America's Future Now!

Anthony Romero, the president of the American Civil Liberties Union, did not mince words earlier today when he assessed how well the Obama administration has lived up to the promises he made on civil liberties issues.

"I am utterly disgusted," he said, because Obama "is a president who breaks promises."

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Most people know Progressive Insurance from its quirky commercials, starring a character named Flo who staffs the checkout counter at an supermarket that sells insurance in neatly labeled boxes. But the leaders of the nation's leading progressive activist organizations know Progressive Insurance's chairman of the board, Peter B. more »

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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 those needs to your partner in a healthy way. (At least that's what I imagine they say; I don't really know.)

The relationship between progressives and the Democratic leadership involves love, anger, and a lot of co-dependence. Some progressives seem to defend the President no matter what he does. Others have written him off as the hopelessly cynical tool (or manipulator) of a corrupt political system. Then there are those in the middle, the ones who get disillusioned and then fall in love all over again whenever he gives a great speech like he did yesterday. Political life must be a series of fifty first dates for them. more »

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Republicans have been running on immigration as a signature issue for the past several elections, so it's ironic that progressives are the ones with the most to gain from solving the immigration problem. But before we can do that, we need to understand—and agree—on what the problems are, and what can and should be done. more »

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Most people attending the America's Future Now conference are clear about one thing when it comes to health care: They are not prepared to compromise away the choice of a public health care option in order to get other reforms. more »

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