Progressive Vision
DMI Sends Members of Congress Home with Their 2007 Grades!
March 12th, 2008
If the middle class could give your Congressmember a grade, what would it be? Today, DMI releases grades for every senator and representative, evaluating their votes on key legislation that affects the current and aspiring middle class. more » 
To Bring Change, Insiders and Outsiders Need Each Other
Activists need advocates in the White House and Congress to voice their concerns and pass legislation. But even with such allies, activists have to keep the heat on, be visible, and make enough noise so that policy makers and the media can't ignore them. To advance a progressive agenda, a widespread grassroots movement -- which provides ordinary Americans with opportunities to engage in a variety of activities, from emailing their legislators, to participating in protest -- is essential.
... more »
Progressives On the Rise, Conservatism in Decline
Activists head to Washington for the Take Back America conference amid signs that the progressive movement is on the verge of a political transformation as dramatic as the infamous "Reagan revolution" of the 1980s. A resurgent progressive movement is emerging as the evidence mounts that the conservative movement's heyday has ended, done in by three decades of failure.
Read our blog on the opening plenary featuring Robert Borosage, Diane Archer, Van Jones and Donna Edwards.
See our latest reports:
- "Progressives Rising—2008: A Sea-Change Election"
- "The Decline of Conservatism," by Stan Greenberg
- "Conservatism is Dying," by Eric Lotke
Check the conference home page for new details on schedule and speakers.
The Case
More Prisoners Does Not Mean Less Crime
It's not that simple. A 2005 report by The Sentencing Project noted that while increased incarceration rates were accompanied by a decrease in crime between 1991 and 1998, crime rates had increased between 1984 and 1991, a period in which the rate of incarceration was even higher. The director of the Pew Center on the States recently wrote, "Rigorous studies show that increased imprisonment can claim credit for only 25 percent of the nation's crime drop over the past 15 years. The other 75 percent comes from a wide variety of factors, inside and outside the criminal justice system." Those factors include support for improved policing and community crime prevention programs—federal support for which was cut by the Bush administration. We already lock up a larger percentage of our population than any other country in the world. We need to invest more in the programs and techniques that we know prevent crime and lead to healthier communities.more »
The Folly of the Fence
The Washington Post has reported that technical problems with the “virtual fence” being erected along a portion of the U.S.-Mexican border will mean a three-year delay in the project. more »
Facts & Resources
The News
Immigrant, Pregnant, Is Jailed Under Pact
July 21st, 2008
“Political Dispatch” podcast: 7/11- Robert Borosage
July 14th, 2008
The Voices
A Big, Broad Movement
To build a big, powerful, effective, and truly diverse progressive movement — one capable of actually winning — all of us need to do our best to step back and remember some things.more »
The Post-Social Contract Generation
Almost half of America's youngest workers believe the nation's best days may have come and gone. Ninety percent say the social contract is broken and 87 percent — the largest portion in any age group — are calling out for a new one.more »
Latest from our Bloggers
jul
23
2008
11:02 am
11:02 am
Americans will begin to tune into the election again around the conventions. And in the fall, they'll start to take a closer look at who the candidates are and what they believe. Iraq will be big no doubt; the economy bigger. But health care may just be the pothole that cracks up Sen. John McCain's Straight Talk Express.more »
jul
21
2008
11:08 am
11:08 am
Netroots Nations participants have four clear priorities for the next president: ending the war in Iraq, addressing the global warming crisis, obtaining health care for all and clsing the growing gap between the rich and poor, according to a straw poll done by Democracy Corps and the Campaign for America's Future. more »
jul
16
2008
2:42 pm
2:42 pm
Most of Campaign for America's Future's bloggers went to Austin, Texas for the third annual Netroots Nation conference. The conference reflected the constantly growing and evolving nature of the blogosphere, and various panels addressed the challenge of building a progressive movement in today's political environment.
» Read all of our blog posts and see video from Netroots Nation.more »
jul
16
2008
8:08 am
8:08 am
Interesting word we've been hearing on the campaign trail: government.more »
jul
3
2008
9:52 am
9:52 am
More than 600 people from all over the country have responded in the first 48 hours of our call to tell Fox News to stop branding progressives as unpatriotic, and instead contribute to a respectful debate about the future direction of the country. more »
jul
2
2008
2:09 pm
2:09 pm
The punditocracy won't tell you, but Barack Obama and John McCain are moving to the Left. more »
jul
1
2008
10:38 am
10:38 am
Our political disagreements over the direction of the country and who is best qualified to lead it in the right direction should never be used as a weapon to question our love for this country. In fact, the willingness to be intensely engaged in the struggle to being this nation closer to its ideals is the very mark of a patriot. That's why we're telling Fox News and the right in general: Stop attacking patriotic Americans simply because you don't agree with them.more »
jun
29
2008
7:47 pm
7:47 pm
Liberals, lefties, Democrats, environmentalists, unionists, consumer advocates—all progressive types—suffer from the stereotype that we are unpatriotic. Let’s make it clear to all Americans that we progressives are the ones trying to lead our country closer to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.
more »
