by Robert Borosage | Oct 24, 2008 | Blog
It marks the end of an era. Alan Greenspan, the maestro, defender of the market fundamentalist faith, champion of deregulation, celebrator of exotic banking inventions, admitted Thursday in a hearing before Rep. Henry Waxman’s House Committee and Oversight and...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 23, 2008 | Blog
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan today engaged in an attempt to rewrite history that was so egregious that even CNBC anchor Mark Haines, a free-market cheerleader, was aghast. The offense was on the first page of Greenspan's written testimony before the...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 23, 2008 | Blog
In my work-related news reading this morning, I came across an interesting take on Obama's exchange with "Joe the Plumber." The truth is that Obama in Ohio spoke the language of American democracy, which has always included a perception that wealth is a form of power,...
by Bill Scher | Oct 23, 2008 | Blog
Earlier this week I expressed some hope that the traditional media would accurately cover the debate over how to best get our economy back on track: r
by Bill Scher | Oct 22, 2008 | Blog
After Gov. Sarah Palin's nomination acceptance speech, I remarked it was a "sad night for conservatism," as the wildly received speech exposed the conservative leadership's desire for snide insults over responsible governing, for eschewing personal responsibility of...
by Robert Borosage | Oct 21, 2008 | Blog
Focused on the election? Might be a good idea to watch your pockets at the same time. Here's a glance at what's happening to the Wall Street bailout. Hank Paulson is, no doubt, the most impressive of the Bush administration cabinet members (admittedly not a high bar)....
by Alan Jenkins | Oct 21, 2008 | Blog
In the second presidential debate, moderator Tom Brokaw asked the candidates whether health care is a privilege, a responsibility, or a right. John McCain answered privilege, while Barack Obama said that health care is a right. With nearly 46 million Americans...
by Bill Scher | Oct 21, 2008 | Blog
Patio Man, Deck Guy, Porch Dude and Stoop Buddy are all surprised that they still waste five minutes of their day reading David Brooks. Brooks' occasional use of big words and obscure references always made it seem like he knew what he was talking about. But now that...
by Tula Connell | Oct 21, 2008 | Blog
Sen. John McCain, meet Joe the plumber. Unlike Samuel Wurzelbacher, Joe’s given name is…Joe. And, unlike Wurzelbacher, he’s a licensed plumber. Joe Moenck, a plumber in Zumbrota, Minn., is a member of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters (UA) Local 6—which, like all...
by Bill Scher | Oct 21, 2008 | Blog
Yesterday's Washington Post headline posed the question, "As Fuel Prices Fall, Will Push For Alternatives Lose Steam?" The weakening "push" referred not to public policies but to market forces, as clean energy entrepreneurs lamented the increased difficultly with...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 20, 2008 | Blog
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's statement before the House Budget Committee that it was "appropriate" for Congress to consider an economic stimulus package when it returns after the elections is welcome in some respects, but far more dangerous in others. Taken...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 20, 2008 | Blog
It was a pretty big news weekend. And even though guessing what a particular Sunday show guest would be asked was a "no-brainer," it's tempting to score a 2-for3 weekend for the watchdog. Let's start with the big one, shall we? Everyone else is talking about...
by Bill Scher | Oct 20, 2008 | Blog
David Sirota rightly flags what to expect after Election Day, regardless of the outcome -- an "onslaught" of media Establishment punditry that America is a "center-right nation" which will either help McCain clamp down on Congress or constrain Obama from following...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 17, 2008 | Blog
Every Friday in our Weekend Watchdog feature, we post suggested questions for scheduled Sunday guests. You can add your own questions in the comment thread. We'll also include contact information for the shows, so we can let them know what their viewers want asked....
by Bill Scher | Oct 17, 2008 | Blog
I never thought I'd see the day when conservatives would do a smear job on tax cuts. I had a, shall we say, lively discussion with conservative Town Hall blogger Amanda Carpenter for the weekly The Week In Blog segment over at bloggingheads.tv.. And she offered the...
by Robert Borosage | Oct 17, 2008 | Blog
Peering fearlessly into the increasingly likely terror of a Democratic President with larger Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, the Wall Street Journal editorial page sums up the stark horrors that could ensue. Voters will be registered. Workers...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 16, 2008 | Blog
On the heels of an explosive political document that has been hitting millions of mailboxes of potential voters— third-quarter 401(k) statements showing how much the Wall Street meltdown has hurt individual retirement savings—another potential game-changer is...
by Bill Scher | Oct 16, 2008 | Blog
Dean Baker notes that the "giant" tax increase Joe the Plumber fears would prevent him from buying a $280,000 plumbing business would amount to, at most, $900: Mr. Wurzelbacher says that he is planning to buy a plumbing business that has profits of between $250,000...
by Robert Borosage | Oct 16, 2008 | Blog
Nouriel Roubini is one of the few economists who warned about the housing bubble and predicted the financial collapse before it occurred. His alarms — dismissed as extreme by Wall Street nabobs and most economists — turned out to be right. Now he details the scope —...
by Sara Robinson | Oct 15, 2008 | Blog
Our fellow Americans, at long last, are getting it. Not only is the Age of Reagan over; it's becoming increasingly clear that the entire post-WWII order has come to the end of its run. The world as we have known it is passing away; and with it, so does our ability to...
by Bill Scher | Oct 15, 2008 | Blog
Sen. John McCain is losing. He said so himself in his speech yesterday. Candidates don't usually admit such a thing, so that qualifies as straight talk. But most voters don't want straight talk about political prospects. They want it about the issues that affect them...
by Robert Borosage | Oct 15, 2008 | Blog
Hey, "my friends," about the economy? "How about a little straight talk?" All that palaver about cutting spending, balancing the budget? Ruinous. Can't happen. We're going to have to borrow and spend a boatload of money to get this economy going. And tax cuts? That...
by Roger Hickey | Oct 14, 2008 | Blog
The global financial crash of the past few weeks has hammered home what should be common sense: A free market needs reasonable rules that safeguard the public interest. When you unshackle corporations and put the cops who would police them in handcuffs, ultimately...
by Bill Scher | Oct 14, 2008 | Blog
Five years ago, I interviewed now-Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman for LiberalOasis.com, and I asked him about his past support for NAFTA-style trade and globalization. He responded: I have to say those issues -- they seemed terribly big issues a few years ago. And I'd...
by Bill Scher | Oct 13, 2008 | Blog
While the financial crisis did lead to much substantive discussion yesterday, the Sunday shows still go 0-for-3 for the Watchdog. George Stephanoulous on ABC's This Week asked former Treasury Secretary James Baker if he supported having our federal government directly...
by Bill Scher | Oct 11, 2008 | Blog
Every Friday in our Weekend Watchdog feature, we post suggested questions for scheduled Sunday guests. You can add your own questions in the comment thread. We'll also include contact information for the shows, so we can let them know what their viewers want asked....
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 10, 2008 | Blog
The rabid right has turned up the volume on their insidious accusations that ACORN is engaging in voter fraud. But the executive director of ACORN is fighting back with a detailed response that would silence the critics if they had a shred of integrity. They are...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 9, 2008 | Blog
Our latest report on the block-and-blame game
by Bill Scher | Oct 9, 2008 | Blog
Perhaps the first sign that racism may not play a determining role in the general election was when the McCain campaign gave up on Michigan. President Bush lost the severely economically distressed state in both 2000 and 2004. But some thought Sen. John McCain had a...
by Greg Colvin | Oct 8, 2008 | Blog
At Tuesday night’s debate, the presidential candidates were asked a question that I believe deserves much more attention. "BROKAW: Sen. McCain, for you, we have our first question from the Internet tonight. A child of the Depression, 78-year-old Fiora from Chicago....
by Leo Gerard | Oct 8, 2008 | Blog
Sarah “Joe-Sixpack” Palin pulled her labor union roots out of the frozen Alaskan soil and started shaking them at normally union-allergic Republican crowds from the day John McCain announced her as his running mate. Recently, she redoubled her efforts to cast herself...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 7, 2008 | Blog
The economy that conservatives until a few weeks ago were calling "fundamentally sound" is actually, in many respects, in the worst shape it's been in since the Great Depression, according to a report by economist Charles McMillion. While the report primarily focuses...
by Bill Scher | Oct 7, 2008 | Blog
A consensus is growing that Sen. John McCain's slippage in the polls is the result of not saying much on the economy, and he needs a big economic idea to turn things around. MSNBC's First Read writes: It's a tough position McCain finds himself in: On one hand, the...
by Leo Gerard | Oct 7, 2008 | Blog
While the recently passed bailout bill may or may not help to stabilize the credit markets (and on Monday it looked as if it may have in fact made it worse) it is absolutely clear that it does nothing to address the fundamental cause of this crisis – declining home...
by Robert Borosage | Oct 7, 2008 | Blog, Minimum Wage
So much for the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. Stocks are tanking across the world. Clearly, once the bailout passed, investors took a good look at the real economy and dove for the mattresses. We’re headed into a great reckoning. And at the heart of that, as...
by Alan Jenkins | Oct 7, 2008 | Blog
You’ve got to admire the conservative echo chamber. In the shadow of a financial meltdown that McCain and Obama both (correctly) agree stemmed largely from a lack of governmental oversight of irresponsible corporate behavior, conservative spinmeisters are blaming the...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 6, 2008 | Blog
Well, it looks like another 0-for-3 weekend for the watchdog, as most of the questions focused less on the economy and more on the presidential race and campaign tactics. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granhlom — who stood in for Republican vice presidential...
by Sara Robinson | Oct 4, 2008 | Blog
Jonathan Raban, writing in the London Review of Books, gives us a keen insight into what happens when you let conservatives build cities: Present-day Wasilla is Palin’s lasting monument. It sits in a broad alluvial valley, puddled with lakes, boxed in on three sides...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 3, 2008 | Blog
It's been a nail-biter of a week, as the nation's attention rocketed between the bailout wranglings on the Hill (Will there or won't there be a bailout package? There is.) and the vice presidential debate (How will the candidates do? Both survived.). But the real...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 3, 2008 | Blog
In 2005, our co-director Robert Borosage warned readers about the travesty of appointing Christopher Cox to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Business Week described corporate lobbyists as "almost giddy" at the prospect of Cox at the head of the SEC because Cox...
