House Democrats End Gun Control Sit-in After 26 Hours; Concern Over Civil Liberties, Muslim Profiling

David Smith, Sabrina Siddiqui; Phyllis Bennis
Congressional sit-in over continued failure of Congress to tighten firearm laws. The historic sit-in in the House is impressive, but the two proposals they are demanding a vote on are very problematic. The Congressional sit-in protesters should be congratulated for standing up for their principles. And they should be pressured to make sure their plans to act on those principles don't undermine other principles of civil rights and equality.

Updating Our Strategy: Revisiting the U.S. `Six Party System' Hypothesis

Carl Davidson Keep on Keepin' On
A strategic look at the U.S. political landscape shows how Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders would be able to pull together a majority electoral coalition. It also reveals why either might still be thwarted in pulling together an effective governing coalition in 2017, (assuming they are able to defeat Trump or Cruz). The far right has grown in strength and virulence, while the `regular' conservative right has grown in intransigence.

 How a Democrat Can Win in the South

John Nichols The Nation
 How did a Southern Democrat “confound the conventional wisdom that this victory couldn’t happen” and secure a 56-44 win? And what does it tell us about how Democrats might play politics in a region where just weeks ago—after devastating defeats in contests for the governorship of Kentucky and control of the Virginia State Senate—Democrats were being dismissed as unelectable?

labor

Bernie Sanders' Momentum Stalls In An Unlikely Place: Union Halls

Evan Halper Los Angeles Times
Despite Sanders’ deep support for labor, the national nurses’ organization that Almada sought to join is the only major union to endorse Sanders in the race for the Democratic nomination for president. It is dwarfed by much larger labor groups that are lining up with his arguably less committed, less reliable rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

After Lobbying by Obama, Senate Agrees to Vote on Trade Bill After All; Why Elizabeth Warren is Fighting the TPP

Jonathan Weisman; Bud Meyers
The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) - what's at stake? Why the secrecy, why the rush, why cut-off debate and input? The reason is - Money, big money, says the New York Times. Major American business interests, from Nike to Boeing and Hollywood to Silicon Valley, want the deal badly. Labor and environmental groups see it as a threat to American workers at the expense of profits.

labor

Are Unions and Democrats Still Happy Together?

Jeanne Cummings Bloomberg
The conflict over fast track is fundamental. Organized labor wants to kill the legislation. Obama wants to sign it. The rough outlines of the bill would enable Congress to make its preferences known and receive updates while trade negotiations are under way in exchange for a clean vote -- no amendments -- on a final trade agreement.

Wall Street's Democrats

Robert Reich Robert Reich
Carried interest allows hedge-fund and private-equity managers, as well as many venture capitalists and partners in real estate investment trusts, to treat their take of the profits as capital gains — taxed at maximum rate of 23.8 percent instead of the 39.6 percent maximum applied to ordinary income. So why didn’t Democrats close it when they ran Congress?

labor

Labor Ruling Puts Atlanta’s Fast-Food Empire on Edge

Dan Chapman and Leon Stafford The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A recent National Labor Relations Board ruling means unions could one day organize nationally among all McDonald’s workers, rather than one store at a time. Nowhere perhaps did the ruling reverberate louder than in Atlanta, headquarters for Arby’s, Chick-fil-A, Popeye’s and other fast-food franchises, as well as many hotel, retail and temp agency chains.The ruling could be a huge boost for the Service Employees International Union, which is organizing fast-food workers.
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