Think Progress

Coal-Fueled Chamber Of Commerce Demands Lawmakers Defeat Health Reform In Order To ‘Stop’ Clean Energy Bill - Saturday, November 21st, 2009

Corporate front groups and large business trade associations are funneling their resources into defeating health reform. Even though health reform will lower costs for small businesses and boost worker productivity economy-wide, it appears that corporate entities influenced by major polluters are hoping that the defeat of health care legislation will slow President Obama’s agenda and [...]

Ollie North Launches New War Against ‘Cap And Tax,’ ‘Bird Eating Machines,’ And The ‘Myth Of Global Warming’ - Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Lt. Col. Oliver North (Ret.) has launched a new war against the “cap and tax” plans of President Barack Obama and the “socialists in Congress.” North — when not serving as a Fox News correspondent — runs the Freedom Alliance, an organization supposedly dedicated to “defending the sovereignty of the United States and promoting a [...]

Sarah Palin to Rush Limbaugh: ‘Are we warming or are we cooling?’ - Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Yesterday, former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) reminded hate radio host Rush Limbaugh that she doesn’t believe in man-made global warming. Palin, on a nationwide tour to promote her new book, Going Rogue, questioned the “snake oil science involved” and complained about the “shady science right now.” Palin said that she thinks any changes are “in [...]

Pawlenty Completes Science-Denying Metamorphosis, Now Refutes That Human Activity Causes Climate Change - Monday, November 16th, 2009

Speaking to the Economist recently, Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) told reporters that he questions the science underpinning climate change. Pawlenty explained that while the earth might be warming, it is unclear “to what extent that is the result of natural causes.” As ThinkProgress has noted, Pawlenty has veered sharply to the right to appease a [...]

The Board Of The ‘Voice Of Business’ Is A Republican Money Machine - Saturday, November 14th, 2009

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which purports to be “the voice of business,” is run by a Republican money machine. As the nation’s largest lobbying shop, the Chamber is spending millions of dollars from its corporate members against President Obama’s progressive agenda of health care, energy, and financial reform. The Chamber claims that the “board’s [...]

Under Pressure From Tea Party Activists, Charleston GOP Censures Lindsey Graham For Bipartisanship - Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

On Monday, the Charleston County Republican Party’s executive committee “took the unusual step” of officially censuring Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). The local GOP committee admonished Graham for stepping across party lines to work with Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) on a bipartisan clean energy bill and other pieces of legislation. The censure stated that Graham’s “bipartisanship [...]

In ‘Act of Despicable Hubris,’ ACCCE Exploits Veterans Groups To Push Dirty Energy Agenda - Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) — a front group of big utilities and coal companies — is no stranger to fraud. During the summer’s House debate on cap-and-trade legislation, lobbyists working on behalf of the coal group sent forged letters to members of Congress, and lied under oath about it. Now, [...]

Will Conservative Democrats Follow Graham’s Lead On Climate Policy? - Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Extensive coverage has been devoted to the fact that Lindsey Graham’s split on global warming and other issues highlights a rift in the Republican Party. While that’s true, another more important development has not been pursued: Graham’s departure from right-wing orthodoxy highlights the potential for conservative Democrats to follow in his footsteps.
Many conservative Democrats [...]

Creigh Deeds Failed To Run As A Progressive - Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Republican Bob McDonnell won a “landslide” victory over Democrat Creigh Deeds in yesterday’s gubernatorial election in Virginia, sweeping the state by a whopping 18 points. Exit polls showed Democrats had “trouble getting their base to the polls.” One possible explanation: Deeds did not run as a progressive reformer.
McDonnell “spent much of the campaign trying to [...]

Diane Sawyer Uses Glenn Beck To Attack Al Gore For Not Eating ‘Tofurkey’ - Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

ABC’s Good Morning America host Diane Sawyer sandbagged Vice President Al Gore this morning with an attack by Glenn Beck. Gore was appearing on the show to discuss his new book, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis. Smiling, Sawyer introduced a mocking clip from the Fox News pundit. “Here’s Glenn Beck,” she [...]

Pawlenty Refuses To Say That He’s ‘Glad’ Olympia Snowe Is In The Republican Party - Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) appeared today on MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss the ideological direction of his party. Pawlenty, a late backer of Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, has increasingly staked out a far right position within the GOP. He recently reversed his position on clean energy legislation, slamming the concept of cap-and-trade in June [...]

Senate GOP embrace Inhofe’s boycott of Clean Energy Jobs Act. - Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK)
Senate Republicans have endorsed Sen. Jim Inhofe’s (R-OK) plan to boycott the legislative markup of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S. 1733), scheduled to begin tomorrow. Inhofe’s GOP compatriots on the environment committee hope to block action by refusing to participate in the markup on the pretext that the [...]

Doug Hoffman Praises Glenn Beck As His ‘Mentor’ - Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Conservative blogger Charles Johnson of the site Little Green Footballs reported yesterday that Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate in the NY-23 special election, signed a pledge to uphold Glenn Beck’s 9/12 Project principles in Congress. The signed pledge is available online, and Hoffman touts his endorsement from the 9/12 organization on his website. Like [...]

ThinkFast: November 2, 2009 - Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Afghan officials cancelled the country’s run-off presidential election set to take place this Saturday after challenger Abdullah Abdullah announced his withdrawal from the race. The officials declared President Hamid Karzai the winner. An election commission official “cited security and financial concerns about the cost of the vote.”
According to a summary of the FBI’s interview with [...]

Inslee slams SuperFreakonomics for ‘absolute deception’ on climate science. - Thursday, October 29th, 2009

During today’s forged letter investigation hearing in the House, Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) rebuked the authors of SuperFreakonomics for participating in a “continuing effort to deceive the American public” on the science of climate change. Inslee condemned the coal industry’s effort to “hoodwink, defraud, and deceive the American public now to cover up the toxicity [...]

Jon Stewart Praises ‘SuperFreak’ Author: ‘I’m Sorry You’ve Taken So Much S**t’ - Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

On last night’s Daily Show, host Jon Stewart heaped praise on the contrarian approach to global warming taken by SuperFreakonomics author Steve Levitt, a University of Chicago economist. Stewart was dismissive of the widespread criticism of Levitt and co-author Stephen Dubner, asking, “Have you stepped on a secular religion?” Stewart, often a tough interviewer, coddled [...]

ThinkFast: October 28, 2009 - Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

A USA Today analysis finds that the stimulus is working and is having “a significant impact on the economy.” A survey of 33 states and Puerto Rico found that 338,000 jobs have been created or saved so far this year.
$1.25 million: Amount former Alaska governor Sarah Palin received as a retainer for her book “Going [...]

Chamber Of Commerce President Questions Climate Change: ‘Is Science Not Right? I Don’t Know’ - Monday, October 26th, 2009

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has launched a PR offensive after a series of high-profile member defections due to the Chamber’s denial of climate science and its aggressive lobbying against clean energy legislation. Earlier this year, Chamber officials pledged to put climate change science on trial in a “Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century.” [...]

ThinkFast: October 23, 2009 - Friday, October 23rd, 2009

In a meeting with President Obama yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) reportedly pushed for a public option that would allow states to opt-out of the program. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reportedly doesn’t have the votes for a robust public option. Meanwhile, one Democratic source said Obama appeared to prefer a “trigger” option.
In an [...]

Inhofe’s climate change-denying Copenhagen ‘truth squad’ expands to a ‘truth squad of three.’ - Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Last month, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) announced that he would travel to Copenhagen in December to act as a climate skeptic “truth squad” during international climate change treaty negotiations. “I think somebody has to be there — a one-man truth squad,” Inhofe said on CSPAN. Today, on Bill Bennett’s radio show, Inhofe revealed that [...]