by Robert Borosage | Nov 27, 2007 | Blog
Do we have to wait for soup lines in Shaker Heights before we have a serious debate on the economy? In the last two Democratic debates, not one question was directed at what to do about the economy. Iraq, health care, the politics of parsing, pearls or diamonds...
by Bill Scher | Nov 27, 2007 | Blog
Normally, having lots of candidate debates is good for democracy, giving voters ample opportunity to see ideas tested, assertions fact-checked, and proposals detailed. But while this presidential primary season has offered plenty of debates, all too often media...
by Hugh Upton | Nov 27, 2007 | Blog
One of the black holes in our national discourse is the right’s revival of old-style nativism in its approach to the current immigration debate -- replete with its scapegoating, demonization, and conspiracy theories, all in the pursuit of an eliminationist policy of...
by Bill Scher | Nov 26, 2007 | Blog
On Saturday, the Washington Post solicited reaction from the Consumer Product Safety Commission about our tragic and shocking new video -- showing Barbie contracting lead poisoning from Ken and demanding the resignation of acting head Nancy Nord. And the misleading...
by Bill Scher | Nov 21, 2007 | Blog
ABCNews.com today spotlighted our "Toxic Toys" video featuring the tragic tale of Ken and Barbie, which calls for the resignation of acting Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Nancy Nord. ABC headlines its piece "Drunken Hookup Barbie Demands Bush Official's...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 20, 2007 | Blog
This weekend was our son's fifth birthday, and we tried something different for his birthday party this year: no toys. Instead we had a book exchange. Each kid brought a book and left with one, and our son opened the presents we bought for him once we got back home....
by Bill Scher | Nov 20, 2007 | Blog
Today, acting Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Nancy Nord issued a press release titled, "CPSC Delivers the ABC’s of Toy Safety," which includes "CPSC's Top Safe Shopping Tips." But these tips leave out an important word. Kids, see if you can identify the missing...
by Bill Scher | Nov 20, 2007 | Blog
On Saturday’s weekly presidential radio address, George Bush admonished “Congress” for not yet passing legislation temporarily fixing the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). The decades-old law was initially designed to prevent the ultra-rich from shirking their tax...
by Bill Scher | Nov 19, 2007 | Blog
Over the past seven years, crude oil prices have exploded from around $30 a barrel to nearly $100. With prices that high, you don’t need to give an oil company executive much financial incentive to drill for more fossil fuel. Yet clean energy legislation is stalled in...
by Bill Scher | Nov 19, 2007 | Blog
Fox News Sunday had a landmark Watchdog day, not only asking this week's question about Huckabee's past ethical violations, but also asking last month's Watchdog question about Huckabee's deeply flawed proposal to replace the income tax with a national sales tax....
by Bill Scher | Nov 17, 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 Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 16, 2007 | Blog
A $3.7 billion program that channels federal money to local communities for projects designed to improve blighted areas and help produce jobs has been in the Bush administration crosshairs almost from the day the administration took office. The Bushies never liked the...
by Roger Hickey | Nov 15, 2007 | Blog
Editor’s Note: “The 2008 election campaign is almost sure to be a health care election — even before we’ve done much organizing at all,” said America’s Future co-director Roger Hickey at a conference sponsored by New Jersey Citizen Action on November 13. “So imagine...
by Bill Scher | Nov 15, 2007 | Blog
I think these two videos speak for themselves. One is from the US Chamber of Commerce (via Open Left), offering its ominous vision for the future if Congress passes legislation to stop global warming. The other is from Environmental Defense, featuring western...
by Bill Scher | Nov 14, 2007 | Blog
Newsflash: For seven years, George Bush has collected your taxes, and spent your money. He may have collected those taxes in a more unfair manner than in the prior decade. And he may have spent much of that money in ways that weren't economically helpful or supported...
by Bill Scher | Nov 12, 2007 | Blog
Another 0-for-3 day for the Watchdog. Neither Secretary of State Condi Rice nor Sen. John McCain were asked if the continued White House support for Pakistan's dictator Pervez Musharraf shows that its foreign policy does not promote democracy or defeat terrorism....
by Bill Scher | Nov 11, 2007 | Blog
Apologies for a belated Weekend Watchdog post, as I'm back from a vacation and long flight delay. But as usual, on Sunday at 4 PM ET, tune in to Air America Radio's "Seder on Sundays" program, where I'll offer the Weekend Watchdog Wrap-Up. For Secretary of State...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 30, 2007 | Blog
There's more proof of the political potency of the "toxic trade" theme among voters in a poll just completed by Democracy Corps. Asked to choose from a list of concerns about China, 52 percent of poll participants agreed with the statement that a "lack of safety...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 30, 2007 | Blog
We're thrilled to announce that David Sirota, a nationally syndicated weekly newspaper columnist and New York Times bestselling author, debuts today as a senior fellow and blogger for the Campaign for America's Future. Sirota is known for his no-nonsense writing about...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 28, 2007 | Blog
The substitute Watchdog gave something of a break to the chattering Sunday morning class. George Stephanopoulos and Tim Russert took advantage of it. Chris Wallace didn't. Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" asked Arizona Sen. John McCain, a Republican presidential...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 26, 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 | Oct 24, 2007 | Blog
The State Children's Health Insurance Program bill is not going away. House leaders announced that they are bringing another SCHIP bill to the floor this week, with minor changes but still expanding the program to cover a total of 10 million kids. The White House...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 23, 2007 | Blog
The irony of President Bush's demand on Monday for $46 billion in additional emergency spending for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan—an irony missed by most of the news media—is that it occurred as the Senate debated an appropriations bill for domestic...
by Bill Scher | Oct 22, 2007 | Blog
Conservative movement favorite Bobby Jindal cruised to victory in Saturday's Louisiana gubernatorial election, winning 53% of the vote in a multi-person race, far ahead of the pack and avoiding a runoff election against a single opponent. But Jindal got roughly the...
by Bill Scher | Oct 21, 2007 | Blog
For the first time in October, the Watchdog got a question asked by the Sunday shows. Face The Nation host Bob Schieffer asked former Gov. Mitt Romney about being endorsed by anti-Mormon Bob Jones III: SCHIEFFER: Bob Jones, who heads Bob Jones University down in South...
by Bill Scher | Oct 19, 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 | Oct 18, 2007 | Blog
The National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez has an odd threshold for outrage. A couple years ago, after Mel Gibson made remarks denying the magnitude of the Holocaust, she said, "I give the guy the benefit of the doubt." But when our own Roger Hickey said, "One hundred...
by Roger Hickey | Oct 18, 2007 | Blog
One hundred and fifty-six House Members declared themselves enemies of children and families with this vote. Ignoring the will of the people, a conservative minority in the House sustained the president's veto and denied nearly 5 million children access to health...
by Bill Scher | Oct 18, 2007 | Blog
The House just voted 273 to 156 to override Bush's veto of children's health insurance, 13 votes short of the needed two-thirds majority. Once again, the conservative minority in Washington has obstructed the public will. While congressional leaders were able to...
by Bill Scher | Oct 18, 2007 | Blog
The House has begun to debate the State Children's Health Insurance Program expansion, with the vote whether to override Bush's veto expected to happen later today. (All the action at C-span.org.) With the help of the Bush Dog campaign, most of the conservative...
by Bill Scher | Oct 17, 2007 | Blog
To turn the public against expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program, conservatives tried to spread misinformation, intimidate kids and their parents, and make bizarre attempts at humor. None of it has worked. A new poll and analysis from the Kaiser...
by Bill Scher | Oct 16, 2007 | Blog
Last week, I hoped for "More Conservative Honesty" when talking about children's health insurance. And today we got it. ThinkProgress today reports on the latest conservative attack on a SCHIP family. This time, it's the Wilkersons. Refusing to be intimidated by the...
by Bill Scher | Oct 16, 2007 | Blog
Last night, the Frost family was interviewed on MSNBC's "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," where they not only shared their experience having conservative bloggers try to intimidate them, but also shared pictures of what two of their kids went through after being in a...
by Bill Scher | Oct 15, 2007 | Blog
With the vote to override Bush's veto of children's health insurance scheduled for Thursday, blogs are continuing to help hold House conservatives accountable to their constituents. Free State Politics informs Rep. Roscoe Bartlett about the latest poll numbers showing...
by Bill Scher | Oct 15, 2007 | Blog
On Bloggingheads.tv, I joined Conn Carroll of the Hotline Blogometer to analyze, among other things, the conservative blogosphere's attack on SCHIP expansion and the Frost family. Click here to watch.
by Bill Scher | Oct 15, 2007 | Blog
A particularly egregious Sunday as the talk shows hosts once again go 0-for-3 for the Watchdog. ABC's This Week host George Stephanopoulos was happy to ask Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell about the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). But he...
by Bill Scher | Oct 12, 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 | Oct 12, 2007 | Blog
If you thought conservatives hit rockbottom attacking a 12-year-old and his parents on children's health insurance, you failed to consider what comical depths they could still reach. Unless their website got hacked, this is an actual SCHIP press release from House...
by Bill Scher | Oct 11, 2007 | Blog
Sen. John McCain rolled out his health care plan today, and said: Right now, too many of our citizens don't have an insurance policy at all, and those who do are afraid they will lose the one they have - afraid they will get too sick, afraid to stay home and not work...
by Bill Scher | Oct 11, 2007 | Blog
With the children's health insurance override vote set for next week, the progressive liberal blogosphere is as fired up as I've ever seen over a domestic policy issue. Local bloggers in particular are stoking the pressure on key House members. Pharyngula tees off on...
