, 2009 | Uncategorized
Dems Play Down Senate Health Care Delay August to be dominated by fierce attacks and counterattacks. W. Post's The Fix: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's decision to postpone a final vote on President Obama's health care proposal until September sets up a one-month...
by Bill Scher | Jul 23, 2009 | Blog
The Weekly World News reports this week: "The official copy of Barack Obama’s birth certificate was stolen this week by Republicans wishing to halt his health care reform ... A growing movement among conservatives known as 'Birthers' believes Barack Obama was actually...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 23, 2009 | Blog, Making it in America
Increasingly people are asking about our country’s plan for restoring and reinventing the economy. And that means thinking about manufacturing – the root of economic power. How will we revive American manufacturing and being back the good-paying jobs manufacturing...
by Bill Scher | Jul 23, 2009 | Uncategorized
Obama Frames The Health Care Choice The Treatment's Jonathan Cohn praises presidential straight talk in last night's presser: Late in tonight's press conference, President Obama got a question that just begged for an easy, evasive answer ... whether he was prepared to...
by Leo Gerard | Jul 22, 2009 | Blog, Making it in America
A post by Leo Gerard and Scott N. Paul Our nation faces rising unemployment, staggering debts, shrinking trade, and no sense of when (and if) a real recovery -- one that reaches Main Street and working families -- will take hold. As the federal government responds to...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 22, 2009 | Blog, Making it in America
Washington's special genius is for gridlock. As we're seeing in the health care debate, the entire system is designed to frustrate action — even when Democrats have a popular president, 60 votes in the Senate and a large majority in the House. Moneyed interests trump...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 22, 2009 | Blog
Normally, working-class people don't think much about the Federal Reserve and, as a recent article in The New York Times suggests, the Federal Reserve doesn't spend much time thinking about working-class people. But at a community meeting in Cincinnati Tuesday night,...
by Bill Scher | Jul 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start the day. Cost-Cutting Health Commission Wins Support Blue Dogs give list of demands to WH. CQ Politics: "On Tuesday, members of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog...
by Bill Scher | Jul 21, 2009 | Blog
Today for the second day in a row, the President made formal remarks exposing the true agenda of the "don't rush health care" posse: "I understand that some will try to delay action until the special interests can kill it while others will simply focus on scoring...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 21, 2009 | Blog
The widespread frustration with this nation's perceived lack of urgency and focus on industrial policy was captured well in Monday's New York Times article on the subject, which contained this sobering fact: "The United States ranks behind every industrial nation...
by Bill Scher | Jul 21, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. President Takes On Obstructionist Foot-Draggers Obama tells PBS: "I want this done now. Now, if there are no deadlines, nothing gets done in this town. You've...
by Bill Scher | Jul 20, 2009 | Blog
Five months ago, Republican rising star Gov. Bobby Jindal was tapped to formally respond to President Barack Obama's address to the joint session of Congress. Jindal's fact-challenged speech, dismissive of basic government functions like protecting against natural...
by Bill Scher | Jul 20, 2009 | Blog
Are the biggest opponents of health care reform the nation's headline writers? Because once again, a newspaper's headline of its own poll fails to report the real news about public support for health care reform. Last week it was USA Today, refusing to acknowledge...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 20, 2009 | Blog
I am happy to announce that beginning today I will be working as a Fellow and blogger with Campaign for America's Future. This post introduces the areas I will be pursuing. The economy is terrible. There aren't enough jobs. Most of the jobs that are still there are...
by Bill Scher | Jul 20, 2009 | Uncategorized
The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day. WH (Still) Has Health Care Cost Control Plan WH budget director Peter Orszag pushes back on spin of CBO report, touts plan to enhance health care legislation...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jul 17, 2009 | Blog
In the struggle for a less unequal America, could the House health care surtax on the wealthy turn out to be a game-changer? The push to overhaul the system that takes care of America’s health may be on the verge of morphing into something even grander, a...
by Bill Scher | Jul 17, 2009 | Uncategorized
CBO Ignores Cost Savings In Health Care Bill, More Still To Come CBO chief dumps on current incarnations of health care bills in Senate testimony. W. Post: "Congress's chief budget analyst delivered a devastating assessment yesterday of the health-care proposals...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 17, 2009 | Blog
Some stories don't really require elaboration. This from Politico's Playbook this a.m. The American Conservative Union asked FedEx for a check for $2 million to $3 million in return for the group’s endorsement in a bitter legislative dispute, then flipped and sided...
by Steven Capozzola | Jul 16, 2009 | Blog, China Currency Showdown
In Pittsburgh today, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced that the Obama administration will take a more aggressive approach to supporting American industrial workers through greater protection of labor rights and more aggressive monitoring of overseas trade...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 16, 2009 | Blog
The right-wing blogosphere is abuzz over the supposed smackdown between Sen. Barbara Boxer and Harry C. Alford, who portrays himself as an "African American and a veteran" who is insulted at Boxer's alleged racism and calls her on it. Well, as an African American I...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 16, 2009 | Blog
It's worth slogging through the minutes of the June Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting. Read the deliberations of the Fed board members and staff and you see an economic horizon that is much more dangerous than what is suggested by the assurances of the...
by Bill Scher | Jul 16, 2009 | Uncategorized
Oh Noes! Senate Bill Not Bipartisan. How Did It Ever Pass?! Senate health committee passes public plan option. Insurance lobby cries. W. Post: "President Obama's ambitious drive to overhaul the nation's $2.3 trillion health-care system cleared a key Senate committee...
by Sara Robinson | Jul 15, 2009 | Blog
One of the most schizoid aspects of Age of Reagan was the peculiar division of labor that developed between conservatives and progressives over the question of morality. Somewhere on the road between 1980 and 1994, the conservatives seized and locked down exclusive...
