http://www.theittlist.com/ The ITT List is a weblog run by the editors and staff of In These Times magazine. en sluckow@null.null 2010-02-05T18:12:47+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/weekly_mulch_whats_missing_from_the_new_clean_energy_agenda/ By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium Blogger Nuclear power, biofuels, clean coal: These are the Obama administration's answers to climate change. The 2011 budget, released this week, promised new loans for the construction of nuclear power plants, and on Wednesday the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), White House, and other departments detailed steps to encourage ethanol and clean coal production. These initiatives may garner support from conservatives, but their ascendancy comes at a price. Support for renewable fuel sources, like wind and solar, has dwindled. President Barack Obama did encourage Senate Democrats to pass a climate change bill, but some moderates are bucking… Sara Luckow 2010-02-05T17:12:47+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/who_are_landrieus_alleged_phone_tamperers/ By Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium BloggerThe four young men arrested last week for allegedly attempting to tamper with the phones at the office of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) have ties to Republican politicians, conservative think tanks, radical campus activists, and even the intelligence community. It appears that Landrieu was targeted, at least indirectly, because of her stance on health care reform. Two of the men posed as telephone repairmen while a third taped them with his cell phone. A fourth alleged accomplice was arrested in a car a few blocks away. Right wing operative James O'Keefe, famous for posing as a… Lindsay Beyerstein 2010-02-03T19:09:12+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/dont_let_citizens_united_wreck_our_economy/ By Zach Carter, Media Consortium Blogger In a landmark decision last week, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations could spend unlimited funds to influence American elections, overturning a century of legal precedent. The Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC undermines the integrity of the U.S. government, as President Barack Obama emphasized at his State of the Union address. But the decision also deals a damaging blow to the U.S. economy by encouraging lawmakers to write economic rules that benefit specific companies at the expense of everyone else. The editors of The Nation lay out the High Court's hubris in no… Zach Carter 2010-02-02T15:09:34+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/grittv_and_air_americas_domino_effect/ If you're a progressive news junkie, you probably heard about the death of Air America Radio last week. (If not, check out this very sad web page.) The network closed after nearly six years, citing "the laws of economics." They are indeed immutable—unless, of course, you're too big to fail. Unfortunately, Air America wasn't. The loss of Air America—like In These Times, a member of The Media Consortium—is bad enough, but its demise is affecting our favorite online video news outlet, GRITtv. It turns out that viewer-supported GRITtv, hosted by Laura Flanders, a former ITT columnist, has broadcast from Air America's… Jeremy Gantz 2010-01-29T21:26:17+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/weekly_mulch_climate_change_on_obamas_back_burner/ By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium Blogger In his first State of the Union address, President Barack Obama touched on climate issues only briefly. He called on the Senate to pass a climate bill, but did not give Congress a deadline or promise to veto weak legislation. Nor did he mention the Copenhagen climate conference, where international negotiators struggled to produce an agreement on limiting global carbon emissions. The Obama administration's attitude towards climate change still represents a remarkable shift from the Bush years, when global warming was treated as little more than a fairy tale. But in the past year, Congressional… Sara Luckow 2010-01-29T16:40:57+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/weekly_pulse_did_wiretappers_target_senator_over_healthcare_deal/ By Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium Blogger The conservative videographer who donned a pimp suit to embarrass the anti-poverty group ACORN was arrested in New Orleans, LA for allegedly conspiring to bug the office of Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu. It's not clear why Landrieu was targeted, but many suspect that she was singled out because she played a pivotal role in advancing health care reform. Filmmaker James O'Keefe and three other men have been charged with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony, according to Justin Elliott of TPM Muckraker. At RH Reality Check, Rachel Larris… Lindsay Beyerstein 2010-01-27T16:27:56+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/weekly_audit_just_who_is_obama_fighting_for/ By Zach Carter, Media Consortium Blogger Progressives have waited a year for President Barack Obama to roll up his sleeves and fight for serious financial reform. Last week, he finally jumped in the ring, telling weak-kneed Senators to stand up to Wall Street and endorsing a critical ban on risky securities trading. But while it was good to see Obama start throwing financial punches against the banks, this week he also started throwing them at workers. His recent rhetoric on implementing a spending freeze to reduce the deficit is an economic catastrophe in the making. It indicates that Obama is willing… Zach Carter 2010-01-26T15:34:30+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/corporations_corruption_and_the_new_supreme_court_ruling/ On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United vs. FEC that the government has no business regulating the campaign contributions of corporations and unions. Citing First Amendment rights to free speech, the court’s slim majority (5-4) agreed that corporations should be given the same rights as individuals. That means that corporations (including unions; i.e., any incorporated organization) can now purchase their own campaign ads in support of candidates, so long as they aren't created by the candidates themselves. According to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority, these "independent expenditures" are considered "political speech presented to the electorate that… Diana Novak 2010-01-22T22:47:48+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/harpers_new_must-read_article_allleging_gitmo_torture-homicides_and_cover-u/ If you have haven't read Scott Horton's brand-new blockbuster article challenging the U.S. government's official version of how three Guantanamo prisoners died in June 2006, you owe it to yourself (and your country) to do so right now. Like every Harper's investigative article worth reading, it's long, deeply reported and shocking. Harper's actually published the online piece, titled "The Guantánamo “Suicides”: A Camp Delta sergeant blows the whistle," a full month before it will appear in print, presumably because a printing schedule shouldn't delay what obviously ought to happen immediately: Congress should launch an official inquiry to examine the events surrounding… Jeremy Gantz 2010-01-21T21:46:32+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/weekly_diaspora_does_coakleys_loss_spell_trouble_for_immigration_reform/ By Nezua, Media Consortium Blogger Professional pundits and Democratic politicians are in a frenzy over what Martha Coakley's senate seat loss to Republican Scott Brown might mean for American politics. Immigration reform in jeopardy As Harold Meyerson of the American Prospect reports, the loss of one seat probably won't derail heath care reform, but it does make the chances of passing immigration reform slimmer. Meyerson writes that immigration reform is "necessary to restore our economic vitality and political equality," and actually passing reform would benefit the Democratic faction. Unfortunately, that means that immigration reform will require 60 votes in order to… Nezua 2010-01-21T16:04:03+00:00