Join the " Brown Bag Lunch Vigils!
Join the "Healthcare NOT Warfare" campaign!
Click here for the Congressional Schedule
PDA Brown Bag Vigils
"Devastated by the results of the 2004 election, I was looking for a group that would help unite progressive Democrats with others, like the Greens, to form a 'big tent' for those who believe in social justice and peace. . .PDA has proven to be a creative, dynamic force for everything from electoral reform to ending the war in Iraq."
- Medea Benjamin, Code Pink, Global Exchange
Published by TomDispatch.
Almost every day, reports come back from the CIA’s “secret” battlefield in the Pakistani tribal borderlands. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles--that is, pilot-less drones--shoot missiles (18 of them in a single attack on a tiny village last week) or drop bombs and then the news comes in: a certain number of al-Qaeda or Taliban leaders or suspected Arab or Uzbek or Afghan “militants” have died. The numbers are often remarkably precise. Sometimes they are attributed to U.S. sources, sometimes to the Pakistanis; sometimes, it’s hard to tell where the information comes from. In the Pakistani press, on the other hand, the numbers that come back are usually of civilian dead. They, too, tend to be precise. [more]
Published by NPP.
Congress has appropriated an additional $136.8 billion for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the 2010 fiscal year. National Priorities Project estimates that for this fiscal year, $64.5 billion is directed to Iraq and $72.3 billion to Afghanistan. Bills that included war-related funding were the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act (H.R. 2892) passed on October 28, 2009; the Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 3288) passed on December 16, 2009; and the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 3326) passed on December 19, 2009. [more]
Published by The New York Times.
MUNICH — For many years, the Munich Security Conference has been dominated by rivalry and suspicion between Russia and the United States. The suspicion continues to be fueled by Russian hatred of the idea of NATO expansion even further eastward, eventually admitting Ukraine.
But at the conference this weekend, the atmosphere was markedly different. On arms control, both sides tried to determine whether it was at all possible for President Barack Obama to realize his vision of a world without nuclear weapons. The debate was free of polemics and recriminations. [more]
Published by The Nation.
Sarah Palin fed the Teapartisans in Nashville an appetizer of warmed over one-liners about taxes, spending and deficits that add up to "generational theft."
Then she gave the meat eaters what they paid for. [more]
Published by AlterNet.
Let's hope the American people don't buy the propaganda of anti-government groups calling for the overthrow of the very institutions that protect all of us from tyranny.
As I continue to read the goings on at the Tea Party Convention, I am overwhelmed by my disbelief that this is a serious movement. However, when I step back to take a rational look, I completely get it. Humankind has a long history of rallying around hate and propaganda. If you recall the Frank Capra films used by our country to rally the nation during World War II, you understand that we have a rich history of being taken in by effective messaging. The American Right Wing movement over the last thirty years has known exactly when to pounce on any deep-seated fears in order to gain political advantage. In the guise of patriotism and our so-called freedom, the public has been hoodwinked into believing that government is evil and government services are only for the poor or someone else. The roads we use, the mass transit we ride, the public schools that serve our children and yes, the air we breathe, can only work with an effective and well-organized government. To say over and over again that government is evil and actually believe it is the most Un-American rhetoric anyone could buy into. [more]
Published by Truthdig.
The conviction of the Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui in New York last week of trying to kill American military officers and FBI agents illustrates that the greatest danger to our security does not come from al-Qaida but the thousands of shadowy mercenaries, kidnappers, killers and torturers our government employs around the globe.
The bizarre story surrounding Siddiqui, 37, who received an undergraduate degree from MIT and a doctorate in neuroscience from Brandeis University, often defies belief. Siddiqui, who could spend 50 years in prison on seven charges when she is sentenced in May, was by her own account abducted in 2003 from her hometown of Karachi, Pakistan, with her three children—two of whom remain missing—and spirited to a secret U.S. prison where she was allegedly tortured and mistreated for five years. The American government has no comment, either about the alleged clandestine detention or the missing children. [more]
Published by The New York Times.
A funny thing happened after Adm. Mike Mullen called for gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military: A curious silence befell much of the right. If this were a Sherlock Holmes story, it would be the case of the attack dogs that did not bark.
John McCain, commandeering the spotlight as usual, did fulminate against the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” But the press focus on McCain, the crazy man in Washington’s attic, was misleading. His yapping was an exception, not the rule. [more]
All over America, the news is spreading that long-term investment in our national infrastructure, is--amazingly--a good idea. I guess people start to wake up when bridges start to fail, schools fall apart, etc; the writing's on the crumbling wall, so-to-speak. Rebuilding America is a trillion dollar plus project. Levees, roads, bridges.
But while we're in the infrastructure inventory mood, why not look at some upgrades? God knows, whenever my computer takes a dive and I'm forced to replace it, I always look to moving my specs up a notch or two, don't you?
Current infrastructure upgrades include: [more]
Published by Common Dreams.
George Washington's birthday is approaching and with it will come the attendant mythology: hatchet and cherry tree, wooden teeth, throwing a silver dollar across the Potomac River--or the Rappahannock.
Of course, as the old joke goes, a dollar went a lot further then. Today, if you tried to hurl a silver dollar across the Potomac, chances are some member of Congress would snatch it in flight like one of those nature film grizzly bears grabbing a salmon in mid-leap. [more]
Published by The Rolling Stone.
Obama had millions of followers eager to fight for his agenda. But the president muzzled them--and he's paying the price
"Staff are replaceable. A mass of dedicated volunteers is not." —David Plouffe
As the polls were closing in Massachusetts on the evening of January 19th, turning Ted Kennedy's Senate seat over to the Republicans for the first time in half a century, David Plouffe was busy reminiscing about the glory days. [more]
Published byThe New Republic.
Obama has reinvented the state in more ways than you can imagine.
These days, liberals don’t know whether to feel betrayed by or merely disappointed with Barack Obama. They have gone from decrying his willingness to remove the public option from his health care plan to worrying that, in the wake of Democrat Martha Coakley’s defeat in Massachusetts, he won’t get any plan through Congress. On other subjects, too, from Afghanistan to Wall Street, Obama has thoroughly let down his party’s left flank. [more]
Published by The Los Angeles Times.
Dissatisfaction with both political parties runs deep.
It has been more than four decades since the Congress of the United States has been able to summon the will to pass a major piece of social legislation. Not since 1965, when Medicare and the Voting Rights Act both overcame decades of opposition to become law, has Congress proved itself up to the task.
Significant healthcare reform is all but dead for this session, and the chances of substantively addressing the regulatory breakdown that allowed Wall Street's irresponsible speculation to precipitate the worst global financial crisis since the Depression seem to recede with each passing day. So too the prospects for passage of further stimulus measures to remedy the crisis of unemployment and underemployment that continues to ravage the lives of families in states from Michigan to California. [more]
Published by AlterNet.
Punishing the guilty for deeds they committed in the past is the only way to show the world that we are truly on a new path.
In a week when one-year report cards on the Obama administration were piling up and not all the grades were good, Americans searching for the real change we heard so much about on Obama's campaign trail were hit with some news that would send his grades plummeting. Late last Friday, we learned that Obama's Department of Justice plans to go easy on John Yoo and Jay Bybee—the two assistant attorney generals under Bush who penned the infamous torture memos. For those who have been working long and hard in the accountability movement to make sure no one—not even presidents or their top advisors—is above the law, this was a serious setback. [more]
Published by the World Socialist Web Site.
There is one overriding message in the budget proposal released by the Obama administration Monday: American capitalism is in decline and faces national bankruptcy.
The budget forecasts the doubling of the US national debt over the next few years, even on the assumption of a rapid recovery from the financial crisis and slump. It projects that high, long-term unemployment will become a permanent fixture of American life. [more]
Garbage In, Garbage Out
Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan answered that he had placed his trust in a flawed theory when he was called before Congress to explain why he, Goldman Sachs Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and Deputy Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, prevented Brooksley Born, head of the Commodity Futures Trading Corporation, a government regulatory agency, from doing her job of regulating over-the-counter derivatives.
The efficient markets theory is that unregulated markets are efficient and rational. According to this theory in which Greenspan placed his trust, unregulated markets produce the best possible result. Any regulatory interference worsens the outcome. [more]
Published by BBC News.
Costa Rica—green and happy?
Whatever the outcome of the presidential elections on Sunday, one thing seems certain. The country will continue to break the mold.
Central America is a region still associated with coups and civil strife, but Costa Rica has no army. It was abolished in 1949. [more]
Published on Common Dreams.
After insisting for a year that failure was not an option, President Barack Obama is now acknowledging his health care overhaul may die in Congress.
His remarks at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser Thursday night sounded contradictory at times, complicating congressional leaders' effort to revive health care legislation as Democrats hunger for guidance from the White House. Even while saying he still wanted to get the job done, Obama counseled going slow, and bowed to new political realities. Democrats no longer command a filibuster-proof Senate majority, and voters and lawmakers are far more concerned with jobs and the economy than with enacting sweeping and expensive changes to the health system. [more]
The Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee today unanimously endorsed a resolution calling for passage of single payer healthcare, Senate Bill 400 and House Bill 1660, also known as the "Family and Business Healthcare Security Act."
Given the healthcare reform deadlock in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania’s nation-leading status in the battle for state-based “Medicare for All,” is all the more significant. “Not only does Pennsylvania now have the Democratic Party on board with the Single-payer healthcare for all,” said Healthcare for All PA executive director Chuck Pennacchio, “we also have the promised signature of our governor and the active support of Republican and Democratic leaders in both the State Senate and State House.” [more]
Former PDA Advisory Board member Jeff Cohen is the founding director of the Park Center for Independent Media and endowed chair/associate professor of journalism at Ithaca College. In this interview, Cohen discusses progressives and the Democratic Party in light of the current politcal landscape.
Part One:
[more]Published by t r u t h o u t.
You can walk down many of the streets of Port-au-Prince and see absolutely no evidence that the world community has helped Haiti.
Twenty-three days after the earthquake jolted Haiti and killed over 200,000 people, as many as a million people have still not received any international food assistance. [more]
Published by Citizens Education Project.
Even in good economic times the lure of high paying jobs can be almost as powerful as the gravity of a black hole. As [this] Salt Lake Tribune story makes clear, the promise of decent, stable employment is apparently enough to get most residents of Emery County [Utah] on board with a proposal for an expensive nuclear power plant requiring water the Green River can't spare. [more]
Published by Common Dreams.
A new Gallup poll is out:
PRINCETON, NJ -- More than one-third of Americans (36%) have a positive image of "socialism," while 58% have a negative image. Views differ by party and ideology, with a majority of Democrats and liberals saying they have a positive view of socialism, compared to a minority of Republicans and conservatives.
"Socialism" was one of seven terms included in a Jan. 26-27 Gallup poll. Americans were asked to indicate whether their top-of-mind reactions to each were positive or negative. Respondents were not given explanations or descriptions of the terms. [more]
Published by Truthdig.
Finally President Barack Obama has come to his senses on financial regulation. His endorsement of what he calls the “Volcker Rule” for once puts him squarely on the side of ordinary Americans as opposed to the banking bandits who have so thoroughly fleeced the public.
The proposal from former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker basically involves restoring the spirit, if not the letter, of the 1930s Glass-Steagall banking regulations to prevent another Great Depression. It means separating the activities of commercial banks, entrusted with the deposits of ordinary folks, from the antics of the financial high rollers who are presumably dealing with wealthier and more knowledgeable investors. Commercial banks were intended to be heavily regulated and insured by the government to protect the savings of unwary citizens. Less risk-averse investors and the firms that handled their funds could fend for themselves, and if there was a collapse there would be no innocent victims requiring a government bailout. [more]
Published by In These Times.
Jan. 21, 2010, will go down as a dark day in the history of U.S. democracy, and its decline.
On that day the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government may not ban corporations from political spending on elections—a decision that profoundly affects government policy, both domestic and international.
The decision heralds even further corporate takeover of the U.S. political system.
To the editors of The New York Times, the ruling “strikes at the heart of democracy” by having “paved the way for corporations to use their vast treasuries to overwhelm elections and intimidate elected officials into doing their bidding.” [more]
Published by Creators.com.
Judging by Tim Tebow's much-hyped Super Bowl ad, “choose life” remains conservatives' favorite abortion shibboleth. But really, the phrase better captures the stakes in the Great Budget Wars of 2010.
Plagued by deficits, communities everywhere must now decide between tax reform and public spending cuts—between economic life and death. And thanks to two Western bellwether states, we know what each choice means. [more]
Published by The Nation.
Dear Senator Reid,
You have defended the filibuster in the past, but your duty as Senate majority leader at the present moment is to restore majority rule. Right now, the Senate operates under a supermajority rule that the founders never intended and that has no precedent in the way the Senate used to operate. The problem is not the old-fashioned "talking filibuster" but the absence of the filibuster: it's the need to find sixty votes to cut off debate even when there is no debate to cut off. In the old days, up to the 1970s, the filibuster was so time-consuming and conspicuous the Senate could accommodate only a handful per session, and even these sometimes failed to hold off a majority vote. The filibuster that Mr. Smith undertook in the Frank Capra movie was aimed at rallying the country behind him. He wanted the rest of us to pay attention. But that's the last thing the Republicans use the filibuster for now. They use it to silence debate. So bills are strangled to death with no debate, not even a muffled cry, over and over. [more]
Published by Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare.
The Labor Campaign for Single Payer [has] joined the growing number of nurses, doctors and other healthcare advocates who have responded to President Obama's State of the Union challenge to "let him know" if there is a better approach that "will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare, and stop insurance company abuses." [more]
Published by ClimateWire. Part one of a two-part story.
JHARIA, India -- Night falls here by 5 p.m. and people stream into the open-air market to catch the latest political news. They have much to discuss, because elections are currently on in the state of Jharkhand, which is famous for three things: corruption, a home-grown terrorism threat called Naxalism, and this area's economic life, which is marked in every imaginable way by coal.
Coal-fired electricity lights a single incandescent bulb in each shop, and the combined yellow glow gives the market a festive air. Underneath this town, the earth is burning. Suresh Kumar, 50, secretary of a local union, leaves the tea shop where he has his makeshift office and steers his motorbike down a road lined with dark piles of mining debris. [more]
Published by ClimateWire. Part two of a two-part story. Click here for part one.
BOKARO, India -- The men who work at Bokaro Steel City (there are few women) behave as though they are in the Wild West. Some are slick and charming with their words. They stand in air filled with fine coal dust that gets into every crevice of the skin and upper respiratory system, while saying that the dust filters are 99.9 percent efficient.
Others, such as the gun-toting security guards, are silent and watchful. They need to be, in order to cope with the pressures that are unique to Jharkhand, India's richest coal state. The state is among the most corrupt in the country. It is the richest in mineral wealth, and faces a home-grown communist threat called Naxalism. It has a thriving coal mafia, and millions of dollars get traded between politicians leveraging the future of the residents to gain control over the fuel. [more]
Published by The Huffington Post.
One year into their term in office, the Obama administration's record on human rights has been a major disappointment.
In part because the Bush administration abused the promotion of democracy and human rights to rationalize its militaristic policies in the Middle East and elsewhere, the Obama administration has at times been reluctant to be a forceful advocate for those struggling against oppression. For example, Obama was cautious in supporting the ongoing freedom struggle in Iran, in part because he believes that more overt advocacy could set back what he sees as the more critical issue of curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions. He is also aware of how the history of U.S. interventionism in that country, overt threats of "regime change" by the previous administration, and the U.S. invasion of two neighboring countries in the name of promoting democracy could lead to a nationalist reaction to such grandstanding. (Despite this caution, however, the Iranian regime has falsely accused Obama of guiding the massive pro-democracy movement that is challenging the increasingly repressive rule in that country.) [more]
Published by Consortium News.
In past years when I talked to American progressives about the growing media imbalance – as the Right gained dominance in books, magazines, newspapers, talk radio and cable TV – a typical response was, “well, the Left is stronger on the Internet.” But now even that advantage is disappearing, as should have been expected.
After all, the Right built its powerful media advantage by investing billions and billions of dollars over three-plus decades, first in magazines and various print outlets; later in national talk-radio syndicates; then in making Fox News the leading cable news network. So, it didn’t take lots of smarts to figure out the Right would use its money to conquer the Internet, too. [more]
Published by Center for Economics and Policy Research.
Ever since Keynes wrote The General Theory in the 30s economists have understood the mechanism for escaping the sort of slump the economy faced in the Great Depression. The key point was to generate demand. The government had to do something–anything--that would increase demand for goods and services.
This depression problem was the exact opposite of the normal economic problem of scarcity, the problem created by insufficient supply of resources like land, labor and capital. The problem of scarcity is in principle difficult–we have to either take something from someone to make anyone better off or find some way to make the economy as a whole more efficient. However, the problem of lack of demand should be simple: we just have to increase demand in aggregate. This is possible without making anyone worse off. [more]
Published by Counterpunch.
If the economy deteriorates in the L-shaped “hockey-stick” rut that many economists forecast, what political price will President Obama and the Democrats pay for having returned the financial keys to the Bush Republican appointees who gave away the store in the first place? Reappointing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke may end up injuring not only the economy but also the Democratic Party for years to come. Recognizing this, Republicans made populist points by opposing his reappointment during the Senate confirmation hearings last Thursday, January 27–the day after Obama’s State of the Union address. [more]
Published by AlterNet.
American politics is a hoot! Where else can raw ignorance rise to such high places—and then flaunt itself shamelessly for all to see?
For example, who needs Jay Leno or Conan O'Brien for comic relief, when we've got Andre Bauer? He's the Lieutenant governor of South Carolina (a state, by the way, that really is a comer on the political comedy circuit—especially after Gov. Mark Sanford's madcap schtick last year involving his disappearance, the Appalachian Trail and an Argentine mistress. [more]
Published by FireDogLake.
Our democracy is for sale. Every day. It is the reason people are just fed up with the dysfunctional political system. People want real change that will give them back a smidgen of security. The Republican Party has shown itself to be incapable of managing our economy. But, there is a fight underway for the soul of the Democratic Party: between Wall Street Democrats and the people.
I want to start this story by recounting a very recent conversation with a seasoned political operative in New York, a good, decent person who plays the political game quite well. This person said, "your opponent is totally beatable and can win this race if you raise the money and I know how you could get money from Wall Street by making an alliance with X person". I stopped this person immediately and said, "I won’t take that money". There was silence on the phone and this person said, "Then, you can’t win." I replied, "I do not want to win if the price is to be corrupted by that money." [more]
Published by Physicians for a National Health Program.
“People should go where they are not supposed to go, say what they are not supposed to say, and stay when they are told to leave.”--Howard Zinn
Well, that quote pretty well sums up “what to do”. But my biggest challenge is “how”. Specifically, how do I neutralize some pretty powerful fear? [more]
Published by Common Dreams.
"If anyone...has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know."
-- President Obama, State of the Union, January 27, 2010
An open letter in response to President Obama's State of the Union request for a better approach to health care reform: [more]
Published by FAIR.
As with healthcare, right-wing complaints framed the debate
The sweeping bill to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions that moved through Congress over the last year received relatively scant media attention, taking a distant back seat to the healthcare reform bill and its attendant public uproar. And, much like the healthcare debate (Extra!, 10/09), coverage of climate-change legislation ended up obscuring the issues as much as it explained them, viewing a Democratic compromise bill through the lens of right-wing and corporate criticism, while marginalizing progressive critics who said the legislation was insufficient to the task at hand. [more]
Published by The Nation.
We should remember what it felt like one year ago, as the ability to recall it emotionally will pass and it is an emotional memory as much as anything else. It was a moment rare in a democracy's history. The feeling was palpable--to supporters and opponents alike--that something important had happened. America had elected, the young candidate promised, a transformational president. And wrapped in a campaign that had produced the biggest influx of new voters and small-dollar contributions in a generation, the claim seemed credible, almost intoxicating, and just in time. [more]
Published by The Independent.UK.
A high-ranking officer has acknowledged for the first time that the Israeli army went beyond its previous rules of engagement on the protection of civilian lives in order to minimise military casualties during last year's Gaza war, The Independent can reveal.
The officer, who served as a commander during Operation Cast Lead, made it clear that he did not regard the longstanding principle of military conduct known as "means and intentions"–whereby a targeted suspect must have a weapon and show signs of intending to use it before being fired upon–as being applicable before calling in fire from drones and helicopters in Gaza last winter. A more junior officer who served at a brigade headquarters during the operation described the new policy–devised in part to avoid the heavy military casualties of the 2006 Lebanon war–as one of "literally zero risk to the soldiers. [more]
Published by The Orange County Register.
Peace activists are planning on Thursday to protest George W. Bush's visit here to speak and accept an award for his pro-life efforts at a Catholic summit, even though it is not entirely clear when specifically the former president will attend.
It is "outrageous that he's receiving a pro-life award," said Sharon Tipton, an organizer of the protest with a group called the Orange County Peace Coalition, which she described as an umbrella group for other local peace organizations. [more]
Published by The New York Times.
3 U.S. Soldiers Die in Attack by Pakistan Militants by Jane Perlez
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Three American soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack Wednesday morning in an area known as a Taliban stronghold but which the Pakistani military had declared cleared of the militants, two Pakistani government officials said. [more]
Published by Los Angeles Times.
BAGHDAD - A bomb on a parked motorcycle exploded early Wednesday on the outskirts of the Iraqi city of Karbala, killing at least 20 Shiite pilgrims and wounding several others, officials said.
The blast was the latest in a string of attacks this week that have targeted pilgrims making their way to an important Shiite religious observance in Karbala, raising fears of a spike in attacks when the pilgrimage culminates Friday. [more]
I want to thank PDA for continuing to pressure against the pillars of power supporting the Long War in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. You are making military escalation more difficult and building a political obstacle to the Pentagon and White House plans through 2012. A long war demands of us a long peace movement.
Thirty one Americans lost their lives in Afghanistan last month, which is more than twice the number killed in January 2008 and January 2009. The fighting in Afghanistan is intensifying even in the winter. [more]
Published by San Francisco Chronicle.
In the time it takes to read this piece, the troop escalation in Afghanistan will have cost $171,000. This week, President Obama is asking Congress for an additional $33 billion to fund the misguided surge. For the sake of his domestic agenda and our national security, we need an alternative approach in Afghanistan, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should lead the charge.
Conventional wisdom tells us that Americans will not put a price on their security. However, after eight years of dismal results, many Americans struggling to get by are justifiably questioning the expense. After all, how do 100,000 troops in Afghanistan protect us from a Yemeni-trained and Nigerian-born man from London attempting to blow up a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit? [more]
Published by Common Dreams.
Since I was a little child huddled in the elementary school hallway for the bomb drills to the present day when I listen to the reasons my nation must spend more on foreign military actions, the means of securing public support for war in this nation seems to have centered on one word. Terror.
We used to be terrified that the Communists from the Soviet Union were coming with their bombs, so we built shelters and indoctrinated our kids to understand our Red fear. Bombs could be launched without warning or even immediate provocation, so making us all fearful wasn't too hard. Cold War terror lasted a good, long time and helped a lot of people get very rich. We entered many "conflicts" using the fear of a Communist spread. No Commie bomb ever fell, and many still argue that's because we built more bombs and were much more terrifying as we won that face off with all those evil folks across the globe. [more]
Published by Guardian.UK.
The move towards repealing the US military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy has been a triumph of political choreography
You don't need me to tell you the number of things the Democrats have messed up in the past year. But lately comes a heartening sign that sometimes, they know how to play this game. The recent rollout of the planned repeal of the US military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy has been impressively choreographed. Not a false step anywhere. [more]
Published by The Nation.
Maryland Congresswoman Donna Edwards turned to Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis for guidance in framing the Constitutional amendment she proposed Tuesday as the right and necessary response to the decision by Chief Justice John Roberts and a high court majority to abandon law and precedent with the purpose of permitting corporations to dominate the political discourse. [more]
Published on Common Dreams.
Obama Seeks Record $708 Billion in Defense Budget
President Barack Obama on Monday asked Congress to approve a record $708 billion in defense spending for fiscal year 2011, including a 3.4 percent increase in the Pentagon's base budget and $159 billion to fund U.S. military missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. [more]
This isn’t “defense.”
The new budget from the White House will push U.S. military spending well above $2 billion a day.
Foreclosing the future of our country should not be confused with defending it.
“Unless miraculous growth, or miraculous political compromises, creates some unforeseen change over the next decade, there is virtually no room for new domestic initiatives for Mr. Obama or his successors,” the New York Times reports this morning (February 2). [more]
Published by t r u t h o u t.
Our political leaders continually assert that we should be thanking them that we are not in a second Great Depression rather than complaining about how bad things are. The second Great Depression theme came up repeatedly in the debate over the reappointment of Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke. It also featured prominently in Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's defense of his handling of the AIG bailout. [more]
Published on Alternet.
Richard Trumka, head of the AFL-CIO and Bill Moyers discuss the drastic steps Obama must take to quell the frustration and anger over joblessness.
Editor's note: In the following interview AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka talks about what should be Obama's highest priority: creating jobs. [more]
Published by Common Dreams.
Should Democratic members of the House vote 'No' on any reform legislation that includes an excise tax on health benefits? Even if it's now the President's preferred funding method for the healthcare insurance company bail-out bill (or health insurance reform bill, as it's known in the proper political framing terminology)? And should they actually intend to vote 'No' and not just make threats followed by a seemingly begrudging 'Yes' vote?
Seems like a no-brainer to lots of folks. The nurses of National Nurses United said this yesterday:
"It is unconscionable that workers and families with employer-sponsored health plans, who receive virtually no benefits from the proposed legislation, would have their health coverage taxed and seriously eroded," said Deborah Burger, RN, co-president of the 150,000 member National Nurses United, formed last month through a unification of the California Nurses Association/NNOC, United American Nurses, and the Massachusetts Nurses Association. [more]
Published by The New York Times.
Last week, the Center for American Progress, a think tank with close ties to the Obama administration, published an acerbic essay about the difference between true deficit hawks and showy “deficit peacocks.” You can identify deficit peacocks, readers were told, by the way they pretend that our budget problems can be solved with gimmicks like a temporary freeze in nondefense discretionary spending.
One week later, in the State of the Union address, President Obama proposed a temporary freeze in nondefense discretionary spending.
Wait, it gets worse. To justify the freeze, Mr. Obama used language that was almost identical to widely ridiculed remarks early last year by John Boehner, the House minority leader. Boehner then: “American families are tightening their belt, but they don’t see government tightening its belt.” Obama now: “Families across the country are tightening their belts and making tough decisions. The federal government should do the same.” [more]
Published by Michael Moore.
After a sobering loss for Democrats in the special election held to replace Sen. Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts, probing exit polls about health reform show that the win of Republican Scott Brown who pledged to cast the vote that would kill national health reform, didn’t come from people who thought the national legislation was going too far, but that it wasn’t going far enough. Among Brown voters, 36 percent thought it didn't go far enough. Among voters who stayed home and opposed health care, a full 53 percent said they opposed the Senate bill because it didn't go far enough. [more]
In his State of the Union address, last week, President Obama called for passage of “a comprehensive energy and climate bill with incentives that will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy in America.” The President did not mention cap-and-trade.
Several days ahead of Obama’s speech, Progressive Democrats of America, endorsed the straightforward, ramped-up carbon tax proposal introduced last March by Rep. John Larson of Connecticut, who heads the House Democratic Caucus. PDA recognized that as cap-and-trade legislation falters in the Senate, a long-term, grassroots effort to enact a stronger, simpler direct CO2 pricing approach will be needed. [more]
Published by The Huffington Post.
President Barack Obama is endorsing nuclear energy like never before, trying to win over Republicans and moderate Democrats on climate and energy legislation.
Obama singled out nuclear power in his State of the Union address, and his spending plan for the next budget year is expected to include billions of more dollars in federal guarantees for new nuclear reactors. This emphasis reflects both the political difficulties of passing a climate bill in an election year and a shift from his once cautious embrace of nuclear energy. [more]
Published by The New York Times Freakonomics Blog.
Now that the Supreme Court has freed corporations to expressly advocate for the election or defeat of federal candidates, many pundits feel that is simply beyond the power of Congress to constitutionally curtail the corrosive potential of corporate speech.
But Bruce Ackerman and I just published a piece in the Washington Post arguing that Congress can constitutionally prohibit corporations that are federal contractors from paying for ads “endorsing or opposing a candidate for public office.” [more]
