Peter Dreier: Historians will no doubt view President Barack Obama’s announcement Wednesday favoring same-sex marriage as an equally historic statement, parallel to those of FDR on workers’ rights and LBJ on civil rights.
Why Milwaukee Forgot Victor Berger
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Peter Dreier: Berger would be shocked that Wisconsin is currently ground-zero in the nation’s right-wing crusade against unions and progressive government — causes that he espoused.
Activists Breathe New Life Into May Day
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Peter Dreier: This year, in the wake of Occupy Wall Street and the rebirth of a national movement for social justice, a wide spectrum of activist groups will be out in the streets to give voice to the growing crusade for democracy and equality.
Ex-Marine Fights Freddie Mac to Save His Home
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Peter Dreier: recent report sponsored by bank reform groups reveals that if banks lowered the principal balance on all underwater mortgages to their current market value, it would pump over $70 billion per year back into the economy.
Is Capitalism on Trial?
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Peter Dreier: The high unemployment rate among today’s youth, and the enormous increase in debt owed by college students and recent graduates, has something to do with their growing doubts about capitalism. So does their uncertainty about their own future and the country’s future.
Gingrich Distorts Food Stamp Facts
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With one statement on Thursday, Newt Gingrich, who constantly reminds voters about his past as a college professor, managed to mangle the facts while resorting to old-fashioned racist stereotypes to gain votes. With his poll numbers sinking, and his presidential campaign desperate, Gingrich told a crowd at a senior citizens center in Plymouth, New Hampshire, “I’m prepared, [...]
Occupy Our Homes: The Next Stage
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Peter Dreier: Perhaps because so many Occupiers have recently been evicted from their encampments in cities across the country, they have found common cause with the growing number of American families facing foreclosure.
Will Occupy Wall Street Be Co-opted?
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Peter Dreier: Too many lefties view “co-optation” as failure. I disagree. The success of every radical movement in American history has occurred when it is co-opted by the forces of reform.
Victory! Transforming Occupy Wall Street From a Moment to a Movement
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Peter Dreier: If the Occupy Wall Street activists join forces with the unions and community groups, they could catalyze a massive nationwide movement to resist foreclosures and block evictions.
California Homeowners Fight Foreclosures
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Peter Dreier: Rose Gudiel is on the front lines of a growing protest movement to stop banks from foreclosing on families victimized by the economic crisis and abusive banking practices.
Protests? Yes. Riots? No.
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Peter Dreier: Riots occur when people are hopeless. Civil disobedience takes place when people are hopeful — when people believe not only that things should be different but also that they can be different.
Banks Should Pay for the Foreclosure Crisis
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Peter Dreier: It doesn’t make sense to make severe cuts to state and local budgets only to allow Wall Street banks and their overpaid CEOs to drain billions more from our states.
Murals Battle and Basic Rights
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Peter Dreier: Who could have predicted that a mural in Maine would become the latest battleground in the war of ideas, money, and power triggered by America’s right wing forces, including the Tea Party, Fox News, the Republican Party, and big business?
Help Stop the Koch Brothers
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Peter Dreier: For years Glenn Beck has spewed lies about Fran Piven, a distinguished political sceintist and sociologist. In recent months, Beck has escalated the rhetoric against Piven, which has led to a growing chorus of death threats against her. It is time to challenge the right-wing forces like Glenn Beck, Fox News, the Tea Party and the billionaires like the Koch brothers who fund them. We have an opportunity on January 30th.
Glenn Beck’s Attacks on Frances Fox Piven Trigger Death Threats
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Peter Dreier: Glenn Beck has escalated his hate campaign against Frances Fox Piven, calling her one of the “nine most dangerous people in the world,” and “an enemy of the Constitution.”
Crying Wolf – The Republican Playbook
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Peter Dreier: Now that the Republicans control the House of Representatives, expect to hear a lot more complaints from business, corporate-sponsored think thanks, and their political allies in Congress about “job-killing” government regulations.
Los Angeles Homeowners Take to the Streets to Protest Foreclosure Abuses
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Peter Dreier: In Los Angeles this Thursday, members of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) — a statewide community organizing group — will sponsor a demonstration at a major bank that will include civil disobedience and probably arrests.
Health Care Reform – Six Months Later
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Peter Dreier: Lots of reporters and pundits-all of whom have good, employer-provided health insurance plans-now say that Obama invested too much capital getting the Affordable Care Act through Congress when he should have been concentrating on the economy.
Baseball Justice
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Peter Dreier: Major League Baseball’s corporate mentality, its failure to deal with widespread drug use, and its decline in popularity among America’s youth (more of whom now play soccer than Little League baseball), don’t reflect well on what its pooh-bahs still call the “national pastime.”
Pass the Health Care Bill: Then Improve It
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Peter Dreier: It is incredibly irresponsible for some radicals and progressives to call for killing the health care bill. It is important to push for changes that would improve the Senate version of the bill. For example, the House funding plan (a tax on families with incomes over $1 million) is much better than the Senate version (a tax on so-called “Cadillac” health insurance plans). That’s what the labor movement, liberal and progressive Democrats in Congress, pro-choice advocates, and others will be doing in hopes of putting a better bill on President Obama’s desk, as Harold Meyerson discusses in his latest Washington Post column.
ACORN ‘Not Guilty’
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The accusations put ACORN in a situation similar to a man who is asked, “when did you stop beating your wife?” Even though the accusations weren’t true, ACORN was put on the defensive, and lacked the resources to respond effectively to the onslaught of negative publicity.
Judging Mister Mayor: Los Angeles Magazine’s Rip of Antonio Villaraigosa Put in Perspective
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Los Angeles magazine slapped the word “Failure” across a photo of L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on the cover of its June issue. This was not only a cheap shot, meant to grab attention and sell magazines, but also a misleading assessment of Villaraigosa’s track record after one term. The article expressed disappointment, even bitterness, that [...]
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Limbaugh Growing Impotent?
Peter Dreier: Limbaugh’s gross comments about a female college student who voiced support for Obama’s birth-control insurance compromise have forced some old Republican allies to distance themselves, raising questions about Limbaugh losing his potency.