Progressive Opinion

openleft.com — When most voters believe their lives are getting better, then the party in power will benefit politically. Ideological abstractions about the size of government or appealing to the base don't matter quite as much. It really is about delivering the goods. The smart post-election political argument for a governing party should be about what policies they can pass that will improve people's lives, not about how to appeal to voters on a more abstract level.

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nytimes.com — Remember those Republican boasts that they would turn health care into President Obama’s Waterloo? Well, exit polls suggest that to the extent that health care was an issue in Tuesday’s elections, it worked in Democrats’ favor. But while health care won’t be Mr. Obama’s Waterloo, economic policy is starting to look like his Anzio.

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truthdig.com — In 2009, trade and globalization have transcended their “old economy” ghetto and become central to the “new economy,” health care and even the Earth’s very survival.

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salon.com — If Congress doesn't go after unemployment, some conservative Democrats are going to lose their jobs

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huffingtonpost.com — Imagine where we'd be now with President John "the fundamentals of the economy are strong" McCain, and Vice President Sarah (shudder) Palin. Each and every time you get disappointed in President Obama, or disagree with something he says or does, ask yourself: "How would this discussion be different if McCain had won?"

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blog.aflcio.org — With more than 2 million U.S. manufacturing jobs lost since the beginning of this recession in December 2007, a new report says developing a clean energy economy in the United States could create some 850,000 new manufacturing jobs.

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dmiblog.com — Consider this simple hypothesis: times are tough. Voters need to see that elected leaders are doing something that actually makes things better. If they don't, they're liable to opt for a change.

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places.designobserver.com — The collapse of fracture-critical designs like the I-35W bridge warns us that we need to replace such structures with designs that are less connected, less efficient, more resilient. But we’ll need to change more than the design of our bridges. Fracture-critical design epitomizes all the postwar systems vulnerable to sudden failure. The bridge’s collapse warns us that future catastrophic events will surely occur. The I-35W Bridge is both metaphor and omen.

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voices.washingtonpost.com — A House Republican health care reform bill won't stop health insurance companies from denying sick people insurance. And it won't stop prevent insurers from dropping people who become seriously ill. On the bright side, the Republican bill would allow insurers to base themselves in whichever state has the weakest regulatory standards and then sell policies built around those rules nationwide. If you've ever thought that your insurance was too comprehensive, too straightforward, and contained too few loopholes that you didn't learn about until you feel terribly ill, then this is the plan for you!

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tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com — No matter how you slice it, the Democrats lost two big statehouses (New Jersey and Virginia), because they were perceived as the party of the establishment. The irony is that if Obama started kicking ass and taking names with the syncophants of the Fortune 500 that sit in Congress, a lot of Glenn Beck's audience might even take notice. Not to mention the youth vote, which was totally absent last night. This is a teaching moment. Let's hope the President understands this.

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