Seeing that large banks are the most powerful political entity in America and one of the only institutions members of Congress will practically trip over each other in their rush to save from their own mistakes, I’m left wondering why all the major labor unions don’t get in on the action by starting their own [...]

I want to thank the Firedoglake community for all their support and positive feedback over the past two years. I never thought I could take part in directly shaping American policy, but thanks to this site and its dedicated readership, I’ve seen it happen. I hope you will please join the FDL Membership Program and [...]

For some reason, one of the most bizarrely persistent myths on the left is that the specifics of the new health care reform law are actually popular. The myth was again brought up today by Ezra Klein: You saw this a lot during health-care reform, where the specifics of the law were popular but the [...]

In today’s press conference with President Obama, ABC Reporter Jake Tapper asked Obama about Hillary Clinton spokesman PJ Crowley’s condemnation of the Department of Defense’s mistreatment of Bradley Manning. Crowley said at a forum last night, “What is happening to Manning is ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid, and I don’t know why the DoD is doing it.”

Obama brushed off the question, saying that he had spoken to the Pentagon and was assured that Manning’s treatment is “meeting our basic standards.”

The problem with President Obama’s willingness to give into Senate Republican’s “hostage taking” tactics is that it just ends up encouraging them to take more hostages and demand even bigger ransoms. The most recent hostage taker is Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and his latest hostage is the South Korean free trade deal. From The Hill: [...]

I often marvel at how completely the debate in Washington seems so totally disconnected from the polling data and the concerns of regular Americans in these tough times, but it is important to keep in mind members of Congress aren’t like regular Americans. For the most part they are incredibly wealthy. From Opensecrets.org: Like their [...]

Again, some of my darkest predictions about the new health care law are coming true. With businesses again clamoring for corporate tax reduction, the go-to in Pay-Go-obsessed Washington are the affordability subsidies for people who will be using the new health care exchanges. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared that he supported the House Republicans’ [...]

In the context of reducing the budget deficit, a new Bloomberg poll (PDF) asked Americans if they would support pulling all troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan. The poll found an overwhelming 66 percent would favor this action, while only 30 percent oppose it. A full withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan was one of only [...]

The SustiNet health care bill recently cleared its first of many legislative huddles in Connecticut. From Hartford Courant: The SustiNet health bill cleared a hurdle in the General Assembly on Monday when the public health committee voted 16-10 to approve it — with minor changes. Under SustiNet, Connecticut would create large pools of health care [...]

Much of the political debate in Washington over the next year is going to be dominated by two potential pending crises: a government shutdown and a failure to raise the debt ceiling. If Congress fails to actively and regularly avert them, these crises could significantly disrupt our society, cost money and hamper the economy. Yet [...]