Media

For Immediate Release

July 13, 2011

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The Devastating Impact Of This Right-Leaning, Ideological Court May Only Get Worse

Last week, an HBO film crew was in my Manhattan neighborhood shooting a movie about legendary record producer Phil Spector, now serving nineteen years to life for the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson.

After last week -- when JP Morgan Chase settled charges by the SEC that it engaged in rigged bidding -- its CEO Jamie Dimon has even more explaining to do.

Conservatives are a house divided these days on many issues. But on the core issue likely to determine the 2012 election, the economy, there’s not a millimeter of space between them. Government is the problem and reducing the burdens of taxes and regulation on America’s job creators stands at the top of nearly every Republican presidential candidate’s agenda. That’s the only way to get the economy humming again, fuel new job creation, and bring unemployment down, they contend.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                      

July 11, 2011

CONTACT:                                          

Amaya Tune/AFL-CIO 202-637-5018

Paco Fabián/Change to Win 202-412-9969

Lauren Strayer/ Dmos 212-389-1413

Phoebe Silag/EPI 202-775-8810

Why is it important for civil rights and good government groups to to be granted status as intervenor defendants in a lawsuit about counting prisoners in redistricting?

Because the legislative commission charged with drawing the lines, LATFOR, hasn't exactly been vigorous in defending itself in a lawsuit filed about the issue, they say.

Political scientists like to argue that politics is about who gets what and that self-interest tends to drive policy preferences. But the real world doesn't always work this way -- certainly not when it comes to government benefits. Some of the same states where residents rely most heavily on public programs routinely elect politicians who are determined to slash these very same programs.

Not a day goes by without a conservative leader or media outlet arguing that the stimulus has been a failure and that uncontrolled government spending is only making the recession worse. Of course, this is nonsense. Worse, it is one of the most damaging lies that conservatives are now telling about the economy.

Purely from a policy standpoint, today was a terrible day to be "against" Medicaid. For the first time, reported The New York Times, a large-scale study of the impact of Medicaid found that

When poor people are given medical insurance, they not only find regular doctors and see doctors more often but they also feel better, are less depressed and are better able to maintain financial stability. . . .