Revitalizing Democracy
Top Stories
“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
It's not just my empty wine fridge
In a recent interview for his new film, CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer impatiently asked Michael Moore why he was bellyaching about capitalism since he’d obviously done so well financially. Moore patiently replied that he was simply trying to do what the good priests and nuns had taught him to do: “to help the least among us.” more »
Time Is on Their Side
No one — especially Democrats — should believe the hype about 2010 as the new 1994.more »
Latest from our Bloggers
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 »
jan
21
2009
11:20 am
11:20 am
In this election, perhaps more than in any election for a generation or more, Americans chose more than just a president. We chose the kind of country we want to be. Forty-five years after King climbed his mountain top and brought his vision back to us, America reached another mountain top and caught a glimpse of the promised land King dreamed of, envisioned, and promised us we would reach. In our collective mountain top moment, we decided we still want to make the trip. Now begins the rest of our journey, together.more »
nov
24
2008
4:51 pm
4:51 pm
The Bush administration continues to try to strip as many safety and oversight regulations as it can on the way out the door. It's encouraging that these moves are getting more media attention, but it'd be nice if more mainstream outlets really pressed the question – how do any of these actions serve the public good? Perhaps Bush, or at least Dana Perino, can explain how these moves are a positive addition to the Bush legacy.more »
