by Larry Cohen | Oct 26, 2015 | Blog, Election 2016, Jobs and Growth
I grew up in a row house in North Philadelphia, owned by my great-grandmother who was famous for saying, “I’ll watch your feet, not your mouth.” Today I am proud to stand with Sen. Bernie Sanders and hundreds of Verizon Workers at a Wireless retail store in Manhattan,...
by Bill Scher | Oct 26, 2015 | Blog
Benghazi, IRS, Fast and Furious, Solyndra, Whitewater. Whenever the GOP targets the White House and goes into scandal overdrive, they always miss the target. As I lay out in Real Clear Politics today, sometimes the misses are spectacular boomerangs, like the Clinton...
by Bernie Horn | Oct 26, 2015 | Blog, Education
Days ago, the U.S. Department of Education announced a dramatic policy shift on standardized testing of public school students. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, echoed by President Obama, admitted that a Council of the Great City Schools study was right—there is too...
by Bill Scher | Oct 26, 2015 | Uncategorized
Boehner Tries To Take Care Of Loose Ends Boehner tries to pass debt limit before he departs this week. The Hill: "House GOP leaders last week had to scrap a Republican Study Committee plan to raise the debt limit into 2017 attached to a slew of conservative reforms...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 26, 2015 | Awards Gala 2015, Blog, Progressive Vision
National People's Action has developed a reputation for not being content to simply hold rallies on the streets outside of symbols of political power. In the words of NPA vice president Bobby Tolbert, “We like to take the crisis to the people who created it.” That...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 23, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
After spending $4.5 million on yet another Benghazi investigation, and questioning Hillary Clinton for eleven hours, the GOP's latest Benghazi hearing leaves one major question unanswered: Did they forget who they were messing with? Seriously. Given how long Clinton...
by Frank Clemente | Oct 23, 2015 | Economy, Tax Reform
Budgets are made up of spending and revenue. But budget negotiators in Washington are talking only about what spending to cut, not what revenue to raise – even though there are gaping tax loopholes to close. Closing them would eliminate the need to cut critical...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 23, 2015 | Blog, Financial Reform
Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has once again added his voice to a growing movement to bring banking to the United States Postal Service (USPS). "I want to see our post office be reinvigorated," Sanders said in a Fusion interview this week with...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 23, 2015 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
The triumph of Justin Trudeau in the Canadian prime minister election on Sunday over the incumbent conservative government prompted one prominent New York Times columnist on Thursday to suggest that the Republican Party political template of demonizing immigrants and...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 23, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism
Thursday's Clinton-bashing hearing in Congress carried with it that "frog in heating water" feeling. The water is boiling and the country is the frog. This is a period where the country has gone crazy. This has been slowly building since the ascendency of the...
by Eric Lotke | Oct 23, 2015 | Blog, Democracy
"In my sixteen years as a regulator," said Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, "this is the clearest, most egregious case of market failure I have seen." On Thursday the FCC voted to put it right. The decision vindicates a decades-long...
by Bill Scher | Oct 23, 2015 | Uncategorized
Ryan Compromises With Freedom Caucus Rep. Paul Ryan formally declares Speaker bid. NYT: " The Republican conference is expected to vote on Mr. Ryan on Wednesday, followed by a vote on the House floor next Thursday ... Speaker Ryan might unify the House Republican...
by Robert Borosage | Oct 23, 2015 | Awards Gala 2015, Blog, Progressive Vision
Time Magazine hails Sen. Elizabeth Warren as the “sheriff of Wall Street.” Her effectiveness stuns the powers that be. Fox News’ Melissa Francis says people on Wall Street think, “Elizabeth Warren is the devil.” Bill O’Reilly fulminates that she’s a “socialist,” yet...
by Jim Hightower | Oct 22, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, This Is The GOP
House Republicans are in turmoil. House Speaker John Boehner gave up his position because he couldn’t stand the job anymore. Next in line was Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who started running but quickly backed off. Rep. Paul Ryan says he’s thinking about taking the job, even...
by Bill Scher | Oct 22, 2015 | Uncategorized
Ryan Close To Speakership Rep. Paul Ryan appears to have the votes for Speaker. The Hill: "About two-thirds of the [House Freedom Caucus] backs Ryan for the Speakership ... 'My guess is he could still get 230-plus votes, and in this environment that is remarkable,'...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 22, 2015 | Blog, Climate
Exxon and other fossil fuel companies may have committed a crime of enormous proportions, and more and more elected officials and others are demanding an investigation. The charge is that Exxon scientists and management knew since the late 1970s that the company's...
by Jeff Bryant | Oct 21, 2015 | Blog, Education
America's experiment with charter schools has thus far generated academic results that are mixed, at best. Another promise, that these schools would be more educationally "innovative," is also generally unfulfilled so far. Adding to those uncertainties posed by...
by Emily Schwartz Greco | Oct 21, 2015 | Blog, Climate
Pumpkin fever is back. The latest bout of this seasonal disorder has infected Hostess Twinkies and moved Starbucks to put a smidge of real pumpkin in its pumpkin spice lattes. Previously, the ubiquitous coffee purveyor used a common ploy: It evoked agrarian and...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 21, 2015 | Blog, Current Issues, This Is The GOP
The House GOP’s disarray shows that the party may be a danger to itself. The GOP’s political brinksmanship is danger to the nation’s economy and the American people. A coalition of progressive organizations is tweeting against right-wing budget mayhem. On Tuesday, the...
by Bill Scher | Oct 21, 2015 | Uncategorized
Bernie Takes On Exxon "Sanders calls for federal probe of Exxon" reports The Hill: "Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is asking the Justice Department to investigate whether ExxonMobil Corp.’s climate change research strategy broke federal law [citing] a recent...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 21, 2015 | Blog, Election 2016, Financial Reform
How do we fix Wall Street, a.k.a. "the banks"? How do the candidates compare? This question came up in the first Democratic debate and there has been lots of online commentary on this since. The first place to look, of course, is CAF's Candidate Scorecard. "The...
by Bill Scher | Oct 20, 2015 | Blog, Economy, Progressive Vision
Last week I asked "Will Keynes Win The Canadian Election?" He did, resoundingly. The Liberal Party, running on a Keynesian economic platform, shattered expectations and won the prime ministership with an outright majority in Parliament last night. Liberal Party'...
by Bill Scher | Oct 20, 2015 | Uncategorized
Liberals Seize Majority In Canada Liberals shatter expectations by claiming clear majority in Parliament. CBC: "Justin Trudeau will be Canada's next prime minister after leading the Liberal Party to a stunning majority government win ... The Liberal wave that washed...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 20, 2015 | Awards Gala 2015, Climate
[fve]https://vimeo.com/142837745[/fve] While most of the political establishment fixates on the Washington gridlock conservatives have orchestrated to stymie efforts to switch to green energy and prevent climate change, a little-noticed announcement in New York last...
by Jeff Bryant | Oct 20, 2015 | Blog, Education
Before Democratic Party presidential candidates readied for their first debate on CNN, they turned down an opportunity to meet at another forum. That meeting was to be hosted by ex-CNN anchorwoman Campbell Brown who now operates a media outlet, The Seventy Four, that...
by Robert Reich | Oct 19, 2015 | Blog, Economy, Jobs and Growth
Have you noticed how often conservatives who disagree with a policy proposal call it a “job killer?” They’re especially incensed about proposals to raise the federal minimum wage. They claim it will force employers to lay off workers worth hiring at the current...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 19, 2015 | Blog, Democracy, Election 2016
In contrast to the Republican clown shows they call debates, last Tuesday's Democratic presidential debate was serious and focused on policy. It let the public know that there are still adults at work trying to help deal with the country's real problems. It helped the...
by Bill Scher | Oct 19, 2015 | Uncategorized
Sanders To Defend Democratic Socialism Sanders plans major speech on democratic socialism. W. Post: "'I think we have some explaining and work to do,' the Vermont senator told an audience at a house party here in the nation’s first caucus state, acknowledging that the...
by Bill Scher | Oct 19, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, Election 2016
Sixteen years ago, in the autumn of 1999, a budget impasse was pushing the federal government toward, whaddya know, a government shutdown. Faced with expected budget surpluses, the Republican-controlled Congress decided it would be a good time to cut spending by...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 16, 2015 | Blog, Current Issues, This Is The GOP
On Tuesday night, 15.3 million people tuned in to a sane, rational Democratic presidential debate. Nobody remembered to bring the crazy to the Dem’s debate. So, wingnuts brought enough for everybody. It’s hard to choose the most egregious of the right-wing responses...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 16, 2015 | Blog, Democracy
How much money are corporations putting into elections? Which corporations are putting in how much? Are corporations that are looking for contracts giving money to politicians who can push contracts to them? Are corporations channeling money from foreign interests...
by Bill Scher | Oct 16, 2015 | Uncategorized
Dems Draw Line At Retirement Security "Democrats rule out entitlement changes in budget talks" reports Politico: "The declaration effectively limits the scope of the budget talks to a small-ball deal to fund the government for one year, possibly two. Republican...
by Robert Borosage | Oct 16, 2015 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
One of the most striking contrasts between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in the first Democratic debate is their starkly different theories of how change will take place. Yet it is this difference that is at the center of the Sanders surge, and particularly of...
by Jeff Bryant | Oct 16, 2015 | Blog, Education
A lot of the commentary following the announcement by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan that he would be leaving his post at the end of the year was devoted to praising his apparent devotion to children. An extensive profile of Duncan and his tenure in Politico,...
by Terrance Heath | Oct 15, 2015 | Blog, Election 2016, Progressive Vision
The Democratic presidential debate between Lincoln Chafee, Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley, and Jim Webb was barely over before the usual post-debate debate over who “won” began. There’s a case to be made that the real winners of the Democratic debate were the...
by Bill Scher | Oct 15, 2015 | Blog, Economy, Progressive Vision
[fve]https://youtu.be/CdFxaKNd6xc[/fve] Canada's Liberal Party – nine years after losing the prime ministership and four years after being relegated to third-party status – is on the cusp of regaining control of the government Monday. If so, it has John Maynard Keynes...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 15, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement is complete, but we still are not allowed to know what is in it. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has called on the President to release the text of TPP to the public. The Hill has the story, in "Trumka calls for immediate...
by Dave Johnson | Oct 15, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
The U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement is shopping around to professors, trying to get them to help "expand the conversation" around the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with the public – even though TPP is...
by Bill Scher | Oct 15, 2015 | Uncategorized
Wait 'Til Next Year TPP may not get a vote until after November 2016. Politico: "'I don't think this is going to come up until the lame duck, when you have a lame-duck president ... and all these other lame-duck members who can vote to support it,' said a senior House...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Oct 15, 2015 | Blog, Election 2016
Unless you listened carefully, you might have missed the expanse of daylight between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders when asked about their plans for Social Security at the CNN Democratic debate Tuesday. It's a gap that is alarming people who are fighting to...
