A common criticism of Bernie that I and others have made is that there is no chance for him to get his plans through Congress. A common retort I hear from Bernie supporters is ‘well, how would Hillary get her plans passed?’ Leaving aside the overarching fallacy of equivalence that Bernie and Hillary would face…
Tag: policy
Who Would Be The Best Presidential Candidate For Energy Companies?
Hillary Clinton as president would likely continue many of the policies advocated by President Obama. For instance, Clinton has been cited as being against offshore oil drilling, against the Keystone XL pipeline, and against drilling in the Arctic. The current market turmoil has created a once in a generation opportunity for savvy energy investors. Whilst…
Confiscations, Deportations, and Vague Promises: Europe Asylum Policy Shifts Again
Thousands of refugee children across Europe are still waiting to find out how a new UK government pledge on immigration rules will actually alter their lives — as other countries across the continent also struggle with the influx of migrants and refugees that is showing no signs of slowing. In Sweden, Interior Minister Anders Ygeman announced that as many as 80,000 migrants may…
Why Bernie Sanders’ “Political Revolution” Doesn’t Have a Chance
Hillary Clinton and Sanders need to give plans for executive branch action, given gridlock in Congress. In response, on Twitter, some Sanders supporters said this was wrong: That Sanders—with a long career in lawmaking—could win Republican support; that Sanders would use the bully pulpit to rally voters; and that a Sanders win would necessarily bring…
The Case Against Bernie Sanders
Sanders’s core argument is that the problems of the American economy require far more drastic remedies than anything the Obama administration has done, or that Clinton proposes to build on. Clinton has put little pressure on Sanders’s fatalistic assessment, but the evidence for it is far weaker than he assumes. Sanders has grudgingly credited what…
How to Save the Democratic Party
A new party—not a third party, but a real second party representing authentic alternatives, as befits a democracy—is therefore urgently needed. Fortunately, the nucleus of such a party already exists, however captive-like and timid, inside today’s Democratic Party. (The late Senator Paul Wellstone called it “the democratic wing of the Democratic Party.”) For this nucleus…
Obama political machine to be fired up, ready to go for second term
Senior Obama campaign aides are currently working on the specifics of how to restructure Obama for America, but are considering several different options such as converting it to a 501c4 or perhaps a super PAC, a source familiar with the campaign said. The new campaign organization will be headed by Jim Messina, Obama’s campaign manager…
Mitt Romneys Real Agenda
The GOP legislation awaiting Romneys signature isnt simply a return to the era of George W. Bush. From abortion rights and gun laws to tax giveaways and energy policy, its far worse. Measures that have already sailed through the Republican House would roll back clean-air protections, gut both Medicare and Medicaid, lavish trillions in tax…
Romney Struggles To Distinguish His Economic Policies From Bush’s
Mitt Romney couldn’t substantially distinguish his economic policies from former President George W. Bush’s during an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams on Wednesday, saying only that he would “take action to get America on track to have a balanced budget.” Bush increased the national debt by trillions of dollars. Rather than detailing specific differences with…
10 Reasons Why Public Policies Rescued the U.S. Economy
The Troubled Asset Relief Program in 2008, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 successively helped the U.S. economy turn itself around. These three measures came at crucial times when the economy was facing the prospect of experiencing serious damage unless…
President Obama Makes an Argument for Rebuilding America
Speaking to 3,000 attendees of the Building and Construction Trades Department conference in Washington, DC this morning, President Obama made an argument for investing in rebuilding America. He told the crowd: [As] a share of the economy, Europe invests more than twice what we do in infrastructure; China about four times as much. Are we…
Affordable Care Act: Most Health Insurance Plans Will Cover Women’s Preventive Services, Including Contraception
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, most health insurance plans will cover women’s preventive services, including contraception, without charging a co-pay or deductible beginning in August, 2012. This new law will save money for millions of Americans. But more importantly, it will ensure Americans nationwide get the high-quality care they need to stay healthy. Under…
Five policies to watch from Obama’s State of the Union
Obama proposed much more policy, of course. You can see it all in Wonkblog’s policy-only edit of the speech. But the caveat to almost every idea he offered is the same: Most all of them require congressional cooperation. Cooperation the Obama administration is not likely to get. All tax bills, for instance, must originate in…
Oakland Police Under a Cloud for Violent Occupy Crackdown
A shot-filled bean-bag round held by a protester at Frank Ogawa Plaza Tuesday night. Schuyler Erle/Twitter On Tuesday night I was at the intersection of 14th and Broadway, just outside Frank Ogawa Plaza, for several harrowing hours: I witnessed police officers firing projectiles indiscriminately into the crowd—not carefully targeting instigators, as OPD policy dictates. Freelance…