Chris Hayes:

The group just launched in mid-June and so far has only three staffers, including Booth. But they’re raising money and project a $5 million budget. Booth says she’s been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and energy people have shown for the project. In a month they’ve relied on progressive economists and wonks to pull together a policy task force, which has issued a series of white papers sketching out a vision of progressive regulatory reform. They’re now developing a communications and grassroots field strategy. 

Great. Glad to hear it.  Another group that will redouble every mistake made by every such liberal group since the 1970s.  They’ll put together a bunch of experts, issue some "white papers," nobody will care but they’ll raise a lot of money.

They’ll make no attempt to figure out why this doesn’t work, or why the model has been such a colossal failure in the past.  Because for them, it’s not a failure — big donors love big names.  Congress doesn’t give a flying fuck, you say?  Well,  you have a point.  But failing to have even a remote hope of success is not necessary to keep the funding stream flowing.

Of course Obama is meeting with them.  They’re utterly and completely useless, and pose absolutely no threat.  As long as they soak up money that should go to organizations like CEPR already in existence that actually do something valuable, they’ll be treated as Very Serious People and get invited to the cocktail parties, the conferences and the self-congratulatory dinners that are the alpha and the omega of these endeavors.

Because why, New Deal 2.0 didn’t suck badly enough?