“Obama, Reform and the Role of the Left” first appeared on PoliticalAffairs.net on May 3, 2009. Read it on PoliticalAffairs.net.

After the first, perhaps over analyzed, hundred days of the Obama administration, it is fair to say that President Obama is a reformer and we are entering an era of reforms, possibly radical reforms.

Some on the left (ignoring the right wing talk shows and their fantastic claims about Obama’s socialist pedigree) mockingly dismiss the new president and his reform inclinations, saying that his main mission is merely to save capitalism. Even if that is true, and there is no reason to doubt it, what does it tell us – that he is neither a politician of the left nor an advocate of socialism? Well, we already knew that.

“Off and Running: Opportunity of a Lifetime” first appeared on  PoliticalAffairs.net on February 6, 2009. Read it on PoliticalAffairs.net.

I was standing on the Washington Mall on Inauguration Day, alongside nearly two million other people on Inauguration Day, and proudly watched the first African American take the oath of office in our nation’s history. That alone made the day deeply memorable, joyful, and historic. But I couldn’t help but think – and I’m sure that millions of others had the same thought – that the transfer of power from Bush to President Obama not only tore down a barrier that once was thought near impenetrable, but also signified the fading away of one era and the beginning of another. 

“Finances and the Current Crisis: How did we get here and what is the way out?” first appeared on PoliticalAffairs.net on October 3, 2008. Read it on PoliticalAffairs.net.

If there were such a thing as a perfect economic storm, I would say we are close to it.

The housing crisis continues and shows no sign of ending; credit and money markets are either churning or freezing up; the stock market is gyrating; unemployment is leaping upward (sharply so in the communities of the nationally and racially oppressed); poverty is up and wages are down; oil and food prices are climbing; the value of the dollar is falling sharply compared to other currencies; the level of indebtedness is astronomical and will be difficult to unwind in the near term. And we sit on the edge of a financial collapse with all the accompanying dislocation and hardship that it would bring. 

“New Times, New Opportunities” first appeared on PoliticalAffairs.net on May 29, 2008. Read it on PoliticalAffairs.net.

Editor’s Note: Excerpted from CPUSA National Committee report, March 2008. Comments are welcome.

The political upsurge ricocheting across the country has no counterpart in recent decades. Its breadth and depth are remarkable. Its politics are progressive. It is framing the nation’s political conversation. It rejects the old racist and sexist stereotypes. It is a mass rebellion against the policies of the Bush administration. It is seeking a political leader – one who gives priority to “lunch pail” issues, appeals to our better angels and visualizes a country that is decent, just, united and at peace with the rest of the world. And it’s the necessary groundswell and kinetic energy for a smashing victory in November.

“Finances and the Current Crisis: How did we get here and what is the way out?, Pt. 2” first appeared on PoliticalAffairs.net on October 3, 2008. Read it on PoliticalAffairs.net.

The turmoil in financial markets and the bailout to the tune of $700 billion has turned the public eye and wrath on Wall Street and Washington. While millions are aware of the triggering causes, ranging from predatory lending to deregulation to insatiable greed, what isn’t so obvious is the longer-term process that brought our financial system and economy to the edge of the abyss.