Archive
An Ounce of Prevention, Pt. I
Hillary Clinton surprised me when she said, on a recent trip to Mexico, "Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade." Strong words, and far more sagacious than George W. Bush's declaration, during a trip to Mexico in 2001, that, "One...
Taxing Matters
Tax Day. Fox News is flogging Astroturf "tea parties" underwritten by corporate lobbyists, while its pundits warn that raising the top income tax rate to the level it was under Bill Clinton constitutes "socialism." The Wall Street Journal editorializes about the evils...
Progressive Breakfast - 4/15/2009
Stress Test Results To Go (Sorta, Maybe) Public NYT reports some stress test results will be made public: The administration has decided to reveal some sensitive details of the stress tests now being completed after concluding that keeping many of the findings secret...
No Hoax: Pass Employee Free Choice Act To Revive Economy
Americans are paying big time now for decades of buying into a hoax. And it wasn't sub-prime mortgages. It was the conservative contention that government is evil and inept. Swallowing that absurd assertion resulted in relaxation and elimination of supposedly onerous...
Progressive Breakfast - 4/14/2009
Presidential Address on Economy, 11:30 AM ET President Obama is set to deliver what the White House calls a "major address" on the economy [this] morning at Georgetown University, reports Boston Globe. Gallup and Politico show President Obama earns more trust from the...
Time to Deliver: No Turning Back, Part II
Last week, in Part I of this short series, I talked about the three main scenarios that dominate progressive conversations about America's future: 1) Permanent Decline -- Due to Americans' native hyperindividualism, political apathy, and overweening willingness to...
Should We Double the Tax Rate on the Rich?
We live in a sound-bite political culture. Politicos and policy makers hardly ever engage their opposite numbers in anything close to real debate. Instead, they inflict upon us carefully rehearsed talking points. And the rest of us usually don’t particularly...
April 15: The Issue Is Fairness, Not Taxes
Tax day is coming, and people are sad. But the problem isn’t taxes. The problem is fairness. Who pays taxes, and who gets the benefits. Today the Institute for America's Future publishes a new report that documents what we already know. The tax code is unfair, tilted...
Progressive Breakfast - 4/13/2009
Will EPA Move on Capping Carbon? FT reports EPA is about announce plans to cap carbon, which could prod Congress: "President Barack Obama’s administration is preparing to ratchet up pressure on Congress to pass climate change legislation this year by declaring its...
Progressive Breakfast: Stimulus Stimulating
Stimulus Stimulating W. Post updates on the "slowly but surely" stimulus progress: Building repairs are underway on public housing in Imboden, Ark., and Cumberland, Ill., states across the country are receiving money to weatherize the homes of low-income residents,...
