Elizabeth Warren: pensions for middle class workers
Are pensions coming back into fashion? Perhaps, said progressive hero Senator Elizabeth Warren who was in Providence last night at a fundraiser at the Convention Center for her Senate Banking Committee colleague Jack Reed. Hailed as one of Wall Street’s worst nightmares and the intellectual godmother of Occupy Wall Street, Warren told me that public [...]
When Progressives Fight, Progressives Win
In 2008 progressives across America were basking in the warm glow of the nation’s first black president. A breeze of Democratic victories had blown through Congress and the long, dark night of the Bush era had given way to the rising sun of the Democratic super-majority. A Democratic executive branch and a bicameral legislative branch [...]
Scott Brown TV Ads Are Theater of the Absurd
The battle between Senator Scott Brown and progressive challenger Elizabeth Warren has spilled over the Massachusetts border into Rhode Island, and those who have missed the volley of advertisements are either altogether abstaining from TV or hopelessly engrossed in what happens next to Honey Boo Boo. Those in the latter group have probably stumbled upon [...]
Progress Report: Ugly Campaign Olympics; Brien Down to Last Strike, ProJo for Warren; NEA-RI to NK: We Bat Last
I’m starting to get the feeling that Brendan Doherty doesn’t even want to serve in Congress. If he did, he’d probably audition for the job a just little bit rather than just trying to convince voters to reject incumbent David Cicilline. This campaign has become ridiculously negative, and their debates remind me of when my [...]
Elizabeth Warren Reaches Rhode Island Family
It is all too often that I encounter the jaded political soul. Every day I hear a variation on the theme of distrust of all politicians. “They’re all liars,” “I hate all politicians” and “None of them care about anyone but themselves.” It is easy to think that way and, I must admit, I have [...]
Progress Report: Rent, Wages and Econ 101; Community Foreclosure Study, EG Ordinance Violates 1st Amendment
You don’t need to a degree in economics to understand why rent is skyrocketing while wages are stagnant. As the middle class is squeezed, fewer can afford the American dream of home ownership. So they rent instead. Demand then has its way with supply and the landlords win while the working class loses. Yet another [...]
Mitt Romney and the 47 Percent Movement
If you were considering voting against Mitt Romney because of his disdain for the 99 percent; it turns out there’s only 47 percent of America that he isn’t interested in representing as POTUS. In a statement that pits him squarely against the middle class and will certainly serve as another nail in his presidential ambition [...]
Progress Report: Anti-Choice Agenda Fares Well in Primary; Happy Birthday Occupy Movement; Chicago Still on Strike
Anti-choice crusaders Rhode Island Right to Life was one of the most successful PACs on primary night, reports the ProJo. How DINO is that! On the other hand, Political Scene also gives some love to Planned Parenthood and the public sector unions for having a successful primary. 38 Studios will be the issue local candidates [...]
Convention Reflection: A Rant About Democrats
Get ready for a rant. I managed to engage in far less blogging than I’d hoped to over the course of my four days in Charlotte. Here’s what I was left with: The convention had its moments, for sure: What I heard of Elizabeth Warren was very good, certainly by the standards of what you [...]
Progress Report: Spending on State House Races; RI Has a Budget Surplus; Verizon Saves Your Texts, Henry Thoreau
One has to like not only the name, but also the motivation, of a group backing progressive candidates for State House seats. According to WPRI’s Ted Nesi: “People for Rhode Island’s Future spent $26,500 this week to support six pro-gay-marriage candidates (David Gorman, Gene Dyszlewski, Lewis Pryeor, Adam Satchell, Laura Pisaturo and Roberto DaSilva) and [...]
Netroots Nation: A Review
Preparing for my Netroots panel discussion on revitalizing local political blogs, I was corrected by moderator Andrew Villeneuve of the Northwest Progressive Institute when I introduced myself as having come to the blogosphere from the mainstream media. “You mean the traditional media,” he interrupted. “We are the mainstream media.” While it’s a debatable claim, it [...]
Learning to Love Taxes
Instead of bemoaning Tax Day, we ought to celebrate it as a national holiday. It’s the day we chip in to pay for the services we all rely on to live our lives. After all, who among us doesn’t benefit from taxes? Anyone who drives certainly does. Anyone who likes to spend a hot summer [...]
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