Minnesota Network for Progressive Action: News Center

News Center

National Democratic Headlines

Senate passes $149 bln for jobless aid, tax breaks (Reuters)

Reuters - The Senate on Wednesday passed a $149 billion package of jobless aid and tax breaks, as Democrats continued efforts to lower the 9.7 percent unemployment rate before congressional elections in November.

House bans some earmarks amid ethics concerns (Reuters)
Reuters - Democrats in the House of Representatives moved on Wednesday to limit the ability of lawmakers to tuck pet projects into spending bills amid mounting election-year ethics concerns.

Volcker rule gets lift in Senate amid reform talks (Reuters)
Reuters - The controversial "Volcker rule" to curb risky trading by banks got a boost in the Senate on Wednesday, as two Democrats introduced a bill that would enact and expand the rule.

House Democrats Prepare Tax Breaks for Small Businesses (CQPolitics.com)
CQPolitics.com - House Democrats on Wednesday continued their efforts to promote job creation, scheduling committee action next week on a bill to give small businesses tax breaks worth about $13 billion.

Ex-Pa. treasurer exits race for Murtha's seat (AP)

AP - Former Pennsylvania treasurer and auditor general Barbara Hafer (HAY'-fuhr) has dropped out of the Democratic primary race for the U.S. House seat once held by late Rep. John Murtha.

Healthcare reform: Obama's march is still on (The Christian Science Monitor)
The Christian Science Monitor - Defying the inertia of a gridlocked Congress, President Obama is calling on Democrats to move healthcare reform in March, even if it means doing so without a single Republican vote.

The Nation.

Letters

Could Immigration Split the Tea Party?
Guest-hosting the Rachel Maddow Show, Chris Hayes asks, will the Tea Party movement rethink their politics as anti-immigrant activists attempt to join the party?

Talking Healthcare and Consumer Protection
Guest-hosting the Rachel Maddow Show, Nation DC editor Christopher Hayes talks to Rep. Diana DeGette on healthcare and Demos director Heather McGhee on consumer protection.

An Oscar for America's Hubris
What a shame that the one movie about the Iraq war that has a chance of being viewed by a large worldwide audience should be so disappointing.

Massa Backs Off Healthcare Conspiracy
The latest moves on healthcare reform from Kucinich, Massa and Stupak.

Re 'Big Tobacco and the Historians'

The New Jim Crow
How the war on drugs gave birth to a permanent American undercaste.

Obama: Change We Can Believe In?
Watch a live webcast tonight of "Obama: Change We Can Believe In?" featuring Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel, Ben Smith of Politico.com, Gretchen Morgenson of The New York Times and Benjamin Barber of Demos.

The Wrong Kind of Green
Nation writer Johann Hari discusses his recent article in which conservation groups have sided with big-time polluters instead of real science.

Campaign for America's Future

PROGRESSIVE LEADERS ISSUE WARNING ON FORMATION OF A DEFICIT COMMISSION

POLICY EXPERTS CONTINUE CALL FOR POST TO SEVER "NEWS" DEAL WITH PETER G. PETERSON-FUNDED FISCAL TIMES

POLICY EXPERTS CALL ON WASHINGTON POST TO STOP PRINTING BIASED "NEWS" ARTICLES BY BILLIONAIRE IDEOLOGUE, PETER G. PETERSON

STATEMENT OF ROBERT BOROSAGE ON BERNANKE RENOMINATION

LEFT-RIGHT COALITION SAYS SENATE BANKING COMMITTEE MUST DELAY VOTE ON BERNANKE RENOMINATION

DELAURO, CONSUMERS UNION TO URGE SENATE TO REQUIRE HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES TO MAKE COST AND COVERAGE INFORMATION PUBLIC

LEFT-RIGHT COALITION CALLS FOR AN AUDIT OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BEFORE BERNANKE IS REAPPOINTED AS CHAIR

PROGRESSIVE GROUP AT FOREFRONT OF FIGHT TO FIX THE NATION'S HEALTH CARE SYSTEM EMBRACES HOUSE REFORM BILL

Congressional Moves to Protect Consumers and Provide Financial Oversight Good First Step

**Netroots Nation 2009 Straw Poll Results**

The Democratic Strategist

Semper Fi, Mitt!
I was reading Spencer Ackerman's scathing summary of the foreign policy/national security sections of Mitt Romney's new book, No Apology, and had to laugh out loud at this brief aside: Romney himself never served, and his unfamiliarity with military issues...

Likely Voters, Elections, and "Plebiscites"
One of the oldest and hoariest debates among pollsters and political scientists is the measurement of public opinion according to likelihood to vote in a particular election. Some polls show results for "all adults," some for "registered voters," and some...

No Ganging Up On Health Reform
In a period of great conflict and confusion over health reform, one of the most promising signs is the general refusal of Senate "centrist" Democrats to fish into a particularly devious Republican gambit: an effort by Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC)...

TDS Co-Editor William Galston: The Greatest Virtue of the Republican Budget Plan
This item by TDS Co-Editor William Galston is cross-posted from The New Republic. This past Friday, without much fanfare, CBO submitted its analysis of President Obama's proposed FY 2011 budget. The bottom line is worse than we thought. Despite sustained...

Will Huge Ad Buy, Media War Stop HCR?
A coalition of corporate groups will spend between 4 and 10 million dollars in the weeks ahead to stop the Democratic health care reform package. As John D. McKinnon and Brody Williams explain in their Wall St. Journal article this...

Can Charlie Crist Switch and Survive?
One of the more interesting ongoing spectacles this year has been the crashing and burning of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, the once invincible political titan who now appears destined to lose, perhaps badly, a U.S. Senate primary to conservative Tea...

Win Dixie
This item is cross-posted from The New Republic. As we all understand, Republicans are about to have a pretty good election in November. Much of the GOP excitement revolves around congressional races that could unseat "red-state" Democrats who won during...

New List of House HCR Undecideds Posted by 'The Hill'
The Hill has a new staff survey of Democratic House of Reps members positions on the Democratic health care reform package (all Republicans expected to vote "No" as of this writing). Although there is some overlap, this list is substantially...