by Tula Connell | Aug 25, 2008 | Blog
The issue of race in this presidential campaign is one we talk around, or whisper about, or don't discuss publicly at all. Or, as with some McCain supporters, the issue of race is used as an ugly bludgeon in the spirit of Jim Crow. But AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer...
by Bill Scher | Aug 25, 2008 | Blog
AJ from FireDogLake.com talks about the FireDogStory from single blogger to business operation, and what that means for the future of the netroots.
by Bill Scher | Aug 25, 2008 | Blog
AirAmerica.com's Sam Seder kicks off our series of webcam interviews, looking back on how progressive media infrastructure has grown over the past four years.
by Isaiah J. Poole | Aug 22, 2008 | Blog
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by Bill Scher | Aug 22, 2008 | Blog
Insurance Company Rules were in full effect this week, from New Orleans to Pennsylvania to The Hamptons, as communities rallied to raise funds for ill friends. AmeriCorps volunteer Mark Smith has a hospital bill of more than $90,000, after relocating to help rebuild...
by Bill Scher | Aug 21, 2008 | Blog
The big political news today (so far) is that Sen. John McCain couldn't remember the number of homes he owns.. (Getting a little less attention, his staff then told the Politico that the answer is four, when in fact, it is at least seven and as many as ten.) Democrats...
by Sara Robinson | Aug 20, 2008 | Blog, Rick Perlstein
This blog has been covering the shameful collapse of America's infrastructure on almost a weekly basis, so it should come as no surprise to even our most casual readers that the physical structures and systems that support our entire way of life are in serious...
by Bill Scher | Aug 20, 2008 | Blog
In recent posts, I've shown that conservative talk of an "All of the Above" energy policy flies in the face of repeated conservative actions to defeat anything that significantly i
by Bill Scher | Aug 19, 2008 | Blog
Robert Borosage has asked us on this site—bloggers and commenters alike—to explore "How Do We Seize The Obama Moment?" and substantively advance a bold progressive agenda, after laying out an "inside-outside" activist strategy with Katrina vanden Heuvel in The Nation....
by Isaiah J. Poole | Aug 18, 2008 | Blog
On "Meet the Bloggers" Friday, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said that there is a "collapse" of the middle class and that nothing short of a revolution will be needed to reverse it. "What we really need is a political revolution in this country," Sanders said, beginning...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 18, 2008 | Blog
It looks like another 0-for-3 weekend for the watchdog, even with an opportunity to ask two questions of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. There was one tantalizing moment on NBC's Meet the Press, when host David Gregory pressed Sec. Rice on the U.S. role in...
by Bill Scher | Aug 18, 2008 | Blog
In the latest edition of "The Week in Blog" over at bloggingheads.tv, the Heritage Foundation's Conn Carroll and I talked about the conservative blog reaction to the "Gang of 10" compromise, which would allow some drilling off the southeast coast in exchange for the...
by Robert Borosage | Aug 17, 2008 | Blog
When Sen. Barack Obama receives the Democratic presidential nomination before 75,000 people in Denver's Mile High Stadium on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, new possibilities will be born. Obama may not be a "movement"...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 15, 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 | Aug 15, 2008 | Blog
This week, the health insurance lobby continues it's "listening tour" by hosting a staged event in an undisclosed location where it could hear nothing it didn't want to hear, and didn't want you to hear. On the flip side, Health Care For America Now sought to amplify...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Aug 15, 2008 | Blog
A hearing in late July on the middle-class squeeze by the congressional Joint Economic Committee did not get much attention at the time, but a warning at that hearing by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that what's happening to the middle class is not just a squeeze but a...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Aug 14, 2008 | Blog
Somewhat buried in the news this week was a forecast by Global Insight, a U.S. consulting firm, that China would overtake the United States as the leading global manufacturer in 2009. That forecast deserves more attention, because American workers want and need real...
by Bill Scher | Aug 13, 2008 | Blog
Conservatives know that after eight years of keeping America dependent on oil, they can't easily promote another Big Oil giveaway. So the message mantra around coastal drilling is "All of the Above." "All of the Above" is supposed to mean that we need to do...
by Bill Scher | Aug 13, 2008 | Blog
Yesterday, the Bush Justice Department announced there would be no prosecutions for the illegal political hiring that went on the Justice Department (link via Knitting Liberally). And, the Bush Interior Department announced new proposed rules that would eliminate...
by Robert Borosage | Aug 12, 2008 | Blog
Remember the old Steve Martin routine on how to make a million dollars and not pay taxes: "First, make a million dollars... Second, don't pay taxes." Turns out Martin's joke is standard operating procedure for corporations in the United States — only, in comparison,...
by Bill Scher | Aug 12, 2008 | Blog
The Washington Post has a white working class problem. It doesn't know how to analyze its own poll data about them. The Washington Post, July 16, 2008: Among white voters, McCain has an advantage [over Obama] of 50 percent to 42 percent ... The candidates are tied...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Aug 12, 2008 | Blog
The outlook for prescription drug costs, and for health care costs generally, continues to be ominous. Price increases of more than 100 percent for certain prescription drugs means it is more important than ever to give the Medicare program the power to bargain with...
by Bill Scher | Aug 12, 2008 | Blog
Even though I helped debunk this myth two months ago, Conservatives are still pushing the canard that A
by Isaiah J. Poole | Aug 11, 2008 | Blog
by Alan Jenkins | Aug 11, 2008 | Blog
Over the weekend, I found myself listening to the theme song from the 1970s TV show “Good Times,” because, yes, I have that kind of time on my hands. The show depicted the struggles, triumphs and heartache of the Evans family, a low-income African-American family...
by Bill Scher | Aug 11, 2008 | Blog
Country legend Tom Russell, known for being one of the pioneers of Americana music, last year responded to the anti-immigrant frenzy with a brilliant song, "Who's Gonna Build Your Wall?" I've got 800 miles of open border - right outside my door. There's Minutemen in...
by Bill Scher | Aug 11, 2008 | Blog
The Sunday shows strike out again, going 0-for-3 for the Watchdog. The biggest whiff goes to Face The Nation, which allowed Karl Rove to punditize at will, as if he was a mere observer of politics. Host Bob Schieffer failed to ask him about the week's biggest...
by Tula Connell | Aug 11, 2008 | Blog, Minimum Wage
They may be party animals when chugging $8,204 worth of booze but, after the hangover is over, the staff at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce goes back to being their ugly anti-worker selves. Seems that some 100 or so Chamber of Commerce staff recently ran up an $8,204 tab...
by Bill Scher | Aug 8, 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 | Aug 8, 2008 | Blog
Facts be damned, Sen. John McCain keeps mocking the idea that steps such as proper tire inflation would have more of an impact immediately on lowering gas prices than offshore drilling. "He's claiming putting air in your tires is the equivalent of new offshore...
by Bill Scher | Aug 8, 2008 | Blog
After the Health Care for America Now coalition unveiled it's brilliant "Insurance Company Rules" video (below) -- elegantly depicting how insurance companies regularly try to make up rules as they go along to deny people coverage and benefits -- I decided to start a...
by Bill Scher | Aug 7, 2008 | Blog
The Dell computer company just announced a milestone. It is now a carbon-neutral business. And by powering itself with clean energy, Dell is saving money. The Wall Street Journal blog Environmental Capital reports: Dell’s reliance on greater energy efficiency and...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 6, 2008 | Blog
Why is this man smiling?
by Bill Scher | Aug 6, 2008 | Blog
Conservatives are trying very hard to sustain their coastal drilling propaganda campaign, which is difficult when you have no facts to sustain your case. They have to stay one step ahead of the fact-checkers, which means regularly concocting new lies that make...
by Sara Robinson | Aug 5, 2008 | Blog
Drew Westen and Mike Lux both have cogent and persuasive posts up that deftly explain — and raise the alarm about — the timidity that's recently settled into Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Sen. John McCain's shooting live rounds now; and, as usual, the...
by Robert Borosage | Aug 5, 2008 | Blog
Take gas prices, the most pressing issue on the minds of Americans. Offer a blatant ploy that in fact won't help — but will profit Big Oil. Pocket over a million in contributions from oil executives and use the money to put up an ad promising to take on Big Oil. Call...
by Bill Scher | Aug 5, 2008 | Blog
Yesterday in my post on inflating tires versus coastal drilling, I noted that: "Conservatives -- lovers of childish mockery over substantive ideas -- later today are apparently planning to distribute tire gauges at an Obama energy event." Over at The Huffington Post,...
by Bill Scher | Aug 4, 2008 | Blog
Sen. John McCain says he is (now) for coastal drilling. Today, he said Congress should abort its August recess and convene a special session to vote on drilling. "Congress should come back in session, and I'm willing to come off the campaign trail," said McCain to...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 4, 2008 | Blog
It was another 0-for-3 weekend for the watchdog, though Speaker Pelosi successfully resisted a grilling on drilling. It was Nancy Pelosi who shone brightest this Sunday on ABC's This Week, as she held the line against the push to "drill, drill, drill," and met George...
by Bill Scher | Aug 4, 2008 | Blog
The latest conservative lie -- regarding Sen. Barack Obama and fuel efficiency -- actually has a great amount of truth to it. On Thursday, conservative radio host Sean Hannity claimed Obama said, "All you need to do is inflate your tires. That's all you need to do. If...
