by Richard Eskow | Aug 2, 2017 | Blog
This is a story about property: real and imagined, legitimate and illegitimate. It’s a story about who gets to decide who can own what, and whom. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons It’s a story of reality, both physical and virtual. It’s a story that begins with humans...
by People's Action | Aug 1, 2017 | Breakfast
Kochs Push for Tax Cuts Koch brothers move to back WH tax-cut plan. Bloomberg: "After times of only tepid support for President Donald Trump’s agenda, the billionaire Koch brothers are putting their financial muscle behind the White House’s plan to overhaul U.S....
by Richard Eskow | Jul 31, 2017 | Blog
This headline appeared on Monday, July 31, 2017, at precisely 4:00 am: “Koch Brothers Move to Back White House’s Tax-Cut Plan.” This one appeared less than twelve hours later: “White House sees tax reform zipping through Congress in October, November.” That’s what you...
by Leo Gerard | Jul 31, 2017 | Blog
The future of the American steel and aluminum industries is not a matter for dithering. Each mill and smelter that remains operating is too vital. Each is too crucial to the economic viability of a corporation, a community, and thousands of workers and their families....
by Sam Pizzigati | Jul 31, 2017 | Blog
The Democratic Party’s congressional leadership has just unveiled a new slogan — and set of policy proposals — to help the party prep for the 2018 midterm elections . The slogan — “A Better Deal” — has underwhelmed just about everyone outside of the Democratic...
by People's Action | Jul 31, 2017 | Breakfast
Health Care Reset Trump turmoil adds delays, doubt to GOP agenda. The Hill: "The Republican Congress and the administration are signaling a pivot to tax reform... yet Trump on Saturday also wrote on Twitter that Republicans should not give up the effort on health...
by LeeAnn Hall | Jul 31, 2017 | Blog
In Friday’s early morning hours, news outlets had their spotlights trained on Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), casting him as the decisive player in the latest health repeal drama. When McCain walked to the front of the room, flagged the clerk, and gave a thumbs down,...
by Jeff Bryant | Jul 29, 2017 | Blog
The Democratic Party rolled out "A Better Deal" this week, aimed at winning back working-class voters. The populist pitch takes aim at corporate power, a refreshing change for a party too often in thrall to Wall Street. But 'A Better Deal' is virtually silent on the...
by Lois Gibbs | Jul 28, 2017 | Blog
The toxic legacy of Love Canal means we must protect the power of communities to hold polluters accountable. Photo Credit: Tatiana Grozetskaya/Shutterstock It has been almost 40 years since the nation heard the cries for help from Love Canal, where a school and...
by People's Action | Jul 28, 2017 | Breakfast
Join Us To Say Our Lives Are On The Line On Saturday, July 29, people are coming together all across America at over 150 events and in Washington, D.C. to say affordable, effective health care saves lives. Join us July 29 at an event near you to say Our Lives Are On...
by Evan Burger | Jul 28, 2017 | Blog
I was among the more than a thousand Iowans who recently packed into Des Moines’ HyVee Hall for “Revolution Iowa: From Protest to Power,” a day-long event organized by Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI). State and national media were drawn by speculation...
by Jeff Bryant | Jul 28, 2017 | Blog
Enraged school choice advocates stormed the Internet over the past few days to defend their cause from criticism no matter how reasonable. What sparked the anger of remarkably thin-skinned proponents of charter schools and school voucher programs were criticisms that...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 27, 2017 | Blog
Donald Trump’s White House seems more like a Quentin Tarantino movie every day. Amid allegations of broken laws and self-dealing at the highest levels, the president has now hired a Communications Director called “The Mooch.” The name brings to mind the famous “Mr....
by People's Action | Jul 27, 2017 | Breakfast
Tell Your Senators to VOTE NO! Today to Save Health Care The Senate has voted to move forward on health care repeal, so our fight is far from over. More votes to come. Call your senators: Tell them to VOTE NO! Protect Medicaid and health care for everyone in the...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 27, 2017 | Blog
Congressional Democrats rolled out an economic agenda for the 2018 elections this week, and despite its bland title, “A Better Deal: Better Jobs, Better Wages, Better Future,” the overview document and agenda reflect the growing strength and influence of the populist...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jul 27, 2017 | Blog
Two years ago, in 2015, just about all the nations in the world came together and agreed to make reducing inequality — the gap between rich and poor — a prime United Nations “sustainable development goal.” A noble gesture. But UN groups make noble gestures all the...
by Miles Mogulescu | Jul 27, 2017 | Blog
John McCain made his dramatic return to the Senate on Wednesday to cast the deciding vote to allow Mitch McConnell to proceed with attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. It was a vote of appalling hypocrisy. McCain is able to pay for his surgery — and...
by People's Action | Jul 26, 2017 | Breakfast
Tell Your Senators to VOTE NO! Today to Save Health Care The Senate has voted to move forward on health care repeal, so the fight is far from over. More votes to come. Call your senators: Tell them to VOTE NO! Protect Medicaid and health care for everyone in the...
by Julie Chinitz | Jul 26, 2017 | Blog
On Tuesday, 50 Republican senators showed contempt for their constituents by voting to move forward on repealing our health care, with Vice President Mike Pence stepping in to break the tie. Nine GOP senators later broke ranks in a late-night session to vote down the...
by Jeff Bryant | Jul 25, 2017 | Blog
“Aren’t you cold?” My hosts waiting for me in front of Millikan High School were wearing full winter wear—dark coats and scarves, knit caps pulled over ears. I’m in shirtsleeves. “No,” I replied. It’s 58 degrees—a February cold wave for them but a nice spring day for...
by Tim Wilkins | Jul 25, 2017 | Uncategorized
Tell Your Senators to VOTE NO! Today and Save Health Care Senate is voting today to health care repeal after the bill collapsed last week. Tens of millions of us will lose our health care. Call your senators: Tell them to VOTE NO! Protect Medicaid and health care for...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 24, 2017 | Blog
A heat wave gripped Washington D.C. last week, its bright sun delineating each building's sharp corners with Edward Hopper-like clarity. Commuters waited listlessly for trains and buses, fixed in their moments of misery like flies in amber. If the city seemed like...
by People's Action | Jul 24, 2017 | Breakfast
Dems Pitch 'A Better Deal' Democrats launch economic agenda ahead of 2018 campaign. Politico: "Democratic leaders in the House and Senate will unveil a broad economic agenda Monday, hoping to unite the disparate wings of their caucuses and win back working-class...
by Jessica Juarez Scruggs | Jul 24, 2017 | Blog
It’s Shark Week, but the most dangerous predators this year aren’t on TV or at the beaches – they are in Washington D.C., where they are menacing families with the help of their chums in Congress. From payday loan sharks to Wall Street bottom-feeders, financial...
by People's Action | Jul 21, 2017 | Breakfast
OMB Promotes Military Spending, Civilian Cutbacks OMB's Mulvaney tells civilian agencies to stop spending. AlterNet: "The Trump budget for fiscal 2018, which begins in less than three months, proposed a $54 billion increase in what is already the world’s largest...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 21, 2017 | Blog
July 21 marks the six-year anniversary of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created in the wake of the Wall Street crime wave that led to the financial crisis of 2008. The CFPB was first conceived by law professor Elizabeth Warren, now Senator Warren...
by Jeff Bryant | Jul 20, 2017 | Blog
In researching an upcoming article I'm writing about the St. Louis school system, and the district's ongoing funding crisis, I came across an astonishing example of who wins and who loses in current approaches to government budget balancing. As a local St. Louis...
by People's Action | Jul 20, 2017 | Breakfast
McCain Diagnosed With Brain Cancer AZ Sen. McCain has brain cancer. CNN: "Sen. John McCain is suffering from a gliobastoma tumor, an aggressive form of cancer... The Arizona senator's absence from Washington in recent days has come at a politically inopportune time...
by Leo Gerard | Jul 19, 2017 | Blog
Promises were made. And workers believed candidate Donald Trump when he pledged to stop corporations from exporting American factories. Workers cast votes based on Trump swearing he would end the trade cheating that kills American jobs. This week, though, workers got...
by Bryce Oates | Jul 19, 2017 | Blog
Trump is no FDR, no matter what he claims. To see why, we need look no further than his efforts to dismantle one of FDR’s greatest achievements: public investment in electric power. I live in the Pacific Northwest, where the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) sells...
by Tim Wilkins | Jul 19, 2017 | Uncategorized
GOP in Disarray Obamacare repeal plan looks dead in the Senate. Vox: "The last-ditch Senate attempt to repeal Obamacare with a two-year delay to replace the law appears doomed, just 14 hours after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell proposed it. Three Republican...
by LeeAnn Hall | Jul 18, 2017 | Health
Today, we have a lot to celebrate. We saved health care for 23 million people – and for our whole country. Yes, it was the months of tireless effort by opponents of the Trump-Republican health care repeal effort that set the stage for the legislative defeat that...
by George Goehl, LeeAnn Hall | Jul 18, 2017 | Blog
In 1978 in Love Canal, N.Y., Lois Gibbs forged a new model for environmental activism focused on the human cost of environmental destruction and grassroots leaders’ power to combat it. She went on to create the Center for Health, Environment, & Justice (CHEJ),...
by Tim Wilkins | Jul 18, 2017 | Uncategorized
GOP Health Repeal Dead, For Now Two more Senate Republicans oppose health-care bill, leaving it without votes to pass. WaPo: "Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Jerry Moran (Kan.) issued statements declaring that they would not vote for the revamped measure. The sudden breaks...
by Dean Baker | Jul 17, 2017 | Blog
Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney had a Wall Street Journal column highlighting the benefits of "MAGAnomics." The piece can best be described as a combination of Groundhog Day and outright lies. In terms of Groundhog Day, we have actually tried...
by People's Action | Jul 17, 2017 | Breakfast
Senate Health Care Vote, CBO Score Delayed McCain surgery delays Senate health vote, CBO score. CNN: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Saturday evening he would postpone a vote on the bill because Republican Sen. John McCain is recovering from surgery...
by Tim Wilkins | Jul 17, 2017 | Blog
"We're fighting for the future of this planet, for our kids and grandchildren," Sen. Bernie Sanders told Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. "And to do your best, you've got to be involved in the political process." Sanders delivered the keynote address to 1,200...
by Leo Gerard | Jul 14, 2017 | Blog
Ever-worsening is the chasm between the loaded, who luxuriate in gated communities, and the workers, who are hounded at their rickety gates by bill collectors. Even though last week’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed unemployment at a low 4.4 percent, wages...
by People's Action | Jul 13, 2017 | Breakfast
New Health Care Bill New version of health overhaul in Senate. NYT: "Senate Republican leaders unveiled a fresh proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, revising their bill to help hold down insurance costs for consumers while keeping a pair of taxes on...
by Aditi Katti | Jul 13, 2017 | Blog
It was a brutally hot and humid day in the nation’s capital and Margie Mathers needed a cane to get up to the podium, but the Florida senior had a story she was determined to tell. “When I moved into our manufactured housing community in North Fort Myers, it was a...
