All the major banking institutions say the right things about race and equality. They all have diversity programs. A few financial industry leaders, like Robert Rubin and Jamie Dimon, even support socially liberal causes. Yet the banking industry covertly uses payday lenders as a “front,” a way to prey on minority neighborhoods without getting their [...]

Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to affect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. Stimulus “On Time And Under Budget” Stimulus is “on time and under budget.” W. Post: “…with strikingly few claims of fraud or [...]

Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to affect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. House Puts Pressure On China House passes China currency crackdown bill. NYT: “The House of Representatives sent an unusually confrontational signal to [...]

Get this: Republicans on the Deficit Commission aren’t just refusing to consider any tax increases. Now they’re proposing tax decreases designed to help the rich, while taking benefits from everyone else. Dealing with people like that is like negotiating with somebody who’s high on drugs. Most members of the Commission seem to want a deal [...]

What happened to Moody’s is what happens to every “agent” who thinks he can serve two masters. The sad thing is that it keeps happening, even though we’ve seen this movie before. Credit rating agencies are supposed to monitor debt that’s issued by financial institutions and governments. It’s their job to protect investors from purchasing [...]

This week Leonard Downie, the former Executive Editor of the Washington Post, attacked blogs in general and the Huffington Post specifically, saying they’re “parasites” who live off “journalism produced by others.” His comment would have carried more weight if Downie’s old newspaper still produced all its own journalism, instead of outsourcing a portion of its [...]

Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to affect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. Weak Roll-Out For GOP “Pledge To America” McClatchy concludes “Pledge” will have no impact: “…unlikely to reshape this fall’s congressional elections — [...]

Over 300 economists and policy analysts just released a statement warning the Congress and the Administration that bold action is needed to put people to work and get the economy going. The statement—Don’t Kill Jobs and Growth in the Name of Deficit Reduction—was released by the Institute for America’s Future (which I co-direct) and is [...]

Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to affect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. Time To Rally NYT previews Saturday’s “One Nation Working Together” march: “Predicting a crowd of more than 100,000, some 300 liberal groups [...]

Now that the so-called Ground Zero Mosque controversy is slipping off the front pages for the first time in weeks, it’s time to ask: Just what the hell was all that about, anyway? Why was it so important that we had to spend all that time discussing it? And why are the conservatives taking out [...]