by People's Action | Feb 4, 2016 | Breakfast
Clinton and Sanders Debate Who's A Progressive Claim to mantle of "progressive" debated at CNN town hall: " "'I do not know any progressive who has a super PAC and takes $15 million from Wall Street,' Sanders told CNN moderator Anderson Cooper. 'That's just not...
by Dave Johnson | Feb 4, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
[fve]https://youtu.be/LhD5OOVI8qQ[/fve] As the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) "free-trade" agreement was signed in New Zealand by representatives of the 12 participating countries, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders strongly voiced his opposition and...
by Richard Long | Feb 3, 2016 | Financial Reform
If the adage, "Those that do not learn history are doomed to repeat it" is true, what would happen if the lessons learned did not change your behavior? What if bad behavior was rewarded? Can we take steps to ensure that we have learned, and our history will not repeat...
by Sara Robinson | Feb 3, 2016 | Blog, Progressive Vision
In January 2011, I presented a futures research project to the Progressive Caucus in Congress, then the largest of all the caucuses in that body. The report, Progressives 2040 — which was sponsored by ProgressiveCongress.org and published by Demos — analyzed a large...
by Bill Scher | Feb 3, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016
Congratulations Iowa Republicans, you did it! You didn't pick the biggest joke of the election season. As in past caucuses, you still picked an extreme conservative with no chance of becoming president. But you didn't make your party into a complete laughingstock....
by Dave Johnson | Feb 3, 2016 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Representatives of the 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries will officially sign the free trade agreement in Auckland, New Zealand on Thursday (which on this side of the date line means the signing occurs Wednesday). But the prospects for U.S. passage of the...
by People's Action | Feb 3, 2016 | Breakfast
Dem Town Hall Tonight. Debate Tomorrow. CNN hosts Democratic town hall tonight: "Is Sanders ready to really rip into Clinton? His winks and nods toward the liberal base are impossible to miss ... Will she continue her line of attack on Sanders that his ideas sound...
by Mary Green Swig | Steven L. Swig | Roger Hickey | Feb 3, 2016 | Blog, Education
A growing movement is pressing for relief from this country’s oppressive and mounting burden of student debt. Last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren addressed a gathering of millennials in Washington, organized by a group called Young Invincibles during a national day of...
by Terrance Heath | Feb 2, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Economy, This Is The GOP, Trans-Pacific Partnership
The Heritage Foundation has released its annual “Index of Economic Freedom.” As America enters an election season increasingly influenced by anger at an economy rigged in favor of the wealthy, maybe it’s time to ask: What is “economic freedom,” and who is it for? What...
by Dave Johnson | Feb 2, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
When candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders ended the Iowa caucuses Monday night in a near-tie, there were some surprises that went beyond the strength of Sanders' showing, as well as some warnings for Democrats. Clinton received more state delegates (700.59 to...
by Nancy Altman | Feb 2, 2016 | Retirement Security
Third Way is reaching the point of desperation in its quest to cut Social Security and protect its Wall Street, K Street lobbyist, and GOP donors from paying their fair share. As Third Way has become more and more marginalized, its public outpourings have become more...
by Bill Scher | Feb 2, 2016 | Blog
Two years ago I wrote that the Democrats were a more united party than the Republicans, despite covering a broader ideological spectrum. But last night's Iowa caucuses exposed a stark generational and ideological fault line in the Democratic party that may not be easy...
by Leo Gerard | Feb 2, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016, Jobs and Growth
Donald Trump dares to say out loud what many people secretly think. It's a dark secret some people never share because they know it's so offensive. Sometimes they say it only when they feel safe, when they're among like-minded family members or with friends trying to...
by People's Action | Feb 2, 2016 | Breakfast
Sanders Rattles Clinton In Iowa Clinton barely edges Sanders. Politico: "Hillary Clinton narrowly defeated Bernie Sanders in the Iowa caucuses, according to results announced by the state Democratic Party early Tuesday morning ... Clinton was awarded 699.57 state...
by Robert Borosage | Feb 2, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
The Iowa caucuses just supercharged the 2016 presidential race. Younger and lower-income voters drove Bernie Sanders into a head heat with Hillary Clinton. A record Republican turnout of white voters elevated an odd couple – two first term Cuban-American Senators –...
by Phil Angelides | Feb 2, 2016 | Blog, Financial Reform
Five years ago at this time, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) presented President Obama and Congress with its final report on what caused the 2008 financial meltdown that devastated our economy and millions of American families. The report concluded that...
by Hedrick Smith | Feb 1, 2016 | Economy, Tax Reform
If you want to see what fires the grassroots passion for Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, and the populist rebellion against the U.S corporate and political elite, take a look at the latest case of an American corporation’s gaming the system for handouts and bailouts...
by People's Action | Feb 1, 2016 | Breakfast
Divided Democrats Final Quinnipiac Iowa poll gives Sanders slight edge: "...relying on first-time Iowa likely Democratic Caucus participants, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has 49 percent, with 46 percent for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... Sanders tops...
by Larry Cohen | Feb 1, 2016 | Election 2016, Progressive Vision
This week, on my fifth trip to Iowa in recent months, once again I have been stunned by the increasing excitement of working women and men as they volunteer in droves and discuss Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in workplaces, union halls and...
by Robert Borosage | Feb 1, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
The results of the Iowa caucuses won’t be known until late this evening, but we already know the big winner: Senator Bernie Sanders. The 24/7 chattering classes focus on whether Sanders' young and new voters will turn out, whether his voters’ enthusiasm can match...
by Dave Johnson | Jan 29, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016
George McGovern was the Democratic nominee against incumbent Richard Nixon in the 1972 election. He lost in a landslide. Just as the events of the 1980s shaped the current economic environment, the 1970s "Nixonian" politics of division shaped the current political...
by Terrance Heath | Jan 29, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
This week two major right-wing crusades that started out with pretty big bangs -- the Oregon Standoff and the Planned Parenthood sting -- ended with disappointing (for wingnuts) whimpers. Almost Over In Oregon It wasn’t supposed to end this way. The standoff at...
by Bill Scher | Jan 29, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016
Politico Magazine asked me and 11 others if Trump has "killed the GOP." My answer? Not yet: Before the Republican establishment concludes that its party is being consumed by a hostile takeover, it should first let its people cast some votes. So many conclusions are...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jan 29, 2016 | Conservatism
With the winter winds of January came a flurry of reports that several states were moving to cut thousands of people from their Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP, or “food stamp") rolls. In New Jersey, for example, Governor Chris Christie pulled the...
by People's Action | Jan 29, 2016 | Breakfast
Cruz, Rubio Hit Hard Cruz and Rubio grilled at debate. Politico: "Fox News put both candidates on the defensive with questions, featuring video clips, that felt like attack ads ... clips showing Rubio vowing as a Senate candidate to oppose a path to citizenship for...
by Robert Borosage | Jan 29, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016
The Donald was missing and missed last night in the Fox News Republican debate. Without the bawdy showman, the entire cast seemed smaller, the divisive questions of the Fox moderators more petulant, and the debate endless. The most stunning revelations of the debate...
by Robert Borosage | Jan 29, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
The Washington Post editorial board sniped at Senator Bernie Sanders Thursday morning for pretending to be “an uncorrupted anti-establishment crusader.” But no shocking revelations followed. The editors didn't unveil previously hidden Sanders ties to the...
by Dave Johnson | Jan 28, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
Thursday's Washington Post editorial, "Bernie Sanders’s fiction-filled campaign," is kind of fun. Sanders "is playing the role of uncorrupted anti-establishment crusader." But actually he "is not a brave truth-teller. He is a politician selling his own brand of...
by Jeff Bryant | Jan 28, 2016 | Blog, Education
It's that time of year when National School Choice Week is staged by – well, we really don't know who – to elevate "education options," primarily charter schools and vouchers, for K-12 students. This year's NSCW apparently includes a record number of events around the...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jan 28, 2016 | Election 2016, Retirement Security
At the CNN town hall for the Democratic presidential candidates on Tuesday, Bernie Sanders pointed out that he has with Hillary Clinton "a disagreement on a very important issue that impacts everybody, but especially women": "I believe that we should expand Social...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jan 28, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
Given the importance of the African-American vote in the Democratic primary and the questions around whether Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders – a self-styled "Democratic socialist" in a state that is 1 percent black – can effectively compete for the...
by People's Action | Jan 28, 2016 | Breakfast
Dems Debate Debates... Clinton, Sanders haggle up on more debates. Politico: "Hours after Hillary Clinton ratcheted up her pressure on him to accept an invitation to an unsanctioned debate on Feb. 4, Bernie Sanders escalated the debate by calling for three new debates...
by Terrance Heath | Jan 28, 2016 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
Conservatives are responding to Flint, Michigan’s water crisis with the same depraved indifference that helped contaminate the city’s water and expose thousands of children to lead poisoning. By now, the entire country has heard the tragic story. In 2013, Flint —...
by Bill Scher | Jan 28, 2016 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
There are substantive differences between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Single-payer vs. individual mandate. Break up the big banks vs. regulate the big banks. Tuition-free college vs. debt-free college. "Leave it in the ground" vs. a more gradual shift away...
by Robert Borosage | Jan 27, 2016 | Progressive Vision
Is Barack Obama a transformational president? That was his ambition: to be more, as he put it, like Ronald Reagan than Bill Clinton, to launch a new era, not simply tack to the prevailing winds of the old. Not surprisingly, in his final year in office, the issue is...
by Robert Reich | Jan 27, 2016 | Blog, Populist Majority, Progressive Vision
Not a day passes that I don’t get a call from the media asking me to compare Bernie Sanders’s and Hillary Clinton’s tax plans, or bank plans, or health-care plans. I don’t mind. I’ve been teaching public policy for much of the last thirty-five years. I’m a policy...
by Dave Johnson | Jan 27, 2016 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Ford Motor Company announced this week that it will close all operations in Japan and Indonesia this year, because it sees "no reasonable path to profitability." Last year GM pulled out of Indonesia. What does it say that they are doing this with the Trans-Pacific...
by People's Action | Jan 27, 2016 | Breakfast
Bernie, Hillary Look Beyond Iowa Big Bernie rallies in MN yesterday. W. Post: "A crowd of more than 14,539 people packed an exhibit hall and overflow room in [St. Paul] ... gathering just hours after an estimated 6,000 people turned out ... in Duluth ... Sanders’s...
by Roger Hickey | Jan 27, 2016 | Blog, Climate
Americans who understand the challenge of climate change had to be encouraged by the Paris summit, where the nations of the globe, including the United States, pledged to work together to dramatically reduce the burning of fossil fuels – before it is too late to avoid...
by Dave Johnson | Jan 26, 2016 | Blog, Tax Reform
Johnson Controls Inc. and Tyco International PLC have announced a $14 billion merger, with the resulting company pretending to be "Irish." This is called an "inversion" and is all about dodging taxes. Johnson Controls is actually based in Milwaukee. Tyco is based in...
