Of all the many, many disappointments the Obama administration has brought us, this personally ranks pretty high. As a candidate, Barack Obama really seemed to grasp the potential of a “green recovery” to make economic and environmental progress at the same time — more so than the mere expedience of being a political candidate seemed to require. But despite ongoing noises in that general direction, there has been the all-too-familiar lack of results.

The other night, a group of bloggers got to sit down with Richard Trumka, the newly elected President of the AFL-CIO, as part of the Building the New Economy conference. In the meeting he focused on how the economic engine of the last 30 years, essentially debt-financed consumer spending, asset bubbles and Wall Street casino [...]

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) made some pretty interesting remarks at the Building the New Economy conference today. While the topic was manufacturing and industrial policy, Brown opened by talking about the current obsession in Washington, health care and the public option. He praised the “inside/outside” strategy of activism that eventually convinced Harry Reid to add [...]