New Deal

The Bailout That Never Was

Dave Pederson | Posted 05.14.2012

Dave Pederson

The bailouts only helped the banks, buried Americans further in debt they will never payoff, and froze economic growth.

Poverty and Unemployment: The Unfinished Business of the Obama Administration

David Coates | Posted 05.11.2012

David Coates

Back in the 1930s, it took FDR two goes to get his New Deal up and running. It is time for the Obama Administration to take heart from that, and have a second go itself.

Fixing Gross Inequality Is Not Socialism

Curtis Roosevelt | Posted 05.09.2012

Curtis Roosevelt

Democrats are again in an excellent position to take a risk like FDR took with the New Deal. They might give themselves some identity other than that of modest centrists, constantly worried about offending one constituency or another.

FDR's New Deal Shattered the Austerity Myth

David Woolner | Posted 05.07.2012

David Woolner

Much like the 1930s, our slow climb out of the Great Recession has been made all the more difficult thanks to the unwillingness of austerity hawks in Congress to pass the president's jobs bill and other pieces of stimulus legislation.

The Rhyme of History: Wall Street Edition

Rep. Brad Miller | Posted 05.02.2012

Rep. Brad Miller

Mark Twain supposedly said that history does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme. I devoutly wish Obama administration policies would rhyme more with the New Deal, and rely less on the free verse of "nudging" the nation towards a broadly-shared prosperity.

Think Again: How Classical Liberalism Morphed Into New Deal Liberalism

Eric Alterman | Posted 04.30.2012

Eric Alterman

Classical liberalism is synonymous with a faith in reason, which had arisen out of the Enlightenment as a reaction to claims of divine rule by the clergy and royalty of the late Middle Ages.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Socialist or "Champion of Freedom"?

David Woolner | Posted 04.23.2012

David Woolner

For Roosevelt, government intervention in the economy was not about destroying individual liberty; it was about restoring individual liberty. This is a good reminder for President Obama.

New Deal Photos Show Americana In Color

Posted 03.30.2012

For those struggling throughout the Great Depression, the New Deal promised not just employment, food and shelter, but hope for the American dream. ...

C-SPAN Is America

Brent Budowsky | Posted 05.21.2012

Brent Budowsky

While our politics have become a shouting match of pander and slander, name-calling and talking points, celebrity media and instant misanalysis, C-SPAN shines as an exemplar of what a free press in a free nation should be.

Mike Sacks

Why Supreme Court Conservative Majority Doesn't Mean Health Reform Smackdown

HuffingtonPost.com | Mike Sacks | Posted 03.19.2012

The Supreme Court will not overturn health care reform. At least if the five-justice conservative majority that brought the country Citizens United an...

The High Court's Brisk Constitutional: Health Reform

Alain L. Sanders | Posted 04.13.2012

Alain L. Sanders

If ever there was a get-out-of-town case, this one is it: Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida, the case that challenges the constituti...

130 Years After His Birth, We Still Live in FDR's World

David Woolner | Posted 04.01.2012

David Woolner

There comes a time in the life of every people when the only way to take on the forces of "economic tyranny" -- whose callous behavior has twice in the past century nearly brought our country to ruin -- is to turn to "the organized power of government."

Matt Sledge

Some Suggest Government Fix Jobs Crisis With Government Jobs

HuffingtonPost.com | Matt Sledge | Posted 12.09.2011

NEW YORK -- John Brennan turned 91 in May. Today he lives in relatively good health on Long Island, his mortgage paid off. When he was growing up in M...

All-American Socialism?

Jedediah Purdy | Posted 02.07.2012

Jedediah Purdy

Is socialism's value as a meaningless scare-word played out yet? If so, maybe we can give it a second chance as a real idea. By treating the word as an all-purpose insult, we've lost touch with essential strands of American political thinking.

The Difference Between The Occupiers and The Tea Party? The Meaning of Freedom

Kent Greenfield | Posted 01.03.2012

Kent Greenfield

Beneath the surface, Americans have radically different views of what freedom means. And these differences have defined our political battles for more than a hundred years.

Will Occupy Wall Street Be Co-opted?

Peter Dreier | Posted 12.11.2011

Peter Dreier

The success of every radical movement in American history has occurred when it is co-opted by the forces of reform.

Return of the Incredible HOLC: How a Depression-Era Program Could Help Solve the Housing Puzzle

Ray Brescia | Posted 11.26.2011

Ray Brescia

A plan modeled on a wildly successful New Deal program could hit the trifecta: it could save borrowers from inflated interest rates, prop up banks, and preserve housing values, all while turning a profit.

Boehner Admits to 'Capital Strike'

Robert S. McElvaine | Posted 11.16.2011

Robert S. McElvaine

The veil has finally been removed and the political representatives of corporate interests are letting everyone see where they are coming from and who they are serving.

As Poverty Rate Rises and Unemployment Persists, Americans Need a New "New Deal"

C. Nicole Mason | Posted 11.13.2011

C. Nicole Mason

For many, big government is a four-letter word, but newly released poverty and income data signal the need to invest in large-scale programs and initiatives that have the potential to turn the country around.

Congressional Democrats' Advice for Obama's Jobs Speech

Chris Weigant | Posted 11.07.2011

Chris Weigant

The nation is waiting to hear what President Obama is going to say tomorrow night, when he gives an address to a joint session of Congress on the subj...

Now Is the Time for All Good Millennials to Come to the Aid of Their Country

Michael Hais and Morley Winograd | Posted 11.06.2011

Michael Hais and Morley Winograd

The nation's future is likely to be determined by the strength and effectiveness of the Millennial Generation's participation in next year's election.

Roosevelt Explains It All to You, and to Obama

Jonathan Schmock | Posted 11.04.2011

Jonathan Schmock

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"A Deficit in the Books of Human Fortitude"

Curtis Roosevelt | Posted 10.31.2011

Curtis Roosevelt

It is time Obama rose to expectations expressed in his inaugural address: "We must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin the work of remaking America." Are you willing now to explain to the American people what the real deficit problem is?

Help Wanted: Someone - Anyone! - With a Real Plan to Rebuild America

Pearl Korn | Posted 10.31.2011

Pearl Korn

Our "leaders" -- from the president on down -- should hang their heads in shame for wasting so much time and energy squabbling over the tax rates of the filthy rich and the size of giveaways to multi-national corporations while disaster unfolds before us.

The SuperCongress Dilemma: Warren Buffett v. Grover Norquist

Ryan Clayton | Posted 10.17.2011

Ryan Clayton

If you had to choose between the advice of successful investor Warren Buffett or political hack Grover Norquist on how to fix our nation's fiscal ills, who would you trust?