by Bill Scher | Dec 2, 2015 | Blog, Climate
President Barack Obama had returned home from his trip to Paris, where he helped kick off the United Nations climate summit. He had a consistent theme, familiar to those who follow Obama's rhetoric closely: Embracing clean energy also creates clean energy jobs. On...
by Dave Johnson | Dec 1, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
The U.S. Business and Industry Council (USBIC) has launched a media campaign intended to drive awareness of the lack of enforceable currency provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). USBIC represents domestic manufacturers and has an excellent Trading Away...
by Bill Scher | Dec 1, 2015 | Uncategorized
Hillary Goes "Modest" On Infrastructure Hillary Clinton offers more detail to her infrastructure plan. NYT: "The plan would increase federal funding for infrastructure by $275 billion, with $250 billion from direct public investment and $25 billion to create a...
by Dave Johnson | Dec 1, 2015 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
"Investing in infrastructure makes our economy more productive and competitive across the board." - Hillary Clinton Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has announced a plan for infrastructure investment. How does her plan stack up against that of her...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 30, 2015 | Education
One of the stories that may have gotten lost during the Thanksgiving weekend is this jaw-dropper: A Missouri woman who has managed to run up more than $410,000 in student debts. Her story was published Friday in the New York Times, framed as a story of "how the...
by Robert Reich | Nov 30, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
On Friday, a gunman killed three at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado. Later, in explaining his motive to the police, he said “no more baby parts.” Last Monday, gunmen opened fire on Black Lives Matter protesters in Minneapolis who were demanding action against...
by Frank Clemente | Nov 30, 2015 | Blog, Tax Reform
Pfizer doesn't play pfair. The recent announcement that it would renounce its American identity and become an Irish company -- thereby dodging billions of dollars in taxes -- is just the latest in a string of shady deals and sleazy behaviors by the pharmaceutical...
by Bill Scher | Nov 30, 2015 | Uncategorized
Obama Jumpstarts Paris Climate Summit Obama announces international commitment to fund clean energy. The Hill: "President Obama and 19 world leaders are committed to double the amount of money they put into clean energy research and development ... The commitment...
by Bill Scher | Nov 30, 2015 | Blog, Climate
President Barack Obama and leaders from nearly every country are in Paris today to begin international climate talks that are widely expected to produce an agreement to cut global greenhouse gas emissions. Such an agreement will represent a huge step forward in the...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 25, 2015 | Blog, Progressive Vision
The release of the video of Laquan McDonald’s death, and the murder charges against the Chicago police officer who killed him, show how much has changed since Ferguson, and how much still needs to change. This week, something happened that Chicago officials spent a...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 25, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Vietnam is already snubbing the unenforceable labor provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Voice of America reports, in "Vietnam Beating Case Highlights TPP Labor Rights Issue": A Vietnamese labor activist has accused authorities of beating and detaining...
by Jim Hightower | Nov 25, 2015 | Progressive Vision
Thanksgiving is here. Let’s eat! America’s most food-focused holiday traces its roots back to the abundant feast that Pilgrims and Indians enjoyed together in the fall of 1621. Only half of the Mayflower Pilgrims who’d arrived at Plymouth Rock the previous December...
by Jeff Bryant | Nov 25, 2015 | Blog, Education
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton recently shook up the education policy world when she challenged one of the pillars of the education establishment for the last 10 to 15 years, that teachers' job evaluations and pay should be linked to how students –...
by Bill Scher | Nov 25, 2015 | Uncategorized
Bernie Goes Big On Immigration Sanders proposes his own immigration executive action. W. Post: "...he would take executive action to allow undocumented immigrants who’ve been in the United States for at least five years to stay in the country without fear of being...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 24, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism
Here's something (not) to look forward to: Thanksgiving dinner with your family in the time of Trump. This week you're heading home to spend quality time with your family. Of course, your right-wing brother-in-law (RWBIL) is going to be there, spouting off quotes from...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 24, 2015 | Blog, Progressive Vision
One year ago, Cleveland, Ohio police shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice within two seconds of encountering him. There is still no justice for Rice and his family. If the prosecutor has his way there will be no justice for Tamir Rice. On November 23, 2014, Tamir Rice did what...
by Leo Gerard | Nov 24, 2015 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
This Thanksgiving, in dining rooms across America, the turkey will be smaller, the stuffing more meager, the pumpkin pie sliced thinner. Gratitude will be given. But roiling just below the surface, for far too many families, will be economic anxiety. The vast majority...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 24, 2015 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
Regardless of what a House-Senate panel (that has been reportedly negotiating through the Thanksgiving holiday) finally decides, the surface transportation bill that Congress hammers together and put on President Obama's desk is going to be a blown opportunity to...
by Bill Scher | Nov 24, 2015 | Uncategorized
Pfizer Merger Prompts Tax Reform Talk Dem candidates oppose Pfizer merger. The Hill: "The $160 billion deal, announced Monday, would be the largest-ever corporate inversion ... Clinton said that in the coming weeks she will 'propose specific steps to prevent these...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 23, 2015 | Blog, Tax Reform
The pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer will acquire pharmaceutical corporation Allergan in a deal valued at $160 billion. My colleague Richard Eskow called this combination of Pfizer (the maker of Viagra) and Allergan (the maker of Botox) "a merger of false desire and...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 23, 2015 | Conservatism, Populist Majority
The conclusions of a new extensive survey released today by the Pew Research Center are not surprising to people who have followed our chronicling of the Populist Majority over the past two years: Solid majorities of Americans accept a significant role for government...
by Bill Scher | Nov 23, 2015 | Uncategorized
Clinton, Sanders Spar Over Taxes Clinton proposes tax credit for family caregivers. Reuters: "...Clinton on Sunday proposed a tax credit offsetting up to $6,000 in costs associated with caring for elderly and disabled family members, and allowing caregivers to accrue...
by Robert Borosage | Nov 23, 2015 | Blog, Financial Reform, Progressive Vision
At the last Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton inadvertently sparked a firestorm when she invoked her woman donors and 9/11 as a defense to Bernie Sanders calling out her Wall Street donors. As Molly Ball tweeted, playing both the women’s card and the 9/11 card in one...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 21, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, Economy, Jobs and Growth
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/234026682" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /] Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) says he wants to double down...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 20, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
In the worst of times, we need leaders who call us to heed “the better angels of our nature.” In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris, right-wing media, officeholders, and candidates have instead embodied the term “ugly American.” “Ugly American” is a pejorative...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 20, 2015 | Blog, Retirement Security
CEOs got an average 3.9 percent pay increase last year. This increase is subsidized by taxpayers because corporations can deduct it as an expense. Meanwhile, America's struggling seniors will receive no cost-of-living allowance (COLA) increase next year because the...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 20, 2015 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
On Monday, we explained in our post, "34 Senators Stand With Senate Cafeteria Workers – And With All Workers," how the (foreign-owned) contacting company that operates the Senate and the Capital Visitors Center cafeterias pays employees so little that they are...
by Bill Scher | Nov 20, 2015 | Uncategorized
Sanders Makes His Case Sen. Sanders defines and defends democratic socialism. The Atlantic: "...Sanders praised Democratic presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson for wielding the power of the government to create jobs and lift Americans out of poverty ......
by Dave Johnson | Nov 19, 2015 | Blog
"I don't believe in some foreign "ism", but I believe deeply in American idealism." – Senator Bernie Sanders Sen. Bernie Sanders billed his talk Thursday at Georgetown University as a speech on "democratic socialism," but it was immediately clear that what Sanders was...
by Jeff Bryant | Nov 19, 2015 | Blog, Education
How can someone make a decision about a school they've never even walked into?" That question is at the heart of Kristina Rizga's terrific new book "Mission High: One school, how experts tried to fail it, and the students and teachers who made it triumph." Rizga uses...
by Bill Scher | Nov 19, 2015 | Blog, Climate
In the first few months of President Obama's first term, there was talk of passing legislation to cap carbon emissions using budget reconciliation, which would prevent Republicans from using the filibuster and allow passage with a simple majority vote. But the Senate...
by Robert Reich | Nov 19, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
The next president of the United States will confront a virulent jihadist threat, mounting effects of climate change, and an economy becoming ever more unequal. We’re going to need an especially wise and able leader. Yet our process for choosing that person is a...
by Bill Scher | Nov 19, 2015 | Uncategorized
Dueling Democratic Speeches Sanders delivers speech on democratic socialism today at 2 PM ET. NYT: "...Mr. Sanders plans to position himself as the political heir to one of the Democratic Party’s great heroes, F.D.R ... building on his descriptions of the...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 19, 2015 | Blog, Tax Reform
[fve]https://youtu.be/qKmaa01mZZ4?t=4m28s[/fve] "It’s not that taxes are far too high for giant corporations, as the lobbyists claim. No, the problem is that the revenue generated from corporate taxes is far too low." - Senator Elizabeth Warren Senator Elizabeth...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 18, 2015 | Blog, Economy, Jobs and Growth, Progressive Vision
According to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, creating an economy that works for everyone starts with creating an economy that works for women. There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that the gap between women’s earnings and men’s earnings...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 18, 2015 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
There is one case pending before the Supreme Court that doesn't get counted among the rulings that could have an effect on issues of equality and discrimination – but, as a friend-of-the-court brief filed recently by more than 70 civil rights organizations outlines,...
by Bill Scher | Nov 18, 2015 | Blog
Conservative writer Matt Lewis laments the end of the Bobby Jindal presidential campaign, noting his "decision to run away from his strengths as an experienced policy expert. He might have been issuing detailed policy papers, but—on the campaign trail and debate...
by Bill Scher | Nov 18, 2015 | Uncategorized
Sanders Adjusts After Debate Sanders increases focus on foreign policy. The Hill: "He opened his Monday night rally in Cleveland with 10 minutes touching on foreign policy, a rare departure from his typical stump speech. He dug in on his support for accepting...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 18, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
The right-wing response to the Paris terror attacks is predictably hysterical, racist and xenophobic. It’s everything the terrorists could possibly want, and a distraction from a very real threat. The world is still reeling from the terrorist attacks in Paris, which...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 17, 2015 | Blog, Progressive Vision
The day before the Paris terrorist attacks, "the Paris of the Middle East" – Beirut – was attacked by ISIS. Terrorist set off two bombs in a busy shopping area, killing more than 40 people and injuring more than 240. Then, on Sunday, a string of ISIS bombs in Baghdad...
