by People's Action | Aug 11, 2016 | Breakfast
Left Unsettled By Clinton Strategy Support for Clinton from hawks unnerves left. W. Post: "...said Glenn Greenwald, ... 'I think she’s receiving those endorsements because they like what her foreign policy will be. That’s what worries me.' ... 'I don’t like it, but it...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 11, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Trade
[fve]https://youtu.be/ZDJOMSFdEJw[/fve] Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says she opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) but is having trouble convincing people to believe her. Imagine the trouble Hillary Clinton will have trying to build support...
by Kathy Mulady | Aug 10, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
Beyond the bright lights of the presidential election, an almost unnoticed but potentially more critical political wave is becoming visible in state and local elections, as a growing number of progressive candidates, rising out of the grassroots, win key election...
by Sam Pizzigati | Aug 10, 2016 | Blog
The analysts who monitor our economy have a label for the companies that pump out oil and gas from the earth and dig out various other minerals and metals. Analysts have traditionally called these companies the “extractive industries.” But drilling and mining may now...
by Bill Scher | Aug 10, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016
Why is Donald Trump pandering so hard to "the Second Amendment people"? Possibly because the National Rifle Association is the biggest financial backer of his campaign. The NRA has spent $6 million in TV ads on behalf of the Republican presidential candidate, which is...
by People's Action | Aug 10, 2016 | Breakfast
Trump Excoriated For "Second Amendment" Threat Trump's faces massive backlash after "Second Amendment" remarks. NYT: "...Trump’s remark quickly elicited a wave of condemnation from Democrats, gun control advocates and others, who accused him of suggesting violence ......
by Miles Mogulescu | Aug 10, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016
If it plays its cards right, between now and Labor Day, the Hillary Clinton campaign has the unusual opportunity to drive a stake through the heart of the Donald Trump campaign, disqualify Trump as a potential president in the minds of a majority of voters, and...
by Jacob Swenson-Lengyel | Aug 9, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
Last week was a bad one for Donald Trump. While the Republican presidential nominee’s campaign feeds on media scandals, the last few days have been over the top: fights with the family of a slain Muslim American soldier and top Republican leadership, potential leaks...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Aug 9, 2016 | Economy, Election 2016
There are two stunning statistics in a report released this week by CFED and the Institute for Policy Studies that should be fundamental to any discussion of economic growth and racial equity. One is that the average wealth of white families in the past 30 years has...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 9, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Trade
One of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's stronger economic appeals to working-class voters is his position on trade. Trump understands that people are upset that "trade" deals have moved so many jobs out of the country and he offers solutions that sound...
by People's Action | Aug 9, 2016 | Breakfast
Trump's Economic Vision Attacked From All Sides Trump economic speech fact-challenged. AP: "He wrongly accused Hillary Clinton of proposing to increase middle-class taxes and blamed crumbling roads and bridges on money spent on refugees ... He overstated the corporate...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 9, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016, Tax Reform
On Monday, Donald Trump talked about the economy on television for an hour. That may have exceeded the graduate-level curriculum at Trump University. But the biggest lesson I learned is that Trump contradicts himself more, and becomes more typically Republican, with...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 8, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016, Jobs and Growth
When Republican candidate Donald Trump says we should keep jobs in the U.S., he doesn't mean what people think he means. He wants to make the U.S. just as low-wage as elsewhere, to be "competitive." Members of Michigan People's Campaign were among those in Detroit who...
by Bill Scher | Aug 8, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016
At Real Clear Politics, I observe that Donald Trump has been under a ceiling of 45 percent in the RCP poll average for the entirety of the presidential campaign, while Hillary Clinton has largely been above it. There is some precedent for a candidate to break 45...
by People's Action | Aug 8, 2016 | Breakfast
Trump to Refocus on Economy Trump to "reboot" with an economic speech today. WSJ: "The candidate isn’t likely to offer a detailed revision of his previously announced plan for big tax cuts. Advisers have been working on an overhaul of that plan to address criticism it...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 8, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Economy, Election 2016
“I hear America singing,” Walt Whitman wrote, “the varied carols I hear.” Donald Trump hears America singing, too. But where Whitman heard men and women, masons and carpenters, Trump hears only the unvarying monotone of rich white males like himself. Trump’s...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 8, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016
Another presidential campaign means it's time to bring back the "Latest Lie" series. And here's the latest lie. Campaigning in Nebraska Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton said, "Well, we're not going there, my friends. I'm telling you right now we're going to write...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 5, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
Depending on the outcome, when the history of the 2016 presidential election is written, this will be known as the week the wheels fell off of Donald Trump’s campaign. No one, but no one in politics had a worse week than than Republican presidential nominee Donald...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 5, 2016 | Blog
The U.S. Census Bureau reported Friday that the June trade deficit rose to $44.5 billion. This was an increase of 8.7% percent from May's $41 billion (revised from $41.1B). The increase in the trade deficit was almost entirely from rising imports. June's exports were...
by People's Action | Aug 5, 2016 | Breakfast
Trump Cozies Up To Wall Street Trump's economic team full of "real-estate investors, hedge-fund managers and bankers." Politico: "Names on the list, which the Trump campaign boasted as having "unparalleled experience and success in business" include Steve Roth, the...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 5, 2016 | Blog
Donald Trump's brain. It's an unusual instrument, and a frightening one, even in the best of circumstances. Now someone has "put a bird on it"- a lot of them, in fact. Here's what Trump said about wind power on Monday: "The wind kills all your birds. All your birds,...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 5, 2016 | Blog
The sense of panic among elite Republicans is palpable. They’re beginning to understand that when they look at Donald Trump they're staring into the orange-hued face of their party’s potential demise. The GOP defections to Team Hillary were already well underway by...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 4, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
Donald Trump has not sown the seeds of anger and hatred so much as he has reaped their fruits in a bumper crop. Their roots go very deep, and they will blossom anew in the wake of a Trump defeat. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has confounded conventional...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 4, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
Here is a real shocker. AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons) has been a paying member of the notorious right-wing, Koch-tied lobbying organization American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) since at least 2014. Yes, that AARP, once known for...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 4, 2016 | Blog
Donald Trump’s brain. It’s an unusual instrument, and a frightening one, even in the best of circumstances. Now someone has “put a bird on it”– a lot of them, in fact. Here’s what Trump said about wind power on Monday: “The wind kills all your birds. All your...
by Miles Mogulescu | Aug 4, 2016 | Blog
General Von Hindenburg, the last elected President of the German Weimar Republic, is remembered for two things: First, Von Hindenburg appointed Adolph Hitler as German Chancellor, after which Hitler abolished democracy and instituted a Nazi dictatorship. Second, in...
by People's Action | Aug 4, 2016 | Breakfast
GOP Panics RNC chair hits panic button. AP: "Party chairman Reince Priebus appealed to the New York billionaire’s adult children to help ... Priebus also joined a handful of high-profile Trump allies in considering whether to confront the candidate directly following...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 4, 2016 | Blog
There are lots of stories in the media claiming that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is dead for now. And why wouldn't TPP be dead? Both presidential candidates say they are opposed to TPP. Various Congressional leaders have said that it is unlikely to come up....
by Jacob Swenson-Lengyel | Aug 3, 2016 | Blog
The Green Energy Revolution is coming. The only question is: what kind of revolution it will be? As our economy transitions away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources like wind and solar we have a choice to make. Either we let market forces drive the...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 3, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
Like a slug in the nation’s political “garden,” Donald Trump leaves destruction in his wake, and a trail of slime that we will have to contend with long after he’s slithered off the scene. It’s only Wednesday, but Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 3, 2016 | Blog, Current Issues, Economy, Progressive Vision, This Is The GOP
Tuesday's post, A "Look At Clinton And Trump’s Promises To Spend To Boost Economy," said Trump's infrastructure plan was nothing more than a promise with no details. "We will build the roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, and the railways of tomorrow. This, in...
by People's Action | Aug 3, 2016 | Breakfast
Race To Shape Clinton's Cabinet Who will be Clinton's Treasury Secretary? Politico: "The sense among people in the know is that Clinton would want someone with some private sector though not Wall Street experience, to have the competing perspective on regulation....
by Isaiah J. Poole | Aug 3, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
[fve]https://youtu.be/p13WBHQrxpE[/fve]Alicia Garza of the Black Lives Matter movement talks about the relationship between progressives and the African-American community during the People's Action People's assembly on Sunday in Milwaukee. A newly formed national...
by Bill Scher | Aug 2, 2016 | Blog
At The New Republic, I make the case that the populist left needs to train its fire on Donald Trump for its own sake. Hillary Clinton post-primary centrist positioning may rankle progressive populists, but "if Trump is more associated with populism than Clinton, and...
by Sam Pizzigati | Aug 2, 2016 | Blog, Tax Reform
Tax law professors don’t normally have much of a public profile. Victor Fleischer does. In fact, one business journalist has just tagged this ace analyst from the University of San Diego “the closest thing the tax world has to a rock star.” Most rock stars have big...
by Leo Gerard | Aug 2, 2016 | Blog, Current Issues, Jobs and Growth, Trade
As Hillary Clinton’s "Blue Collar Bus Tour,” travels across Pennsylvania and Ohio, I want to tell you about two angry white men I met at the Democratic National Convention last week. The press would have you believe that all of the angry white men are Trump...
by People's Action | Aug 2, 2016 | Breakfast
Clinton Leans On Liberal Wonks... W. Post explores Clinton's wide circle of policy advisers: "...the resulting policy suite -... borrow heavily from all corners of the liberal wonk world. She can sound like [Heather] Boushey talking about how family-friendly policies...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 2, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Jobs and Growth
Austerity is officially dead, at least at the presidential candidate level. Congress? We'll have to wait and see. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are talking about increased spending on public infrastructure. Hillary Clinton has launched her post-convention...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 1, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
Donald Trump’s response to a well deserved rebuke form the parents of a Muslim-American war hero should lead Republicans to ask whether their candidate has, at long last, no sense of decency. It was a moment that shook the Democratic convention. With his wife Ghazala...
by Robert Reich | Aug 1, 2016 | Blog, Economy, Progressive Vision
In her speech accepting the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton said the nation was at “a moment of reckoning.” She’s right, but the reckoning is not simply the choice voters face this fall between her and Donald Trump. The real reckoning is larger and it will...
