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Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., co-chairman of the House Progressive Caucus, discusses the fiscal year 2012 budget plan unveiled by Rep. Paul Ryan in early April. He and other members of the caucus explain the negative effects that the proposal would have on middle-class and low-income people, and Ellison outlines the larger "generational struggle" between conservative and progressive visions of the country that is epitomized by the Ryan budget. For a more detailed analysis of the Ryan proposal, refer to our partner site, TheMiddleClass.org.

Under the slogans “Back Off Social Security” and “Hands Off Social Security,” more than 350 fired-up retirees and others packed a meeting room on Capitol Hill March 28, 2011, to hear from senators and program beneficiaries, and to demand that Congress reject benefit cuts, a retirement age increase, and privatization. The large public event happened as the battle heats up in Washington between those wanting to sacrifice Social Security as part of a deficit-reduction deal and those demanding that it not be cut. Senators participating in the rally included Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sens. Tom Harkin,D-Iowa; Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; Al Franken, D-Minn.; and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

CAF co-director Robert Borosage talks with MSNBC's Cenk Uygur about the growth of the Wisconsin movement, its spread across the country, and the Defend the Dream rallies happening across the country on March 15th.

Thirty million's all the governor's apparently going get out of the concessions he's demanded from public sector workers on their pension and health care payments, and for some reason that's beyond me, the unions have agreed to it.

But here's a much easier way to raise the dough.

Bob Pollin and Jeff Thompson: Public sector wages are not higher than comparable private sector; cuts will fuel recession

Campaign for America's Future co-director Robert Borosage joins FireDogLake editor Jane Hamsher and Wisconsin AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Stephanie Bloomingdale on Cenk Uygur's show on MSNBC February 22.

"It's now important for others to stand up with them," including "people who care about democracy and the distortion of money in our politics," Borosage said. "This is a battle of whether we have a strong middle class, whether we have an operating democracy, and it is time for other groups to pick up this banner."

Hamsher agreed, saying that there are institutional forces on the right who are behind what is happening in Wisconsin and elsewhere, and if these efforts are allowed to succeed there, workers nationwide will feel the devastating effects.

"This is the movement of our time," Bloomingdale said. "The union movement is the only thing that stands between unbridled corporate greed and a true economic democracy."

"Our fight is your fight, and our fight is the fight to reclaim the middle class," she said.