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"A sense of urgency" prevailed at President Obama's health care summit, says Richard Kirsch, the director of Health Care for America NOW! Kirsch was at the summit to support a public health plan choice as part of a universal health care plan.

In spite of the ideological differences that surfaced during the summit, Kirsch says, there is more momentum behind health care reform today than there was when the Clinton administration attempted a similar effort in the 1990s. "There is a sense of commitment, and all hands on deck," he said.

One demonstration of that momentum was the more than 300,000 signatures of people who signed a MoveOn online petition. The signatures were brought on a set of compact discs to the summit and presented to Sens. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore. That petition said, "Don't let the insurance lobbyists delay health care any longer. In this economic crisis, we can't afford NOT to pass quality, affordable health care for all this year."

"People have to really be engaged" to make sure that the insurance and other lobbyists don't derail health care reform this year. Health Care for America NOW! will mount a grassroots campaign during the April recess to persuade members of Congress in their districts to support universal health care with a public plan option, Kirsch says.

Jonathan Stein, a Washington correspondent for Mother Jones, sees a conservative movement struggling to find itself at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington February 27.

"There is no consistent message as far as I can tell," he says in this interview. Other than the traditional Republican mantras of small government, tax-cutting and trickle-down economics, "there are not a lot of new ideas."

That does not mean that progressives can put down their guard in the ideological war, Stein says. He's watching how the conservative movement is trying to use the same tools the left successfully used in the run-up to the 2008 election to build momentum for upcoming battles over universal health care and other reforms.

Campaign for America's Future co-director Roger Hickey discusses his participation at the Fiscal Responsibility Summit February 23 at the White House. Hickey was among a number of progressive leaders who were included in the summit, which discussed the country's long-term budget deficit and the future of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Hickey says he was heartened by the Obama administration's focus on health care as the core of the country's deficit problem. But he said he is particularly concerned about an effort backed by fiscal conservatives in both parties to have a commission craft a long-term plan for Social Security and Medicare solvency that would receive an up-or-down vote in Congress. The commission, advocated by Pete Peterson and supported by such conservatives as Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., who was offered a cabinet post by Obama, would bypass the normal process of congressional debate and citizen input. Hickey warns that progressives will have to stay on guard to keep the Obama administration focused on health care reform and away from an undemocratic "commission" on Social Security and Medicare.

Declaring that he was "sick of the double standard" that allowed banks to receive no-strings-attached government bailout money while automobile workers are asked to take pay and benefit cuts before receiving help from Washington, Lansing, Mich., mayor Virg Bernero tears into a Fox News anchor who, among other things, peddled the "auto-workers-make-$70-an-hour" lie to suggest that auto workers need to take "deep cuts" in wages and benefits. GM should not be penalized, Bernero says, for stepping up to the plate and providing a decent middle-class lifestyle to its workers. What's unsustainable, he says, is the race to the bottom being encouraged by the likes of Fox News personalities.

Burger King is not just the home of the Whopper, but it has also been, since 2002, part of the corporate stable of private equity firm Goldman Sachs, which received $10 billion in taxpayer bailout cash last year. Since Goldman Sachs joined the consortium that took over Burger King, the fast-food chain has been cited for dozens of wage-and-hour violations, even as a substantial share of its workforce earns just the minimum wage. Meanwhile, as this Brave New Films video reveals, Goldman Sachs executives earned enough in bonuses last year alone to pay every Burger King employee an extra $18,000. This video launches a Brave New Films campaign that encourages activists to "have it your way with Goldman Sachs."