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The needs of American workers were not adequately addressed during discussions between the Obama administration and Chinese government leadership in late July, said Scott Paul, the executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, in an interview taped July 31 with CNN.

The American worker "unfortunately has been shoved aside or shoved down the road," Scott said, noting that Chinese government policies that have contributed to the shift of 2.3 million jobs from America to China in the past decade—including currency manipulation and and industrial subsidies—were left off the negotiating table. He warned that if these issues are not addressed, the United States faces the prospect of a jobless recovery.

"I think the least we can do right now is hold China to the standards that it agreed to when it entered the World Trade Organization" regarding its currency, industrial subsidies and openness to imports, Paul said.

Members of the House of Representatives' Progressive Caucus declared at a press conference outside the Capitol July 30 they will vote against a health care reform bill that does not have a "robust" public option. Progressives pushed back against conservatives in both parties who have been attempting to slow down and water down health care reform. When the press conference was held, 53 members of the House, a larger contingent than the conservative Blue Dog Coalition, had signed a letter that drew the line against efforts to weaken the public option.

The letter said, in part:

We regard the agreement reached by Chairman Waxman and several Blue Dog members ofthe Committee as fundamentally unacceptable. This agreement is not a step forward toward a good health care bill, but a large step backwards. Any bill that does not provide, at a minimum, for a public option with reimbursement rates based on Medicare rates -not negotiated rates -is unacceptable. It would ensure higher costs for the public plan, and would do nothing to achieve the goal of"keeping insurance companies honest," and their rates down.

To offset the increased costs incurred by adopting the provisions advocated by the Blue Dog members ofthe Committee, the agreement would reduce subsidies to low-and middle-income families, requiring them to pay a larger portion oftheir income for insurance premiums, and would impose an unfunded mandate on the states to pay for what were to have been Federal costs.

In short, this agreement will result in the public, both as insurance purchasers and as taxpayers, paying ever higher rates to insurance companies.

We simply cannot vote for such a proposal.

The next day, the House Energy and Commerce Committee agreed on a compromise that addressed some of the objections of progressives.

The roots of the mortgage crisis, and its devastating effects on communities, are explored by Andrew Cockburn, who co-produced with his wife, Leslie, the documentary "American Casino." The documentary details the fraudulent and unethical practices committed by the nation's top financial institutions that have led to record numbers of foreclosures, especially in people of color communities.

Cockburn in this interview says it is critical for Congress to pass a consumer financial protection bill to prevent the practices that led to the current crisis.

"American Casino" will debut in Chicago August 14. Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition that includes the Campaign for America's Future, plans to use the documentary as a teaching and mobilization tool to promote changes in the mortgage lending industry.

The health care reform bill introduced by Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives this week sets a standard for what health care reform should look like, Roger Hickey and Diane Archer of the Institute for America's Future explain in this video. The challenge now, they say, is to defend that bill against interests that would weaken it. Hickey and Archer explain what activists should do now.

The Federal Reserve is already one of the most powerful and secretive institutions in Washington, long considered beyond the reach of lawmakers. Yet some Washington leaders are looking to give the Fed even more power in the name of financial reform—even as the Fed is unable or unwilling to fully and publicly account for the trillions of dollars it has already distributed to the financial sector in the wake of the current financial crash.

A growing number of progressive and conservative lawmakers are pushing for a financial audit of the Federal Reserve. A bill that would authorize this first-ever audit is currently pending in the House. This American News Project documentary explains the reasons behind this bipartisan movement to hold the Fed accountable.