February 2004 Page

February 28, 2004
  • A Phoney Recovery - That's not my title but that of an article at the Economist magazine, the economically conservative British weekly. Their point?... MORE...
  • Censoring Foreign Books - The Bush administration doesn't want you to read books from nations whose policies we oppose. If they declare such a... MORE...

    February 27, 2004
  • Settlement of CA Grocery Strike - The strike in California's grocery stores looks to be over and the results look mixed, as is usually true after... MORE...
  • Defending Kerry on Gay Marriage - Some folks like Kos are slamming Kerry for supporting civil unions but not gay marriage in Massachusetts. Fair enough. but... MORE...

    February 26, 2004
  • Building Global Unions - Over at the SEIU Fight for the Future Blog, Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger describes new efforts to unite US and European... MORE...
  • Thank you Alan Greenspan - Alan Greenspan, in calling for cuts in Social Security benefits, has done the nation a great favor. Bush has continued... MORE...

    February 25, 2004
  • Tenet: US Actions Creating New Terrorists - Since Bush launched his global war of preemption, anti-Americanism has spiked around the world, helping terrorists recruit new people to... MORE...
  • This is an Imminent Threat - No WMDs existed, halfway around the world, and there was no rapid internal changes in Iraq demanding immediate action. But... MORE...

    February 24, 2004
  • Neiwert on Political Theocrats - This is a great piece outlining in depth the bizarro fringes of the religious right assault on the courts. What... MORE...
  • Are Teachers Unions "Terrorists"? - When Bush's Secretary of Education called teh National Education Association a "terrorist organization", he apologized later that this was a... MORE...

    February 22, 2004
  • More Lies, More Retractions - Want to see how the Bush rewrites bad news into propaganda? Don't wait for the 911 Commission or any other... MORE...

    February 19, 2004
  • IBM Owes $6 Billion To Retirees - A few years ago, IBM liquidates its traditional pensions in what was called a "cash balance" system, an approach that... MORE...
  • Why Gay Marriage is Like Polygamy - When conservatives discuss the horrors of gay marriage, they usually jump to the slippery slope of other outrages that will... MORE...

    February 18, 2004
  • Buddy Ro Gets SF Guardian Nod - A nice endorsement for my law school friend, Ro Khanna, from the major progressive weekly in the SF Bay Area... MORE...
  • Google Upgrades Search Capability - Under pressure from competition, Google has expanded the number of web pages it searches, and has improved its search algorithm.... MORE...

    February 17, 2004
  • Cingular Takes AT&T Wireless- Good - I'm very glad that Cingular won the bid for AT&T Wireless. The SBC-dominated Cingular has a strong pro-union record where... MORE...

    February 16, 2004
  • Bush Cuts Homeland Security for Cities - More Bush lies-- he says he cares about security, but when it comes to the local communities that need to... MORE...
  • And Back in Kabul? - How can Bush talk seriously about bringing democracy to Iraq, when he's neglected Afghanistan to the point where elections may... MORE...

    February 15, 2004
  • NFL: Sex & Violence- no AIDS - Thank you Frank Rich, who ridicules the horror of the chattering classes at seeing Janet Jackson's boob amid the flatulence... MORE...

    February 12, 2004
  • A Window into Rightwing Discontent - This is FreeRepublic thread between conservatives over how pissed off grassroots rightwingers are with Bush, some defending him to the... MORE...
  • Civil Rights Act of 2004 - I criticize the Supreme Court for its constitutional decisions, but the rightwing on the court does great damage just by... MORE...
  • Has She No Shame? - Well, no-- like her hero, Ann Coulter has no depth to which she will not sink. Defending Bush, she decides... MORE...
  • Saving the Mouse - It would be a bad thing if cable giant Comcast takes over Disney. I'm a greate believer that the best... MORE...
  • Eating Your Own Garbage - Bush didn't lie. He just had faulty intelligence. And where did that faulty intelligence come from? Apparently from the Iraqi... MORE...

    February 11, 2004
  • Dean Loses It - I've been pretty consistent in fragging candidates who went over the top negative, and this set of rants by Dean... MORE...

    February 10, 2004
  • Bush's Ridiculous Job Growth Projections - Along with budget made up of lies, missing budget lines and deceptive statistics, Bush is also projecting job growth numbers... MORE...
  • Gay Marriage Ban a "Labor Vote" - Even as libertarians and the religious right components of the GOP are tearing themselves up over gay marriage, what is... MORE...
  • Why Does Academia Tilt Left? - First, when you add in economic departments and business schools and vocational teachers and a range of other parts of... MORE...

    February 09, 2004
  • CA Businesses: Repeal Workers Rights Law - Backed by Arnie, California employers are trying to gut an innovative law passed last year that gives employees and labor... MORE...
  • Journalists Views on Trade to Change? - You've got to wonder if this will shift some reporters' views on trade away from their usual knee-jerk "free trade"... MORE...
  • Making Defense Dept a Patronage Machine - As is clear after the WMD debacle, what is needed from the defense department is lower level officials fearful for... MORE...

    February 08, 2004
  • Projection - From Today's Meet the Press. Bush: The thing about the Vietnam War that troubles me as I look back is... MORE...
  • Dean and the Internet - Some are comparing Dean's meltdown to the dotcom hype and bubble bursting. It's an easy metaphor, but really misses the... MORE...

    February 07, 2004
  • More Using 911 to Bust Unions - I've emphasized in past posts how Bush used the post-911 bailout money to airlines to demand union-busting concessions from the... MORE...
  • So Why Can Europe Do It? - From Bill Frist: Dr. Frist, a Tennessee Republican, said his state was "going bankrupt" as a result of trying to... MORE...

    February 04, 2004
  • Where are the Jobs? - More of the same: The services industry forged ahead at a record pace in January, outstripping expectations for a more... MORE...
  • Ending Exploitive Mortgages - One nasty trend in the law are contracts that force you to give up your right to sue, even if... MORE...
  • VFW Condemns Bush Budget for Veterans - The Veterans of Foreign Wars blasted Bush's budget today: The President ignored veterans in the State of the Union Address... MORE...

    February 03, 2004
  • Lies in Bush Budget - Go read Max for details on all the things we'll be spending money on that ARE NOT in Bush's budget.... MORE...
  • Utah Secedes from World - Okay, Utah has always seemed a bit of its own world, with its rightwing politics and all, but this vote... MORE...

    February 02, 2004
  • Bush Far Behind in Quinnipiac Poll - One thing that's frustrated me for months are all the folks I know who are convinced that Bush will win... MORE...

    February 01, 2004
  • CA Prison Watchdog: "Waste"? - Last week, I noted the negotiations by Arnie with the prison guard union and the possible deal to cutback on... MORE...
  • Tennessee: Bush Sinking Fast - Bush is losing in national polls, but the real test will be in state elections, especially swing states. Well, check... MORE...
  • Kerry Gets Farmworkers Endorsement - The United Farm Workers (UFW) union has come out strongly for Kerry: More than three and a half decades after... MORE...
  • Cool - The Coming Search Wars Google has embarked on an ambitious secret effort known as Project Ocean, according to a person... MORE...
  • Current Weblog
    Recent Entries

    February 21, 2007
  • Amnesia on the Death of Reconstruction - I am going to pick on Brad Delong precisely because he is a brilliant and well-educated academic-- and his list... MORE...

    February 18, 2007
  • So What if Mitt Wants A Person of Faith as President? - There's a bit of a furor that Mitt Romney declared:We need to have a person of fiath lead the country.So... MORE...

    February 16, 2007
  • States Taking Action Against Iraq Escalation - So the New York Times is covering the story that resolutions denouncing Bush's Iraq Escalation have been introduced in over... MORE...

    January 01, 2007
  • Wal-Mart Doing Good for Environment - Seriously. This initiative by Wal-Mart to promote energy-saving light bulbs is a major environmental initiative. "Compact fluorescent" bulbs fit in... MORE...

    December 22, 2006
  • Dems' Stupid Positioning on Minimum Wage - As a followup to discussing why politicians need to appeal to a broad consensus, it's worth emphasizing that it's easier... MORE...

    December 21, 2006
  • Obama and the Need for Large Progressive Majorities - I've been as disappointed as many other progressive bloggers with Obama's bad votes on tort reform and seeming trimming of... MORE...

    December 13, 2006
  • test - tst... MORE...

    November 27, 2006
  • Ecuador Goes Left - Another country moves left-- whatever you want to say, Bush has been very good for reviving the global left, especially... MORE...
  • Building a Progressive Majority in the Statehouses - The Progressive States Network today rolled out its legislative agenda for the 2007 session and is looking to promote it... MORE...

    November 13, 2006
  • The Future Belongs to US - While the actual results seem razer-thin in this election, I'll be bold and argue that they are part of a... MORE...

    November 11, 2006
  • Pro-Labor "Conservative Democrats" - One more nail in the narrative that the victory of a few moderate Democrats means this election is really a... MORE...

    November 10, 2006
  • The Collapse of Tax Cut Politics - You can check out Progressive States rundown of progressive successes in the states on Tuesday, but I want to focus... MORE...

    November 08, 2006
  • A Good Night for Progressives - Let's be clear-- this wasn't just a good night for Democrats. It was a good night for progressives, and no... MORE...

    November 01, 2006
  • Labor Cold War Ends - New International Labor Federation - At the dawn of the Cold War, the international union movement divided up between the ICFTU, dominated by US and Western European unions, and the World Confederation of Labor, largely allied with the Soviet Union. It's taken a decade and a half, but the irrelevancy of that division will end today as the two federations merge-- bringing together 241 labor organizations from 156 countries representing 190 million workers. The new International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is a good step for a labor movement looking to globalize itself in the taking on global capital power.... MORE...

    October 19, 2006
  • Immigrant Poor Send More Foreign Aid than US Govt - The United States government spends less money on foreign aid as a percentage of its budget than almost any other... MORE...

    October 17, 2006
  • - Valuing Families:  State Legislative Models Brought to you by Progressive States and MomsRising What would a policy that really values families look... MORE...

    October 09, 2006
  • Emaciated Models, Labor Regulation - There's a bit of debate in the blogosphere around Spain's new law banning underweight models from the runways in that country. See Jordan, Amanda at Pandagon and Lindsay Beyerstein at Majikthise on whether this is an intrusive regulating violating free expression or something like that and whether OSHA safety regulations are appropriate. Just to throw my two cents in-- any broader OSHA approach would seem cumbersome and bureaucratically intrusive in a deep way. But the original Spanish proposal is brilliant in its high-impact, low-intrusion approach. Regulate only the fashion week type runways, where in a single spotcheck, models can be... MORE...

    October 03, 2006
  • Big loss for Labor-- - The National Labor Relations Board ruled today that a range of professionals are now deemed "supervisors" and thus lose all protections under labor law. That means if they say a positive thing about unions, their bosses are free to fire them at will. The AFL-CIO has more here. To put this denial of labor rights in perspective, 32 million workers or 25% of the workforce already have no right to form a union under federal, state or local law (see this GAO report and this ARAW summary). This includes: Supervisors 16.6 million workers, 8 million new supervisors plus traditional 8.6... MORE...

    September 27, 2006
  • Civil War on the Right- Dick Armey trashes Dobson - The economic business- right and the religious right are moving towards total civil war. This piece by former GOP Majority... MORE...

    September 24, 2006
  • Allen the Racist - Three college teammates confirm that George Allen regularly used the N- word: Allen said he came to Virginia because he... MORE...