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Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., participates in a conference call on reviving a "Make It In America" manufacturing strategy with Robert Borosage of the Campaign for America's Future and Scott Paul of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. That agenda includes cracking down on China’s currency manipulation and violations of trade rules, tightening up “Buy America” federal contracting provisions and encouraging federal investments that would boost the manufacturing sector.

» Related: "Sen. Chris Murphy Readies His Next ‘Make It In America’ Jobs Push"

Three hundred and fifty prominent economists issued a statement warning that “the fragile recovery is threatened by obsessive concern with cutting deficits that has infected both parties.” The economists from universities and research groups across the U.S. and the world reminded politicians that the U.S. economy in the post-election period is still “marked by mass unemployment, rising poverty, and declining wages.” And they warned that big spending cuts aimed at reducing deficits could throw the economy back into recession.

At a news conference, the co-authors of the statement, Robert Borosage and Roger Hickey, co-directors of the Institute for America’s Future and by Robert Kuttner, founder of The American Prospect, were joined by two of the signers, Robert Pollin, University of Massachusetts Economist and co-director of Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) and Teresa Ghilarducci, Director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at the The New School.

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, speaks to reporters and online writers about legislation designed to curb currency manipulation by China and other countries, and the impact that unfair China trade practices has had on his congressional district. He is the cosponsor of the legislation. Also on the call is Scott Paul, director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, and Dave Johnson of the Campaign for America's Future.

Paul Ryan gave the following speech to the Atlas Society in 2005. Details at www.atlassociety.org. Partial transcript available here.

As Wisconsinites enter the final weekend of campaigning before the June 5 recall election of Gov. Scott Walker, John Nichols of The Nation offers his take on the recall battle. Nichols has spent many months doing first-hand reporting on the events leading up to the recall.

The "move your money" movement made a lot of noise a few months ago by encouraging individuals to close their accounts at the big banks at the root of the financial crisis. That movement is now well into what Ilana Berger, the co-director of New Bottom Line, calls "Move Your Money 2.0"—getting large organizations and governments to either hold banks accountable or deposit their dollars elsewhere. She discusses how that is working, and how you can get involved, in this interview.

This ad, produced for the progressive talk outlet We Act Radio, explains why you should attend the Take Back the American Dream conference: "An independent progressive movement that challenges both political parties is now more important than ever ... The Take Back the American Dream conference is where big ideas and bold actions come together in the fight to make real the dream of an economy and a democracy that works for everyone."

Listen to We Act Radio for this ad and an "early-bird discount" offer.

Richard Eskow examines the man who is standing in the way of mortgage relief for millions of struggling families, Edward DeMarco of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, on "The Majority Report" with Sam Seder. Despite being a appointee of President George W. Bush, resistance from Congress to confirm President Obama’s choice of a successor has left DeMarco as the acting director of the FHFA. By blocking Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s ability to reduce principal or interest rates, DeMarco has blocked real mortgage relief to families facing foreclosure or who are financially under water. Eskow also discuses what the FHFA could do to expand opportunities for home ownership and rental housing to middle-class Americans.

OurFuture.org interviews Greg Kaufmann, who writes "This Week in Poverty" for The Nation, on why he takes to task leaders who avoid mentioning poverty and the poor, and why we need to have a more direct discussion about and with the 46 million Americans who fall below the poverty line.