by Leo Gerard | Nov 17, 2015 | Blog, Jobs and Growth, Trade
Over the past several weeks, as Alcoa and Century cut aluminum production nationwide, James Markus, a 23-year-veteran aluminum worker, acutely felt the pain of those laid off. That's because just two years ago, in October of 2013, Markus and 750 fellow aluminum...
by Jeff Bryant | Nov 17, 2015 | Education
[fve]https://youtu.be/ln166j3fTjM[/fve] Advocates for charter schools frequently argue that generalizing about these schools is unfair because charters, by their very entrepreneurial, unregulated design, are not all the same. This is true. Charter schools are not all...
by Bill Scher | Nov 17, 2015 | Uncategorized
Clinton Tries To Tamp Down Fundraiser Fallout Clinton campaign recasts 9/11 comment. WSJ: "Asked about her 9/11 remarks, Press Secretary Brian Fallon said that she was offering one explanation for why she worked on Wall Street’s behalf ... 'To suggest that she of all...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 17, 2015 | Blog, Financial Reform
The Glass-Steagall Act came up as a major point of disagreement between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton during Saturday's Democratic presidential debate. The act, which was originally enacted in 1933, separated risky trading and investment from traditional banking...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 16, 2015 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
Our government has contracted (as in privatized or outsourced) with a British-owned, anti-union company to operate the U.S. Senate cafeteria. The company pays so little that many employees are on public assistance; at least one was homeless. Meanwhile the company is...
by Bill Scher | Nov 16, 2015 | Blog, Democracy
Presidential candidate Marco Rubio has a big problem. As I previously detailed here, in 2013 Rubio tragicomically botched his attempt to lead on immigration reform, angering both pro- and anti-immigrant camps. For Republican primary voters who oppose citizenship for...
by Jeff Bryant | Nov 16, 2015 | Blog, Education
Although many Democrats are disappointed, even in a “panic,” with the results from recent off-year elections, they need to be aware of where progressives won and learn from communities that bucked the influences of big money, especially in contests where education was...
by Bill Scher | Nov 16, 2015 | Uncategorized
Fallout From Dem Debate Clinton's "9/11" explanation of Wall St. ties raises eyebrows. W. Post: "This is not an answer that will likely fade into the ether. It will not be quickly forgotten. It will become a part of somebody's fundraising queries, one or two ads and...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 16, 2015 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
The Democratic candidates debated for the second time Saturday evening, in Des Moines, Iowa. Because of the terrible terrorist attacks in Paris and Beirut, the emphasis of the beginning of the debate focused on a discussion of terrorism, national security and foreign...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 13, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
Does it seem like the “War on Christmas” comes earlier every year? ’Tis barely the season yet, and this week wingnuts are seeing red about Starbuck’s decidedly minimalist holiday cups. Starbucks decided to keep it simple for the holidays this year. Last month the...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 13, 2015 | Blog, Economy, Progressive Vision
Postal banking serves the public, not Wall Street. We the People could have postal banking right now if enough of us speak up and demand it. SIGN THE PETITION HERE. Traditional banks have abandoned communities, leaving people stranded, unable to cash checks, pay...
by Bill Scher | Nov 13, 2015 | Uncategorized
Million Student March Against Student Debt Students are more than 100 colleges protest student debt yesterday. USAToday: "College students across the country rallied Thursday to protest student debt at the Million Student March ... Among their demands: cancellation of...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 12, 2015 | Blog
Several recent news articles have suggested that, in the words of a Washington Post headline, “there’s … a big economic fight happening in the Democratic Party.” It’s true. The corporate-friendly policies of the party’s more conservative wing have fared poorly, both...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 12, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
When talking about trade and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Republican candidate Donald Trump was correct about China. In the fourth Republican debate that took place in Milwaukee Tuesday, a moderator asked about Trump's opposition to TPP. ● Moderator: "... the...
by Bill Scher | Nov 12, 2015 | Blog
In Tuesday's debate, both Rand Paul and Jeb Bush tried to offer a new Republican approach to climate, and both got tied up in knots. Back in February, with an eye towards expanding the Republican party appeal with young voters, Paul voted for a Senate amendment that...
by Jeff Bryant | Nov 12, 2015 | Blog, Education
The "big economic fight" in the Democratic Party that news outlets are reporting isn't confined to economics. The link above takes you to a story in the Washington Post explaining how a "populist wing" in the Democratic Party is rebelling against the conventional...
by Sam Pizzigati | Nov 12, 2015 | Blog
Americans live longer today than we used to live, sometimes a lot longer. Just over 32,000 centenarians called the United States home in 1980. In 2010, we had more than 53,000 Americans in triple digits. This trend line — longer and longer lives for more and more...
by Bill Scher | Nov 12, 2015 | Uncategorized
Colorado May Go Single-Payer Colorado to have 2016 ballot initiative establishing single-payer. Politico: "Supporters, who won approval this week for a 2016 ballot measure after securing nearly 110,000 signatures deemed valid, will sell the overhaul as an Obamacare...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 11, 2015 | Conservatism, Election 2016
In an event that was supposed to highlight the Republican presidential candidates' views on the economy and its woes, it's surprising that the Fox Business Channel debate Tuesday did not address a newly urgent issue that is striking at a key segment of the Republican...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 10, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
The biggest question leading up to the fourth GOP presidential debate is which Ben Carson will show up tonight? Will it be the mild-mannered, soft-spoken retired neurosurgeon, or the defensive fabulist and conspiracy theorist? Perhaps Ben Carson’s biggest problem has...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 10, 2015 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
With Tuesday marking one year before election day the Fight For $15 movement hit the fast-food industry with walkouts and protests in hundreds of U.S. cities. They hope to get presidential candidates talking about raising the minimum wage. The Fight For $15 movement...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 10, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a lot more than a "trade" deal. Among other things, it includes provisions that limit how governments can regulate corporations and allows corporations to sue governments in "corporate courts" that bypass the sovereignty of...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 10, 2015 | Election 2016, Progressive Vision
[fve]https://youtu.be/GcRX8xE1LME[/fve]Stan Greenberg talks to OurFuture.org about his new book, "America Ascendant." Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg, in a new polling memo released this week, is declaring that a Democratic party takeover in the Senate is within...
by Leo Gerard | Nov 10, 2015 | Blog, Economy, Jobs and Growth
Americans who once earned family-supporting wages working in factories, foundries and mills across this country began destroying themselves at a shocking rate five years after implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). That’s because such deals...
by Bill Scher | Nov 10, 2015 | Uncategorized
Immigration Setback Conservative appeals court blocks Obama's deportation relief. NYT: "A federal appeals court said Monday that President Obama could not move forward with his plans to overhaul immigration rules ... saying a lawsuit brought by 26 states to block Mr....
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 10, 2015 | Retirement Security
When it became clear that Social Security recipients would not receive a cost-of-living adjustment in 2016, Sen. Elizabeth Warren came up with an ingenious remedy, which she introduced in the Senate last week: End the taxpayer subsidy for CEO bonuses and use the...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 9, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
In Ben Carson Republicans have found a candidate who truly makes George W. Bush look like an intellectual giant, and yet another representative of a right-wing culture where belief is more important than knowledge. In May, I wrote a post titled “Ben Carson’s 13...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 9, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Many in Congress have been concerned about the effect of currency manipulation on our country's ability to sell things to the world. They demanded that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) outlaw the practice. The administration promised that the TPP and accompanying...
by Bill Scher | Nov 9, 2015 | Blog
After the Democrats lost the Kentucky governor's race last week, following the Republican down-ballot triumphs in the 2010 and 2014 midterms, declarations that the Democratic Party is dead quickly made the rounds. The implication is that Barack Obama's two...
by Bill Scher | Nov 9, 2015 | Uncategorized
Dems Prepare For Next Debate Hillary may face tougher attacks. Bloomberg: "Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley won't be so kind when they meet on the debate stage later this week. Since the Las Vegas debate, Sanders has adopted a more aggressive stance ... O'Malley has...
by Bill Scher | Nov 9, 2015 | Blog, Climate
President Obama's decision to reject the permit for the Keystone oil pipeline is a major victory for the environmental movement, but as activist leaders fully recognize, killing one project is not enough to save the climate. Now is the time to use the momentum from...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 6, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
Ya gotta hand it to the GOP presidential candidates. It takes either incredible skill or monumental stupidity to get President Obama and Fox News to agree. But their “diva demands” for future debates did it. The whining started even before the third Republican...
by Dave Johnson | Nov 6, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
The full text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has finally been released and We the People can see what has been negotiated in our name. President Obama laid out the bottom line, saying the deal "puts American workers first." Does it? TPP Text The full text of...
by Jeff Bryant | Nov 6, 2015 | Blog, Education
The weather is turning colder for sure, but spring is in the air for those who believe there is an urgent need to change the nation's federal education law known as No Child Left Behind. Seasoned education journalist Alyson Klein at Education Week believes recent...
by Bill Scher | Nov 6, 2015 | Uncategorized
Strong Jobs Report May Mean Fed Rate Hike 271K new jobs in October. BLS: "...the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 5.0 percent ... average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 9 cents to $25.20 ... Hourly earnings have...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 6, 2015 | Jobs and Growth
Even with today's positive job report, we have a long way to go to repair the damage done by the 2008 recession and the slow growth that followed. (Chart by Economic Policy Institute) There was surprisingly positive news in today's Labor Department jobs report, with...
by Emily Schwartz Greco | Nov 5, 2015 | Blog, Climate
Ensuring that our planet remains hospitable requires leaving about three-quarters of all oil, gas, and coal deposits underground or beneath the sea floor. And forgoing all those fossil fuels to avert a climate catastrophe means that loads of companies need to change...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 5, 2015 | Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
The text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership was released by the Obama administration Thursday, and as Lori Wallach, head of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch and a leading expert on trade, its provisions are "even worse than we thought." Wallach was among several...
by Bill Scher | Nov 5, 2015 | Uncategorized
TPP Text Is Unveiled Announcement sets timetable for eventual congressional vote. W. Post: "After the text’s release, Obama administration officials said, the president will notify lawmakers of his intent to sign the trade accord. Obama must then wait 90 days before...
by Terrance Heath | Nov 5, 2015 | Blog, Democracy, Progressive Vision
Off-year elections are almost never good for progressives, and 2015 is no exception. But this off-year election held some surprising victories for progressives in Maine, Ohio, Washington and elsewhere that could lay the foundation for more victories to come. Earlier...
