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I have spent much of the Martin Luther King holiday weekend in my car, traveling throughout southern and central Colorado to report on a working-class struggle that transcends the partisan divide (more on this in a few weeks). At one point during my journey, I stopped in Ludlow at the tiny memorial (pictured at right) for the massacre that occurred there at the beginning of the 20th century - the massacre when our government sent in troops to kill those striking for their basic rights.

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President Bush finally laid out the principles of his new economic stimulus package earlier today, and while it's not as terrible as it could be, it's still pretty bad.

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I haven't read Jonah Goldberg's new book Liberal Fascism (yes, yes that supposedly makes my more »

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It ain’t sexy, I know, but a word about the economy and the presidential debate.

Wall Street banks are holding a fire sale; employment is down, holiday sales tanked. Burdened with record debt and stagnant incomes, homeowners are about to reckon with declining home values, their largest investments, with a projected $2 trillion in assets evaporating in the course of the year. Even clueless George — “the fundamentals are strong” — Bush admitted a little stimulus might be needed.

So finally, the r word — recession — hit the presidential campaign trail. In the January Myrtle Beach Republican debate, the candidates were asked what they would do to get the economy going in the event of recession. The answers expose just how preposterous conservatism has become.

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We don't know who will win the Iowa caucuses, but we do know what Iowa voters want.

As the leading Democrats seek to eek out a final lead, each delivered copious servings of substance, all pledging to achieve the same goals: an economy that works for everyone, health care for all, a clean energy future, affordable education and the end of the Iraq occupation. more »

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Some folks have expressed exasperation that some progressive voices have spent lots of time pushing Democrats to be better on policy, rather than spending lots of time bashing Republicans. Their theory is that Republicans are the real enemy and Democrats are the real allies, and so therefore, criticizing, pressuring and cajoling Democrats is a destructive waste of time. more »

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After a transformational election and at the beginning of a transformational presidency, progressives need to remember: the real transformation hasn’t happened yet. Starting this week, fellow blogger Sara Robinson and I will launch a "blog conversation" about the progressive values at the core of the president's budget, how to talk about it importance, and what progressives can do to pass the first truly progressive budget we've seen in decades. But it's not just a conversation between us. We hope you'll join in.

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We all know that despite the rhetoric that fills our political debate, there are two standards in this country: The standard for the very wealthy, and the standard for the Rest of Us. That's nothing new - but what is new is how obvious it has become. more »

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What happens when a blindly ideological outfit pretending to be non-ideological so it can gut Social Security and Medicare gets confronted on videotape? At the "Fiscal Wake-Up Tour" Wednesday night in Boston, it's the outfit itself that gets the jolt.

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A parable of Wall Street that captures just how our so-called financial wizards have acted like, well, worse than donkeys.

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Amity Shlaes is once again flogging her false, ideological claims, this time in a Bloomberg News commentary. Is there no accountability for those such as Shlaes, those who pay her and those who distribute her false and misleading nonsense?

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Will President Obama defend Social Security from the folks who want to plunder it? We'll get an early indication this Monday when the president convenes a "Fiscal Responsibility Summit" on America's long-term deficits. In the meantime, let's define "fiscal responsibility" on our own terms in a way that helps the country look beyond the crisis, define where we need to go and determine how, in the long term, we'll pay for it.

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The Gang of Moderates, is a gang alright, committing economic crimes against humanity.

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At a press conference today by Wall Street mogul Peter Peterson, he and his invited speakers informed Americans who are losing their jobs and homes in record numbers that our nation’s biggest problem is the national deficit—and that the solution is to cut Social Security and Medicare.

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On Thomas Paine's birthday, it's worth reflecting on the significance of an America in which the people themselves are the rulers.

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The House is debating the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on the floor as I write this. And the conservative minority is employing the same tactics that have led them into the minority: failed ideas wrapped in fresh lies. more »

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The missive that House conservatives issued early Friday may be called an "economic recovery plan," but it is as threadbare as the big discount goods store that went belly-up in my neighborhood a few weeks ago and is now in the final days of bankruptcy liquidation. more »

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I've been fascinated by the responses to Rev. Joseph Lowery's benediction which closed out the inauguration ceremony. To my liberal, literary friends, the performance was a triumph: tonally subtle, morally bold, aesthetically transcendent. more »

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Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose: more »

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