Blog
All Blogs
-
July 26, 2010 7:26 pm | By Miranda Blue
RNC Embraces Breitbart’s Extremism
Last week, we were treated to an appalling spectacle in which conservative activist-journalist Andrew Breitbart launched a racially-charged attack against USDA employee Shirley Sherrod, creating a media storm and getting her fired from her job before anyone noticed that his…
-
July 25, 2010 3:31 am | By Miranda Blue
Netroots Nation Takes on Citizens United
When we commissioned a poll to gauge what Americans thought about the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC, we expected to find strong opposition to the idea of unlimited corporate influence in elections. But even we were stunned…
-
July 24, 2010 12:19 am | By Miranda Blue
Making the Courts a Progressive Priority
If there’s one theme that’s prevalent here at Netroots Nation, it’s that elections matter—but what you do after elections matters more. In a great panel discussion this morning, six judiciary-watchers discussed why the courts should matter to progressives, and why…
-
July 23, 2010 6:36 pm | By Rhee-Soo
Chairman Leahy Reprimands Senate Republicans
After helping Elena Kagan sail through the Judiciary Committee, Chairman Leahy isn’t content resting on his laurels. Yesterday the Chairman censured his Republican colleagues for their obstructionism on lower profile but just as vital judicial nominations. When Republicans foiled his…
-
July 23, 2010 1:42 pm | By Rhee-Soo
Oiling the Wheels of Justice
We’ve commented before on the oil ties of Judge Martin Feldman, the Reagan-appointed federal judge who struck down President Obama’s moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Now Alliance for Justice has issued a full report on his…
-
July 21, 2010 6:12 pm | By Rhee-Soo
Rove Returns
One of the greatest of many great parts about the end of George W. Bush’s presidency a year and a half ago was, I thought, that we wouldn’t have to spend our lives worrying about what Karl Rove was up…
-
July 21, 2010 2:25 pm | By Rhee-Soo
Saying No To Good Government
Although Elena Kagan’s nomination moved out of committee yesterday, almost every Republican committee member voted against her, and most Senate Republicans are expected to follow suite. Why? As an editorial in the New York Times pointed out , Republican opposition…
-
July 21, 2010 1:08 pm | By Rhee-Soo
Kagan Clears Judiciary Committee
Yesterday the Judiciary Committee voted to forward Elena Kagan’s Supreme Court nomination to the full Senate. Here’s PFAW President Michael B. Keegan’s statement: Today’s vote is a step towards achieving a Supreme Court that understands the way the law affects…
-
July 20, 2010 6:26 pm | By Miranda Blue
Will Your Representative Sign the Pledge to Protect America’s Democracy?
Today, People For the American Way and Public Citizen launched a new campaign to get the ball rolling on a Constitutional Amendment to kick corporate money out of elections.In January, the Supreme Court overturned a policy that was more than…
-
July 16, 2010 10:11 pm | By Miranda Blue
We’re Helping to Put Up a Billboard in Boehner’s Hometown. What Should It Say?
The PFAW Voters Alliance is cosponsoring an effort by our friends at Blue America PAC to beat Republican Leader John Boehner in his own House district. Because Boehner is an unbelievably avid golfer (he golfed 119 times last year—how is…
-
July 16, 2010 10:06 pm | By Rhee-Soo
The Ethical Imperative of Immigration Reform
One of the more interesting developments in the latest push for comprehensive immigration reform has been the split developing between conservative anti-immigrant groups who are committed to mass deportation at all costs and some right-wing evangelical leaders who have come…
-
July 16, 2010 7:33 pm | By Miranda Blue
Boehner: Only Regulate in “Emergencies”
In another stunning moment of out-of-touch kowtowing to industry lobbyists, House Republican Leader John Boehner has told reporters that he would support a moratorium on all new federal regulations…with an exemption for “emergencies.” Greg Sargent at the Washington Post contacted…
-
July 16, 2010 6:50 pm | By Miranda Blue
The GOP’s Judicial Obstruction Stats
Yesterday, Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina tried to convince the Senate to confirm two appeals court nominees from her state. The two nominees, Judges James Wynn and Albert Diaz, have no controversial baggage--each received near-unanimous bipartisan support from the…
-
July 16, 2010 2:31 pm | By Jen Herrick
Advocates and members of Congress gather to support LGBT equality and comprehensive immigration reform
Yesterday I joined fellow advocates and members of Congress for a press conference to support LGBT equality and comprehensive immigration reform. We are pushing for the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) to be included in all reform proposals. Incorporating UAFA…
-
July 15, 2010 10:02 pm | By Miranda Blue
The Right Wing Immigration Playbook Gets Scary
We reported earlier this year on the whisper campaign strategy we expected from the right wing in its effort to defeat comprehensive immigration reform, and since then we’ve seen exactly that--fringe extremism met with tacit acceptance by the mainstream.We saw…
-
July 15, 2010 4:01 pm | By Miranda Blue
Court Stops Right-Wing Anti-Marriage Referendum
An appeals court ruled this morning that the DC City Council has every right to refuse to hold a referendum aimed at shooting down the city’s four-month-old marriage equality law. The push to end DC’s marriage law was led by…
-
July 14, 2010 7:20 pm | By Miranda Blue
Come to our Netroots Nation Panel: Undoing Citizens United
Will you be in Las Vegas next week for Netroots Nation? If so, join us on Saturday for a discussion of corporate influence in elections and what we can do about it. We’ve put together a great panel of experts…
-
July 13, 2010 10:05 pm | By Rhee-Soo
Second Circuit Strikes Down FCC’s Indecency Rules
Few people could have imagined that Bono’s utterance of a single expletive during a 2003 awards show would have such a massive impact seven years later. Today, in Fox v. FCC, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that the…
-
July 13, 2010 6:23 pm | By Miranda Blue
The Next Frontier in Undoing Campaign Finance Reform
Since the Supreme Court decided earlier this year that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend however much they like to influence elections, groups have been attempting to use that decision to hack away at the core of federal…
-
July 13, 2010 3:55 pm | By Miranda Blue
The Substance of the Kagan Hearings
Many viewed it as a foregone conclusion that Elena Kagan’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings would lack any real discussion of law and the Constitution. In fact, People For’s Marge Baker argues in a new memo, Kagan’s hearings were more substantial…