by Jim Hightower | Aug 19, 2015 | Conservatism, Financial Reform, This Is The GOP
Phil Gramm, the former right-wing senator from Texas, has surprised me. I assumed he had zero charitable instincts. In office, he kept trying to kill safety net programs, such as food assistance: “We’re the only nation in the world where all our poor people are fat,”...
by Thom Hartmann | Aug 19, 2015 | Current Issues, Economy, Progressive Vision
Ann Coulter knows who she wants to be the Democratic nominee for president, and who that person is, well, it may surprise you. She wants Hillary Clinton to be the nominee, and thinks that if Bernie gets the nod, he’ll beat whoever the Republicans come up with to run...
by Bill Scher | Aug 19, 2015 | Uncategorized
Dem Race Tightens Bernie Sanders moves up in CNN national poll: "Overall, 47% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters say they support Clinton for the party's nomination. That's down 9 points since July ... Sanders has climbed 10 points since July and holds second...
by Terrance Heath | Aug 19, 2015 | Conservatism, This Is The GOP
Ten years later, the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina is a heartrending example of the consequences and human cost of conservative failure. Ten years after the poorest and most vulnerable in the areas hit by Hurricane Katrina were left to fend for...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 18, 2015 | Blog, Conservatism, Economy
In his extended "Meet the Press" interview, with Chuck Todd interrupting constantly, Republican front-runner Donald Trump advocated for a huge, huge giveaway of tax money to giant, multinational corporations, for a lower corporate tax rate and for a low minimum wage....
by Leo Gerard | Aug 18, 2015 | Blog, Trade
Confronted with a dire situation, a world power last week took strong action to secure its domestic jobs and manufacturing. That was China. Not the United States. China diminished the value of its currency. This gave its exporting industries a boost while...
by Bill Scher | Aug 18, 2015 | Uncategorized
Trump Immigration Plan Bashed Immigration experts trash Trumps plan. The Hill: "Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the head of the conservative American Action Forum, said ... it would cost anywhere from $400 billion to $600 billion to detain, process and deport every undocumented...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 17, 2015 | Blog
Businesses are run for a profit that goes into the pockets of the business' "investors." To be an investor requires that you have money. This is a rigged system that by definition channels the returns and gains of our economy to the people who have money in the first...
by Bill Scher | Aug 17, 2015 | Blog
Republicans used to brag about their "deep bench" of governors, diligently solving problems in contrast to the dysfunction happening in Washington. No more. All four sitting governors running for president -- Scott Walker, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal and John Kasich...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 17, 2015 | Blog, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown has put a "hold" on the nomination of Marisa Lago to be deputy U.S. trade representative. Brown says that his trade advisor is not allowed to see text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) unless he is present. The secrecy surrounding TPP...
by Robert Reich | Aug 17, 2015 | Economy, Jobs and Growth
Netflix just announced it’s offering paid leave to new mothers and fathers for the first year after the birth of adoption of a child. Other high-tech firms are close behind. Some big law firms are also getting into the act. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe is...
by Bill Scher | Aug 17, 2015 | Uncategorized
Trump Plan Attacks Immigration Donald Trump issues first position paper on immigration. NYT: "[Trump] called for a wall to be built along the southern border [funded] largely through increasing fees on border movement between the United States and Mexico ... Mr....
by Cormac Close | Aug 17, 2015 | Financial Reform
Symphony, a planned chat system being developed on behalf of Wall Street's biggest institutions, has a ton of fancy new features. You can personalize filters, share trading algorithms, prevent “government spying,” and much, much more! Wait, about that last one.... Are...
by Robert Borosage | Aug 17, 2015 | Blog
America lost a giant this weekend when Julian Bond left us at 75. And CAF lost a friend, a founder, a mentor and a guide. Julian lived a large life, devoted to making America better. And we all are beneficiaries of his work and his wisdom. He came to his calling...
by Roger Hickey | Aug 17, 2015 | Blog
America has lost a great leader, and many of us lost a good friend. By the time Julian Bond was 20 years old, he had helped lead the sit-in movement that began dismantling official segregation in Atlanta and he had left the academic life of Morehouse College to help...
by Harvey J Kaye | Aug 16, 2015 | Blog
The Second World War ended 70 years ago this past weekend. Americans had fought for the Four Freedoms – Freedom of speech and expression, Freedom of worship, Freedom from want, Freedom from fear – the vision or promise of a postwar world that President Franklin...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 14, 2015 | Blog, Trade
China had been setting a too-low exchange rate for their currency, thereby exporting unemployment. Then early this week their bank made a move and the currency plunged. The next day another plunge, then another. China declared this was because they are allowing their...
by Cormac Close | Aug 14, 2015 | Conservatism
Governors are proud of their balanced budgets. If you drank a shot every time one was mentioned in that August 6 Fox News GOP debate, you would have been in for a painful Friday. Of course, every state’s constitution (save Vermont’s) requires a balanced budget. The...
by Bill Scher | Aug 14, 2015 | Uncategorized
De Blasio May Press Hillary Tension between Hillary Clinton and Mayor Bill de Blasio. WSJ: "In coming months Mr. de Blasio is expected to host a presidential forum on income inequality, to which he plans to invite both Democrats and Republicans ... Such an event is...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 14, 2015 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
Divide and conquer works. When you face a strong enemy it's always a good strategy to find ways to break them apart into smaller units that can be fought separately. A state initiative to gut California's public-employee pension and healthcare benefits is trying to do...
by Richard Eskow | Aug 14, 2015 | Blog, Retirement Security
Some things never change. “The lash of the dictator will be felt," a Republican House member said in 1935 when Social Security was first proposed. “Social Security is the delinquent child of the left,” a Fox News commentator said this week, “that grew up to be an evil...
by Jeff Bryant | Aug 13, 2015 | Blog, Education
Some Very Serious People have decided Governor John Kasich of Ohio is the latest personality to emerge from the field of presidential candidates in the Republican Party to warrant genuine, bona fide consideration. According to a roundup of political pundits and...
by Van Jones | Aug 13, 2015 | Blog, Democracy
Many observers are perplexed by the decision of some Black Lives Matter activists to twice disrupt attempted addresses by presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders. Well, I am not perplexed. The new generation of civil rights activists never accepted "trickle-down...
by Joshua Holland | Aug 13, 2015 | Democracy
This commentary originally appeared in Raw Story. A lot of white progressives have been flummoxed by #BlackLivesMatter activists disrupting Sen. Bernie Sanders’ events. They point out that Sanders is the most liberal candidate in this race, and wonder why Hillary...
by Cormac Close | Aug 13, 2015 | Tax Reform
At 35 percent, the U.S. corporate income tax is technically among the highest in the world. In practice, corporations pay a small fraction of that, and some pay no taxes at all. Corporations will do everything under the law to reduce their tax bill, and often this...
by Bill Scher | Aug 13, 2015 | Uncategorized
Hillary's Hybrid Student Loan Plan Hillary Clinton's student loan draws from Democratic and Republican sources. The Atlantic's Tyler Bishop: "Clinton’s plan includes much of [Sen. Elizabeth] Warren’s refinancing proposal ... [Sen. Lamar Alexander's] plan would have...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Aug 13, 2015 | Jobs and Growth
The case for ending the federal budget spending caps known as the "sequester" has just gotten a whole lot stronger. It's all about jobs. At the request of Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is currently running as a Democratic presidential candidate, the Congressional Budget...
by Scott Klinger | Aug 12, 2015 | Blog, Democracy
Our country has no shortage of big problems. While big challenges are nothing new for Americans, how we deal with them has changed. Fifty years ago, rising social unrest forced Congress to deal with big things — like voting rights, immigration, and access to health...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 12, 2015 | Blog, Jobs and Growth
Republicans have tried various tactics to weaken or just get rid of unions, and that includes public employee unions. Here is the latest scheme: GOP senators are setting out to ban public employee unions, claiming they are partisan political organizations and that...
by Bill Scher | Aug 12, 2015 | Blog
Lawrence Lessig has launched a "referendum" campaign for President, meaning his candidacy would serve as an up or down vote on a package of election reforms he calls the Citizens Equality Act. Once he got those reforms enacted, he pledges to resign. He argues this is...
by Bill Scher | Aug 12, 2015 | Uncategorized
China Currency Plummets China's currency devalues again. AP: "On Wednesday, the yuan dropped another 1.6 percent ... The People’s Bank of China promised Tuesday to keep the exchange rate 'basically stable,' but Wednesday’s decline prompted suggestions the yuan is...
by Dave Johnson | Aug 12, 2015 | Blog, Trade
"What is good for growth in China is unfortunately bad for everybody else." – Bill McQuaker, co-head of the multi-asset team at Henderson Global Investors, quoted in Reuters China on Monday announced it is lowering the value of its currency about two percent in order...
by Jeff Bryant | Aug 11, 2015 | Blog, Education
When people begin a story about how to fix America, they often start with education, and they often start in communities like Liberty City, Fla. Liberty City lies to the west of Miami Beach, across the Biscayne Bay and away from the sun-washed beaches and sparkling...
by Bill Scher | Aug 11, 2015 | Blog, Climate
Republicans have come a long way on climate change. Unfortunately that way is down. Twenty-three years ago, Republican President George H. W. Bush not only acknowledged climate change was real. He signed an international climate change treaty, which the Senate...
by Leo Gerard | Aug 11, 2015 | Blog
Lacie Little won back last week everything Indiana University Health Inc. took from her – except her job. Her beloved nursing job. She got back wages and a formal public statement by the hospital corporation saying that it removed the firing from her work...
by Bill Scher | Aug 11, 2015 | Uncategorized
Bernie Rallies LA Bernie packs the Los Angeles Sports Arena. W. Post: "...Sanders’s campaign said that 27,500 people were inside and outside the venue ... 'There is no president who will fight harder to end institutional racism,' he told them. Or for a higher minimum...
by Roger Hickey | Aug 11, 2015 | Blog, Election 2016
Many young people are discovering a historical secret: There was a time, only a few decades ago, when almost all Americans could find a way to attend college or university (like the University of California or New York University) and emerge with a degree without...
by Bill Daley | Aug 10, 2015 | Conservatism
Comedian Bob Newhart once based a routine on the thesis that if we equip an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters, eventually they will write the great books. As I inspect the now 17 Republican presidential candidates, I have begun to...
by Bill Scher | Aug 10, 2015 | Uncategorized
Hillary Rolls Out Student Debt Plan Hillary Clinton announces $350B plan to reduce student debt. Politico: "Clinton’s overall $350 billion budget for the proposal breaks down like this: More than half of the total would be spent on the grants for state and colleges....
by Robert Borosage | Aug 10, 2015 | Blog, Progressive Vision
"It's over. Not one word about economic inequality, climate change, Citizens United or student debt,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeted as the two-hour-long Republican presidential debate wrapped up Thursday night. "That’s why the Rs are so out of touch.” The...
