Elizabeth Warren’s surprise lead in Massachusetts polls only days after she got into the Senate race to oust Republican Scott Brown has thrown GOP operatives off balance. Their first storyline was that Warren was either a creature of the Beltway or a pointy-headed Harvard professor. Neither seems to be sticking. On Tuesday, when the Democratic-affiliated […]
Robert Kuttner
Robert Kuttner is co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect, and professor at Brandeis University’s Heller School. His latest book is Notes for Next Time: Surviving Tyranny, Redeeming America. Follow Bob at his site, robertkuttner.com, and on Twitter.
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Forced Fed
The Federal Reserve’s announcement that it will sell $400 billion of short-term Treasury securities and buy $400 billion of longer-term government bonds as a way of locking low interest rates and stimulating the economy is a good idea. Unfortunately, it is far from sufficient. The government should be borrowing at least a trillion dollars at […]
Posted inEconomic Policy
History’s Missed Moment
Why did the greatest failure of laissez-faire capitalism since the Great Depression lead to a turn to the right rather than the left in both Europe and the U.S.?
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Our Classy President
Republicans and many pundits have faulted President Obama for engaging in the politics of class warfare. Addressing the realities of class in America is in fact long overdue. Republicans and conservative Democrats are outraged because if class ever becomes a question that can be openly discussed, the right loses, America becomes a more decent society, […]
Posted inColumns
Land of the Free, Home of the Turncoats
In its nihilistic demonization of government, the right has declared war on America.
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Medicare Cuts: Not the Way to Voters’ Hearts
Last week, Obama finally got some traction with a speech that had a clear, consistent message — jobs, jobs, jobs. Even the Republicans were reluctant to oppose him frontally. Now, once again, Obama will mix his own message by emphasizing belt tightening in general and cuts in Medicare in particular. There is one silver lining: […]
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Snatching Defeat out of the Jaws of Victory
President Obama’s jobs speech last Thursday evening heartened Democrats and progressives, but yesterday’s meeting of the “super-committee” reminds us how much Obama has already given away and the traps he has set for himself (and the recovery) going forward. While he tries to coax the economy into producing more jobs with one hand, Obama has […]
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A Good First Step
President Obama’s jobs speech was the right narrative and the right tone. It suggested a president who was a capable leader in a crisis, who gets America’s pain. He also boxes in the Republicans — and by offering a plan that includes elements that many Republicans support, he makes it much harder for them to […]
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Obama’s Big Speech: More Weak Tea?
After a terrific speech on Labor Day in Detroit, President Obama is likely to offer fairly modest proposals tonight, adding up to a program too weak to cure a rapidly deflating economy, and a politics too weak to draw clear lines between himself and his Republican opposition. While the rhetoric may be a little hotter […]
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Obama’s Inner Truman
The president we elected in November 2008 gave a terrific speech on Labor Day in Detroit. It’s been a long time coming. This president’s trademark seems to be that he doesn’t find his inner fighter until his back is to the wall (along with ours). Obama’s approval rating, at just 40 percent according to Gallup, […]
