Blog Archive: January, 2011

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Those pesky founding fathers. You'd think guys who so long ago shuffled off that old mortal coil would find it harder to surprise us. With them safely dead for so long, you'd think we could easily appropriate and their past and politics in support of our own, without fear of contradiction.

You'd be wrong. It turns out the founding fathers supported socialized medicine.

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The question remains as to whether Democrats' 21st century vision will accord an appropriate role for the social insurance programs and protections that helped make America great in the 20th, as the President would like, or follow the oft-repeated Beltway truism that we must “invest, even as we cut,” which is code for investing in infrastructure at the expense of our modest social safety net. Rather than view the President's competitiveness framing as a threat, we progressives must seize it as an opportunity to elevate and expand our social insurance programs, as well as enforce our labor and trade laws. We have a very strong case to make that from both a substantive and a political perspective, America will achieve economic greatness because of a robust social safety net, rather than in spite of one.

Tom Friedman—and nearly every other Washington pundit obsessed with the idea of “cut and invest”—just does not get how basic social insurance actually makes our society stronger and wealthier. The case we progressives need to make emphatically is that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are more relevant to American competitiveness than ever. Compromising on them is compromising on innovation.

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A tourist who was interviewed last night from Cairo spoke for millions of his fellow Americans when he said he couldn't imagine living a country like Egypt. It is hard, isn't it?

Imagine: A government run by and for the rich and powerful. Leaders who lecture others about "sacrifice" and deficits while cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy. A system so corrupt that rich executives can break the law without fear of being punished. Increasing poverty and hardship even as the stock market rises. And now, a nation caught between a broken political system and a populist movement that could be hijacked by religious extremists at any moment.

No wonder they're upset! Why, we'd be marching in the streets too.

Here's the reality: Income inequality is actually greater in the United States than it is in Egypt. Politicians here have close financial ties to big corporations, both personally and through their campaigns. Corporate lawbreakers often do go unpunished. Poverty and unemployment statistics for US minorities are surprisingly similar to Egypt's.

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Not the wars. Not greenhouse gasses. Not even the deficit. The issue most important to Americans is jobs.

Despite that, jobs failed to make an appearance in the State of the Union address.

The talk was all about business. Business was doing better. Business needed taxpayers to help pay for research and innovation. Business will get government help to eliminate pesky regulations. more »

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• MORNING MESSAGE: The Chamber Wants Infrastructure? Prove It.
• Mr. Speaker, Where Are The Jobs?
• Dog Bites Man. Right-Wing Judge To Rule Against Health Reform.
• Energy Subsidies On Chopping Block
• Breakfast Sides

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Last week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a joint statement with the AFL-CIO supporting President Obama's call for increased public investment in infrastructure, which read: more »

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Republicans are caught between what their ideology calls for -- getting rid of Social Security, Medicare and much of the rest of government -- and what the public will accept. The American people hate what they propose so they use tricks and schemes to get what they want. They say one thing in public while they say and do the opposite behind closed doors. more »

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With the centennial of our 40th President's birth fast approaching, how about a shout-out for the soak-the-rich tax rates that he so despised — and more civic-minded Hollywood stars so enthusiastically embraced.

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To break the inside-the-Beltway consensus that a robust, government-led effort to lower the unemployment rate this year should not be on the table for legislative debate, the Campaign for America's Future this week announced that it is convening a "Summit on Jobs and America's Future" on March 10 in Washington. more »

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