Revitalizing Democracy
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“Political Dispatch” podcast: 7/11- Robert Borosage
We are happy to bring you another edition of our “Political Dispatch” podcast series from PoliticalBuzz.com. “PD” is a weekly series bringing you insight and analysis from the best political journalists and strategists as well as exclusive interviews with top politicians and campaign staffers. This week we talked with… more »Featured Issues
To Bring Change, Insiders and Outsiders Need Each Other
Activists need advocates in the White House and Congress to voice their concerns and pass legislation. But even with such allies, activists have to keep the heat on, be visible, and make enough noise so that policy makers and the media can't ignore them. To advance a progressive agenda, a widespread grassroots movement -- which provides ordinary Americans with opportunities to engage in a variety of activities, from emailing their legislators, to participating in protest -- is essential.
... more »
The Case
More Prisoners Does Not Mean Less Crime
It's not that simple. A 2005 report by The Sentencing Project noted that while increased incarceration rates were accompanied by a decrease in crime between 1991 and 1998, crime rates had increased between 1984 and 1991, a period in which the rate of incarceration was even higher. The director of the Pew Center on the States recently wrote, "Rigorous studies show that increased imprisonment can claim credit for only 25 percent of the nation's crime drop over the past 15 years. The other 75 percent comes from a wide variety of factors, inside and outside the criminal justice system." Those factors include support for improved policing and community crime prevention programs—federal support for which was cut by the Bush administration. We already lock up a larger percentage of our population than any other country in the world. We need to invest more in the programs and techniques that we know prevent crime and lead to healthier communities.more »
The Facts
The Dream Gone Bad: The Facts
The cost of living keeps rising.
• Since 2001, the overall costs of living has increased 21.5 percent, driven by big increases in such life essentials as gas, home heating oil and food. more »
The News
Senators Who Opposed Tobacco Bill Got Top Dollar From Industry
June 12th, 2009
Recession Adds To Hurdles Facing U.S. Census
March 25th, 2009
The Case
Relax, Democrats
To hear Republicans tell it, Tuesday’s elections, in which their candidates captured the governorships of Virginia and New Jersey, were a repudiation of President Obama and indicated a voter shift toward their party. They should calm themselves down. The results don’t show this and, in fact, suggest some rather daunting challenges for the Republicans.more »
The Election Message?
Consider this simple hypothesis: times are tough. Voters need to see that elected leaders are doing something that actually makes things better. If they don't, they're liable to opt for a change.more »
Latest from our Bloggers
nov
5
2009
2:52 pm
2:52 pm
The Republicans in Congress are at it again, stonewalling everything. Last time we called it “block and blame.” Stop everything, then blame the Democrats for getting nothing done. more »
nov
3
2009
3:08 pm
3:08 pm
So all day long I'm hearing the gasbags blather on about how this lame, off year election is a referendum on liberalism and Obama and things are looking grim, grim, grim.
The Democratic blue dogs have it all figured out:
"It looks as though the anger that has been boiling up the last couple of months is going to lead to a pretty high turnout from Republicans and from people who are concerned about increased spending," Altmire said Monday evening during an appearance on Fox Business Network.
"And I do think that if the results show Republicans have a pretty good night, that probably is going to lead some Democrats to think that, going into next year, we need to take a second look at the way that we've done a lot of bills we've addressed up to this point," the Pennsylvania congressman added.
Oh, Golly let's hope this radical eight month experiment in slightly less corporate conservative governance has run its course and we can get back to tax cutting, deregulating and bloodletting, which is what the government does best.
more »oct
8
2009
2:21 pm
2:21 pm
In theory, communism was supposed to create a utopia. In practice, it produced authoritarian disaster states, and it's by those results that it's judged. Capitalism was also supposed to produce a utopia and hasn't. While it's done better by people than its ideological rival, it has left a string of market and ethical failures by which results it must also be judged, as they were in Michael Moore's, Capitalism: A Love Story.
But are we in the United States really practicing free market capitalism as Adam Smith originally suggested it should go in The Wealth of Nations? Not really. That shouldn't get capitalism a pass, but until someone comes up with a Social Theory of Everything that produces perfect harmony and happiness for all, we need to take good ideas where we can find them. more »
oct
7
2009
4:07 pm
4:07 pm
Yesterday, I looked at what Michael Moore's call for a democratic economy would mean at the national level. Today, I wanted to look at what it means at a smaller scale, at individual workplaces and for the values that each of us carries around. more »
sep
3
2009
10:33 pm
10:33 pm
The Republican strategy of obstruction is working. Obstruct all progress, and blame Democrats for getting nothing done. The latest Pew poll shows Congressional Favorability Falls to 24-Year Low more »
aug
27
2009
9:00 am
9:00 am
August, die she must. The town hall freak show is winding down, the media circus is packing the cameras and satellite dishes and hairspray back into the vans, and Congress is soon heading back to the relative safety of DC. more »
