by Isaiah J. Poole | Apr 18, 2016 | Tax Reform
One of the right's favorite talking points is how they'd like the tax code to be so simple that a citizen could file their taxes on a postcard. Here's what the right doesn't talk about: There is already a law on that books that would make tax filing simpler and save...
by Dean Baker | Apr 18, 2016 | Blog, Health
I like Jonathan Cohn personally and have great respect for his work as a reporter and writer on health care issues. However, I think he actually told readers the opposite of what he intended in his Huffington Post piece headlined, "this one line sums up the big...
by Jeff Bryant | Apr 18, 2016 | Blog, Education
Everyone talks about the "do-nothing Congress" and how Republican obstruction has neutered the federal government. But recently there was one policy area where warring parties in Congress actually settled their differences. Late last year, both houses passed and...
by People's Action | Apr 18, 2016 | Breakfast
Burning Issues: When Fracking Goes Global Fracking is rapidly becoming a global concern, says Jesse Coleman, a research investigator for Greenpeace, in this Burning Issues video segment. One Day To NY Sanders says discount NY polls, on NBC's "Today." Politico:...
by Robert Borosage | Apr 18, 2016 | Blog, Tax Reform
Tax day. In the District of Columbia, the main post office stays open until midnight. Taxpayers who waited until the last moment line up to get a receipt showing they filed on time. America’s civic ritual. But not everyone participates. America’s major corporations –...
by Burning Issues Video | Apr 18, 2016 | Burning Issues, Climate
[fve]https://youtu.be/gUqFqDm3668[/fve] Hydraulic fracturing – "fracking" – to extract oil and gas deposits deep underground is rapidly becoming a global concern, says Jesse Coleman, a research investigator for Greenpeace, in this Burning Issues video segment. The...
by Terrance Heath | Apr 15, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
Governor Pat McCrory’s sleight of hand won’t fix North Carolina’s anti-LGBT law, save his political career, or keep his state from hemorrhaging jobs and money. If it isn't repealed, the state might find itself literally "out of business." To hear Republican North...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 15, 2016 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Last year President Obama went to Nike headquarters to promote the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). But Nike doesn't make shoes in the US, and TPP would force companies like New Balance to stop making shoes here. New Balance kept quiet about this, but now says the...
by People's Action | Apr 15, 2016 | Breakfast
Burning Issues: The Money Hidden In Shell Companies Porter McConnell, the director of the Financial Transparency Coalition discusses the $27 trillion hidden in shell companies around the world, outside of the reach of governments and public scrutiny, in the latest...
by Robert Borosage | Apr 15, 2016 | Blog
Last night’s CNN Democratic presidential debate in Brooklyn was both contentious and clarifying. It was contentious because the each candidate has had it with the other. Clinton is aggravated that Sanders has been surging and irritated that he keeps pointing out that...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Apr 15, 2016 | Blog, People's Budget, Progressive Vision
The House Republicans, who under the leadership of their new speaker, Rep. Paul Ryan, was supposed to prove this year that they could govern and not merely obstruct, has failed one of its most important tests. The Republicans are so divided they can't even bring their...
by Jeff Bryant | Apr 14, 2016 | Blog, Education
When news about lead contamination in the water supply of Flint Michigan made headlines across the nation, many compared the crisis to Hurricane Katrina. Even Michigan Governor Rick Snyder called the disaster "his Katrina," comparing the failure of government...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 14, 2016 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
After months and months of contract negotiations went nowhere, 39,000 Verizon workers went on strike . The strike is about corporate greed. The workers want job stability, acceptable working conditions, and respect as human beings. The company wants the "flexibility"...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 14, 2016 | Blog, Jobs and Growth, Trade
China increased its steel production capacity by 540 percent between 2000 and 2014. Then the market slowed. To keep from having to lay off workers, China's steel companies started "dumping" steel on world markets at below-market prices. As a result, steel companies...
by Bill Scher | Apr 14, 2016 | Blog
At The New Republic today, I question whether the Republican Party has the courage to stop Donald Trump on the convention floor. Assuming Trump ends up short of majority, the delegates will have the means to block his path. But they need the will to withstand the...
by Burning Issues Video | Apr 14, 2016 | Blog, Burning Issues, Financial Reform
[fve]https://youtu.be/-gAE5NIft40[/fve] There is as much as $27 trillion hidden in shell companies around the world, outside of the reach of governments and public scrutiny, according to Porter McConnell, the director of the Financial Transparency Coalition. That has...
by People's Action | Apr 14, 2016 | Breakfast
Debate Night Tonight Sanders looks for a game-changing moment. Politico: "...Sanders operatives said they plan to approach the debate, as usual, with minimal prep — but ready to fight. 'It could be very civil, or there could be a lot of conflict,' warned Sanders’...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Apr 14, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Jobs and Growth
Thursday night is a big night for both political parties in New York City, with the Democratic presidential candidates staging a presidential debate in Brooklyn and the Republican candidates appearing at a black-tie fundraiser at the New York Hilton. But before they...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Apr 13, 2016 | Democracy, Election 2016
Those of us who have been concerned about Republican voter suppression tactics expected this might happen: A relative of a Republican political candidate complaining about "onerous rules" that got in the way of casting a vote. By now, you've probably seen or read the...
by Michael Winship | Apr 13, 2016 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
You might wonder what the connection is between a friendly game of golf last summer in Martha’s Vineyard and the Panama Papers. Read on. As anyone who hasn’t been in a cave – or otherwise away from the Internet -- knows, last week the German newspaper Süddeutsche...
by People's Action | Apr 13, 2016 | Breakfast
Burning Issues: Lawrence Wilkerson on U.S. Empire-Building The U.S. has “become, in essence, the new Rome,” says Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell in the George W. Bush administration, in this Burning Issues video...
by Burning Issues Video | Apr 13, 2016 | Burning Issues, Defense/Foreign Policy
[fve]https://youtu.be/FkVh3IlnMTU[/fve] The U.S. has "become, in essence, the new Rome," says Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell in the George W. Bush administration, in this Burning Issues video segment. Wilkerson, who...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 13, 2016 | Blog, Financial Reform
In April 2006, while Goldman was preparing an RMBS backed by Countrywide loans for securitization, a Goldman mortgage department manager circulated a “very bullish” equity research report that recommended the purchase of Countrywide stock. Goldman’s head of due...
by Terrance Heath | Apr 12, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
Ohio governor and Republican presidential candidate John Kasich says he wouldn’t have signed North Carolina’s new anti-LGBT law. That still doesn’t make him the moderate he wants people to think he is. Kasich said in an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that he...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 12, 2016 | Blog, Financial Reform
If you don't have a bank account – and millions of American's don't – how do you cash a check or pay a bill? Even if you do have a bank account, how do you get a small loan in an emergency? One survey showed that as many as 63 percent of Americans would be strapped to...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Apr 12, 2016 | Gender Justice, Jobs and Growth
Imagine a workplace where everyone clocked in at 9 a.m. and was paid the same day's wage for the work they did – but the men could get their pay for the day at 3:20 p.m. and leave, while the women had to stay on the job until 5 p.m. to get the same check the men got...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 12, 2016 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Saying they are "alarmed by the implications for access to medicines [created by] the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)" a coalition of 50 groups concerned with public health sent a letter asking Congress to oppose the so-called "trade" agreement. The groups say that...
by People's Action | Apr 12, 2016 | Breakfast
Burning Issues: The Panama Papers And How The Rich Hide Their Money An estimated $1 trillion dollars annually is siphoned out of developing countries into hidden offshore bank accounts in tax havens around the world, says Tom Cardamone, managing director of Global...
by Leo Gerard | Apr 12, 2016 | Blog, Economy, Jobs and Growth
Grandma skips meals. Her house is always cold. She barely skimps by, subsisting on just Social Security because of a bunch of pension-killing CEOs and self-dealing financial “advisers.” The U.S. Labor Department offered some rules last week to help grandma with half...
by Burning Issues Video | Apr 12, 2016 | Burning Issues, Financial Reform
[fve]https://youtu.be/k-2qPJ0Rytg[/fve] An estimated $1 trillion dollars annually is siphoned out of developing countries into hidden offshore bank accounts in tax havens around the world, says Tom Cardamone, managing director of Global Financial Integrity, in this...
by Mary Green Swig | Steven L. Swig | Roger Hickey | Apr 12, 2016 | Blog, Education
A new wave of activism against student debt is on the move again this week. The students taking the lead represent the advance guard of an even more massive army that is mobilizing around the idea that higher education should be an investment we make as a society....
by Bill Moyers | Apr 11, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Progressive Vision, This Is The GOP
April 8, 2016 This post first appeared on BillMoyers.com. Bruce Springsteen announced earlier today via Twitter that he is canceling his performance in North Carolina this weekend because of the organized assault by the state legislature against human rights. Bruce...
by Dave Johnson | Apr 11, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Hillary Clinton has a credibility problem when it comes to our country's trade policies and the resulting enormous, humongous trade deficits that measure job loss – especially with regard to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But Clinton has a chance to shore up her...
by People's Action | Apr 11, 2016 | Breakfast
Burning Issues: Is Climate Change A U.S. Security Threat? Jason Kowalski, U.S. policy director for 350.org, the global, grassroots organization battling climate change, explains in this Burning Issues video how climate change has become a national security issue....
by Bill Scher | Apr 11, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
Most political eyeballs are understandably transfixed on the presidential race. But there is much drama brewing in the race for the Senate. And while the unhinged Republican presidential primary may give an impression of a nation gone mad, the way vulnerable...
by Robert Borosage | Apr 11, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
Bernie Sanders won the Wyoming Democratic caucus on Saturday by a double-digit margin – 56 percent to 44 percent – over Hillary Clinton. That is seven contests in a row and eight of nine. And now the campaign heads into the New York hothouse with the primary on April...
by Burning Issues Video | Apr 11, 2016 | Blog, Burning Issues, Climate, Defense/Foreign Policy
[fve]https://youtu.be/H_vVwcEw8gQ[/fve] Jason Kowalski, U.S. policy director for 350.org, the global, grassroots organization battling climate change, explains in this Burning Issues video how climate change has become a national security issue. As the Republican...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Apr 8, 2016 | Conservatism, Jobs and Growth
The conservative push to put public transit systems under private management is not looking so good in Washington right now, as news breaks of widespread safety problems with a city bus service that is privately managed. All-news WTOP Radio published a report on its...
by Terrance Heath | Apr 8, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
This week the South rose again and tried to go back in time about 50 year, as several former confederate states tried to legislate a queer new twist on Jim Crow; so much for southern hospitality. Once again, a toxic blend of religion and bigotry takes hold below the...
by John Cavanagh | Apr 8, 2016 | Jobs and Growth
Under the banners of Democracy Spring and Democracy Awakening, we will be sticking our necks out to demand an end to the destructive influence of big money on our politics and the need to enfranchise all people. I have signed up to risk getting arrested on April 13....
