News & Comment

In his newest book, "Rebuild the Dream," green economy pioneer Van Jones reflects on his journey from grassroots outsider to White House insider, shares intimate details of his time in government, and provides a blueprint to reinvent the American Dream. Along the way, he contrasts the structure and rhetoric of the 2008 Obama campaign, the Tea Party movement and Occupy Wall Street. Below are his thoughts on cheap patriots versus deep patriots, and the way forward to reclaim, reinvent, and renew the American Dream. You can order the book here, and a portion of the proceeds will support the work of the Campaign for America's Future. The time has come to turn things right-side-up again and declare that America’s honest, hard-working middle class is too big to fail. The aspirations of our low-income, struggling, and marginalized communities are too big and important to fail. The hopes of our children are too big to fail. The American Dream itself is too big to fail. And we are not going to let these things fail. read more »

The way to talk about the purpose and value of government and be persuasive is simply to tell the truth. This has been in short supply over the last generation. To the contrary, government has been demonized in much discourse. It has at least, to coin a new verb, been “skepticized.” Trust in government now is very low. But trust in government has been falling on balance since the late 1960s and took an especially large hit in the 1970s. The nation hasn’t truly regained its confidence in it ever since. In fact, the nation has been vulnerable to mythology and misinformation that has seriously damaged America’s future. There are many such myths, but the primary one is that any social program or any increase in government spending dampens economic growth. It is simply not true. read more »

The Progressive Caucus Budget for All, the embodiment of the progressive vision for rebuilding the economy, was voted down overwhelmingly on the House floor Thursday. read more »

“EMPLOYEES OF U.S. SUBSIDIARIES OF GERMAN COMPANIES, ESPECIALLY T-MOBILE USA, SHOULD BE ABLE TO EXERCISE THEIR UNRESTRICTED RIGHT TO OPT FOR ORGANIZED REPRESENTATION IN THE COMPANY WITHOUT FEAR.” In an ad in the NY Times yesterday, 11 leading German legal scholars and politicians called on Deutsche Telekom and other German companies to stop using American-style union-hating tactics at their American subsidiaries. In particular they asked these companies to “end all collaboration with U.S. consultants who advise employers how to fight employee representation.” Remarkable What is remarkable about this letter is the difference between European and American attitudes toward working people and labor rights. In Europe it's just a given that working people have dignity and respect. To Europeans it is shocking to see a company try to fight against its own workers! In the US working people face an atmosphere of constant intimidation, always pushing for lower wages, cuts in benefits, longer working hours, and subservience. The letter speaks for itself, please read it: (click for original) read more »

Reintroducing the Citizens Election Amendment…. Version 2.0 Since the U.S. Supreme Court decided the Citizens United case two years ago, saying that the Constitution gives corporations the right to spend without limit to influence American elections, people have been asking “how can we amend the Constitution to put this right?” read more »

The new Republican budget (called the "Ryan Budget" by DC insiders) reflects current electoral reality: billionaires and corporations now finance candidates, and we get government of, by and for billionaires and corporations. The rest of us no longer matter, except as "the help" and, at least to the extent we haven't been entirely fleeced, a flock to harvest. This budget starts with $10 trillion in tax cuts -- mostly for the rich. read more »

Last year, for a brief moment, Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan’s popularity soared as he unveiled his audacious deficit reducing budget. His proposal maintained tax cuts for the wealthy and defense spending while dismantling important programs for lower- and middle-income families, particularly Medicare. read more »

The Republican budget – released by House Budget Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan – is a remarkably revealing document. The budget document says it is time for America to choose. And with this document, Republicans choose to be the tribunes of the 1 percent, willing to destroy basic elements of the American dream in service of that cause. Consider: read more »

“There was clearly something wrong with the U.S. economy long before the crash.” read more »

We call it “the nation’s capital,” but that’s increasingly a misnomer.  Consider Congress, where as last year ended 250 members, or 47% of our representatives, were millionaires, and the estimated median net worth of a senator was $2.56 million.  Or consider the city of movers, shakers, and lobbyists they live in.  In Washington D.C., “the top fifth of earners in the District make an average of 29 times the income of the bottom fifth.”  In average annual household salary that translates as $259,000 versus $9,100.  For the capital’s top 5%, that number is $473,000, “far above the $292,000 averaged by their counterparts in other large cities.” read more »