Progressive Vision
The Explosive Growth Of The Progressive Movement
August 26th, 2008
The immense amount of progressive activity outside the convention hall, compared to 2004, shows how far the movement has traveled. (Plus, interviews with Arianna Huffington and more.)
To Bring Change, Insiders and Outsiders Need Each Other
Activists need advocates in the White House and Congress to voice their concerns and pass legislation. But even with such allies, activists have to keep the heat on, be visible, and make enough noise so that policy makers and the media can't ignore them. To advance a progressive agenda, a widespread grassroots movement -- which provides ordinary Americans with opportunities to engage in a variety of activities, from emailing their legislators, to participating in protest -- is essential.
... read more »
Progressives On the Rise, Conservatism in Decline
Activists head to Washington for the Take Back America conference amid signs that the progressive movement is on the verge of a political transformation as dramatic as the infamous "Reagan revolution" of the 1980s. A resurgent progressive movement is emerging as the evidence mounts that the conservative movement's heyday has ended, done in by three decades of failure.
Read our blog on the opening plenary featuring Robert Borosage, Diane Archer, Van Jones and Donna Edwards.
See our latest reports:
- "Progressives Rising—2008: A Sea-Change Election"
- "The Decline of Conservatism," by Stan Greenberg
- "Conservatism is Dying," by Eric Lotke
Check the conference home page for new details on schedule and speakers.
The Case
More Prisoners Does Not Mean Less Crime
It's not that simple. A 2005 report by The Sentencing Project noted that while increased incarceration rates were accompanied by a decrease in crime between 1991 and 1998, crime rates had increased between 1984 and 1991, a period in which the rate of incarceration was even higher. The director of the Pew Center on the States recently wrote, "Rigorous studies show that increased imprisonment can claim credit for only 25 percent of the nation's crime drop over the past 15 years. The other 75 percent comes from a wide variety of factors, inside and outside the criminal justice system." Those factors include support for improved policing and community crime prevention programs—federal support for which was cut by the Bush administration. We already lock up a larger percentage of our population than any other country in the world. We need to invest more in the programs and techniques that we know prevent crime and lead to healthier communities.read more »
The Folly of the Fence
The Washington Post has reported that technical problems with the “virtual fence” being erected along a portion of the U.S.-Mexican border will mean a three-year delay in the project. read more »
Facts & Resources
Banksters Run Amok: The Facts
The Unprecedented Crises Our Nation Now Faces
The huge sums of federal money taxpayers are being asked to spent to cover bad bets could have been used to make America better:
read more »
The Dream Gone Bad: The Facts
The cost of living keeps rising.
• Since 2001, the overall costs of living has increased 21.5 percent, driven by big increases in such life essentials as gas, home heating oil and food. read more »
The News
Liberal Positions Gain Popularity
August 24th, 2008
Lawsuit Details ICE Detainee's Death
August 22nd, 2008
The Voices
Trickle-Up: What a Progressive Bailout Would Look Like
It would keep families in their homes and loosen credit markets without rewarding Wall Street's wheeler-dealers for their recklessness. read more »
Hey, Government! How About Calling on Us?
Ordinary Americans generally don't want bail-outs, nor do they want handouts. What they normally want is honorable work, decent wages, and a government willing to wake up and help them contribute to a national restoration. read more »
Latest from our Bloggers
oct
1
2008
A Media 'Disaster' Of Games, Gaffes and Gotchas
A new report released this week adds some statistical weight to what dismayed us about the media's performance during the 2008 primary debates: The media failed to engage the candidates in a meaningful discussion of the issues, but instead largely focused the discourse on the inconsequential. read more »
sep
19
2008
Moguls Steal Home While Companies Strike Out
From our offices in Manhattan, we look out on the tall, gleaming skyscrapers that are cathedrals of wealth and power -- the Olympus ruled by the gods of finance, the temples of the mighty, the holy of holies, whose priests guard the sacred texts of salvation -- the ones containing the secrets of subprime lending and derivatives as mysterious and elusive as the Grail itself. read more »
sep
19
2008
Where's Our Bailout?
Almost overlooked in this morning's extraordinary headlines about government intervention to protect the nation's financial system from collapse was the failure of the House of Representatives on Thursday to act on a $50 billion stimulus package for the rest of us. read more »
sep
17
2008
Tackle Wealth Concentration
Not since the era of the robber barons have so few held such a large piece of our economic pie. We are unlikely to achieve the policy changes that will benefit working people as long as our country tolerates extreme levels of wealth concentration.read more »
sep
17
2008
The One-Sided Idea War
Not only did Institute for America's Future launch our Op-Ad series this week, putting the focus on progressive principles that can solve the big crises facing America, but the Progressive Ideas Network -- a coalition that includes Campaign for America's Future -- released "New Progressive Voices," a c read more »
sep
16
2008
The Winning Frame has Emerged
Sometimes, people think of framing in presidential elections as a tug of war. We set our frame, they set theirs; whichever side pulls the hardest wins.
sep
8
2008
America: Yours, Mine, and Ours (Part 1)
One of the things I hoped for when Michelle Obama spoke at the Democratic convention, was that she would introduce Americans to the America that she came from and the America that was the setting of her story. One of the biggest shames in this campaign is the lack of any discussion of the reality that we don't all live in the same America. It's one reality that both progressives and conservatives must grapple with between now and November, and beyond.read more »
sep
2
2008
The Week in Blog: From The DNC
On Thursday before the final night of the Democatic National Convention, the Heritage Foundation's Conn Carroll and I taped our regular The Week In Blog segment for bloggingheads.tv, sharing our Denver experiences, discussing the growth of the progressive movement, and the important of the Employee Free Choice Act and green-collar jobs. read more »
