Making Sense Alerts

Conservatives think they’ve found a way to sell middle-class voters on a corporate tax cut. John McCain has been touring the country telling displaced factory workers that their jobs will come back if corporations get to keep more of their profits through lower taxes. That might be a compelling argument… if it weren’t completely false. Progressives can’t let conservatives distort the facts. We need to tell the truth about corporate taxes and lead on a real plan to strengthen the American economy.

Conservatives don’t want to admit that our economy is in miserable shape. Less than two weeks ago, John McCain said, “I still believe the fundamentals of our economy are strong.” But Americans simply don’t believe it—they think we’re in a recession. And whether or not the economy is technically in a recession, we can point to a different economic indicator of conservative failure: the misery index.

This Labor Day, many working families in America may not feel like celebrating. Approximately half of Americans are concerned that a member of their household will lose his or her job in the coming year. More than a quarter say that their household’s financial situation is now fairly or very bad. [CBS/ New York Times] American families don’t want more government bailouts for irresponsible banks or tax breaks for big oil companies—they want an economy that works for working Americans.

It’s back-to-school time. In conservative politics, that means it’s time to pull out their tired old ideological war-horse, school vouchers. But vouchers represent a cut-and-run strategy in public education and Americans have never liked them: voters have rejected every voucher and tuition tax credit referendum proposed in the past 30 years. Progressives need to speak up for quality schools, not school vouchers.

As you know, the current political debate is too focused on phony solutions (e.g., offshore oil drilling) and irrelevancies (e.g., Paris Hilton). All of us in the progressive movement share a responsibility to move substance to the center stage. As in 1992, “it’s the economy, stupid.”

The Bush administration has dramatically weakened the Food and Drug Administration and America’s food safety laws, leaving American families at risk. In fact, the Bush Administration allowed food-industry lobbyists and representatives to gut laws that would have improved food safety. We need an administration and Congress dedicated to insuring our inspection agencies can do the job, rather than starving them of the resources and authority they need.

With prices for some prescription drugs increasing over 100 percent in just one year, it's time to renew the fight to give Medicare the power to power to negotiate lower drug prices for seniors in its Part D program. An overwhelming majority of Americans want this, but President Bush, Sen. John McCain and congressional conservatives still won't support this commonsense reform. It's time to call them on it. Here's how.

Seventy-five percent of Americans say that increased gasoline prices have caused a financial hardship for their families. They want Congress to do something, now. Conservatives have tried to capitalize on Americans’ anger over gas prices with their “drill here, drill now” campaign. Progressives need to counter with proactive short- and long-term solutions, and show that it’s Bush, McCain, and other conservatives who are blocking the way.

“We’re in a recession, and Washington is doing nothing about it.” According to recent survey research, that’s one of the most powerful arguments progressives can make right now. The White House says “we have avoided a recession.” But Americans overwhelmingly disagree. They describe the economy as in recession and support an economic growth package—for good reason.

On August 1, 2007, Minneapolis’ I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed during rush hour, killing thirteen people. This tragedy is an illustration of a much larger problem—the deterioration of our nation’s infrastructure. Progressives should not be afraid to talk about spending priorities during this election. Polls demonstrate that the public supports “increasing government spending on things like public-works projects to help create jobs.”