 In the aftermath of the shellacking they took in the midterm congressional and state elections, many Democrats are calling for their party to return to its New Deal roots.
This is inadvertently comical. The present-day Democratic Party has next to nothing to do with Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal or Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. Today’s Democratic Party is a completely different party, which coalesced between 1968 and 1980. And this half-century-old party has been anti-New Deal from the very beginning.
Now that I have your attention, allow me to explain.
While there have been two parties called “the Democrats” and “the Republicans” since the mid-19th century, these enduring labels mask the fact that party coalitions change every generation or t
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 By the time Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) moves in to the majority leader's suite just off the Senate floor, he'll likely be leading a caucus of 54 Republican senators.
That means he'll need six Democrats to break filibusters and achieve the magic 60-vote threshold required to pass controversial legislation through the Senate, such as hacking away at Obamacare or approving the Keystone pipeline.
There are six Democrats who are most likely to, in the interest of bipartisanship, join Republicans on some ke
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Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a lobbyist (Credit: Cliff Owen)
The saddest people in Washington during the past two years of unrelenting legislative gridlock ply their trade on K Street. When there’s no hope of passing laws, there’s no reason to hire expensive lobbyists to push for them. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, lobbyist spending fell 12.5 percent in 2013, and is on target to decrease even more this year.
Some have speculated that lobbying has just
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 On November 4th Democrats lost big when they ran a candidate but won big when they ran an issue.
In 42 states about 150 initiatives were on the ballot. The vast majority did not address issues dividing the two parties (e.g. raising the mandatory retirement age for judges, salary increases for state legislators, bond issues supporting a range of projects). But scores of initiatives did involve hot button issues. And on these American voters proved astonishingly liberal.
Voters
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Earlier this month, Senator Bernie Sanders spoke at a town hall meeting in Richmond, California, about the many problems confronting America, including big money in politics following the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. After an hour-long speech, he had the crowd of around 500 on their feet giving the independent senator from Vermont a standing ovation.
“Change does not take place easily. Anyone who’s read history understands that before real change takes place, people struggle. They go to jail. They die for that change.” — Sen. Bernie Sanders
America’s third large
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 With just four days to go until the 2014 midterms, here’s our final weekly roundup of news about this year’s money race.
Do you know where your polling place is, and what documents you’ll need to cast a ballot? If you have any questions, the nonpartisan League of Women Voters has answers at vote411.org. And if you encounter any problems at the polls, call the Election Protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683) or visit their
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A sign at the #NHRebellion march earlier this year in which activist Lawrence Lessig and many others
walked across the state to kick off a campaign to get big money out of politics. Nation Action is the political action blog at The Nation magazine website. The editors post initiatives that their readers can get involved with if they want to become more active on a particular issue. This week, the editors po
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by Steven DFollow
From Daily KOS
No, I'm not making a prediction. She hasn't lost the nomination battle for 2016, not yet anyway. However what she did do today, or what I should more accurately say, is she lost my respect. Back in 2011, at a speech she, in her capacity as Secretary of State, was giving for international internet freedom, a worthy cause. During the speech, Ray McGovern, a retired CIA agent who became a political activist against the wars fought in our name in the Middle east, stood up and tuned his back on her, a silent form of protest. For that he was arrested for disorderly conduct. From the transcript of the Democracy NOW broadcast about the incident:
RAY McGOVERN: Well, I was pounced upon. I was blindsided, really. I was looking straight to the back, minding my own business, the only offense being standing up when everyone else was sitting down. And without any warning, I was pounced upon by and wh
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“The Pentagon Won’t Be Holding a Bake Sale Any Time Soon”
 Last night, Rep. Alan Grayson was invited onto “All In With Chris Hayes” on MSNBC to give his perspective on Congressional approval of military action against ISIS, and the military’s request for more war funding. The host explained that Republicans were attacking the President for not calling Congress back in session to debate a declaration of war against ISIS, when only GOP Speaker Boehner can call the Hous
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Bernie Sanders: Longterm Democratic strategy is “pathetic”
Senator Bernie Sanders sits down with Salon to talk inequality, the GOP, and whether or not he'll run for president
 Bernie Sanders is a legendary political independent from Vermont. Over the years, he has served as mayor of Burlington, the largest city in that state; as a member of the House of Representatives; and (currently) as a United States Senator. We met last week in his office in one of the Senate office buildings in Washington, D.C., and discussed the Clinton years, the way to beat the Rig
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