by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 15, 2009 | Blog
Now that congressional leaders have named the members of the Financial Services Inquiry Commission—what is often referred to as the "Pecora Commission"—we are going to see once again who is prepared to lay the groundwork for real financial reform...
by Bill Scher | Jul 15, 2009 | Blog
Thank you Sarah Palin, for crystallizing the choice facing us on climate and energy. With her Washington Post oped, Sarah Palin is taking her position as the most popular Republican among Republicans to lead conservative opposition to the clean energy jobs and climate...
by Bill Scher | Jul 15, 2009 | Uncategorized
Cost-Saving Public Plan In House Bill The Hill on timing for legislation: "Three House committees will begin marking up their legislation before the end of the week, setting up what would be a historic vote on President Obama’s signature domestic issue in just over...
by Eric Lotke | Jul 15, 2009 | Blog
The irony is killing me. Two stories run next to each other in today’s (July 15, 2009) Washington Post. Together they show the triumph of the pseudo-economy over the real economy. Page A12 carries an article called, The Trickle-Down Effect: An Auto-Parts Maker Fades...
by Eric Lotke | Jul 15, 2009 | Blog
When the U.S. added modest “Buy American” provisions to the February stimulus bill to help keep (some) U.S. assistance in the U.S. economy, people cried foul. -- “A classic protectionist measure,” charged Senator John Ensign (R-Nev.) chair of the Senate...
by Leo Gerard | Jul 14, 2009 | Blog
Just days ago, America celebrated her birthday with fireworks, spontaneous renditions of the Star Spangled Banner and chants of, “We’re Number One!” In a crucial area, health care, the chant is untrue. Many of us love the individual doctors who may have saved our...
by Bill Scher | Jul 14, 2009 | Uncategorized
House Dems To Release Detailed Health Care Bill Today The Hill: Pelosi said a more detailed House bill will now be made public on Tuesday, but added it will still need to be changed to win over skeptical voters in her own caucus. Committee action on the bill could...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 14, 2009 | Blog
From the beginning of this economic crisis, policy makers seem to have forgotten (or perhaps learned too well) a basic economic rule. It's one I used to have paraphrased in a sign on my desk in a previous job: You can have it fast, you can have it cheap, or you can...
by Bill Scher | Jul 14, 2009 | Blog
A new USA Today/Gallup poll confirms the public supports health care reform paid for with a progressive tax plan. The paper reports: "By 56%-33%, those surveyed endorse the idea of enacting major health care changes this year. Just one in four say it's not important...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jul 13, 2009 | Blog
To curb climate change, suggests a new report from a top-notch global scientific team, we really ought to start focusing on rich people, not rich nations. The world’s most influential nations had their experts on climate change in Italy last week. Their goal: to...
by Bill Scher | Jul 13, 2009 | Uncategorized
Progressive Tax Plan Funds House Health Care Bill Politico Pulse reports House bill coming today: "The House is expected to introduce a health reform bill that will cover its estimated $1 trillion price tag by levying higher taxes on people making $350,000 or more and...
by Roger Hickey | Jul 13, 2009 | Blog
Americans are demanding health care reform that guarantees them quality, affordable insurance, reduces the burden of health costs on employers and individuals and provides backup coverage through a public health insurance option. But the suggestion that we pay for...
by Bill Scher | Jul 10, 2009 | Uncategorized
House Health Care Bill Bumped to Next Week Blue (Cross) Dogs once again get in the way. CQ: "House Democrats acknowledged that they would not be able to release a final version of their legislation Friday as planned, because of opposition by members of the Blue Dog...
by Bill Scher | Jul 9, 2009 | Blog
There are two ideologically opposite criticisms of the stimulus package, which was proposed by President Obama, then shaped and reduced in size by so-called Senate "moderates" (who never seem to have to take responsibility for their legislative handiwork.) The liberal...
by Bill Scher | Jul 9, 2009 | Uncategorized
Search For Revenue May Affect Health Care Timing Politico Pulse reports: "Both the House and Senate may delay their summer breaks by a few days in order to get health-care bills off the floor. A House leadership aide: 'If we need to, we’ll go longer.' Ditto from a...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 8, 2009 | Blog
Try telling Maureen Yancey that health care reform is too expensive for the country to tackle right now, or that we should leave everything to the private insurance market. Yancey is among the millions of Americans who can't afford the status quo. She's already paid...
by Sara Robinson | Jul 8, 2009 | Blog
I spent several days over last weekend as a volunteer webworker covering the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly in Salt Lake City. These annual confabs are always a highlight of the summer for me as a UU. They're also one of the best shows going if you want to...
by Eric Lotke | Jul 8, 2009 | Blog
The Waxman-Markey Clean Energy and Security Act squeaked through the House of Representatives late last week (219-212). Although some expressed doubts, many people consider the bill a terrific breakthrough and important step in the right direction. But one unheralded...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 8, 2009 | Blog
This Congress potentially could be the most productive in over 40 years. It has passed the largest recovery plan in the nation's history. It extended health care to millions of children. It passed Obama's first budget with its significant down payment on education and...
by Bill Scher | Jul 8, 2009 | Blog
Yesterday, health care watchers tried to read the tea leaves after White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel expressed willingness to compromise on a public plan option via a "trigger" that would indefinitely delay its creation, followed by a
by Bill Scher | Jul 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
Congressional Dems Push Back on Baucus, Rahm Baucus gets blowback from fellow Senate Dems. Bloomberg: "Senate Democratic leaders are pressing Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus to reconsider a plan to tax employer-provided health benefits because they say it would...
by Bill Scher | Jul 7, 2009 | Blog
Much of the talk (including my own) concerning prospects for a Senate clean energy and climate protection bill has been focused on the
by Terrance Heath | Jul 7, 2009 | Blog
I scoffed when Bernie Madoff,through his lawyers, asked for a twelve year sentence in his fraud case. What some people think they can get away with pales only in comparison to what some people are actually allowed to get away with — especially when the...
by Bill Scher | Jul 7, 2009 | Uncategorized
Rahm Talks Up Plan To Delay Public Plan Option WH Chief of Staff expresses openness to "trigger" compromise. WSJ: "'The goal is to have a means and a mechanism to keep the private insurers honest,' he said in an interview. 'The goal is non-negotiable; the path is'...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jul 6, 2009 | Blog, Economy
The Great Recession has shoved state governments over the fiscal edge. But what brought states to that edge in the first place? On July 1 last week, in state capitals across the United States, a new fiscal year began — amid nearly unprecedented fiscal chaos. In...
by Bill Scher | Jul 6, 2009 | Uncategorized
Crunch Time For Health Care Fight W. Post: "For the next five weeks, Congress will attempt the daunting feat of turning a mishmash of half-written proposals into health-care reform legislation that can pass the House and the Senate before the August recess." Sen....
by Alex Lawson | Jul 4, 2009 | Blog
A report done for Health Care for America Now A recent Milliman, Inc. analysis on behalf of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) argues that Medicare doesn’t pay hospitals enough, causing private payers to pay well above costs to keep hospitals solvent. This is...
by Alex Lawson | Jul 3, 2009 | Blog
***HEALTHCARE FOR ALL INFORMATION PROJECT***Sign up to receive our Health Care Information Project by email. Check the box next to Health Care for All --------------------------------------------- http://www.ourfuture.org/healthcare Contents: 1. CBO-KAY! Senate...
by Bill Scher | Jul 2, 2009 | Blog
When the CBO scored an early draft of the health care form bill from the Senate HELP committee as costing $1 trillion over 10 years but only covering one-third of the uninsured, obstructionists pounced and proclaimed the public plan option dead. But the CBO had not...
by Bill Scher | Jul 2, 2009 | Uncategorized
CBO: Public Plan Option and Employer Mandate Cuts Cost Of Reform AP reports complete Kennedy-Dodd bill receives lower cost estimate from CBO: "The two senators said the Congressional Budget Office put the cost of the proposal at $611.4 billion over 10 years, down from...
by Bill Scher | Jul 1, 2009 | Blog
If you wanted to get progressives more excited about the clean energy and climate protection bill that passed the House last week, you might be inclined to point to Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins HuffPost piece on the $1 billion in green jobs funding that was added at the last...
by Eric Lotke | Jul 1, 2009 | Blog
I’ve blogged about my novel, 2044, here and here. 2044 is a future tale that starts where George Orwell’s 1984 left off. The problem in 2044 isn’t Big Brother and the leviathan government. The problem is Big Brother, Inc., and the all-powerful marketplace. This post...
by Bill Scher | Jul 1, 2009 | Uncategorized
Wal-Mart Gives Momentum to Employer Mandate White House holds health care town hall at 1:15 PM ET Wal-Mart joins SEIU to back employer mandate to provide insurance. NYT: "But Wal-Mart’s embrace of the employer mandate may come at a price. In its letter, the company...
by Bill Scher | Jun 30, 2009 | Uncategorized
Senate HELP Draft Bill Has Public Plan Option Politico Pulse gets leak of Senate HELP cmte draft: "THE SENATE HELP COMMITTEE IS ABOUT TO COME OUT WITH A 'LEVEL PLAYING FIELD' OPTION SIMILAR TO WHAT SCHUMER PROPOSED IN MAY ... If HELP does go in this direction, it...
by Alan Jenkins | Jun 30, 2009 | Blog
Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Ricci v. DeStefano, the New Haven firefighters case. While the Court’s decision was disappointing in many respects, it preserved employers’ ability, and obligation, to ensure freedom from...
by Bill Scher | Jun 29, 2009 | Blog
Word is circulating in Washington that members for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission will be named this week. The commission is supposed to resemble the 1930s Pecora commission that dug into the culprits behind the Great Depression and laid the groundwork for...
by Eric Lotke | Jun 29, 2009 | Blog
Bernard Madoff has been sentenced to 150 years in prison for one of the biggest investment frauds in Wall Street history. The punishment seems to fit the crime.... But there is no closure here. We can’t let Madoff’s sentence distract us from the underlying problems....
by Bill Scher | Jun 29, 2009 | Blog
The House passed the first comprehensive clean energy and climate protection bill on Friday, but exactly in the way I worried about last week -- not on a wave of grassroots momentum, but last-minute cajoling by
by Bill Scher | Jun 29, 2009 | Uncategorized
Will Senate Follow House on Climate? Grist's Kate Sheppard assesses what's next following House passage of clean energy/climate protection bill: "Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, issued a statement congratulating...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jun 28, 2009 | Blog
The global economic collapse, says the first in-depth survey of grand fortune since last September, has left the world's wealth just as intensely concentrated as ever. Thirteen years ago, two firms that manage the wealth of the world’s wealthy — New...
