A couple of weeks ago the New York Times columnist was doing his usual Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol and back trek when he encountered a bunch of "tea party" people demonstrating and "carrying 'Don't Tread on Me' flags, 'End the Fed' placards and signs condemning big government, Barack Obama, socialist healthcare and various elite institutions."

It has been a year since the legendary financial giant Lehman Brothers collapsed on September 15, 2008. This global giant had weathered the railroad bankruptcies that rocked the USA in the 19th century and also the Great Depression of the 1930s. On this occasion, it became the first victim as well as the trigger that shot down financial markets globally, causing probably the worst recession in capitalism's history.

Some on both the left, and Libertarian, sides of the political stream, are quick to oversimplify the current crisis as a cyclical crisis of overproduction, ho hum, "that's capitalism," love it or leave it. But I think there is more going on.

On this episode, President Obama raises the roof at the AFL-CIO annual convention, discussing his positions on issues like workers' rights, the environment, jobs, health care reform and education.

On this episode, we talk with People's World labor editor, John Wojcik, about the coverage of labor and working class issues in that publication. When the corporate media is full of hype, you can get the facts at PeoplesWorld.org.

Approaching touchdown on an international flight on a U.S. air line a couple of weeks ago, the cabin crew had a special announcement: "For one of us this will be the last trip," said the attendant. "As you know the company has been furloughing a number of employees.

On this episode, we play our recent interview with Teresa Albano, editor of the Peoples World, peoplesworld.org. Albano discussed the PW's editorial philosophy, it's role in reporting on labor and democratic struggles, and some of the big changes it is undergoing this fall.

It's September 7th, 2009. On this episode, we celebrate Labor Day by playing a portion of our recent interview with labor historian and activist Rosemary Feurer, author of the groundbreaking book Radical Unionism in the Midwest, 1900-1950.

Atlanta City Council candidates, including incumbents, challengers, and candidates for open seats answered questions at a forum held by Georgia STAND-UP Alliance at the IBEW Auditorium on Tuesday, September 01, 2009.

Considering all of the political complexities of the new era we have entered, President Obama has done a remarkable job in his short time in office. Those of us on the left need to look ahead and refuse to let differences with some of the President’s decisions keep us from seeing the historic and positive changes that are happening.

The Congressional Budget Office announcement of a nearly $10 Trillion price tag on government borrowing for the next decade has sent a shiver up the spine of the most committed liberals. Some time ago economist pundits were debating the "multiplier" effect of the stimulus.

All Lenin’s theoretical contributions to Marxist economics were meant as interventions in the struggle for correct revolutionary practice; they were not dissertations developing Marxist economics as such. The contributions are far-ranging, but are located within a common perspective that characterized Lenin, namely his view of the revolution as a concrete project.

The capitalist crisis is worldwide engulfing every capitalist country on every continent. While the crisis impacts in some ways on the economies of the socialist countries, it is not the same as a capitalist crisis. The main impact comes from the fact that the socialist countries are part of international trade relations and therefore imbalances in trade may occur.

The job news is confusing. Headlines are announcing "stabilization," "unemployment rate falls," "recession is over this month." But step into your neighborhood bar – or coffee shop if you're on the wagon – and a truer picture emerges, even if its under the influence of alcohol or caffeine. People there agree – there's "way too much blood in the system."

With the world well into the second year of a recession whose intensity is unprecedented in the period since the Second World War, two questions are receiving considerable attention.

One of capitalism’s unquestionable rules is that, in times of crisis, it’s the poor who suffer the effects of each major budget cut. So even if crises spare no one, the gap gets wider rather than narrower.

Put simply, the President's economic policy works. The bad news is that the necessary politics that made the economic package smaller than it needed to be, i.e. compromise with Republicans, has meant that while it has generated new economic activity and may indeed turn GDP statistics around more quickly than the doomsayers predicted and Republicans hoped, so far the jobs picture remains the "lagging economic indicator."

On the real economy itself, the most optimistic position is that we may be nearing the bottom of the crisis, that things are unlikely to get worse, which is very different of course from saying that things are back to “normal.”

After a wildly successful start, the federal government's "cash for clunkers" program appears to be on track for renewal this week. An upcoming Senate vote is expected to inject $2 billion more into the program, which sources say has already helped to sell some 180,000 new cars since its implementation late last month.