by People's Action | Aug 1, 2016 | Breakfast
Campaigns Target Rust Belt Whites Clinton campaign hopes to narrow margins with white working-class. NYT: "....across regions where blue-collar jobs in manufacturing and other sectors have evaporated, Mrs. Clinton is attempting a delicate balancing act: insisting she...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 1, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
Hillary Clinton offered a strong economic platform at last week’s Democratic National Convention. She promised to boost employment and wages with large-scale investments in infrastructure and green jobs. She declared her opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 29, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
While Hillary Clinton was shattering that glass ceiling, Donald Trump pulled off a first of his own: the first presidential candidate to invite a cyber attack against the United States. This presidential election long ago entered the realm of “You Just Can’t Make This...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 29, 2016 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
The long-abused cafeteria workers of the U.S. Senate, who risked their jobs to fight to earn a living wage only to have the private contractor that runs the cafeteria renege on an order to increase their pay, won a key victory this week. The Labor Department declared...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 29, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
[fve]https://youtu.be/gARt1GGM7d4[/fve] When Rev. William Barber, best known in progressive circles as the leader of the Moral Mondays protests against the right-wing governor and legislature in North Carolina, was brought to the stage at the Democratic National...
by Bill Scher | Jul 29, 2016 | Blog
Despite continually being charged by Republicans for representing "Obama's Third Term," at the Democratic National Convention Hillary Clinton literally hugged President Barack Obama on Wednesday, and showered him with praise on Thursday. With more than two-thirds of...
by People's Action | Jul 29, 2016 | Breakfast
Hillary Hugs Bernie, Eyes Republicans Clinton embraces Sanders in acceptance speech. The New Yorker's John Cassidy: "...Clinton reached out to Sanders’s supporters, pointing to the Party platform ... 'We wrote it together,' Clinton said. 'Now let’s go out and make it...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 29, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday night confidently accepted the nomination of the Democratic Party to be president of the United States. This was history. Our money-laden, poll-driven politics is a tawdry business. The Clintons are burdened by a lot of history on...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 28, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
Donald Trump seriously thinks he can woo LGBT voters with empty rhetoric about “protecting” us from terrorist attacks. But who’s going to protect us from his religious extremist friends, and his party’s anti-LGBT platform? Last week,in his acceptance speech at the...
by Bill Scher | Jul 28, 2016 | Blog
Some have observed that the Democratic convention floor has been less unified than the Republican one last week. This is true. But I suspect the Democrats are going to be better off for it. The Republicans achieved their unity the cheap way. Many Republicans who were...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 28, 2016 | Blog, Financial Reform
I have been hounded for months by a company attempting to collect money for a gym membership that I canceled more than 15 years ago. I was paying $150 a year for the membership before I correctly canceled the membership in writing. That "fitness center" was bought by...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 28, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
Luz Sosa came to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia as a disappointed Bernie Sanders delegate. But she is leaving fired up to take on big political fights in her home town of Milwaukee. "This election was never about Bernie Sanders. These elections...
by People's Action | Jul 28, 2016 | Breakfast
Obama and Kaine Feel The Bern Obama and Kaine embrace Sanders. The Nation's John Nichols: "...the president declared: '....if you agree that there’s too much inequality in our economy, and too much money in our politics, we all need to be as vocal and as organized and...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 28, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
Democrats rolled out the big guns Wednesday night in Philadelphia: Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg and Tim Kaine warmed the crowd for what culminated in an emotional farewell by President Obama. Before the network hour, they were preceded by a martial display on the...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 28, 2016 | Blog
Elites take "globalization" as a given because "trade" deals have pushed sovereignty off the table and locked governments out of decision-making over things like stopping offshoring of jobs and protecting domestic industries. They smirk knowingly and wink and nod when...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 27, 2016 | Blog, Progressive Vision
The Mothers of the Movement brought the audience at the Democratic National Convention to its feet, and hushed it with the staggering losses that brought them there. It was one of the most powerful moments of the convention, that should never have been necessary....
by Jeff Bryant | Jul 27, 2016 | Blog, Education, Election 2016
An education "reform" establishment that has enjoyed the complete support of Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush may be getting nervous. The policy outline for K-12 education coming from the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign remains vague, but supporters of...
by People's Action | Jul 27, 2016 | Breakfast
Bill Sells Hill Bill Clinton tells the story of Hillary the "changemaker." W. Post's E. J. Dionne: "It was a phrase he used over and over, sending a message to Bernie Sanders’s supporters that she was, at heart, one of them; and to voters tempted by Donald Trump, that...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 27, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
“In the spring of 1971, I met a girl…” Thus began Bill Clinton’s charming, personal portrait of Hillary Rodham Clinton, and a speech that showed a master at the top of his skills. There were no particularly memorable lines, but a compelling story. All his signature...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jul 27, 2016 | Blog, Economy
Hardly anything about the Olympic dream these days is feeling particularly dreamy. The Rio de Janeiro games, some are charging, have already turned into “a large-scale catastrophe,” with everything from massive evictions and expenditures billions over budget to doping...
by Miles Mogulescu | Jul 27, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016
I’m a lifelong democratic socialist and a die-hard supporter of Bernie Sanders and the political revolution he’s embodied. I have long-standing objections to the Clintons and the way in which they’ve triangulated the Democratic Party rightward through the years. But...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 26, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
Tonight, the Mothers of the Movement will leave no doubts about to which party black lives truly matter. In a historic moment, the mothers of seven African-Americans who died at the hands of police, in police custody, or in extra-legal killings will address the...
by Bill Scher | Jul 26, 2016 | Blog
The first Democratic convention that nominated a Clinton also began with pockets of dissension. It was 1992, and Jerry Brown was refusing to endorse the Arkansas governor. His delegates chanted "Let Jerry Speak" on the first night, and Brown eventually seized the...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 26, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Trade
If you were watching the Democratic convention Monday night, you might have noticed a lot of "No TPP" signs in the crowd. (By Nomiki Konst via Twitter) These signs refer to the widespread opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). They were in evidence when...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 26, 2016 | Election 2016, Progressive Vision
In a session that was both a trip back in time and a challenge for the future, the Rev. Jesse Jackson in Philadelphia on Tuesday schooled a new generation of political activists about the struggles that laid the ground work for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign...
by People's Action | Jul 26, 2016 | Breakfast
Day One: Boos Turn To Cheers Sanders helps quell dissent as Dems convene. Politico: "'Hillary Clinton must become the next president of the United States,' Sanders boomed. And delegates, for the most part, cheered his call ... Democrats ended the night more optimistic...
by Leo Gerard | Jul 26, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
The dark and treacherous skies Donald Trump invoked at the Republican National Convention last week have lifted as Democrats begin their meeting in Philly Monday with a healthy dose of optimism. The Hillary Clinton team sees America differently. They recognize...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 26, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
“Hillary Clinton will make an outstanding president and I am proud to stand with her here tonight.”— Bernie Sanders, in his address to the Democratic National Convention. The first day of the Democratic National Convention culminated in Sen. Bernie Sanders’ forceful...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 25, 2016 | Blog, Progressive Vision, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
In a representative democracy, the idea is that the representatives should support the preferences of their constituencies. This is what is happening with the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Hillary Clinton's vice presidential pick, Tim Kaine has reversed his...
by People's Action | Jul 25, 2016 | Breakfast
Bernie Kicks Off Dem Convention Tonight Bernie Sanders, Michelle Obama address convention's opening night. USA Today: "Sanders’ will hammer that point home in his speech Monday and will 'rip into Trump' for denying climate change is real, according to his campaign. He...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 25, 2016 | Blog, Financial Reform
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7FQXkm8bGQ&w=560&h=315] We recently spoke with Sen. Tammy Baldwin about three financial reform initiatives: ending Wall Street's huge bonuses for employees who enter government service, reducing "vulture" capitalism's impact...
by Burning Issues Video | Jul 25, 2016 | Burning Issues, Climate, Trade
[fve]https://youtu.be/BqGqp0wlciM[/fve] "Our trade policies stand to undermine the very real progress we're making on climate change," warns Ilana Solomon, director of the Sierra Club's Responsible Trade Program, in this Burning Issues video. The Trans-Pacific...
by Roger Hickey | Jul 25, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
Two Democratic parties will meet in Philadelphia this week. It is crucially important that they unite to defeat Donald Trump – and then work together to win progressive change for all Americans. A huge impediment to unity has been removed: Debbie Wasserman Schultz...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 22, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
For four days, the Republicans convened in Cleveland, officially nominated Donald Trump for president, and wingnuttery abounded. A Paler Shade of White Remember when the Republican National Committee issued its post-mortem of the 2012 election? In a rare moment of...
by Miles Mogulescu | Jul 22, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
Democratic primary voters, who chose Hillary Clinton because they believed she was the most electable Democrat against Donald Trump, may be in for a rude awakening. They may have picked the least electable Democrat and placed the country and the world in jeopardy of a...
by Jeff Bryant | Jul 22, 2016 | Blog, Education
Stories about historic efforts to address racial segregation in American public education often start with Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. But the story of Little Rock and segregation badly needs updating. Central High became one of...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 22, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016
On the day Donald Trump gave his speech accepting the nomination of the Republican party, Roger Ailes left Fox News. Ailes' work here was done. Trump's speech was the culmination of the Fox News project. One con man has left the scene, a new con man enters from stage...
by People's Action | Jul 22, 2016 | Breakfast
Trump Goes Full Nixon Trump delivers "grim" capstone address. W. Post: "...Trump offered a powerful echo of Richard Nixon almost 50 years ago ... a law-and-order message in the hope of summoning an army of disaffected and forgotten voters large enough to topple the...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 22, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016
The Gettysburg address, it wasn't. Donald Trump's acceptance speech clocked in at one hour and 15 minutes, and that's not counting the time dilation effect demagoguery can produce in some observers. Lincoln’s speech lasted less than two minutes. A columnist in the New...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 21, 2016 | Tax Reform
People who want multi;national corporations to be held accountable for their tax-dodging tactics only have a few more hours Thursday to tell the Security and Exchange Commission to support a tough rule that would go a long way toward making that happen. The SEC is...
