Portside

What you won't hear about this new deal: Public workers will get eviscerated, to achieve "deficit reduction"

As the December 13 budget deadline approaches, let us act together to demand a federal budget that reflects our values. We need a budget that lifts the quality of life for all of us. We don't need a war machine.

The chained CPI has risen to walk among us again in the muttering and jawboning around the government shutdown/debt limit standoff and the search for an exit. We're hearing again about a "grand bargain" on the government deficit -- never mind that the deficit is falling, not rising.

"We will vote against any and every cut to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid."

A conservative minority refused to fund the government unless the president gave them their agenda. Sound familiar?

While some of us have been sleeping (metaphorically speaking) Republican senators have been slipping into the White House and over repasts possibly working with Administration staffers on a new version of “Simpson-Bowles."