by Sara Robinson | Jan 8, 2009 | Blog, Economy
Here it is: our moment of economic truth. We're standing at that historic fork in the road where the nation decides, now and for the foreseeable future, whether it's going to hang on to the catastrophic assumptions of the free-market fundamentalists and rely once more...
by Eric Lotke | Jan 7, 2009 | Blog
Don’t fall for it. The Republicans are attacking President-elect Barack Obama’s nomination of Eric Holder as attorney general. There are “red flags,” says Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, starting with the pardon of financier Marc Rich. Don’t fall for it. Losing the...
by Bill Scher | Jan 7, 2009 | Uncategorized
Progressive Breakfast is the morning roundup of what progressive movement members need to know to start the day. Congress Chews on Econ Recovery, While Biz Tax Breaks Take Hits CAF’s Borosage urges a re-think on business tax cuts: “He's likely to pay a price both in...
by Robert Borosage | Jan 7, 2009 | Blog
by Bill Scher | Jan 6, 2009 | Uncategorized
Progressive Breakfast is the morning roundup of what progressive movement members need to know to start the day. Pushback Against Business Tax Cuts Krugman blogs his concern: "we’re probably looking at a plan that will shave less than 2 percentage points off the...
by Bill Scher | Jan 5, 2009 | Blog
Much of today's chatter centers on unofficial word from the Obama-Biden transition team that its economic recovery plan will include $300 billion in tax cuts. As the incoming administration is estimating th
by Sam Pizzigati | Jan 5, 2009 | Blog, Reagan Revolution
Our current economic meltdown may finally have ended the era that began when Ronald Reagan became President. Now a new study — from the Congressional Budget Office — helps us understand the inequality that has us melting. Two days before Christmas, with...
by Bill Scher | Jan 5, 2009 | Uncategorized
Progressive Breakfast is the morning roundup of what progressive movement members need to know to start the day. Obama May Expand Tax Cut Piece of Econ Plan W. Post: "Obama officials are advocating that Congress direct about $300 billion of the stimulus package, or...
by Terrance Heath | Jan 2, 2009 | Blog
If you haven't seen it yet, check the episode schedule and make sure you don't miss the History Channel's "Crash: The Next Great Depression?". This one-hour special looks at the current economic meltdown in the US and compares and contrasts it with what led up to the...
by Alan Jenkins | Dec 29, 2008 | Blog
Every year, I watch the holiday screening of the 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and marvel at how relevant the film remains. That was true in spades this year. Most Americans have, intentionally or inadvertently, seen some or all of this film over the years. And...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Dec 29, 2008 | Blog, Reagan Revolution
In every article assessing the roots of today's financial crisis, one theme stands out: As would-be Wall Street wizards came up with ever-more-fantastical strategies for making obscene profits, the guardians of the public trust either snoozed or egged them on. The...
by Bill Scher | Dec 29, 2008 | Blog
We are on the verge of nothing less than a transformation in the role of our federal government, from one of conservative neglect to one of progressive action. Conservatives, deeply fearful of being buried on the wrong side of history, are gearing up to obstruct...
by Sara Robinson | Dec 26, 2008 | Blog
Last month's piece on how to talk to your conservative relatives over the holidays was apparently welcome and necessary. Not only was it one of the biggest hits at ourfuture.org this year; several hundred other sites also picked it up, and I've gotten a steady flow of...
by Robert Borosage | Dec 24, 2008 | Blog
Longtime friend, Mark Steitz, an irrepressible Washington wit, described the potential threat posed by Osama bin Laden's new arsenal: If bin Laden were smart, he'd disband his terrorist cells, and instead buy ad time on radio and TV stations. The ads could be simple:...
by Terrance Heath | Dec 23, 2008 | Blog
What was that about investing in our crumbling infrastructure, again? I ask because a water main somewhere in Montgomery County, Maryland, ruptured today and washed out much of my day. Though my experience was nothing compared to what some people had to deal...
by Bill Scher | Dec 23, 2008 | Uncategorized
Progressive Breakfast is the morning roundup of what progressive movement members need to know to start the day. Toyota Losing Money Too Toyota will lose money on cars for the first time in seven decades. Emptywheel: "Richard Shelby and Bob Corker like to squawk about...
by Bill Scher | Dec 22, 2008 | Blog
After my post last week exposing a CNN report as a factually-challenged hit piece on infrastructure investment, fed by the conservative National Taxpayers Union, Pete Sepp from the NTU posted an
by Sam Pizzigati | Dec 22, 2008 | Blog, Economy
Has any year ever showcased greed as dramatically as 2008? We sift through the avarice to bring you the lowlights — and a little hope for a less greedy 2009. This time of year always seems to bring a never-ending barrage of “top ten” lists. The year’s top ten movies,...
by Leo Gerard | Dec 22, 2008 | Blog
President Bush took to the TV Friday to announce that he wouldn’t walk past the financial crash of America’s Big Three automakers and do nothing to save their lives. Refusing resuscitation, Bush said, would be irresponsible during the worst economic crisis since the...
by Terrance Heath | Dec 22, 2008 | Blog
This is a man's world But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl He's lost in the wilderness He's lost in bitterness ~ James Brown, "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World" It's been written many times already that 2008 was quite a year for women. Whether...
by Bill Scher | Dec 22, 2008 | Uncategorized
Progressive Breakfast is the morning roundup of what progressive movement members need to know to start the day. Calls For Even Bigger Economic Plans W. Post reports Obama is upping his jobs target to 3M, as advisers now fear unemployment could surpass 9%....
by Terrance Heath | Dec 21, 2008 | Blog
So, we got punked on the bailout? Here's an idea to keep in mind for a condition on the next $350 billion installment. If banks want to reward their investment bankers with bonuses, I say let 'em. So long as they follow the Credit Suisse example. Kudos to Credit...
by Terrance Heath | Dec 19, 2008 | Blog, Minimum Wage
Every once in a while, an idea gels in my head and I dismiss it, thinking to myself "Nah. I gotta be missing something. It can't be that. And then I hear someone who probably knows a lot more than I do about the subject at hand say pretty much what I'd been thinking...
by Bill Scher | Dec 19, 2008 | Uncategorized
Progressive Breakfast is the morning roundup of what progressive movement members need to know to start the day. Auto Rescue Finally Announced NYT reports this AM: President Bush on Friday announced $13.4 billion in emergency loans to prevent the collapse of General...
by Bill Scher | Dec 18, 2008 | Blog
As noted in yesterday's edition of Progressive Breakfast, Marc Ambinder recently laid out the conservative strategy to attack any economic recovery program: A trillion dollars worth of government spending over the course of a few years is a ripe target for...
by Bill Scher | Dec 18, 2008 | Uncategorized
Progressive Breakfast is the morning roundup of what progressive movement members need to know to start the day. Today's Number is $850B Bloomberg cites one Obama aide to report the new administration will ask for an $850B economic recovery package: "Obama’s...
by Bill Scher | Dec 17, 2008 | Blog
Earlier today, we at Institute for America's Future hosted a media conference call to release the new report from Prof. Jacob Hacker, "The Case for Public Plan Choice in National Health Reform." (Audio of the session is here) And ABC picked up on the big news:...
by Terrance Heath | Dec 17, 2008 | Blog
I'm not an economist. I've never studied economics, beyond reading The Complete Idiot's Guide to Economics about a year ago. I've read about derivatives, and had my mind blown by the concept of securitization and the idea that people not only sell debt, but chop it up...
by Bill Scher | Dec 17, 2008 | Uncategorized
Progressive Breakfast is the morning roundup of what progressive movement members need to know to start the day. ALERT: The Conservative Attack Strategy On Economic Recovery Marc Ambinder: "A trillion dollars worth of government spending over the course of a few years...
by Bill Scher | Dec 16, 2008 | Uncategorized
Progressive Breakfast is the morning roundup of what progressive movement members need to know to start the day. Pelosi Low-balling Economic Stimulus? After Obama transition team members said the size of an economic recovery program may need to be between $700B and...
by Leo Gerard | Dec 15, 2008 | Blog
From sea to shining sea, America is suffering. She is, however, afflicted with an avoidable condition she brought on herself, like a hangover. Only this one's interminable and internationally contagious. She did it by choosing over the past 30 years to establish an...
by Sam Pizzigati | Dec 15, 2008 | Blog
Lawmakers opposing the automaker bailout have been insisting they stand on “free enterprise” principles. Companies in the private sector, these legislators pronounce, should not be begging the public sector for help. And if private enterprises should go...
by Alan Jenkins | Dec 15, 2008 | Blog
A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll is getting a lot of attention for its finding that President-Elect Obama is getting a whopping 67% approval rating from the public. But another, less noticed, finding of that poll is even more important for the Obama administration,...
by Bill Scher | Dec 15, 2008 | Blog, Rick Perlstein
Progressive Breakfast is the morning roundup of what progressive movement members need to know to start the day. Obama May Invest $1T To Revitalize Economy Following the release of Institute for America's Future $900B, 2-year Main Street Recovery Plan as a "floor, not...
by Terrance Heath | Dec 12, 2008 | Blog
The winding down of the dark age of W feels like something like a long night's journey into day. (Apologies to Eugene O'Neill.) Granted, Republicans are doing everything they can on their way out to make sure the light at the end of the tunnel is indeed a train. (More...
by Robert Borosage | Dec 12, 2008 | Blog
In their last obstruction, Mitch “Dr. No” McConnell’s Senate Republicans blocked a bridge loan for the auto companies, unwilling even to sustain them long enough for a new administration to sculpt a responsible response to their crisis. What was the sticking point? It...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Dec 12, 2008 | Blog
The incoming Obama administration has promised to bring cities out of the federal policy wilderness to which they have been exiled for the past eight years. And, given the scale of the economic crisis facing the country, it must, for the sake of the country. Mayors...
by Eric Lotke | Dec 12, 2008 | Blog
Two things happened yesterday. First, I published this major post about the role prisons play in the U.S. economy. Later yesterday evening, the Bureau of Justice Statistics released new data about people in prison. Any surprise? The number continued to rise. Yes,...
by Bill Scher | Dec 12, 2008 | Uncategorized
Progressive Breakfast is the morning roundup of what progressive movement members need to know to start the day. Senate conservatives bash unions, automakers, economy, America into ground The conservative Senate minority filibustered the auto rescue package last...
by Bill Scher | Dec 11, 2008 | Blog
Today, President-Elect Barack Obama formally nominated former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to be Secretary of Health and Human Services and Director of the new White House Office of Health Reform, with Dr. Jeanne Lambrew.as his deputy. In his announcement, Obama...
