The Congressional Progressive Caucus put out their jobs bill framework today, which goes much further than the President’s American Jobs Act, and which could act as a left flank for the debate if Congressional progressives ever got an ounce of the attention that, say, the Republican Study Group got when their caucus was in the [...]

The Congressional Progressive Caucus has responded to President Barack Obama, who said progressives would have to be “sold” on deficit reduction. Specifically, he claimed that “if you are a progressive, you should be concerned about debt and deficit just as much as if you’re a conservative.” CPC Co-Chair Raul Grijalva had this to say: The [...]

I agree with Marcy Wheeler that Netroots Nation 2011 consisted in many ways of a “desperate conversation to save the middle class.” I don’t think anybody figured this out. But some members of the coalition kicked off some important test campaigns. I went to the old Wesley Church in Minneapolis on Saturday, to the premiere [...]

Predictably, the budget framework that Barack Obama outlined quickly became used as the leftward pole in the debate. After all, Obama gave a partisan speech! He criticized Paul Ryan! So with the Obama plan on the left and the Ryan plan on the right, the range of debate had been narrowed artificially. But there is [...]

President Obama is holding a press conference in moments, amid signs that his deal with Republicans on the Bush tax cuts is falling apart. Joe Biden visited the Hill to try and save the policy, but Democrats and allies from across the political spectrum are opposed. Mary Landrieu, of all people, called the deal “almost [...]

I suppose a lot of people here have little use for the Progressive Caucus. I wouldn’t venture to say they covered themselves in glory in this Congress. They still face problems of internal cohesion and discipline, as well as using candidate recruitment and fundraising as a tool for progressive outcomes. I think at least some [...]

The leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus want a meeting with Nancy Pelosi to urge her to hold a vote on the Bush tax cuts for the middle class, excluding the tax cuts on those making over $250,000. Raul Grijalva and Lynn Woolsey point out in the letter to Pelosi that this proposal would save [...]

You may have seen the statistic going around that 47% of Blue Dogs got returned to Congress last night, while 96% of the Progressive Caucus returned. That isn’t a completely fair statistic. For the most part, those progressives are in safer districts. For the ones in less safe districts, they had big problems last night: [...]

The Progressive Caucus, despite greater numbers than the Blue Dogs, has never had the same impact on the national debate. They tried a co-chair framework this year, with Lynn Woolsey and Raul Grijalva leading the caucus. But Woolsey is just a poor communicator, and the split in the leadership served to weaken its message. Grijalva [...]

It’s still unclear whether we’ll have any votes on the Bush tax cuts before Congress retreats for the midterms at the end of next week. The Senate leadership put the chances at around 75% that they would hold a vote. Incidentally, here’s what that vote would actually look like: Yet, on this same point, Baucus [...]

Brian Beutler notes that Raul Grijalva’s letter opposing any benefit cuts to Social Security has the support of 55 House Democrats, with more expected before tomorrow’s circulation deadline. But this could just be a first step. I reported earlier this month that other options beyond a letter have been under discussion in the caucus: An [...]