It's the red carpet season in Hollywood. That means high-end apparel companies like Hugo Boss are promoting iconic celebrities to wear their clothing line at the Oscars and other award ceremonies.

But for the workers who make these suits in Cleveland, Ohio, it's a season of a different shade...

In his State of the Union speech, President Obama committed his Administration to pass comprehensive immigration reform. There are those who claim that this year immigration reform is a diversion from the priority task of fixing the economy -- and also politically impossible to achieve.

In fact, comprehensive...

The frustration and disappointment is palpable among Democratic Members of Congress and staff. After nine months of difficult political labor, they were days from passing legislation that presidents have unsuccessfully sought for half a century.

Then came the political disaster in Massachusetts. For many Democrats, last week was like living...

A new 3-D version of Alice In Wonderland will soon be released into the nation's theaters. But you don't have to wait to enter a world where up is down and, as Alice says: "Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise,...

The Massachusetts Senate race is a watershed event that has enormous implications for this political year. The media is intent on making it a referendum on President Obama and his health care reform plan. But that interpretation of the results is just flat wrong.

President Obama maintains a...

Here's the bottom line: an enormous amount is at stake in Tuesday's election in Massachusetts to fill Senator Ted Kennedy's seat. So much is at stake that every Democrat -- and every independent who wants fundamental change in Washington -- has to vote, no matter how hard it is...

For those of us who have a special place in our hearts for the long-suffering people of Haiti, the horrific pictures and tragic news reports of the earthquake's devastation seem as though they were lifted directly from the Book of Job.

The people of Haiti have borne...

This column is about pornography. Yesterday's New York Times ran a front page story headlined: "For Top Bonuses on Wall Street, 7 Figures or 8." The story was chocked full of obscenity:

"Bank executives are grappling with the question that exasperates, even infuriates, many recession-weary Americans: Just how...

In a season when the political punditry stampeded its way into prognostications of Democratic political disaster this fall, it is well to remember that Democrats -- and the Obama political operation -- have a weapon, the importance of which Washington types don't fully understand: Organizing for America (OFA).

There is...

We frequently hear pundits pontificating about the rising level of political polarization in Congress.

Often the blame is ascribed to plummeting levels of civility among Members. In fact, ten years ago the House actually conducted several "civility retreats" aimed at fostering a more civil atmosphere inside the...

Thirteen years ago, when I directed Illinois' largest public interest organization, I let my enthusiasm for its progressive goals overwhelm my good judgment. I floated checks between the organization's accounts to keep the organization's programs alive. No banks lost any money and I didn't personally benefit. But my actions...

There is little doubt that over the last several months President Obama's poll numbers -- and those of Democrats generally -- have taken a swing for the worse. The president's job approval numbers have drifted below 50 percent. The popularity of some of his signature initiatives has dropped. Last...

The expected Christmas Eve Senate vote to pass a health care reform bill will be a remarkable, historic event. Given the power of the economic forces that have been hell-bent on stopping health care reform dead in its tracks, it is extraordinary that Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid could cobble...

Senator Joe Lieberman's successful maneuver to eliminate any form of public option from the Senate health reform bill makes one thing perfectly clear: to pass the most important elements of the progressive agenda, the Senate must change its filibuster rules.

The current 60-vote requirement to cut off debate empowers a...

Last Friday, the House passed critical regulatory reform legislation aimed at preventing the recurrence of the kind of financial meltdown that devastated our economy at the end of the Bush administration.

The lobbyists from Wall Street worked hand-in-glove with the Republicans, and a few Democrats, to try...

Last month's drop in the unemployment rate and continued reduction of job losses is certainly good news. It indicates that the U.S. economy may have finally stopped shedding jobs. But without additional government action there is little likelihood that the economy will return to anything resembling full employment in the...

Like many Progressives, I disagreed with President Obama's decision to increase the number of American troops deployed to Afghanistan. But Progressives must not lose sight of the fact, that though we may disagree with this particular decision, President Obama shares a progressive vision of American foreign policy -- including...

Sometimes at Thanksgiving it's not so obvious what goes on the "I-am-thankful-for" list. For me, this year there was no question. This year I am thankful for the life of my late son-in-law Michael McLaughlin. Michael had an enormous impact on everyone whose lives he touched. He left us...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's announcement that he will send health insurance reform to the floor of the Senate this week signals that the long march to change America, that began with Barack Obama's announcement for president three years ago, has arrived at the gates of what is most certainly...

Even if you completely ignore how critical it is to reform the broken American health care system, most of the 39 Democrats who voted against health care reform in the House last week made a political mistake. Here's why:

1). The most basic reason is that the major...