By Paul Starr on Alternet.org, 12-7-09 The continuing rise in the unemployment rate, up to 10.2 percent in November, has to give a sense of urgency to Democrats in Congress and the administration about the work they have at hand before next fall's elections. In 2010 Republicans are looking to...

by Simon Johnson on Baseline Scenario, 12-5-09 This post is a slightly edited version of remarks prepared for delivery at Unwinding Public Interventions in the Financial Sector: Preconditions and Practical Considerations , IMF High-Level Conference, Thursday, December 3, 2009, Washington...

The health care debate has so many moving parts that it's hard for anybody to keep them straight. So we decided to put together an overview of where we're at—both good and bad—and what we're all going to need to keep fighting for. Neither of these bills is close to perfect. But we're...

By William Greider in The Nation via alternet.org, 12-9-09 The sale pitch for financial-reform legislation pending in the House claims it would put an stop to "too big to fail" bailouts for the leading banks. The reality is the opposite. The federal government would instead be granted unlimited...

By Karen Dolan and Diana Pearce, AlterNet.org, 12-7-09 The levees failed residents of New Orleans when Katrina battered their city. The safety net is failing Americans battered by the most recent Category 5 storm—the "Great Recession" of 2008-2009. Category 5 storms are catastrophic:...

by Gary Olson on CommonDreams.org, 12-3-09 With Obama's massive troop escalation (can the Nobel Peace Prize be rescinded?) he's made Afghanistan his war, reminiscent of President Johnson's Vietnam War escalation. At the current death rate of 500 soldiers per year the events...