"Words that make actions speak louder."
Don’t miss the Bill Moyers show tonight. He’s got Simon Johnson, the former IMF economist and Rep. Marcy Kaptur looking at how Wall Street dominates Washington — from the White House to Congress. Eyeopening stuff: Arianna Huffington published an excerpt from the transcript: BILL MOYERS: Let — let’s look at this story that just– I […]
Glenn Beck has captured national attention with his caustic poison. The aging right-wing troubadours — Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly—still rouse the wingnuts and enforce discipline among Republican legislators. They’ve peddled the fantasies about ACORN and the all-powerful poverty lobby, and launched a search-and-destroy hunt for targets of opportunity in the Obama administration. Progressives have […]
"Vandalism" screams the cover of The Economist, depicting President Obama leaving an ice pick in the tire of free trade. (No racial overtones there; after all, as the president explained, he was black before he was elected.) When the president imposed tariffs on Chinese tire imports, following the ruling of the independent International Trade Commission, […]
The world economy is growing; stock markets are up; talk of recovery, not world depression, fills the business pages. As the leaders of the 20 leading economies gather in Pittsburgh this week, they might well feel the euphoria of someone who has survived a near-death experience. (For an insightful report on Pittsburgh and the G-20, […]
Today the new Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, modeled after the New Deal-era Pecora Commission, begins its investigation into possible misconduct by the financial sector causing last year’s market meltdown. Campaign for America’s Future co-director Robert Borosage released the following statement on what the commission needs to do to fulfill its mission. Below that is a […]
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, ….The best lack all conviction, while the worstAre full of passionate intensity. Surely some revelation is at hand — William Butler Yeats President Obama traveled to Wall Street on the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers that triggered the worst […]
The President gives a great speech. He offers reason against hysteria. He summons us to our better angels. He challenges politicians and Americans to do "great things," because that is "who we are." He claims the center by defining himself against left and right, even as he acknowledges merit in both. But he faces an […]
At a delightful dinner party the other night, our host, a cosmopolitan man with interests ranging from water in California to Sufism in India, punctuated a brief complaint about the economy by noting, "And of course, I’m a nut on trade" (meaning an ardent advocate of our corporate "free trade" policies). You aren’t the only […]
The departure of Van Jones from the White House is a sorry chapter in our politics. Van is a gifted leader of ideas and of action. He makes connections, thinks beyond the box, and inspires others to join. As California chose to spend billions on prisons locking up nonviolent offenders even as its schools declined, […]
As Congress returns from its summer recess, President Obama, slipping in the polls, assailed on all sides by the carpers, faces a strategic choice: Lead the charge, rally Democrats, and push forward on his agenda, starting with health care reform or trim his sails and adopt a more cautious course. David Brooks, the keeper of […]