Under the new rules for the 2008 election cycle, the DCCC [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] asked rank-and-file members to contribute $125,000 in dues and to raise an additional $75,000 for the party. Subcommittee chairpersons must contribute $150,000 in dues and raise an additional $100,000. Members who sit on the most...

Cross-posted from New Deal 2.0.

In a recent essay, Slovenian theorist and literary provocateur Slavoj Zizek attempts to unpack the political meaning of the riots in England. These broke out in response to the shooting of Mark Duggan by the Metropolitan...

Cross-posted from New Deal 2.0.

After this summer's exhausting budget and debt ceiling follies, everyone who can turn on a TV knows that Congress is sharply polarized along party lines. But most pundits are way off on what causes it.  As I've pointed out repeatedly, too...

This morning the Washington Post reported that the White House is offering to cut Social Security as part of a broader budget deal with the Republicans. At last we have the answer to the question everyone has been asking about the Democrats: How far can they go?

The...

On Sunday, the New York Times closed out its "Week in Review" section after a run of 76 years. With Republicans and most Democrats back singing the praises of deregulation, smaller government, and tax cuts less than three years after that old song brought the world...

Cross-posted from New Deal 2.0.

Revolution in the Middle East, nuclear meltdown in Japan, war in Libya, the U.S. budget crisis, the looming problems of the Eurozone -- some days it's all just too much. But today there's something no one can afford to ignore: The Independent, one...

President Obama's budget proposal fails to address the real deficit culprits.

Addressing long-term budget issues requires bringing US health care costs in line with those of other major countries with better records on providing adequate services to their populations. That is not done by fixing inflexible...

Add Barack Obama to the long list of statesmen who couldn't solve the Riddle of the Sphinx. For a while last week it looked like a miracle was happening: The United States was on the verge of doing right and doing well at the same time. After stumbling initially, the...

"We didn't actually, I think, do what Franklin Delano Roosevelt did, which was basically wait for six months until the thing had gotten so bad that it became an easier sell politically because we thought that was irresponsible. We had to act quickly." - President Obama

Sometimes a chance remark...

In the wake of a Democratic loss not seen in the House since 1938, upended Senate seats, and Republican gubernatorial wins, Roosevelt Institute Fellows weigh in. Was the vote a referendum on Democrats? What will it mean moving forward? This post originally appeared on New Deal 2.0.

"The...

On the 19th of January, Massachusetts, reputedly the most liberal state in America, fired a shot heard round the world. In an epic political upset, Republican Scott Brown, who had once posed naked for Cosmopolitan magazine and now ardently championed tax cuts, smaller government, and waterboarding, defeated his heavily Democratic...

Is there anyone out there who still expects anything from the Angelides Commission? After AIG? After TARP? After Treasury's gargantuan tax breaks for banks, Geithner's preposterous asset buying program, the Citigroup $300 billion plus "ring fence," or the FDIC's guarantees of bank debts? Or, for that...