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Thomas Frank, the author of "What's the Matter with Kansas," explains what's the matter with Washington in his new book, "The Wrecking Crew," at a talk at the National education Association headquarters in Washington.

The book is an expose of the wreckage caused by decades of conservative government in Washington and how progressives can undo the damage. Frank says that the anti-government bent of the conservative movement is not a recent phenomenon and is not, as some conservatives claim, a reflection of Bush administration incompetence or closet liberalism. When regulators literally allowed the Wall Street implosion to unfold before their eyes, Frank says, "They were asleep at the switch because they were supposed to be."

Frank encourages progressives to more forcefully press the ideological contrast between the ideology of the common good and the conservative worship of an unbridled free market.

Also at the event, David Donnelly of the Public Campaign Action Fund said that "The Wrecking Crew" points out the need for public financing of campaigns, so that elected officials are not dependent on money from the interests that "The Wrecking Crew" is serving.

Nomi Prins, a senior fellow at Demos, tells the Economic Policy Institute that in the year since the climax of the Wall Street economic meltdown the country's economy is even more vulnerable to "too big to fail" banks and their high-risk behavior. The fact that the banking sector is moving so quickly back to profitability, and to talk of big executive bonuses, while the Main Street economy remains so crippled is a reflection of how far behind the curve we've fallen in implementing a reform agenda.

Prins, whose new book, "It Takes a Pillage," has just been released, makes the case for breaking up "too-big-to-fail" banks and instituting a new Glass-Steagall act, which would reinstitute the wall between retail banking and investment businesses that was torn down by conservatives during the 1980s, leading to the creation of today's financial behemoths.

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, the panel created by Congress to investigate the causes of last year's financial market meltdown, held its inaugural meeting September 17 as the nation observed the one-year anniversary of the nadir of the Wall Street economic collapse. Commission Chairman Phil Angelides said that the commission will craft and execute an ambitious schedule to get the facts behind the economic crisis, and would strive for consensus among the members of the committee, which include strong progressives and conservatives. The panel's members set out their expectations for that the panel would accomplish during its 15-month charter.

Amanda Terkel, a blogger at Think Progress, has heard the arguments that it is wrong for progressives to pay attention to Fox News talk-show host Glenn Beck. In this interview, Terkel, who has been monitoring Beck since before he became a cable news television star, explains in this interview why that is a wrong-headed idea.

Terkel explains why it is important for progressives to confront the lies and the fake populism espoused by Beck.

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Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich explains what a public option for healthcare coverage really means for working people.

Diane Archer, health care policy expert at the Institute for America's Future, says that President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress Sept. 9 made a compelling case that the federal government can play a uniquely constrictive role in addressing the nation's health care problems. Archer points out that Obama forcefully defended a public health insurance option while addressing cost concerns raised by conservatives.