Last December, the National Labor Relations Board issued a new rule to “modernize and streamline the process” of forming a union. The new rule: Provides for electronic filing and transmission of election petitions and other documents; Ensures that employees, employers and unions receive timely information they need to understand and participate in the representation case process; Eliminates or reduces unnecessary […]

Ya gotta admit, it’s terrific clickbait, though, right? Yesterday, the Washington Post ran a piece titled “Obama suggests requiring everyone to vote”. It was total clickbait that went nuts on Facebook. Other media outlets followed suit but it was the WashPo piece that went viral. And it’s pretty provocative, right? I mean, what sort of dictator would take away your […]

Republicans are so supportive these days! Matt Drudge is thrilled about the presidential candidacy of Martin O’Malley. William Kristol and Karl Rove want to see Elizabeth Warren get into the 2016 Democratic primary. Reihan Salam has five progressives he’d like to see oppose Hillary. Either our conservative friends want a candidate who would be tougher on corporate greed or they […]

Robert D. Putnam wants to have a debate without starting an argument. And he may succeed. His new book Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis succeeds in displaying the kind of canniness that makes the Harvard professor a favorite of both President Obama and Jeb Bush. To maintain the kind of equanimity that keeps your work at the heart of […]

There’s been so much in the news about over-the-top idiocy from Michigan Republicans lately that I thought I’d just put them all in one post. Over the past week or so, they’ve been trying to further degrade a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion and to corrupt our democracy by rigging the electoral system in favor of […]

If Republicans are trying to show people how crucial Obamacare is, King v. Burwell could be the perfect way to do it. The lawsuit that could end subsidies to the millions of Americans in 34 states who purchased insurance through the federal health care exchange will be argued on March 4. But we already have hints of what the impact […]

The first bill introduced in the U.S. Senate this session was a bill to compel the federal government to issue a permit to allow the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. This afternoon, President Obama vetoed it. Here is his veto statement: February 24, 2015 TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES: I am returning herewith without my approval S. […]

This week a somewhat abstruse debate about whether America should purposely try to antagonize 1.6 billion Muslims morphed into an impossibly stupid debate about whether the President of the United States really loves the United States. Meanwhile, in actual news, there’s an absurd lawsuit that threatens to wreak havoc on our health care system. The Urban Institute projects a victory […]

After a rough year, Democrats should savor what happened on Monday February 17, 2015. President Obama and Obamacare both hit 50 percent. The president’s approval rating is back at 50 percent in the Gallup daily tracking poll. He hit the halfway mark for the first time since June 2013 just after his most recent State of the Union and then […]

A new poll of 162 members of the American Political Science Association ranks President Obama 18th among the 43 men who have served as President of the United States. The poll indicts itself as being an immediate relic of this historical moment by placing Obama as the second most polarizing chief executive in U.S. history, behind George W. Bush, who […]

On Fox News: Friday’s jobs report was terrible news, barely worth mentioning. “So the headline is unemployment rate ticks up to 5.7″ percent,” Steve Doocy said, as he quickly wrapped up the segment. In reality: “This might just be the most perfect payrolls report ever,” according to economist Justin Wolfers. On Twitter, he raved about the strong growth of 257,000 […]