by Isaiah J. Poole | May 20, 2009 | Blog
David Sirota's post Tuesday asks why Washington political leaders won't even discuss a single-payer health care system, with a leading Democrat going so far as to exclude single-payer advocates from participating in a Senate Finance Committee hearing last week at...
by Bill Scher | May 20, 2009 | Uncategorized
Paying For Health Care Reform NYT's David Leonhardt promotes a soda tax to help pay for health care reform: "...the debate over soda tax is a useful one, because it does a nice job of capturing some of the most serious problems with our current tax system. Not only...
by Robert Borosage | May 20, 2009 | Blog
A crisis that demands fundamental change. A president with a mandate to drive it. A Congress, controlled by Democrats, ready to act. Now comes the hard part: actually getting something real done. These are salad days for Democratic lobbyists, because deep pocket...
by Bill Scher | May 19, 2009 | Blog
When progressive House Democrats were blocked from a floor vote on their proposal requiring an exit strategy for our Afghanistan military mission, and several in turn voted against funding for the mission, McClatchy Newspapers concluded, "the anti-war crowd remains as...
by Leo Gerard | May 19, 2009 | Blog
The economic structure of Jim Henson's cartoon realm called Fraggle Rock reflects our own. In one HBO episode, the industrious, hard-hatted Doozers prepare to leave the rock, which would have quickly left the Fraggles starving. Somehow, politicians and powerbrokers in...
by Isaiah J. Poole | May 19, 2009 | Blog
A bill that will clamp down on some of the most egregious practices of credit card companies is rushing toward final passage in the Senate, and the industry—and its conservative buddies—are gearing up for retaliation. For example, one conservative group has already...
by Bill Scher | May 19, 2009 | Uncategorized
Credit Card Bill Expected To Pass Today Politico reports Senate expected to pass credit card reform bill today as President demands final bill by Friday. Banks respond, reports NYT, by "going after those people with sterling credit." New Fuel-Efficiency Standard, May...
by Roger Hickey | May 18, 2009 | Blog, Making it in America
I pledge that soon I will buy a new, fuel-efficient car—built in America by United Auto Workers members. I'm asking YOU to take this pledge with me and get others to do so, too. If enough Americans take this pledge—and pass it on—we can revive our country's auto and...
by Bill Scher | May 18, 2009 | Uncategorized
Climate Bill Moves To Mark-Up Today "The House Energy and Commerce Committee planned to begin work [today] on legislation that, for the first time, would limit the emissions blamed for global warming ... The House Energy committee wants to complete work and vote on...
by Sam Pizzigati | May 17, 2009 | Blog
Citi analysts spent two years obsessing over luxury consumption by the rich. Last week, the ultimate symbol of that consumption — the fine art bubble — finally popped. Back a year ago, not long after Bear Stearns bit the Wall Street dust, buyers and sellers at New...
by Terrance Heath | May 15, 2009 | Blog
Coming to terms with race and resolving racial disparity in America feels like an insurmountable, unfinished task, because it is unfinished. The work was started and abandoned, started and abandoned many times by generations before us. But it’s only...
by Tula Connell | May 15, 2009 | Blog
Opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act, desperate in their
by Bill Scher | May 15, 2009 | Uncategorized
House Begins To Shape Public Plan Option Bloomberg reports on a draft House health care plan: U.S. House Democrats are weighing ... a mandate that employers provide coverage to all full- time workers or pay a percentage of their payroll to the Treasury. Also being...
by Sam Pizzigati | May 14, 2009 | Blog
Amid our world’s economic wreckage, today's New York Times marveled, at least one developed nation seems to be doing just fine. That nation — little Norway — actually grew economically last year. Norwegians today haven’t just sidestepped the...
by Terrance Heath | May 14, 2009 | Blog
As a parent, I'm familiar with the powerful effect that even the threat of a "change in policy" can have on behavior. It can bring troublesome, annoying, or even hazardous behavior to an abrupt end. That change in behavior suggests two things: that behavior could have...
by Isaiah J. Poole | May 14, 2009 | Blog
The Senate is expected to vote either later today or Friday on a credit-card reform bill. As debate continues on that bill—and as President Obama ratchets up the pressure with a town hall meeting on the subject—a recent report by the Center for Responsible Lending...
by Bill Scher | May 14, 2009 | Uncategorized
Climate Compromises Keep Coming "Rep. Henry Waxman says he thinks he has enough support among fellow Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee to pass his climate bill next week. But at least two of those Democrats said Wednesday they can’t support the bill...
by Bill Scher | May 13, 2009 | Uncategorized
Climate Compromises Announced in House AP has the rundown on the climate compromises: Initially, the bill called for electricity producers to generate 25% of their power from renewable sources like wind and solar by 2025. That target has been lowered to 15% by 2020,...
by Leo Gerard | May 13, 2009 | Blog, Making it in America
The proposition General Motors has presented to the United Auto Workers and American taxpayers in its latest restructuring plan is simple: You must pay for your own execution. GM, which already took $15.4 billion in bailout money, wants another $11.6 billion and is...
by Robert Borosage | May 13, 2009 | Blog
Is the Obama administration saving General Motors or is it saving auto industry jobs in the U.S.? Is it saving GM as an American brand or GM as an American manufacturer? These aren't academic questions. General Motors, which has been buttressed by $15.2 billion in...
by Bill Scher | May 12, 2009 | Uncategorized
Health Care Mojo Bloomberg reports the Senate is moving on health care: "The Senate Finance Committee spelled out alternatives for overhauling the U.S. health-care system, including a mandate that all Americans get health coverage and creation of a government-run...
by Bill Scher | May 11, 2009 | Uncategorized
Insurers Play Ball With White House NYT on major health care announcement today: "Doctors, hospitals, drug makers and insurance companies will join President Obama on Monday in announcing their commitment to a sharp reduction in the growth of national health spending,...
by Sam Pizzigati | May 10, 2009 | Blog, Economy
Tax-cutters inspired by Jack Kemp have always argued that high tax rates give the rich an incentive to cheat on their taxes. The reality: So do low tax rates. Jack Kemp, the 1996 Republican vice-presidential nominee, died a week ago Saturday from cancer. Two days...
by Eric Lotke | May 8, 2009 | Blog
Obama has introduced his budget, and people are hyperventilating about the deficit. Piling “debt on the backs of our kids and our grandkids,” declares House minority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). "Bloated," exclaims Democrat Evan Bayh of Nebraska. With all the...
by Robert Borosage | May 8, 2009 | Blog
Wrong Way Riegels became a football legend when Roy Riegels, captain of the California football team in the 1929 Rose Bowl picked up a fumble and rumbled the wrong way down the field. He was prevented from scoring a touchdown for the opposing team only when one of his...
by Isaiah J. Poole | May 8, 2009 | Blog
In Poultney, Vt., a small town near Lake St. Catherine near the Vermont-New York border, "Walter" had been running a small business during the summer for 43 years—until a rectangular piece of plastic helped bring him down. Walter, as he referred to himself in a letter...
by Bill Scher | May 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
Unemployment Up in April Labor Dept. reports this AM: " Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in April (-539,000), and the unemployment rate rose from 8.5 to 8.9 percent ... Since the recession began in December 2007, 5.7 million jobs have been lost. In...
by Terrance Heath | May 7, 2009 | Blog
Now, what did he do that for? That was my first thought when our newly-minted attorney general reached for his own rhetorical handful of elephant, as in the previous examples. Not because I thought he was wrong, but because he was saying what was virtually unsayable...
by Isaiah J. Poole | May 7, 2009 | Blog
The decision by the House of Representatives on Wednesday to follow the Senate and vote for an independent commission to investigate the causes of the financial crisis is a significant win for the cause of accountability and reform on Wall Street. Assuming that it...
by Bill Scher | May 7, 2009 | Uncategorized
Stress Test Results Today After PR Rollout "In an interview on Wednesday night with Charlie Rose, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner struck an optimistic tone, saying that none of the 19 banks that experienced government stress tests are insolvent, but he was cautious...
by Sam Pizzigati | May 6, 2009 | Blog
A World Bank economist is suggesting we need to concentrate less on the complexities of high finance and more on the noxious simplicity of our deeply unequal income distribution. Our high priests of high finance — the bankers and traders of Wall Street — take great...
by Isaiah J. Poole | May 6, 2009 | Blog
Two weeks after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for the creation of an independent panel that would investigate the causes of the current financial crisis, the House of Representatives has joined the Senate in approving a financial fraud bill that authorizes such a...
by Steven Capozzola | May 6, 2009 | Blog, Making it in America
Assembly-line workers and Michigan communities aren’t the only ones with a stake in a strong U.S. auto manufacturing industry. More than 7.2 million paychecks are tied to U.S. autos, ranging from supply manufacturing to health care, education, service, retail and...
by Bill Scher | May 6, 2009 | Uncategorized
Due to a technical glitch, we have a shortened, continental-style, (but still filling!) Progressive Breakfast this late morning. Stress Test Results Trickle Out "The government has told Bank of America it needs $33.9 billion in capital to withstand any worsening of...
by Isaiah J. Poole | May 6, 2009 | Blog
A Center for Public Integrity report released today, "Who's Behind the Financial Meltdown," spells out how 25 of the country's largest financial institutions fueled the subprime mortgage market that precipitated the global financial crash. In addition, as a...
by Robert Borosage | May 6, 2009 | Blog
"And the banks -- hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created—are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place" That was Sen Richard Durbin, the powerful Senate Democratic whip, irate as...
by Isaiah J. Poole | May 5, 2009 | Blog
Progressives who have been campaigning for an independent commission to expose the causes of today's financial crisis are about to score a major victory as early as Wednesday in the House. That is when the House is expected to take up mortgage fraud legislation that...
by Bill Scher | May 5, 2009 | Uncategorized
Banks Need More Capital Bloomberg: "The Federal Reserve plans to deliver results of stress tests on U.S. banks to executives today that may show about 10 companies need additional capital to weather a deeper recession, people familiar with the matter said. Banks are...
by Alan Jenkins | May 4, 2009 | Blog
During the presidential campaign, candidate Barack Obama spoke eloquently about race in America and its continuing relevance to our national progress. But at the press conference marking his first 100 days, President Obama got it wrong. Black Entertainment Television...
by Terrance Heath | May 4, 2009 | Blog
In many ways, the discussion of race in America, particularly as it relates to today's issues (the economy, health care, education), brings to mind the parable of the blind men and the elephant. Different people have a firm grasp on part of the truth in the middle of...
