Rebuild the Dream

by Van Jones

About the Environmental Recovery Act, see “Recovery Through Retrofit,” Middle Class Task Force Council on Environmental Quality, October 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/Recovery_Through_Retrofit_Final_Report.pdf; and “Recovery Act Announcement: President Obama Announces Over $467 Million in Recovery Act Funding for Geothermal and Solar Energy Projects,” U.S. Department of Energy, May 27, 2009, http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=173.

  On mercury emissions standards, see Ayesha Rascoe and Timothy Gardner, “U.S. Rolls out tough tules on coal plant pollution,” Reuters, December 21, 2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/21/us-usa-coal-mercury-idUSTRE7BK1DI20111221; and Steve Hargreaves, “Obama backs off tough clean air regulation,” CNN Money, September 2, 2011, http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/02/news/economy/regulations/index.htm.

  On the post-BP oil spill regulations, see John M. Broder and Clifford Krauss, “Regulation of Offshore Rigs is a Work in Progress,” New York Times, April 17, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/us/politics/17regulate.html; Brian Merchant, “Obama Announces $4 Billion Initiative to Upgrade Energy Efficiency of Nation’s Buildings,” Treehugger.com, December 2, 2011, http://www.treehugger.com/energy-policy/obama-announces-4-billion-effort-improve-energy-efficiency-buildings.html; and “Obama unveils mpg rule, gets broad support,” msnbc.com, May 19, 2009, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30810514/ns/us_news-environment/t/obama-unveils-mpg-rule-gets-broad-support/#.TxVRMmA0g_o. See Carolyn Kaster, for “Obama Proposes Overtime Initiative for Home Care Workers,” AP/AccreditedNursing.com, December 2011, http://www.accreditednursing.com/2011/12/obama-proposes-overtime-initiative-home-care-workers/.

  “Osama bin Laden killed in US raid on Pakistan hideout,” Guardian UK, May 2, 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/02/osama-bin-laden-dead-pakistan.

  For Hurricane Irene, see Noah Buhayar, “Irene’s Estimated Cost for Insurers Falls,” Bloomberg.com, August 29, 2011, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-28/hurricane-irene-s-estimated-u-s-cost-for-insurers-declines-to-3-billion.html. See also Mike Elk,

  “EFCA’s Dead, but Fear of It Still Driving Anti-Worker Measures,” In These Times, August 24, 2010, http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6361/big_business_using_efca_defeat_to_pass_anti-worker_measures_define_pol/.

  About deportations, see Frank James, “Deportations Higher Under Obama Than Bush,” NPR, July 26, 2010, http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/07/26/128772646/deportations-higher-under-obama-than-bush.

  On the National Defense Authorization Act, see E. D. Kain, “President Obama Signed the National Defense Authorization Act—Now What?” Forbes, January 2, 2012, http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/01/02/president-obama-signed-the-national-defense-authorization-act-now-what/.

  About the Morning After pill, see Jennifer Corbett Dooren, “Obama Health Chief Blocks FDA on Morning After Pill,” Wall Street Journal, December 8, 2011, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203413304577084560710472558.html. About the savings and loan crisis, see William Kurt Black, The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2005), 13.

  On the TARP/bank bailout of 2008, see “Where’s the Bank Bailout Money,” CNN.com, Dec. 22, 2008, http://articles.cnn.com/2008-12-22/us/bailout.accountability_1_tarp-money-bailout-money-troubled-assets-relief-program?_s=PM:US; Neil Barofsky, “Where the Bank Bailout Went Wrong,” New York Times, March 29, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/opinion/30barofsky.html; Mary Bruce, “Obama Tells Super Committee to ‘Bite the Bullet,’” ABC News, November 14, 2011, http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/obama-tells-super-committee-to-bite-the-bullet/; and “Living Within Our Means and Investing in the Future,” Factsheet from Whitehouse.gov on President Obama’s Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction, http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2012/assets/joint_committee_reportfact_sheet.pdf.

  CHAPTER 2: FROM HOPE TO HEARTBREAK

  For election results 2010, see the New York Times, http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/senate and http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/house; and Robert Creamer, “Obama’s Secret Weapon: OFA,” Huffington Post, January 5, 2010, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-creamer/obamas-secret-weapon-ofa_b_411605.html.

  On OFA statistics, see Ari Melber, “Noting Setbacks, Plouffe Returns in New Obama Video,” The Nation, February 2, 2010, http://www.thenation.com/blog/noting-setbacks-plouffe-returns-new-obama-video; “Your Thoughts on 2010,” a report by Organizing for America; Ari Melber, “Year One of Organizing for America,” techPresident special report, January 2010, www.techpresident.com/ofayear1; James Vega, “Progressives need an independent movement, but not because Obama ‘failed’ or ‘betrayed’ them,” Democratic Strategist, June 8, 2010, http://www.thedemocraticstrategist.org/strategist/2010/06/progressives_need_an_independe.php.

  On the stimulus bill, see Paul Krugman, “The Story of the Stimulus,” New York Times, October 5, 2009, http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/the-story-of-the-stimulus/; Christina Romer, “The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan,” report with Jared Bernstein, Office of the Vice President–elect, January 9, 2009, http://otrans.3cdn.net/45593e8ecbd339d074_l3m6bt1te.pdf; and “Economic Recovery Watch,” Chart Book: The Legacy of the Great Recession, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3252.

  Obama as a socialist/communist, see “The Limbaugh Wire for 10/23/2009,” http://mediamatters.org/limbaughwire/2009/10/23; and “Recap of Saturday, September 12, 2009,” FOX News, September 14, 2009, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,550040,00.html. See also “Obama wants cap and trade passed,” msnbc.com, June 25, 2009, http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2009/06/25/4424051-obama-wants-cap-and-trade-passed.

  On the Koch brothers, see Jane Mayer, “The Billionaire Koch Brothers’ War Against Obama,” New Yorker, August 30, 2010, http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer.

  For the Tea Party, see “‘Tea Party Express’ Takes Protests Cross-Country,” NPR, August 30, 2009, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112377549; “Tea Party Protestors March on Washington,” ABC News, September 12, 2009, http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tea-party-protesters-march-washington/story?id=8557120#.Tx7cHGA0g_o; “G.O.P. Senate Victory Stuns Democrats,” New York Times, January 19, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/us/politics/20election.html. Jason M. Breslow, “President Obama, Democrats Pass Historic

  Health Care Bill. Now What?” PBS.org, March 22, 2010, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/03/president-obama-democrats-pass-historic-health-care-bill-now-what.html. “Banking Industry Insiders Call for

  Breaking Up Giant Banks,” Washington’s Blog, April 7, 2010, http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/04/banking-industry-insiders-call-for-breaking-up-giant-banks.html; and Louis Uchitelle, “Volcker has Obama’s Ear, but Not on Overhaul of Banks,” New York Times, October 20, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/business/21volcker.html. Stiglitz and Hoenig were quoted in Colin Barr, “Let Big Banks fail, bailout skeptics say,” CNN Money, April 21, 2009, http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/21/news/too.big.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009042112.

  For more on banks, see Robert Reich, “Break Up the Banks,” Huffington Post, April 5, 2010, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/break-up-the-banks_b_526106.html.

  For BP oil spill, see William Welch and Chris Joyner, “Memorial Services Honors 11 Dead Oil Rig Workers,” USA Today, May 25, 2010, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-05-25-oil-spill-victims-memorial_N.htm; Maureen Hoch, “New Estimates Puts Gulf Oil Leak at 205 Million Gallons,” PBS Newshour, August 2, 2010, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/08/new-estimate-puts-oil-leak-at-49-million-barrels.html; “Massey Energy Company News,” New York Times, updated December 6, 2011, http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/massey-energy-company/index.html.

  On the climate change bill, see “Waxman-Markey Climate Change Bill–H.R. 2454,” govtrack.us, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bil
l=h111-2454.

  CHAPTER 3: PERFECT SWARMS

  For the Tea Party, see “Tea Party Reenactment and Fundraising Day,” Ron Paul Meetup Group, December 16, 2007, http://www.meetup.com/ronpaul-481/events/6848346/?eventId=6848346&action=detail; “CNBC’s Rick Santelli’s Chicago Tea Party,” (video from February 19, 2009) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp-Jw-5Kx8k; Jonathan V. Last, “A Growing ‘Tea Party’ Movement?” CBS News, September 22, 2009, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/04/opinion/main4843055.shtml; and “CNBC Asks Santelli to React to Tea Parties: ‘I’m Pretty Proud of This,’” Media Research Center Network, April 15, 2009, http://www.mrctv.org/public/checker.aspx?v=ydSUqGkUnz.

  For the Koch brothers, see Jane Mayer, “The Billionaire Koch Brothers’ War Against Obama,” New Yorker, August 30, 2010, http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer; Asjylyn Loder and David Evans, “Koch Brothers Flout Law Getting Richer with Secret Iran Sales,” Bloomberg News, October 3, 2011, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-02/koch-brothers-flout-law-getting-richer-with-secret-iran-sales.html.

  On funding the Tea Party, see Matt Taibbi, “The Truth About the Tea Party,” Rolling Stone, September 28, 2010, http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/matt-taibbi-on-the-tea-party-20100928; Kate Zernike and Megan Thee-Brenan, “Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated,” New York Times, April 14, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/us/politics/15poll.html; “Uncloaking the Kochs,” report by Public Campaign Action Fund and Common Cause, January 2011, http://www.commonblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/6g-Uncloaking-the-Kochs-A-Closer-Look.pdf.

  On the Tea Party’s victory, see Scott S. Powell, “Scott Brown: the tea party’s first electoral victory,” Christian Science Monitor, January 19, 2010, http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2010/0119/Scott-Brown-the-tea-party-s-first-electoral-victory.

  On Tea Pary size, see “Tea Party Nationalism: a Critical Examination of the Tea Party Movement and the size, scope and focus of its national factions,” report by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, Oct. 2010, http://www.irehr.org/images/pdf/TeaPartyNationalism.pdf; Theda Skocpol and Vanessa Williamson, “Whose Tea Party Is It?” New York Times, December 26, 2011, http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/26/whose-tea-party-is-it; also Skocpol and Williamson, The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012).

  On Egypt, see “Youssef Rakha on the First Two Days,” Al-Ahram Weekly, Special 25,28, February 10–16, 2011, http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2011/1034/sc20.htm; and “Obama Delivers Remarks on Egypt,” (transcript) Washington Post, February, 11, 2011, http://projects.washingtonpost.com/obama-speeches/speech/559/.

  On building the Tea Party, see Johann Hari, “How to Build a Progressive Tea Party,” The Nation, February 3, 2011, http://www.thenation.com/article/158282/how-build-progressive-tea-party.

  For early information on Occupy Wall Street, see “#OCCUPYWALLSTREET Update,” Adbusters blog, August 11, 2011, http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/occupywallstreet-update.html; David Graeber, “What Did We Actually Do Right? On the Unexpected Success and Spread of Occupy Wall Street,” Naked Capitalism/alternet, October 19, 2011, http://www.alternet.org/story/152789/%E2%80%9Cwhat_did_we_actually_do_right%E2%80%9D_on_the_unexpected_success_and_spread_of_occupy _wall_street; and Karen Matthews/AP, “Occupy Wall Street protests grow,” Business Telegram, October 8, 2011, http://www.telegram.com/article/20111008/NEWS/110089949/0/business.

  For information about the Millennials, see “Millennials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change,” report from Pew Research Center, February 24, 2010, http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2010/10/millennials-confident-connected-open-to-change.pdf.

  On the debt limit, see “Debt-limit debate wearing on Americans,” USA Today, July 26, 2011, http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-07-26-Americans-debt-limit-debate_n.htm.

  For information on early Occupy Wall Street protestors, see Micay L. Sifry, “Occupy Wall Street: A Leaderfull Movement in a Leaderless Time,” TechPresident, November 14, 2011, http://techpresident.com/blog-entry/occupywallstreet-leaderfull-movement-leaderless-time; and “NYPD Anthony Bologna Pepper Sprays Occupy Wall Street Protestors,” (video) posted September 27, 2011 after event on September 24, 2011, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRc7t6gRkhE

  CHAPTER 4: THE GRID

  George Lakoff, Don’t Think of an Elephant (New York: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2004), 17. will.i.am “Yes We Can,” (video posted February 2, 2008) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY. Charles Babington/AP, “NH exit polls explain surprises,” USA Today, January 9, 2008, http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-01-09-1227770101_x.htm. Ellen McGirt, “How Chris Hughes Helped Launch Facebook and the Barack Obama Campaign,” Fast Company, April 1, 2009, http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/134/boy-wonder.html. Micah L. Sifry, “Marshall Ganz on the Future of the Obama Movement,” TechPresident, November 20, 2008, http://techpresident.com/node/6545. Mario Cuomo, speech at Yale University, New Haven, CT, February 15, 1985. Joe Conason, “ACORN Videos Were Propaganda,” Salon.com, December 11, 2009, http://www.salon.com/2009/12/11/acorn_5/. Alex Sundby, “Glenn Beck Rally Attracts Estimated 87,000,” CBS News, August 28, 2010, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20014993-503544.html; however, 300,000 to 500,000 was the attendance figure claimed by Beck. Kate Zernicke, Carl Hulse, and Brian Knowlton, “At Lincoln Memorial, a Call for Religious Rebirth,” New York Times, August 28, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/us/politics/29beck.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&sq=glenn%20beck&st=cse&scp=4; Glenn Beck, speech at “Restore Honor” Rally, (video) msnbc.com, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/38895627#38895627. “The Tea Party Budget: A Comprehensive Ten-Year Plan to Stop the Debt, Shrink the Government, and Save Our Country,” a FreedomWorks report delivered to Congress November 17, 2011, http://www.freedomworks.org/the-tea-party-budget. Drew Dellinger, “Occupy Wall Street,” http://drewdellinger.org/pages/blog/519/drews-new-poem_occupy-wall-street. “Occupy Sound! Music for the Movement,” http://www.popwork.org/2011/10/23/occupy-sound-music-for-the-movement/. Xeni Jardin, “Interview with creator of Occupy Wall Street ‘bat-signal’ projections during Brooklyn Bridge #N17 march,” boingboing, November 17, 2011, http://boingboing.net/2011/11/17/interview-with-the-occupy-wall.html. “Occupy Cal’s Floating Tent: Protesters Find Creative Way to Skirt Universitiy’s Camping Ban,” Huffington Post, November 18, 2011, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/18/occupy-cals-floating-tent_n _1102223.html.

  CHAPTER 5: SWARMS

  Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody (New York: Penguin Press, 2008), 19. Johann Hari, “How to Build a Progressive Tea Party,” The Nation, February 3, 2011, http://www.thenation.com/article/158282/how-build-progressive-tea-party. Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom, The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations (New York: Portfolio Hardcover, 2006). Leland Pitt et al., “The Penguin’s Window: Corporate Brands from an Open-Source Perspective,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Spring 2006, 34: 115–127. Dean Meminger, “Protestors and Police Clash during ‘Occupy Wall Street’ March,” NY1, October 14, 2011, http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/148951/protesters-and-police-clash-during—occupy-wall-street—march.

  CHAPTER 6: STORY

  Nancy Duarte, Resonate: Present Visual Stories the Transform Audiences (New York: Wiley, 2010), 14–16. “Story Based Strategy,” smartMeme, http://smartmeme.org/article.php?id=283. “Obama Economy Speech: Major Address at Georgetown University (VIDEO and transcript),” Huffington Post, May 15, 2009, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/14/obama-economy-speech-majo_n_186559.html.

  CHAPTER 7: OCCUPY THE INSIDE GAME

  Bill Moyers, “Our Politicians Are Money Launderers in the Trafficking of Power and Policy,” address at Public Citizen anniversary event, November 3, 2011, http://www.truth-out.org/how-did-happen/1320278111. Sarah Anderson and John Cavanagh, Field Guide to the Global
Economy, 2nd edition (New York: New Press, 2005). Hart Research Associates (conducted for People for the American Way), Protecting Democracy from Unlimited Corporate Spending, results from a national survey among one thousand voters on the Citizens United Decision conducted June 6–7, 2010, http://www.pfaw.org/sites/default/files/CitUPoll-PFAW.pdf.

  Information on how corporations spent $300 million on 2010 elections, see “Outside Spending,” OpenSecrets (project of Center for Responsive Politics) from Federal Election Commission data, http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/index.php?cycle=2010&view=A&chart=N; and “A Threat to Fair Elections,” New York Times, September 7, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/opinion/08tue1.html. See also Michael Ventura, “Letters at 3AM: Occupy the Future,” Austin Chronicle, December 16, 2011, http://www.austinchronicle.com/columns/2011-12-16/letters-at-3am-occupy-the-future/ “Notes on the Amendments,” The U.S. Constitution Online, http://www.usconstitution.net/constamnotes.html#Am23. “Frequently Asked Questions,” Democracy Is for People, a campaign of Public Citizen, http://democracyisforpeople.org/faq.php. “Corporations Unaccounted,” CommonBlog of Common Cause, January 26, 2012, http://www.commonblog.com/2012/01/26/corporations-unaccounted/. Ashley Portero, “Five Constitutional Amendments that Could Overturn Citizens United,” International Business Times, December 21, 2011, http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/271015/20111221/five-constitutional-amendments-overturn-citizens-united-different.htm. “Congressman McGovern Introduces the People’s Rights Amendment,” press release from Free Speech for People, November 15, 2011, http://freespeechforpeople.org/McGovern. “Get Corporate Money Out of Politics Amendment” Keith Ellison’s site, http://ellison.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=736:get-corporate-money-out-of-politics&catid=39:consumer-justice-a-credit&Itemid=22. “DISCLOSE Act,” Common Cause, http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?b=6074817&c=dkLNK1MQIwG. Cory Doctorow, “United Republic: creative, inclusive group aims to end corporatism and corruption in US politics,” boingboing, November 17, 2011, http://boingboing.net/2011/11/17/united-republic-creative-inc.html. “Lobbying Database,” OpenSecrets, http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/. “Lobbying: Top Increased or Decreased Sectors and Industries,” OpenSecrets based on data from the Senate Office of Public Records, http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/incdec.php. “Lobbying: Health,” OpenSecrets based on data from the Senate Office of Public Records, http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indus.php?id=H&year=a. Eric Lichtblau, “Lobbyists Rush to Hire G.O.P. Staff Ahead of Vote,” The New York Times, September 9, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/business/10lobby.html. “90% of congressional and Senate races are won by the candidate who spent most,” Investment Watch November 10, 2011, http://investmentwatchblog.com/90-of-congressional-and-senate-races-are-won-by-the-candidate-who-spent-most. “Summary of Fair Elections Now Act,” http://fairelectionsnow.org/about-bill. “H.R.1826 – Fair Elections Now Act,” OpenCongress, http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h1826/show. “Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies on Transparency and Open Government,” WhiteHouse.gov, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Transparency_and_Open_Government/. RI Treasury on Twitter, https://twitter.com/#!/RITreasury/. Bob Edgar, “The Pirating Senate,” Huffington Post, December 7, 2010, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-bob-edgar/the-pirating-senate_b_792973.html. Walter Mondale, “Resolved: Fix the Filibuster,” New York Times, January 1, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/opinion/02mondale.html. “Ohio election results: union curbs thrown out in blow to Republicans,” Guardian UK, November 9, 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/09/ohio-election-results-union-curbs. “Mississippi anti-abortion ‘personhood’ amendment fails at ballot box,” Washington Post, November 9, 2011, http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mississippi-anti-abortion-personhood-amendment-fails-at-ballot-box/2011/11/09/gIQAzQl95M_story.html. Amanda Crawford, “Arizona Immigration-Law Author Pearce Loses in Recall Election,” Businessweek, November 15, 2011, http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-15/arizona-immigration-law-author-pearce-loses-in-recall-election.html.