by Bill Scher | Jan 10, 2008 | Blog
Al Gore has said, “If the President made climate change the organizing principle, the filter through which everything else had to flow, then that could really make a huge difference." In other words, by prioritizing the climate crisis, we’re not simply saving the...
by Bill Scher | Jan 9, 2008 | Blog
Republicans, Democrats and independents in New Hampshire all agree: the economy isn't working for them. The exit poll of voters in the Dem primary, 44% of whom were independents, spoke loud and clear. 86% said the economy was "not so good" or "poor." 97% are "very" or...
by Bill Scher | Jan 8, 2008 | Blog
Last month, President tried to give a "don't worry, be happy" pep talk on the economy, only to be confronted with an actual voter, and being forced to acknowledge the economic "storm clouds." Yesterday, in another economic speech, Bush was compelled to scale back the...
by Bill Scher | Jan 7, 2008 | Blog
Bill Kristol's New York Times column debuted today. It included a factual error, attributing a Michael Medved quote to Michelle Malkin. That was an appropriate beginning, as Kristol will surely have the Times corrections desk working overtime. Kristol regularly twists...
by Bill Scher | Jan 7, 2008 | Blog
The Sunday shows start off the New Year going 0-for3 for the Watchdog. While CBS' Bob Schieffer and NBC's Tim Russert did ask Sen. McCain about his support for staying in Iraq "100 years," they did not ask him how such a stance directly contributes to destabilization...
by Bill Scher | Jan 4, 2008 | Blog
Earlier this morning, I was on NPR's Bryant Park Project discussing the meaning of the Iowa results, along with Erick Erickson of Red State. Erick acknowledged the deep dislike of Huckabee among conservative bloggers, and general disappointment with the GOP field....
by Bill Scher | Jan 3, 2008 | Blog
We don't know who will win the Iowa caucuses, but we do know what Iowa voters want. As the leading Democrats seek to eek out a final lead, each delivered copious servings of substance, all pledging to achieve the same goals: an economy that works for everyone, health...
by Bill Scher | Jan 3, 2008 | Blog
We don't know who will win the Iowa caucuses, but we do know what Iowa voters want. As the leading Democrats seek to eek out a final lead, each delivered copious servings of substance, all pledging to achieve the same goals: an economy that works for everyone, health...
by Bill Scher | Jan 2, 2008 | Blog
When the price of oil broke $80 a barrel more than three months ago, I noted that George W. Bush ran in 2000 on a pledge to drive down oil costs. That was when oil was $30 a barrel. Today, oil broke $100 a barrel for the first time. According to the New York Times,...
by Bill Scher | Jan 2, 2008 | Blog
On Friday, PBS' The Newshour caught up with our old friend Nancy Nord, the toy industry's good friend heading up your Consumer Product Safety Commission. And she was in full corporate hack mode, spinning like a top: Toys are one of safest products in the American...
by Bill Scher | Dec 27, 2007 | Blog
My local paper in Western Mass., the Daily Hampshire Gazette (sub. req'd), today reported on the strain being put upon area food banks. Food banks across Massachusetts, already hobbled by state and federal budget cuts, are struggling to meet the increasing demands of...
by Bill Scher | Dec 20, 2007 | Blog
It's understandable that congressional Democrats would go ahead with an energy bill that raises auto fuel-efficiency standards to 35 miles per gallon, after conservatives filibustered bolder renewable energy provisions. They had worked extremely hard just to win...
by Bill Scher | Dec 19, 2007 | Blog
Since we began our Weekend Watchdog feature eight months ago, we've called on the Sunday shows to ask questions about global warming and clean energy seven times. Not once have the Sunday shows responded to our call. But we won't take it personally. Because the Sunday...
by Bill Scher | Dec 19, 2007 | Blog
After California's insurance regulator charged Blue Shield with illegally dropping health coverage for more than 200 of its customers, Institute for America's Future's own Diane Archer wrote a letter to the LA Times, published today, explaining how we can prevent...
by Bill Scher | Dec 19, 2007 | Blog
On this historic yet soon-to-be infamous day of record-breaking conservative obstruction, our "Block and Blame" report (PDF) reminds me of Sen. Trent Lott's all-too-candid words from April, "The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail ... and so far it's...
by Bill Scher | Dec 18, 2007 | Blog
On Sunday, ABC's This Week failed to hold Alan Greenspan accountable for his role in the mortgage crisis. But today, the New York Times did, picking up where Salon.com left off. And as the NYT report shows -- like every other failure of the Bush Era -- Greenspan's...
by Bill Scher | Dec 17, 2007 | Blog
The Bush Administration came into office seven years ago talking down the economy -- saying we're on the "front edge of a recession" in hopes of setting a low bar of expectations for themselves to clear. But the bar just kept dropping. Seven years later, when...
by Bill Scher | Dec 17, 2007 | Blog
Another sorry day for the Sunday shows as they go 0-for-3 for the Watchdog. Despite last week being the week when Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the Nobel Peace Prize for rallying the world to combat global warming, and the week where...
by Bill Scher | Dec 15, 2007 | 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 | Dec 14, 2007 | Blog
As we head into a critical political year, a new compelling book has laid out the road map for progressive victory: Bob Creamer's "Listen to Your Mother: Stand Up Straight. How Progressive Can Win." Creamer has been on the front lines, fighting the forces of...
by Bill Scher | Dec 13, 2007 | Blog
Quite a week for progress-haters. President Bush vetoes, for the second time, health insurance for millions more kids. The conservative minority in the Senate (and oil-drenched Dem Mary Landrieu) scraped up just enough votes to block investment in renewable energy by...
by Bill Scher | Dec 10, 2007 | Blog
Over at the Huffington Post, market analyst (and 1990s dot-com bubble puffer) Henry Blodget asks the inevitable conservative question about the mortgage meltdown: ...in what universe is it fair and right for the government to single-handely change the terms of loans...
by Bill Scher | Dec 10, 2007 | Blog
A rare event: Tim Russert of Meet the Press heard the calls of the people asked a Watchdog question. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani was asked, since our intelligence now says that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, if the "military option" should be taken...
by Bill Scher | Dec 7, 2007 | 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 | Dec 7, 2007 | Blog
The bold clean energy bill that passed the House yesterday was blocked in the Senate today by yet another filibuster from the conservative minority. The bill had majority support from 53 senators, including 5 Republicans (most of whom have tough re-election battles...
by Bill Scher | Dec 6, 2007 | Blog
First, Bush's Katrina hotline is disconnected. Now, for his new mortgage hotline, he gives out the wrong number. Pathetic, but appropriate, as his mortgage rate freeze plan is so severely limited, it won't reach those who need help anyway.
by Bill Scher | Dec 6, 2007 | Blog
Not only is the House on the verge of passing a strong energy bill, the Senate's environmental committee yesterday cleared the first major attempt to comprehensively address the climate crisis by capping greenhouse gases. But while the Senate bill marks a significant...
by Bill Scher | Dec 6, 2007 | Blog
It wasn't fair of me yesterday to pick on just hedge fund managers for lobbying to protect their discount income tax rate, instead of closing that loophole to pay for preventing an unfair expansion of the Alternative Minimum Tax. Because it's not just hedge fund...
by Bill Scher | Dec 5, 2007 | Blog
The disconnect between certain folks in Washington with the rest of the country is striking. With most Americans unhappy with the state of the economy, (despite the best efforts of David Brooks), many in Washington are risking an unfair tax hike on millions of...
by Robert Borosage | Dec 5, 2007 | Blog
Markets self-regulate, conservatives tell us. Just get government off our backs, companies tell us (after we pocket whatever subsidies we can grab). The Washington Post reported Tuesday on the safety of theme parks that feature rides that can whirl kids at speeds...
by Bill Scher | Dec 5, 2007 | Blog
In what, quite frankly, is a bizarre turn of events, the energy bill going to the House floor today will be even stronger than reported earlier. The bill now includes $21 billion in tax credits for renewable energy, paid for by ending handouts to fossil fuel...
by Bill Scher | Dec 4, 2007 | Blog
President Bush is continuing to attack Congress for not yet passing legislation to prevent the Alternative Minimum Tax from making millions of Americans unfairly pay a greater than necessary share in taxes. He raised the issue three times in the last four days. What...
by Bill Scher | Dec 4, 2007 | Blog
One of the reasons why I wrote yesterday's post on the energy bill deal was in anticipation of articles like today's in the New York Times. ...despite the tougher 35 m.p.g. standard, a growing population of drivers would push up total fuel use, as well as greenhouse...
by Bill Scher | Dec 3, 2007 | Blog
A majority in both houses of Congress, reflecting the desires of the American people, wants to shift the direction of our energy policy away from the fossil fuel past and towards a renewable energy future. To that end, the Senate passed an energy bill in June, the...
by Bill Scher | Dec 3, 2007 | Blog
Dizzying highs and agonizing lows for the Watchdog this Sunday. On Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace didn't ask Karl Rove about his lie regarding the Iraq war authorization vote. But after Rep. Chris van Hollen, D-Md. raised the subject, calling on Rove to "retract"...
by Bill Scher | Dec 2, 2007 | Blog
I've been doing a regular segment on Bloggingheads.tv with Conn Carroll (now with the conservative Heritage Foundation) called "The Week In Blog." Among other topics, we discussed the recent GOP presidential debate and the party's obsession with immigration. Click...
by Bill Scher | Nov 30, 2007 | 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 | Nov 30, 2007 | Blog
As I blogged earlier, tomorrow offers a rare event: The Heartland Presidential Forum, featuring real people asking candidates questions about real issues that affect working families and impoverished Americans. If you can't be in Des Moines at 1:30 PM CT, you can...
by Bill Scher | Nov 29, 2007 | Blog
David Brooks, Lou Dobbs, and their massive egos may not realize this, but we do not have to choose between their flawed economic visions for American and the world. But their little Pinstripe Catfight this week does help illustrate the weaknesses in both their...
by Robert Borosage | Nov 29, 2007 | Blog
The Republican CNN/YouTube debate lasted over two hours Wednesday night. But once more, we learned nothing about what the candidates would do about the economic straits we are in. Not a word about the housing crisis—the rising tide of foreclosures, plummeting housing...
