"Words that make actions speak louder."
Where’s the Tea Party when you really need them? There’s a bit of investigative reporting from the Washington Post that ought to have launched a Tea Party protest, complete with signs, slogans, and speeches (from the likes of Michelle Bachmann, Sarah Palin, and Rand Paul — just to name a few.) Tax dollars spend on […]
Two depressing reports today show the depth of today’s jobs emergency, both immediately and in the long term. The message that these two reports convey is clear: We are in a deeper hole than much of the rhetoric coming from either end of Pennsylvania Avenue suggests. One is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and […]
The Constitution of the United States, Article II, Section 3: “He may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them…” We have a jobs emergency and the Congress has not acted. Almost everything the Senate does is being blocked by an obstructionist minority that is trying to tank the economy, believe a demoralized […]
A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds the most Americans do not support broad cuts in Social Security, either by raising the retirement age or the payroll tax. Oddly, that news is buried in the second-to-last paragraph of the USA Today article of the poll, and is not even mentioned in the Gallup.com write-up. Instead, the […]
The following was originally published by Politico With more than 20 million people unemployed or underemployed, deflation looming, trade deficits rising and the economy staggering, American elites are hyperventilating about balancing the books. While most economists talk about the need for short-term stimulus, this looks increasingly difficult. Republicans filibuster unemployment insurance, demanding spending cuts to […]
A disturbing pattern seems to be forming in Washington: Evidence of financial wrongdoing leads to financial settlements with large banking institutions, but with no apparent move to indict the individuals responsible. AIG agreed to the largest settlements in history, yet despite seemingly compelling evidence the Justice Department decided not to prosecute anyone. Now Goldman Sachs […]
They forget to dance with those that brung them Consider the current tempest about the “poisonous relations” between Obama and business. Former Clintonista Roger Altman, a Democratic investment banker, offers advice on how to mend the fences to both sides of the simmering divide. Altman sensibly suggests that Obama has been more business champion than […]
They’d rather switch than fight. Consider. Elizabeth Warren, brilliant Harvard Law Professor, stalwart defender of America’s beleagued middle class, championed the Consumer Financial Protection Agency as essential to protecting consumers from financial fraud and abuse. Against the odds, she managed to get the White House to make the reform a signature of its financial reform […]
Today’s image from the Rose Garden was a potent one: President Obama, standing with three of America’s long-term jobless, calling on Congress to end the Republican filibuster of unemployment benefits and calling out Senate conservatives for their hypocrisy. In today’s political climate, it’s an image that ought to be displayed a lot more often, especially […]
Will you be at Netroots Nation in Las Vegas later this week? I will be on a panel, The 2010 Elections: Channeling the Power of Jobs, Populism and the Angry Voter, Thursday at 10:30am. Come on by and attend the panel! Here is the complete description: The 2010 Elections: Channeling the Power of Jobs, Populism […]