Bold progressive Alan Grayson will be returning to Congress in January.

Last night, Grayson appeared on The Young Turks and pushed back on demands from corporate-backed groups like the Campaign To Fix The Debt that Congress cut Social Security or Medicare benefits as part of a “Grand Bargain.”

ai???The Democratic Party should be united,ai??? said Grayson. ai???We are the party that created Social Security. We are the party that created Medicare. We should stand behind it, and we should protect it. Itai??i??s amazingly popular among the voters. Why should we shoot ourselves in the head by saying weai??i??re going to end these programs, or even cut back these programs, when we created them, and the voters love them?ai???

Watch it:

Remember that it was thanks to the efforts of Progressive Change Campaign Committee members — we made 216,577 calls for him and raised $56,684 from 5,429 donations — that Grayson will be returning to Congress.

(Photo credit: Flickr user Monochrome)

Wal-Mart, America’s largest private employer and one of the worst union-busters in the country, is facing a worker rebellion at its stores and suppliers nationwide.

Earlier this week, workers at Los Angeles Wal-Mart warehouses and Seattle stores walked off the job. The Nation’s Josh Eidelson reports today that workers in Dallas joined these strikers:

This morning, at 10 AM local time, Dallas Walmart store workers are headed back to the picket line. Theirs is the latest in aAi??string of strikesAi??that hit a California warehouse Wednesday and Seattle stores on Thursday. Thereai??i??s more where that came from: On a Thursday call with reporters, union-backed Walmart worker groups said to expect a thousand strikes or demonstrations spread over nine days, culminating in an unprecedented array of ai???Black Fridayai??? disruptions. That news follows a major legal settlement by a Walmart contractor that organizers credited to a 2011 sit-in at Hersheyai??i??s Chocolate.

We’ll keep you up to date as we approach Black Friday, which is expected to be the largest day of strikes in Wal-Mart’s history.

UPDATE: The Corporate Action Network has set up a page for Americans to ai???adopt a Wal-Martai??? to show up and support workers who will be walking out on Black Friday.

November 6 was “probably one of the best election nights progressives will ever have,” says Adam Green, cofounder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “Underlying the fact that Democrats picked up a few seats is that the progressive ranks are growing while the Blue Dogs are dwindling.” Progressive advocates believe these new faces will lead to more favorable policies out of Congress… But the progressives also make a political argument. For years, they’ve claimed that Democrats need to be more progressive, not less, if they want to win elections. The idea that tacking to the middle and embracing center-right positions is what wins, they say, is a canard. Now, they point to the 2012 results as proof.

The Wall Street Journal CEO Council is an event that brings together elite corporate leaders, journalists, and politicians. It is usually only lightly covered by the media, so the public ends up not seeing much of what goes on.

We’ve obtained a transcript of the event’s dinner meeting that took place earlier this week. At the meeting, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), making conversation with former Senate Minority Leader and current corporate lobbyist Trent Lott, suggests that President Obama should “courageously” cut Medicare by raising the eligibility age in order to combat the deficit:

LIEBERMAN: I’d say that sometime soon– both privately to Speaker Boehner and — and also publicly, he — he should– make clear that he’s prepared– to– to change some of — Medicare status quo. […] But I think the President will have to make clear he’ll either support some– well, for instance, in– beginning to increase the age of eligibility. […] Incidentally, increasing the age of eligibility to be more close (LAUGH) to the actual age at which people are living, as opposed to the age– that they were living in 1965, when Medicare was adopted, the average age It’s now closing in on 80 — saves a lotta money– every year. The president has to show the public, and the Republicans, who he’s asking to support higher revenue, or tax reform, that he’s prepared and Democrats are prepared to deal– courageously with– entitlements.

To be clear — Americans as a whole are not living longer. White-collar workers are, but blue-collar workers have barely seen any increase in life expectancy.

Raising the Medicare age “to 67 would cause an estimated net increase of $5.6 billion in out-of-pocket health insurance costs for beneficiaries who would have been otherwise covered by Medicare.”

What could Lieberman’s …

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)

In an interview with the Washington Post’s Suzy Khimm, North Dakota Democratic Senator Kent Conrad said that it would be “fair and balanced” to raise the Medicare age, which would require a huge cut in benefits to American seniors:

KHIMM: Obama has already suggested raising the retirement age for Medicare. Should that be the starting point for thinking about entitlement savings?

I wouldnai??i??t want that to be the starting point, but as part of an overall package, thatai??i??s balanced and fair. Given that we now have exchanges to purchase insurance because of the presidentai??i??s health-care reform law, it makes it much more acceptable, much more reasonable, over a long period of time to gradually increase the age given that people are living so much longer.

As ThinkProgress’s Igor Volsky writes, raising the Medicare age would create an enormous burden on seniors:

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, raising the eligibility age to 67 would cause an estimated net increase of $5.6 billion in out-of-pocket health insurance costs for beneficiaries who would have been otherwise covered by Medicare. Seniors in Medicare Part B would also face a 3 percent premium increase, the study found, since younger and healthier enrollees would be routed out of Medicare and into private insurance. Beneficiaries in health care reformai??i??s exchanges would see a similar spike in premiums with the addition of the older population.

Medicare isn’t the driver of our budget deficits — two wars, tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, and Wall Street’s recession are responsible for most of our debt. It’s simply unfair to ask American seniors to pay for a problem they did not cause.

Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren has an alternative, truly “balanced” approach. During a campaign debate last month, she laid out a popular, credible …

A number of right-wing politicians and corporate CEOs are demanding that Congress and the President agree to cuts to Social Security along with reductions in the corporate tax rate as part of a “Grand Bargain.”

These conservatives who are making this demand should heed the words of their icon, former President Ronald Reagan. In the 1984 presidential debate, Reagan — the most right-wing president in his generation — debunked the lie that Social Security adds to the debt:

REAGAN: Social Security, let’s lay it to rest once in for all…Social Security has nothing to do with the deficit. Social Security is totally funded by the payroll tax levied on employer and employee. If you reduce the outgo of Social Security, that money would not go into the general fund to reduce the deficit. It would go into the Social Security trust fund. So Social Security has nothing to do with balancing the budget or erasing or lowering the deficit.

Watch it:

If only John Boehner, Mitch McConnell and other Social Security foes would heed the words of this Republican they so often praise.

Want to help fight for a progressive approach to the deficit that doesn’t involve cutting Social Security?

Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has an alternative, truly “balanced approach” to tackling the deficit. During a campaign debate last month, she laid out a popular vision for dealing with the deficit: cut back on wasteful military and agriculture subsidy spending, and make the rich pay their fair share with higher tax rates. Watch Warren explain:

Show your support for Warrenai??i??s “balanced approach” by clicking here to add your name as a citizen supporter of her vision.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL)

Earlier today, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) — who serves as the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee — appeared on MNSBC to discuss upcoming budget negotiations. After being probed by the television anchor about cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits, Wasserman Schultz said that “what we don’t need to do, I canAi??tell you, is cut benefits”:

TAMRON HALL: How muchAi??leeway will the left give theAi??president regarding entitlementAi??reform?Ai?? He met with union leadersAi??yesterday.Ai??they have the president’s backAi??at this point but where does theAi??balance come from?

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Well, it is going to beAi??difficult and challenging, butAi??anything worth doing is worthAi??doing well and together. You know, we have shownAi??repeatedly that when the twoAi??parties come together like Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan on Social Security reform we canAi??add years of solvency and toAi??medicare and do it and increaseAi??benefits like with Obamacare and we need both sides to beAi??willing.Ai?? I know the Democrats areAi??willing. President Obama’s willing to sitAi??down at the table. What we don’t need to do, I canAi??tell you, is cut benefits. That’s something that I don’tAi??think is the first thing thatAi??should be put forward. We have a lot of opportunity toAi??continue to make reforms inAi??medicare, make sure we build inAi??more efficiencies to the programAi??so we can add the years ofAi??solvency.

TAMRON HALL: What about eligibility ageAi??change?

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Well, eligibility age changeAi??would fall in the realm ofAi??benefit cuts. We need to focus like I saidAi??first on making sure we build inAi??more efficiencies to theAi??program.Ai??we have been able to from ObamaAi??care make sure that with thatAi??$716 billion in savings plowedAi??in to waste, fraud and abuse –Ai??fighting waste, fraud and abuseAi??we have collected more than $10Ai??billion in fraudulent medicareAi??payments and we can make moreAi??progress in that area, as well.

Watch it:

Wasserman Schultz’s opposition to benefits cuts …

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)

As part of an event with the Wall Street Journal and corporate leaders, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (MD) — a leading Democrat and ranking member of the House Budget Committee — indicated that he thinks cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits should be part of the upcoming deficit negotiations:

On Capitol Hill, it isn’t clear how strenuously Democrats will resist cutting entitlements. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.) said he and others were open to changes as long as they were done in a measured way and were part of deal that included tax increases. Mr. Van Hollen also said changing Social Security and increasing the Medicare eligibility age above 65 should be part of negotiations.

“I’m willing to consider all of these ideas as part of an overall plan,” Mr. Van Hollen said Tuesday at the Journal’s CEO Council.

American voters were very clear during last week’s election: they do not want any cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits (and keep in mind Social Security adds nothing to the deficit, anyway).

Click here to call Van Hollen’s office and tell him to reject cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits.

Congress will soon begin deliberating on a debt deal, and many on the right and their corporate backers are exploiting the situation to argue for a “Grand Bargain” that would cut both Social Security and the corporate tax rate.

In an interview with a local television station, Wisconsin Senator-elect Tammy Baldwin (D) argued against including Social Security in these discussions, saying that it “shouldn’t even be on the table”:

BALDWIN: With regard to Social Security, Social Security is in no way contributing to our deficit and debt, and shouldn’t even be on the table for the discussion about where we move forward from here.

Watch it:

Indeed, Social Security is a self-funded program Ai??that isAi??currently projected to beAi??fully solventAi??until the year 2037. After that, it is expected to be able to pay out 75 percent of benefits until 2084, which basically equals full benefits, once inflation isAi??accounted for. There is no threat of the program running out of money any time soon.Ai??Ai??We could make it solvent far into the future if weAi??simply raised the payroll tax capAi??ai??i?? meaning that income above $106,000 would be taxed just like income below that amount is. It does not add to the deficit nor take funds from the general treasury.

Recall that Progressive Change Campaign Committee members were integral to Baldwin’s election. We made 92,000 calls for her and also raised more than $55,000 for her campaign.

Want to stay up to date on the fight for a balanced approach to the deficit and economy? Sign up for to get e-mail updates using the form above or below.

Show your support for a progressive alternative to the “Grand Bargain” that cuts Social Security and Medicare by clicking here to add your name as a “citizen supporter” of Elizabeth …

Thanks to our efforts, Elizabeth Warren and 31 other state and federal candidates were elected last week.

As Congress moves to enter discussions over the debt and deficit during the lame duck session, many on the right — and their corporate allies — are calling for cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits while further cutting corporate taxes.

This is not a balanced approach to the issue. Our immediate deficit is caused primarily by the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, two wars, and Wall Street’s economic meltdown — not American seniors and other middle class Americans who rely on these social insurance programs.

Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren explained what a real balanced approach to the deficit would be during a debate with Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) last month:

WARREN: I believe we need to make cuts, we need to make cuts to agriculture subsidies. We need to make cuts in our defense budget, targeted cuts. We need to end the war in Afghanistan, that’s $2 billion a week. We need to cut fraud and abuse out of the system. But we also need to ask others to pay their fair share. I believe that billionaires should pay taxes at least at the same rate that their secretaries do.

Watch it:

Show your support for Warren’s progressive alternative to the “Grand Bargain” that cuts Social Security and Medicare by clicking here to add your name as a “citizen supporter” of her vision.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi announced Wednesday that she will stay on as House Democratic leader in the next Congress… Liberal groups, which have been wary that Rep. Steny Hoyer (Md.), the Democratic whip who was expected to replace Pelosi had she stepped down, would be too quick to cut entitlement programs in order to solidify a bipartisan deficit deal, were quick to cheer her decision. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Nancy Pelosi,” Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said Wednesday in an email. “The mandate of the election was to tax the rich and protect programs like Medicare and Social Security from benefit cuts. Steny Hoyer would likely not have respected that mandate, but given her track record, we have high hopes for Nancy Pelosi.”

A screenshot of the Fix the Debt campaign’s logo.

As you read this, powerful corporations are working with groups like the Campaign To Fix The Debt are pushing Congress and President Obama to pass a “Grand Bargain” that would include cuts to corporate tax rates and Social Security and Medicare benefits.

We shouldn’t beat around the bush as to why these corporations are doing this. They want to see this deal enacted so that they can make billions of dollars from reduced taxes while Americans are asked to sacrifice their Social Security and Medicare benefits.

The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) just released a report looking at some of the corporations that support the Campaign To Fix The Debt — such as Microsoft, General Electric, and Goldman Sachs — and what they would gain if the “Grand Bargain” they seek were to be passed.

The IPS report concludes that if one of the tenets of the corporate plan — a proposed territorial tax system that would exempt foreign earnings from U.S. taxes — were passed, the 63 publicly held companies backing the Fix The Debt campaign would get as much as $134 billion.

It’s time for the media and politicians to stop taking the Campaign To Fix The Debt seriously. It is obvious that the group is being backed by powerful corporations because its recommendations would make them money, not because it has any serious solutions for our debt or the economy.

A prominent liberal group launched a last-minute campaign urging Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) to stay on as the top House Democrat next year… The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a Washington-based liberal advocacy group, sent out a notice at 11 p.m. Tuesday night warning that, if Pelosi steps down, “a conservative Democrat will take over.” Although the PCCC email doesn’t name names, the reference likely is to Rep. Steny Hoyer (Md.), the Democratic whip who’s expected to replace Pelosi if she steps down. As highlighted by the PCCC, many liberals fear Hoyer will be too quick to cut programs like Medicare and Social Security for the sake of reaching a deficit deal with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the Republicans.

Think Scott Walker is the most extreme Republican Wisconsin has to offer? Think again. The Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel reports that nine Republicans in the state legislature have told an advocacy group that they support arresting any federal official who tries to implement the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare:

As Gov. Scott Walker contemplates whether to create a state health care exchange under Obamacare, he must contend with nine members of his own party who will serve in the Legislature for the next two years who say they back a bill to arrest any federal officials who try to implement the health care law.

Eight of the nine Republicans also have gone on record saying they also want to write a law that would see Transportation Security Administration agents charged with sexual assault if they conduct pat-downs of passengers going through airport security.

But there’s some good news out of Wisconsin, too. Bold progressive Chris Larson was just elected Democratic leader in the state senate!

Led by the AFL-CIO, the progressives have presented a united front on two basic demands: No cuts to entitlement programs, and no reauthorization of the Bush tax cuts for higher income brackets. “If it’s bad for workers, it doesn’t matter to us who proposes it. We won’t be on board. We won’t be taken for granted,” Richard Trumka, the AFL-CIO’s president recently told Salon’s Josh Eidelson. “Some people in the White House think that compromise and bipartisanship for its own sake is a principle the American people will admire,” said Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which boosts liberals in primary fights against moderate Democrats. “But there’s good compromises and there’s bad compromises, and if he cuts Social Security or Medicare, that would just be a huge betrayal of the mandate the American people gave him.” Green said his group would “absolutely” mobilize against the president, including running TV ads, if it looks like he’s going to cut a bad deal. During a previous fight with Congress over taxes in 2010, the PCCC ran TV ads hitting Obama by merely repeating his own words opposing the Bush tax cuts.

In this week’s installment of Break Room, political columnist Michelle Cottle talks with Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, about what Petraeus’ scandal might mean for Obama’s meeting with progressive groups on Tuesday.

(Photo credit: Flickr user Monochrome)

Wal-Mart has been hit with an unprecedented series of strikes and walk-outs in the past few months, the first major labor actions in the company’s history.

Labor journalist Josh Eidelson has the scoop on how a group of workers in the company’s Los Angeles warehouses will be hitting the picket lines on Thursday:

Thursday, Walmart warehouse workers are headed back to the picket line. At 8 AM Pacific, twenty-some workers in Mira Loma, California plan to launch a one-day walk-out which could spread to more workers, including retail employees in Walmart stores. Thursdayai??i??s strike will be the latest in an unprecedented wave of work stoppages throughout the retail giantai??i??s US supply chain. It follows strikes by seafood workers in June, by warehouse workers in September, and by 160 retail workers in 12 states last month. It comes a week before Black Friday, the post-Thanksgiving shopping extravaganza that workers have pledgedai??i??barring concessions from the companyai??i??will bring their biggest disruptions yet.

ai???Hopefully it will make a dent in their productionai??i??ai??? said Raymond Castillo, ai???and it gets their attention, that weai??i??re not playing around.ai??? Castillo and other Mira Loma workers struck in September, and voted Sunday to do it again on Thursday. According to Castillo, workers started organizing because of unsafe and unsanitary conditions: crooked ramps caused serious injuries; workersai??i?? drinking water came from a hose. The organizing brought retaliation, which inspired a strike, which drew more punishment. ai???Since weai??i??ve all been retaliated against,ai??? said Castillo, ai???it was a pretty easy decision for all of us to go back on strike.ai???

Recall that Wal-Mart’s operations in Los Angeles were the center of controversy earlier this year when they were caught hiring a public relations and lobbying firm that spied on organizing workers. That level …

Bank of America actually paid nothing in federal income taxes in 2010.

The so-called Campaign To Fix The Debt and other organizations backed by Wall Street and powerful corporations are pushing for a debt deal during the lame-duck session that would cut Social Security while lowering corporate taxes.

These corporate proponents claim that lowering the corporate tax rate would spur enormous economic growth that would create revenue that would lower the debt.

But there’s just one problem with that — corporate taxes are already incredibly low. Here’s an article from the Wall Street Journal, no left-wing rag, about how corporate tax receipts as a share of profits have actually hit a 40-year low this year:

U.S. companies are booking higher profits than ever. But the number crunchers in Washington are puzzling over a phenomenon that has just come into view: Corporate tax receipts as a share of profits are at their lowest level in at least 40 years. Total corporate federal taxes paid fell to 12.1% of profits earned from activities within the U.S. in fiscal 2011, which ended Sept. 30, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That’s the lowest level since at least 1972.

With corporate taxes already hitting record lows, it’s simply unrealistic to claim that lowering the rates even further would spur economic growth and reduce the debt. Rather, it seems like these corporate CEOs are backing a reduction in rates in the debt deal for a simple reason — it would make them money, even if it would rip off taxpayers.

We’ll keep you updated on the fight to protect Social Security and Medicare over the next few months. Sign up for our e-mail list above or below to get updates.

A painting portraying the first Thanksgiving

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is traditionally the most popular shopping day of the year. Last year, Americans spent a record $52.4 billion on that day.

But a number of major retailers are deciding to open instead on Thanksgiving Day itself, forcing many of their employees to choose between their jobs and their families.

Here’s a short list of some of the retailers who are making this anti-worker move:

– Wal-Mart: This retail behemoth — which is also facing walkouts on Black Friday — will be opening on 8 P.M. Thanksgiving Day.

– Toys R’ Us: This retailer will be matching Wal-Mart’s ultra-early opening time.

– Sears: Sears is matching Wal-Mart and Toys R’Us by having Thursday “door busters.”

– Target: Target will be opening at 9 P.M. on Thanksgiving.

– K-Mart: K-Mart has transformed its Black Friday into a Thanksgiving sale that lasts from Thanksgiving through Saturday.

This move by retailers to start their sales on Thanksgiving Day will needlessly be pulling workers away from their families on a day Americans have come to know as a well-deserved day off. But consumers can vote with their dollars and choose to shop only at locations where workers are not being made to work on this holiday.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT)

As we wrote recently, many of the most fervent advocates for the Bowles-Simpson plan to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits while lowering corporate taxes lost their races.

There has been some debate about the case of Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), who had spoken favorably of the Bowles-Simpson plan in the past. But while Tester did offer some positive remarks about the plan, it’s important to remember that he explicitly rejected the plan’s call for cuts to Social Security — which are widely seen as the plan’s centerpiece. Here’s an article from the Missoulian from October 21st showing this:

While Tester has said the Simpson-Bowles plan is a good starting point on how to reduce the federal deficit, he never supported its Social Security proposals, campaign spokesman Aaron Murphy said last week.

ai???Cutting the debt and deficit will be about priorities, and Jon believes cutting the safety net from seniors is not what we should be discussing,ai??? Murphy said.

Additionally, his campaign website specifically called for the need to “expand” benefits in the Social Security and Medicare programs — which goes well beyond the normal “protecting” nomenclature:Ai??

In fact, during an August town hall meeting, Tester said he “doesn’t support cuts to Social Security and Medicare,” a fact he prominently displayed on his Senate website.

Perhaps this is why Tester did not receive the direct backing of Alan Simpson or Erskine Bowles.

Created in 2009, PCCC supports unabashedly left-wing candidates with dollars and operations help—a busy, if quiet, liberal answer to the Tea Party movement. But while the collective Tea Party shriek seemed to blow itself out around the time of the Republican primaries and lost ground in last week’s elections, PCCC’s star is rising… And then, exhausted, they watched the results come in. Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts. Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin. Sherrod Brown in Ohio. One after another, 30 Senate and House candidates PCCC had put its weight behind became victors. Far from resting on its laurels, Taylor said PCCC is readying for a fight against expected attempts to cut Medicare funding during the coming lame duck session of Congress, and they’re scouting for a new crop of progressive candidates.

Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)

Unemployment in the United States remains high, with the jobless rate hovering at around 7.9 percent.

In an interview with a local radio host this morning, Republican congressman Randy Neugebauer (TX) had his own theory for why Americans are unable to find work — he suggested that we give them too much in government benefits so they are too lazy to simply take jobs:

NEUGEBAUER: Well unfortunately Tom we’ve gotten to the point in this country where we’ve incentivized people not to work instead of incentivized them to work. With unemployment benefits going for as long as 99 weeks, we’ve seen food stamps in this country increase 40 percent in the last 40 years, so basically unfortunately, there’s not a lot of incentive for a lot of people to work.

Listen to the congressman’s full explanation here (the relevant section starts at around 4:50).

Let’s get something clear. The average unemployment benefits in the third quarter of 2010 was $295 weekly — about a third of the average weekly salary at that point of $865.

Neugebauer is basically suggesting that Americans are too lazy to seek work because they are living too comfortably on $295 a week.

Let’s also keep in mind that there are about four jobless Americans for every job opening, the main problem in the economy is a lack of demand that would create good-paying jobs. We need government investment in the economy to stir that job creation. We don’t need ill-informed Members of Congress running down the unemployed.

When Change.org was founded in 2007, it was engineered to be a platform for the voiceless to quickly organize for a cause and win battles for progressive change. Indeed, the organization has helped people stop foreclosures of their homes, and has been involved in much positive change.

But it fell under controversy recently when it was revealed that it would start allowing corporate, Republican, and other organizations and causes to use its list-building tools. It is a for-profit corporation and these sources would allow it to expand its revenue stream.

The so-called ai???Campaign To Fix The Debtai??? is using Change.org tools to get members and build its e-mail list. Recall that the Campaign To Fix The Debt is a groupAi??run by corporate CEOs and bankers that is trying to cut Social Security and lower corporate tax rates.

The group is running a petition on Change’s site calling on Congress to endorse the Bowles-Simpson plan to cut Social Security and corporate taxes. In the three months the petition has been up, it has gained 255,846 supporters.

If you go to the Campaign To Fix The Debt’s website, you’ll see that it brags of having over 300,000 signatories to its petition:

Put two and two together and you’ll see that it appears that almost the entire membership list of the Campaign To Fix The Debt comes from Change.org’s petition tool.

Progressive organizations and grassroots activists who have been utilizing Change.org should be wary about the organization’s tentative alliance with this CEO-led group that is trying to cut Social Security while lowering the corporate tax rate.

We won’t compromise our values. Sign up to join our e-mail list using the tool below this post or …

Photo credit: U.S. Census Bureau

On Veterans Day, we should remember the sacrifices that Americans veterans have made, and what we owe them as a society.

Last April, the Los Angeles Times reported that the ai???unemployment rate for veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq is 10.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For veterans age 24 and under, the rate is 29.1%, or 12 points higher than for civilians the same age. That compares with 8.2% unemployment nationally, and 7.5% for all veterans.ai???

One of Washingtonai??i??s most powerful corporate lobbying groups, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, says that it is stepping up to help these unemployed veterans. ItAi?? launched a ai???Hiring Our Heroesai??? program to work with its corporate members to hire these jobless vets.

But at the very same time the Chamber is calling on its members to hire veterans who badly need jobs, the organization is using its lobbying clout to side with powerful corporate interests whose practices are ruining the lives of veterans, active duty troops, and their families by burying them in debt from shoddy education programs.

The for-profit college industry ai??i?? which includes big corporations like Ai??University of Phoenix, DeVry, ITT, EDMC, Corinthian, and the Washington Postai??i??s Kaplan University ai??i?? has become notorious in recent months for ripping off veterans, with deceptive recruitment practices, l0w-quality instruction, sky-high prices, high dropout rates, and poor job placement. And the taxpayers have been on the hook for this rip-off, as ai???for-profit colleges received more than half of the $563-million in Department of Defense tuition assistance paid to active-duty service members in the 2011 fiscal year.ai??? Many of the big for-profit college companies get more than 90 percent of their revenue from federal tax dollars.

The Obama administration has moved to try to curb …

Over the next couple months, Congress will deliberate in budget negotiations related to budget sequestration and the expiration of the Bush tax cuts.

There is a growing group of corporate CEO’s and right-wing politicians who are demanding that discussions over these issues include cuts to Medicare and Social Security — programs that are not responsible for the sequestration and tax cut issues.

Appearing on the Ed Show last night, re-elected independent Senator Bernie Sanders (VT) explained why Social Security should not be a part of these negotiations:

SANDERS: We are in the midst of a horrendous Wall Street-caused recession. We are not going to cut Social Security, which by the way as Harry Reid just reminded us, has nothing to with the recession. We’re not going to cut Medicare, we’re not going to cut Medicaid.

Watch it:

Indeed, Social Security is a self-funded program Ai??that isAi??currently projected to beAi??fully solventAi??until the year 2037. After that, it is expected to be able to pay out 75 percent of benefits until 2084, which basically equals full benefits, once inflation isAi??accounted for. There is no threat of the program running out of money any time soon.Ai??Ai??We could make it solvent far into the future if weAi??simply raised the payroll tax capAi??ai??i?? meaning that income above $106,000 would be taxed just like income below that amount is. It does not add to the deficit nor take funds from the general treasury.