by Dave Johnson | Dec 6, 2016 | Blog
The U.S. Census Bureau reported Friday that the October trade deficit rose to $42.6 billion from a enormous and humongous 36.2 billion in September. That's a 17.8 percent increase. October exports were down $3.4 billion and imports were up $3.0 billion. The goods...
by Bill Scher | Dec 6, 2016 | Blog
During a CNBC interview, Greg Hayes, the CEO of Carrier's parent company United Technologies, reveals some of those 800 factory jobs allegedly saved in the deal engineered by Donald Trump will eventually be lost to automation: ...we're gonna make up $16 million...
by People's Action | Dec 6, 2016 | Breakfast
Trump Transition Operates in the Dark "Trump’s Transition Team Is Dirty, and It’s Dark" reports The Nation's George Zornick: "Seventy percent of Trump’s landing team members have some corporate affiliation ... Several lobbyists are simply de-registering as lobbyists...
by LeeAnn Hall | Dec 6, 2016 | Blog
The right-wing assault on the advances our country has made in the more than 70 years since the presidency of FDR isn’t waiting for Donald Trump’s inauguration. The battle to take away our health care, retirement benefits, and even food aid has already begun, with the...
by Judith LeBlanc | Dec 5, 2016 | Blog, Climate, Democracy
Sunday’s announcement that the federal government will not approve a permit for a segment of the Dakota Access Pipeline through the Standing Rock territory in North Dakota was a landmark environmental justice and Native tribal sovereignty victory. That victory,...
by Bill Scher | Dec 5, 2016 | Blog, The Trump Swamp
The announcement that Ben Carson has been tapped to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development has come with reminders that Carson opposes President Barack Obama's new rules intended to strengthen enforcement of the 1968 Fair Housing Act and reduce the...
by Jeff Bryant | Dec 5, 2016 | Blog
The following was originally published in AlterNet If the American Dream is still alive – the one that includes a good job and a house with a yard, kids, and a two-car garage – you can see it taking shape in Wake County in the heart of the state of North Carolina....
by People's Action | Dec 5, 2016 | Breakfast
New Social Security Spotlight Website Explains Program's Value Despite Trump’s promises, we now have to defend Social Security (again). The new Social Security Spotlight website (http://socialsecurityspotlight.org/) from the National Committee to Preserve Social...
by Richard Eskow | Dec 5, 2016 | Blog, The Trump Swamp
Our country's privileged few used to exert their control through political surrogates. Now, thanks to Trump, they're taking a more hands-on approach. If it weren't for his appeals to hate, it would be easy to understand why so many voters were taken in by Trump. It's...
by Dave Johnson | Dec 2, 2016 | Blog
Republicans in Congress are pushing to strip "Buy America" provisions from a bill to help fix the country's water systems. Republican President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on government help for American manufacturing and jobs. So this is an early test: Will Trump...
by Bill Scher | Dec 2, 2016 | Blog
President-elect Donald Trump is shaking up the Republican Party's economic orthodoxy. He wielded the threat of government power to pressure United Technologies, the parent company of Carrier, to partially rescind plans for sending 800 jobs to Mexico (though 1300 jobs...
by People's Action | Dec 2, 2016 | Breakfast
Carrier Deal Reverberates Trump and Pence break from "free market" in NYT interview: "'I don’t want them moving out of the country without consequences,' Mr. Trump said, even if that means angering the free-market-oriented Republicans he beat in the primaries but will...
by Kenzo Esquivel, Diane Fager and Rev. Tony Pierce | Dec 2, 2016 | Blog
With the election of Donald Trump to the presidency this November, many on the left are rightfully frightened about what the next four years portend for the fight against climate change, when even the most basic environmental protections are now under threat. The...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Dec 1, 2016 | Health
To mark World AIDS Day and to call attention to a looming threat to HIV treatment and prevention programs, 11 AIDS activists were arrested Thursday afternoon while staging a sit-in at the office of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. They were protesting plans by Ryan and...
by Dave Johnson | Dec 1, 2016 | Blog
This is the tea-leaf administration. So far President-elect Donald Trump doesn't hold press conferences, because apparently it is too much a bother to explain the incoming government's plans to We the People. Everyone understands that Trump "conned" voters and the...
by Diane Archer | Dec 1, 2016 | Blog
During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged not to touch Medicare. Now, it appears President-elect Trump is set to kill Medicare and, in the process, deny older adults and people with disabilities needed health care. House Speaker Paul Ryan plans for...
by Sam Pizzigati | Dec 1, 2016 | Blog, The Trump Swamp
People holding personal fortunes worth over $5 million this year make up less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the world’s adult population. People worth over $5 million may also this year make up nearly 100 percent of the picks Donald Trump chooses for his cabinet and...
by People's Action | Dec 1, 2016 | Breakfast
Trump to Indiana Trump to tout Carrier deal in Indiana today. NYT: "...Trump is scheduled to visit a Carrier plant in Indianapolis after the company announced it would keep 1,000 jobs there, shelving plans to move them to Mexico. The details of what exactly Mr. Trump...
by Jeff Bryant | Dec 1, 2016 | Blog, The Trump Swamp
Reactions to President-Elect Donald Trump's announcement of Michigan philanthropist Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education have ranged from high praise, to wary acceptance, to immediate condemnation. What few have noticed is how much her nomination represents business...
by Sarah Anderson | Nov 30, 2016 | Financial Reform
A couple of years ago, two South Dakota men on opposite ends of the political spectrum got into a nasty fight over marriage equality. But after one offered the other an olive branch, they wound up forming a bipartisan alliance that won big this election year. Their...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 30, 2016 | Blog
The hits just keep on coming. It looks like the self-described "great negotiator" is giving away our tax dollars to a company he promised to "penalize" – even before taking office. Trump's Promise: They're "Going To Pay A Damn Tax" During the campaign air conditioning...
by Mark Trahant | Nov 30, 2016 | Blog
The following was originally published at Trahant Reports President-elect Donald Trump and Congress are moving quickly to reshape health care, including the Indian Health system. And so far the path looks to be chaotic. First, the who: The Trump administration will be...
by People's Action | Nov 30, 2016 | Breakfast
Price Pick Threatens Medicare "Donald Trump Is Coming for Your Medicare" argues The Nation's David Dayen: "The selection of Georgia Congressman Tom Price as Health and Human Services Secretary offers the clearest signal yet that Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan are...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 30, 2016 | Blog, The Trump Swamp
Donald Trump's latest cabinet pick endangers the health and well-being of millions of Americans. From tax cuts to surgeons’ income, Rep. Tom Price of Georgia – Trump’s choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services –has repeatedly fought for the wealthy and...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 29, 2016 | Blog
When do we want a $15 minimum wage? We want it now. 43% of the workforce -- 60 million workers -- are paid less than $15/hour. People will continue to fight for decent wages, the election of Donald "Wages Are Too High" Trump notwithstanding. "83-year old McDoanld's...
by Sam Pizzigati | Nov 29, 2016 | Blog
We don’t know exactly how much Donald Trump paid in taxes last year. He hasn’t released his 2015 federal income tax return yet. He most likely never will. But let’s keep in mind that we don’t actually know how much any individual American billionaire paid in taxes...
by People's Action | Nov 29, 2016 | Breakfast
Congress Begins Lame Duck Session Some Senate Republicans push back against plans for short-term spending bill. The Hill: "Congress is expected to pass a short-term bill to keep the government funded through the end of March, but Senate Republicans have misgivings...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 29, 2016 | Blog
The Donald Trump Administration hasn’t even started, and the President-elect is already unpopular. Only 42 percent of those polled in this “honeymoon” period approve of Trump. Voters were split (46-45 percent) on their approval or disapproval of his transition...
by Jeff Bryant | Nov 28, 2016 | Blog
"At the count of three, SCREAM." That's what John Jackson suggested public education advocates do in response to the surprise election of Donald Trump. Jackson, president and CEO of the Schott Foundation for Public Education was one of the headliners at an event in...
by Bill Scher | Nov 28, 2016 | Blog
While Ben Carson was rumored to have been offered the post of Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Buzzfeed is now reporting that former congressman J.C. Watts is now the favorite. Who leads HUD is incredibly important. The Obama administration is in the midst of...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 28, 2016 | Blog
Donald Trump released a video announcing his agenda for his "first day in office." One of the things he said is, "I will formulate a rule which says that for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated." Can we count the number of ways this is...
by People's Action | Nov 28, 2016 | Breakfast
Trump's "Working-Class" Agenda May Buoy CEOs Trump may swap corporate tax cut for keeping Carrier plant in US. WSJ: "Representatives for the incoming administration ... have held wide-ranging policy talks with top-ranking executives at Carrier’s parent company, United...
by Robert Borosage | Nov 28, 2016 | Blog
The following was originally published at TheNation.com House Democrats will caucus this week to decide who will lead them in the coming term as they gird for the assault coming from Trump and the Republican congressional majorities. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, head of the...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 23, 2016 | Blog
In the news: Experts Urge Clinton Campaign to Challenge Election Results in 3 Swing States. Here's what's going on. Before the election there were fears that election results might be hacked. Now, after the election computer scientists are looking at election results...
by People's Action | Nov 23, 2016 | Breakfast
Can Trump and Ryan Agree? "What Happens When Trump’s Populism Collides with Ryan’s Austerity?" asks TNR's Jeet Heer: "[Speaker Paul] Ryan rejects Trump’s agenda on trade, on immigration, and, not least, on infrastructure ... Infrastructure will be an early test of...
by Tobita Chow | Nov 23, 2016 | Blog
Trump’s election has killed the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Trump made it one of his top campaign promises to end the TPP, and his election win was a signal to supporters of the TPP in both parties to back down. Even Obama has reportedly given up on passing this...
by Bill Scher | Nov 22, 2016 | Blog
Last week I discussed how climate hawks could fight the environmental assault coming from the incoming Trump administration. One avenue requires help from other countries, who might threaten to slap carbon tariffs on the U.S. if Trump withdrew from the global Paris...
by Leo Gerard | Nov 22, 2016 | Blog
USW members at a 2016 anti-TPP rally in Washington, D.C. organized by the USW Rapid Response Department. Photo credit: Steve Dietz of Sharper Image Studios The defeat of the TPP is a tale of ants slaying a dragon. It seemed a fearsome task, challenging the powerful...
by People's Action | Nov 22, 2016 | Breakfast
Trump Previews First 100 Days Trump lays out initial agenda. Roll Call: "On the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, the president-elect said he’d issue a 'a notification of intent to withdraw' from the agreement. He also plans to 'cancel' what he called 'job-killing...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 22, 2016 | Blog
As Donald Trump prepares to assume the presidency, Americans must learn to distinguish the ways he is uniquely terrible from the ways in which he is not so terribly unique — except as a matter of degree. His extreme behavior shouldn't be "normalized," to use the...
