Media

Who could have imagined, say ten years ago, that gay rights would one day be an issue that progressives could embrace to their political advantage, dividing the conservative world? 

For decades, of course, hot button social issues were used in the exact opposite way: to divide the Democratic coalition, driving a wedge between social liberals and more traditional working class voters. One of the main projects of an entire generation of DLC-type Democrats, most notably Bill Clinton, was to defuse these issues by backing away from strong liberal stances on many issues. 

There's a dire need for a new definition of public goods

Conventional wisdom holds that big city mayors don't have much real power. They wield scant influence over national and global forces that deeply impact America's urban economies—from fiscal and monetary policy to trade and currency policy, and regulation of financial and labor markets. Their powers to raise and invest revenues tend to be limited, with the lion's share of such powers held by state and federal governments.

Public investment is crucial to future growth. The economic boom in the 50s and 60s relied on government investments in education (G.I. Bill), infrastructure (National Highway System) and science (NASA). 

Wallace Turbeville on his time at Goldman Sachs, working with the city of Detroit, and the reality of the crisis that brought about TARP.

Did you hear that America's biggest drugmaker just agreed to one of the largest criminal and civil settlements in U.S. history? No, you probably didn't -- because news of Johnson & Johnson's $2.2 billion penalty for illegally marketing one of its drugs was buried today in the business section.

With gridlock and discord halting the right’s agenda in Congress, corporations have taken the war on labor to the states. The Economic Policy Institute recently released a new report, “The Legislative Attack on American Wages and Labor Standards, 2011-2012,” authored by Gordon Lafer. The report  documents a coordinated corporate attack on unions, workplace production and fair wages led by organizations like ALEC, the Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Prosperity.

Credit reports and scores are made up entirely of information about individual consumers -- data that’s collected without our permission or even necessarily our knowledge -- but we don’t have free access to this information. Under federal law, consumers get one free credit report a year and must pay to see a credit score.

One New York Times article serves as a perfect exposé on the profoundly undemocratic power of wealthy donors have.