by Jeff Bryant | Jul 21, 2016 | Blog, Education, Election 2016
Soon after the announcement that Indiana Governor Mike Pence would be the vice presidential candidate for the Republican Party, word came from Democrats that he was an extremist – and not just your garden-variety extremist. "The 'most extreme' vice presidential pick...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 21, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
The ouster Thursday of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, brought on by a long history of sexual harassment, portends big changes for the network he created — and the party it has consumed. A sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Ailes by former Fox News anchor Gretchen...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 21, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Is Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump changing his tune on trade, or was he just making it up all along? This year, working-class voters are high-intensity opposed to trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and Trump figured that out early....
by People's Action | Jul 21, 2016 | Breakfast
A Convention Divided Cruz tells audience to "vote your conscience" in 2016, effectively launches 2020 campaign. Yahoo! News: "...in late June, he invited more than 100 of his top bundlers and donors to a retreat in La Jolla, Calif. They seem to have concluded that the...
by Bill Scher | Jul 21, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016
America saw a divided party Wednesday night, though what it was divided over wasn't evident if you haven't been paying close attention. What everyone saw was Ted Cruz humiliating the Republican Party's nominee Donald Trump by ignoring the chants from delegates of...
by Chuck Collins | Jul 20, 2016 | Blog, Economy, Jobs and Growth
Does your family aspire to the American Dream of a decent paying job, a few weeks of paid vacation, a home of your own, and the hope of retiring before you die? Maybe try Canada. Our country has historically prided itself on being a socially mobile society, where your...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 20, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
Word is that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will announce her vice presidential choice on Friday, and rumors that she's going with a "safe" pick should worry Democrats. In this political climate, a search for "safety" could put her candidacy in...
by People's Action | Jul 20, 2016 | Breakfast
Economy Night Features Little Economy Talk Trump officially nominated with "eighth-lowest delegate percentage in Republican history" notes W. Post. Economy night offers little on the economy. Bloomberg: "On a night that was supposed to be devoted to the economy—an...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 20, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Jobs and Growth
Tuesday was "Make America Work Again" day at the Republican National Convention. But this day wasn't about making America work again for working people. This was, as always with conservatives, all about tax cuts for the rich and corporations, deregulation of oil and...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 19, 2016 | Progressive Vision
The Bernie Sanders campaign is the latest and largest wave of a rising populist tide, gaining force from the Occupy movement, the Dreamers, Black Lives Matter, the Fight for $15, the Wisconsin showdown, and more. The failure of the political establishment has been...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jul 19, 2016 | Blog, Financial Reform, Jobs and Growth
Lloyd Blankfein, one of America’s most powerful bankers, a few years ago told a reporter that his Goldman Sachs financial colossus was doing “God’s work.” That offhand comment would provoke an instant uproar. An embarrassed Blankfein had to quickly calm the waters. He...
by Leo Gerard | Jul 19, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
The man Republicans will nominate this week as their presidential candidate sees himself as a U.S. generalissimo. Donald Trump would be, he said last week, the law-and-order president. He’d be a tough guy at a time when crime is down. He’d strong arm at a time when...
by People's Action | Jul 19, 2016 | Breakfast
GOP Convention Opens With a Scandal Politico deems first day of Republican convention "disastrous": "[Melania Trump's] speech bore a striking resemblance to a Michelle Obama speech from 2008 ... NBC wrapped up its hour ... with a shot of a shockingly empty arena ......
by Miles Mogulescu | Jul 19, 2016 | Blog, Defense/Foreign Policy, Election 2016
Republican President Teddy Roosevelt, hardly anyone’s idea of a dove, famously proclaimed that in exercising diplomatic and military power, the U.S. should “talk softly and carry a big stick.” In contrast, each time there’s a terror attack or other violent incident...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 19, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
What Rudy Giuliani did for New York City as its former mayor, and what Donald Trump promises to do for America, will only make things more dangerous for Americans — both for the police, and for those being policed. Giuliani’s speech on the opening night of the...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 18, 2016 | Blog, Economy
House Speaker Paul Ryan in an NPR interview Monday acknowledged that the poor are victims of our economic system. The interview sounds reasonable, almost soothing, until you examine what Ryan is really saying. After acknowledging that poverty is systemic, he turns...
by Jeff Bryant | Jul 18, 2016 | Blog, Education
With the sound of jet engines booming overhead, a crowd of about 800 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial last week to advocate for “the people’s education.” The People’s March for Public Education and Social Justice took place in the middle of a political “no-fly...
by People's Action | Jul 18, 2016 | Breakfast
(Some) Republicans Convene In Cleveland "Surprises" promised as convention begins. W. Post: "After promising details for weeks ... convention organizers unveiled a partial speaking schedule Sunday ... The theme is scheduled to shift Tuesday from [Monday's theme of]...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 18, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016
When Donald Trump’s Republican Party convenes in Cleveland, three shadows will haunt the arena. They won’t talk about these shadows on television, but if you look closely you're sure to see them. The first shadow is that of the extremist Republican right. Since the...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 15, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
The same week that Democrats advanced the most progressive platform in the party’s history, Republicans crafted a platform that effectively rejects the 21st century. Tasked with the job of drafting a platform to bring the GOP into the 21st Century, delegates on the...
by Amanda Ballantyne | Jul 15, 2016 | Blog, Economy
In this time of partisan gridlock, it's rare to see a federal policy move than can be of real help to small businesses and their customers. The rule recently released by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) aimed at curbing predatory payday lending has the...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 15, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016
In appeasing the extreme right by choosing Indiana governor Mike Pence as his running mate, Donald Trump reveals how he hopes to secure enough votes to win the presidency — and how he may have to govern in order to satisfy the GOP base. With his announcement of...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 15, 2016 | Blog, Financial Reform
The idea of putting a small "Robin Hood" tax on financial transactions has been kicking around for a while, but in the last month the idea has picked up some real steam. The Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), also called a "Wall Street Speculation Tax," proposal asks...
by People's Action | Jul 15, 2016 | Breakfast
Burning Issues: The Occupation of Palestine Palestinians are in for “another difficult four years” as a result of the weakness of the Democratic Party platform’s statement on the conflict between Israel and Palestine, says Jim Zogby in this Burning Issues video. It's...
by LeeAnn Hall | Jul 15, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
We are just days away from the Republican National Convention. Next week, the corporate elite will descend on Cleveland, Ohio, to presumably nominate a candidate whose life's work is stealing from others to build wealth for himself. By naming Donald Trump as their...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jul 15, 2016 | Burning Issues, Defense/Foreign Policy
[fve]https://youtu.be/dVUQpSqWg0c[/fve] Palestinians are in for "another difficult four years" as a result of the weakness of the Democratic Party platform's statement on the conflict between Israel and Palestine, says Jim Zogby, the president of the Arab American...
by Jeff Bryant | Jul 15, 2016 | Blog, Education
Earlier this week my colleague Richard Eskow reported on the impact the populist progressive movement led by Bernie Sanders and others is having on the Democratic Party platform to be voted on later this month at the party’s national convention in Philadelphia. Eskow...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 14, 2016 | Blog, Progressive Vision
In the three years since George Zimmerman was acquitted in the murder of Trayvon Martin and the Black Live Matter movement was born, so many more have been lost even as so much progress was made. Three years ago today, full of despair, I posted my feelings on my...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 14, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Recent headlines might make us think the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is "dead" or at least at "death's door." We can hope. But the Wall Street, giant multinational corporations, many Republicans in Congress and unfortunately the Obama administration are still...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 14, 2016 | Blog, Progressive Vision
Some people say that the Democratic Party doesn't really stand for anything. Sen. Bernie Sanders pushed and pushed as a Democratic presidential candidate, and has achieved results that could change that. The 2016 Democratic Party platform is a very progressive policy...
by People's Action | Jul 14, 2016 | Breakfast
GOP Divisions May Hit Convention GOP convention could feature major floor fights. NYT: "Party officials were working in overdrive behind the scenes to beat back two challenges. One would force a vote that could theoretically open up the convention to any candidate who...
by Libero Della Piana | Jul 14, 2016 | Blog, Democracy
President Obama gave yet another historic speech Wednesday at the mass memorial service for the five Dallas police officers gunned down during a protest of the police killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, La., and Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minn. In a way few...
by Terrance Heath | Jul 13, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Progressive Vision
More than 400,000 Americans signed a petition calling on Donald Trump to release his tax returns. On Tuesday, progressive activists delivered those signatures to Trump Tower. Progressive activists showed up at Donald Trump’s doorstep on Tuesday with a simple demand...
by Bill Scher | Jul 13, 2016 | Blog
Directly lifting from Richard Nixon's 1968 campaign, Donald Trump has declared himself the "law and order" candidate. At a Virginia rally Monday he said, "American police and law enforcement are all that separate civilization from total chaos and the destruction of...
by Richard Eskow | Jul 13, 2016 | Blog, Financial Reform
Eric Holder certainly has changed since his days at Columbia University. According to the New York Times, "as a boyish-looking freshman" he "was recruited by upperclassmen to help take over the R.O.T.C. office," which they claimed as "a student center named for...
by People's Action | Jul 13, 2016 | Breakfast
Sanders Takes Next Steps Sanders plans to launch two or three organizations to further "revolution." W. Post: "One will be devoted to policy formulation. A second will focus on recruiting and training candidates. And a third might engage in other political activity,...
by Robert Borosage | Jul 13, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
Even as Bernie Sanders was endorsing Hillary Clinton Tuesday in New Hampshire, expressions of dismay and outrage from his supporters flooded social media. Naturally, Donald Trump piled on, tweeting that Bernie Sanders “has totally sold out to corrupt Hillary Clinton,”...
by Burning Issues Video | Jul 13, 2016 | Blog, Burning Issues, Defense/Foreign Policy
[fve]https://youtu.be/swfAHGk8mWk[/fve] The shift in foreign aid spending from the State Department to the Defense Department since 9/11 has created significant problems for U.S. diplomacy and peacemaking, says Colby Goodman of the Center for International Policy in...
by Linda Burnham | Jul 13, 2016 | Blog, Democracy
A thick strand in the history of U.S. policing is rooted back in the slave patrols of the 19th century. Patty rollers were authorized to stop, question, search, harass and summarily punish any Black person they encountered. The five- and six-pointed badges many of...
by Dave Johnson | Jul 12, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
The draft of the Republican platform at first glance sounds pretty good when it comes to trade. So how do they thread the needle between assumed-candidate Donald Trump's words on trade and most of the party's – and Trump's own – actual positions? Those positions...
