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Which Side Are You On? Alice Rivlin and the Wall Street Bailout King or Social Security?
2 hours 23 min agoBy Richard (RJ) Eskow Senior Fellow, Campaign for America’s Future There’s a battle going on between those who are defending Social Security – that is to say, the “good guys” – and those like economist Alice Rivlin and Wall Street banker/giveaway king Neel Kashkari, who would cut it. The attackers pretend to see nuances that don’t exist, [...]
The GOP Plot to Screw the Economy and the Middle Class
Thu, 07/29/2010 - 14:00By Bob Cesca Author, “One Nation Under Fear” We’re only three months away from the midterm election when a shockingly large number of American voters will inexplicably vote for Republican candidates. I have no idea if this will mean a Republican takeover of the House or Senate or both, but there will definitely be enough voter support [...]
The Private Sector Needs a Public Jobs Stimulus
Thu, 07/29/2010 - 11:00By Mitchell Hirsch 2010 CREDO Mobile/Netroots Nation award for Blog Activist of the Year What do I mean? Specifically, the U.S. private sector currently needs substantial, publicly-funded direct job-creation programs in order to get private employers to hire again on the scale needed to significantly reduce unemployment and promote a robust economic recovery. It’s an argument that I [...]
Bravo To Congress’ Making It In America Push — What It Still Needs
Thu, 07/29/2010 - 07:00By Dave Johnson Fellow with Campaign for America’s Future House leaders deserve praise for fighting for working people by launching a “Make It In America” initiative which they officially unveiled this week. The country still badly needs an immediate job-creation effort, but this is a very important longer-term initiative for reviving America’s manufacturing base and restoring our [...]
Economy Reality Check: Make Full Employment Job One
Wed, 07/28/2010 - 16:00By Robert L. Borosage Co-Director Campaign for America’s Future Washington is enmeshed in the economic version of the phony war. The two sides have declared war on one another, but neither has faced up to the fierce battles yet to come. Too few seem aware of the staggering challenges that face this country. Here is a summary of [...]
For the Strength of Rosie the Riveter: Make It in America
Wed, 07/28/2010 - 09:57By Leo W. Gerard USW International President Rosie the Riveter defiantly rolls up her blue work shirt to show off a brawny bicep. She’s a symbol of American strength. She worked in a manufacturing job, one of millions that constructed the defense machine that won World War II for the Allies. She said, “We can do it.” And [...]
Blankenship Knows No Shame
Wed, 07/28/2010 - 07:00By Mike Hall AFL-CIO Senior Writer Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank discovered what those of us who watched Massey Energy CEO Donald Blankenship operate over the years have known for some time. Blankenship, who has made a career of busting unions, violating mine safety laws, attacking environmentalists and shilling for the far right and corporate America, has no [...]
Obama Exponentially Better for U.S. Than Bush
Tue, 07/27/2010 - 14:00I get a lot of anti-Obama stuff these days. My response is as follows, to all of them: I am a progressive, not a Democrat, but CERTAINLY not a Republican. My biggest problem with Obama is that he tries to pander to the right too much. At the end of the day, on his worst day, Obama [...]
The Budget Deficit Chicken Hawks
Tue, 07/27/2010 - 11:00By Dean Baker Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research Most people are familiar with the concept of “chicken hawks.” Chicken hawks are the politicians who are anxious to send other people to risk their lives in war, but somehow managed to avoid service when they had the opportunity to fight themselves. Former Vice-President Dick Cheney [...]
The Great Decoupling of Corporate Profits From Jobs
Tue, 07/27/2010 - 07:00By Robert Reich Former U.S. Secretary of Labor, Professor at Berkeley Second-quarter earnings reports are coming in, and they’re making Wall Street smile. Corporate profits are up. And big American companies are sitting on a gigantic pile of money. The 500 largest non-financial firms held almost a trillion dollars in the second quarter, and that money pile [...]
You Make the Call: Who is Correct In the Democratic Civil War Over Taxes and Spending?
Mon, 07/26/2010 - 12:58By David Sirota Political journalist, best-selling author and syndicated newspaper columnist In the last 72 hours, we’ve finally seen the outlines of the inevitable Democratic civil war that’s been brewing over taxes and spending. Both sides argue that their way is the path to economic prosperity – and so the question is, which side represents a [...]
Pelosi: Congress’ Coming “Making It In America” Initiative
Mon, 07/26/2010 - 12:01By Dave Johnson Fellow with Campaign for America’s Future At the Netroots Nation convention last weekend in Las Vegas, Speaker Nancy Pelosi talked about an upcoming Congressional initiative to help restore American manufacturing. The initiative, called “Making It In America” will include a series of bills to be introduced after the summer recess. Democrats are priming the House [...]
Balanced Trade Legislation Would End Rip-Off of America and Workers
Sun, 07/25/2010 - 14:00For the decade just ended on 12/31/2009, the U.S total trade deficit with all nations totaled $5.8 trillion, by far the largest such deficit in our history. The U.S. is the only large industrial nation that runs trade deficits. Until the mid-1970’s we had a policy of maintaining balance of paymentssurpluses with the rest of the [...]
No to Oligarchy
Sun, 07/25/2010 - 11:00By Sen. Bernie Sanders Independent U.S. Senator from Vermont The American people are hurting. As a result of the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior on Wall Street, millions of Americans have lost their jobs, homes, life savings and their ability to get a higher education. Today, some 22 percent of our children live in poverty, and millions [...]
Tough Mine, Workplace Safety Bill Advances
Sun, 07/25/2010 - 07:00By Mike Hall AFL-CIO Senior Writer Tough new mine safety and workplace safety rules cleared a big hurdle yesterday when the House Education and Labor Committee approved legislation that includes stronger enforcement tools, tougher penalties and broader workers’ rights. The bill—now named The Robert C. Byrd Miner Safety and Health Act (H.R. 5663) in honor of the late [...]
Trumka at Netroots Nation: New Industrial Policy for a Globalized World
Sun, 07/25/2010 - 07:00By Marc Laitin AFL-CIO Online Mobilization Coordinator AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka laid out a 21st century U.S. economic policy at Saturday’s lunchtime keynote session at Netroots Nation before a diverse crowd of more than 1,000 progressive political activists. Restoring the nation’s middle class in part means returning to a “real economy”–one in which we make things, rather than [...]
Marchers Spotlight Massey Mine Deaths at CEO Blankenship Press Club Speech
Sat, 07/24/2010 - 14:00By Mike Hall AFL-CIO Senior Writer Inside the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., this week, Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship tried to defend the indefensible – Massey’s coal mine safety record. Thirty-one miners have died in Massey mines this year, including 29 in the April 5 explosion at the Upper Big Branch (W.Va.) mine. Fifty-four coal miners [...]
Recovery Act in Action #8: Jobs in the Heartland
Sat, 07/24/2010 - 11:00By Jared Bernstein Chief Economist and Economic Policy Adviser to Vice President Joseph Biden Our latest Recovery-Act-in-Action installment features some exciting new technology, 100 good-paying manufacturing jobs, and the public/private co-investment that is critical to job growth right now. It’s all taking place in Indianapolis, Indiana, where Allison Transmission is building a new factory to make hybrid systems [...]
Atlanta Area Residents Demand Big Banks Help Struggling Homeowners
Sat, 07/24/2010 - 07:00By James Parks AFL-CIO Senior Writer In Atlanta—one of the areas hardest hit by foreclosures—residents who are about to lose their homes demanded last week that Big Banks like Wachovia/Wells Fargo reform their policies and protect homeowners on the brink of homelessness. More than 200 people, including community groups, clergy and labor and government leaders, attended a hearing at an [...]
It’s the Tax Cuts and Wars, Stupid
Fri, 07/23/2010 - 14:00By David Sirota Political journalist, best-selling author and syndicated newspaper columnist In a terrific column for Tax.com, Pulitzer-Prize winner David Cay Johnston breaks down new government data and puts USA Today’s whole “lowest tax bills since 1950″ revelation into dollars and cents we can all understand: In 1979 federal taxes for the median-income household totaled $6,100, but [...]