"Words that make actions speak louder."
Evan as Washington ignores jobs bills and slashes help for long-term unemployed workers the economy may be starting to fall back. The economy added 431,000 jobs in May, but 411,000 of those were temporary census workers. Compare this to last month when businesses added 218,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remains very high at 9.7%, dropping […]
When progressive activists gather next week at the annual America’s Future Now conference, frustration and dismay will be widespread. Action on jobs is stalled among mixed signals from the White House. A Democratic Congress pours billions into the war in Afghanistan even as legislation to forestall the unimaginable layoff of 300,000 teachers is derailed in […]
I was getting ready to attend next week’s America’s Future Now conference, whose theme is that progressives must lead, and thinking about the relationship problems progressives are having with Barack Obama and the Congressional leadership. All the relationship books say that you need to be clear about what you need, so that you can communicate […]
Today ADP reported that private-sector jobs may have increased by 55,000 last month. (ADP is able to make this estimate because the company processes 1 of every 6 paychecks nationwide.) Meanwhile the Labor Department reported that initial claims for unemployment dropped 10,000 to 453,000 for the week ended May 29. Note that this drop brings […]
It’s an interesting time to be a progressive in the United States. In many ways, the election of President Barack Obama represented a logical, if improbable, end to the era of phony Reaganomics and demonization politics. But the Obama presidency has been a serious test for the progressive movement. The leaders in Washington who were […]
In Does Washington care about unemployment? economist Brad DeLong asks the question, In 1983, Ronald Reagan’s Washington regarded high unemployment as a national emergency. Today, with unemployment kissing 10 percent, Barack Obama’s Washington scarcely seems perturbed. Why? In 1983, when unemployment hit 10..5%, Washington was in a panic and it was considered a “genuine national […]
On Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will address a nationwide gathering of progressives at America’s Future Now! — one day after the conference holds “The Great Debate: Progressive Strategy in the Obama Era,” where attendees will discuss whether to fully back President Obama’s agenda or consti
Buffett is already defending Moody’s with statements that appear to be reasonable, but are in fact completely incoherent. Here’s what he says about the top brass at bailed out banks: “When society has to step in to save institutions . . . the CEO should go away broke.” So far, so good. But what about […]
Today’s Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission hearing on credit rating agencies promises to shed quite a bit of light on one of the most profitable and corrupt businesses in Corporate America. Rating agencies score huge profits regardless of how accurate their ratings prove, and thus never felt any serious pain from the financial crisis, despite the […]
No serious person denies that Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts and military increases threw the country into a pattern of borrowing and borrowing that we have not escaped. When Reagan took office the national debt was $995 billion. When Reagan left office it was $2.87 trillion and climbing fast. No serious person denies that Bush’s 2001 […]