Progressive Defeatists - Cut it Out

I'm always shocked how quickly progressives declare defeat in the midst of victory. I was attending holiday party for a local political action group with a liberal bent. There were many fine speeches and pep talks, but they all struck as being defeatist. The gist of the all the talks were as follows: "Gee, I know we've all been disappointed in the Obama administration but we still need to work hard because the Republicans are really horrible." Amazing! Less than one year in, and the left is back to the Gore/Kerry mantra of "I'm not thrilled with these guys but the others are worse."

This argument will not rev up the troops. The argument is foolish - and unnecessary. Despite being handed the great recession and two wars, President Obama has a list of achievements that you'd be proud of if they occurred over 3 years not one. Why we don't talk about these achievements is a mystery to me. (OK, I have some theories, but I leave that to another post. If you have theories, feel free to post). Here is a very short list of achievements progressives can and should be proud of. Let's get the people excited with these and save the defeatism for the other guys.

The Progressive Progress Report

A Very Short Re-Cap Of President Obama’s Progressive Achievements - 12/15/09

The following slides outline just a few of President Obama’s achievements promote the progressive agenda as of 12/15/09

Civil Rights

Progress

· Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act:

· Ensure that all Americans receive equal pay for equal work

· Civil Rights Lawsuits Increase Dramatically Compared With 2008

Health Care

Progress

· Pushed comprehensive healthcare reform further than President Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, or Clinton

· The Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act: Provides quality health care to 11 million kids – 4 million who were previously uninsured.

· Executive Order repealed the Bush-Era restrictions on embryonic stem cell research.

The Environment

Progress

· EPA now regulates carbon omissions.

· Increased, for the first time in more than a decade, auto fuel economy standards.

· Department of Energy implements more aggressive efficiency standards for common household appliances, like dishwashers and refrigerators.

· States are permitted to enact federal fuel efficiency standards above federal standards.

· The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included more than $80 billion in clean energy investments

· $5 billion for low-income home weatherization projects.

· $4.5 billion to green federal buildings and cut our energy bill, saving taxpayers billions of dollars.

· $6.3 billion for state and local renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts.

· $600 million in green job training programs – $100 million to expand line worker training programs and $500 million for green workforce training.

· $2 billion in competitive grants to develop the next generation of batteries. to store energy.

Poverty

Progress

· Took office in the midst of a 2 year recession and took immediate action on numerous front. Recession ended less than 9 months into his watch.

· $20 billion increase for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), funding for food banks and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

· $2 billion in new Neighborhood Stabilization Funds to help maintain ailing neighborhoods.

· Tax breaks to working families through the Make Work Pay and Child Tax Credits

Education

Progress

· The American Recovery Act Provides:

· $5 billion for early learning programs, including Head Start, Early Head Start, child care, and programs for children with special needs.

· $5 billion in competitive funds to spur innovation and chart ambitious reform to close the achievement gap.

· $30 billion to address college affordability and improve access to higher education.

Urban Renewal

Progress

· Established the White House Office of Urban Affairs.

· American Recover Act Provides:

· $1 billion in increased funding for the Community Development Block Grant.

· $4 billion in increased public housing capital funds.

· $2 billion in payments to owners of project based rental assistance properties to keep them affordable.

· $2 billion in Neighborhood Stabilization Funds to purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed homes.

· $1.5 billion in Homelessness Prevention Funds to keep people in their homes

Public Service

Progress

· Signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act:

· Increase the size of AmeriCorps from 75,000 volunteers to 250,000 by 2017

· Created a Social Innovation Fund that will invest in ideas that are proven to improve outcomes and "what works" funds in federal agencies to promote effective and innovative programs.

· The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included $201 million in funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service to support an expansion of AmeriCorps State and National and AmeriCorps VISTA programs.

Peace

Progress

· Won Nobel Prize For Peace.

· Set date for withdrawal for troops in Iraq.

· Banned torture. Set withdrawal date or Gitmo and is methodically making progress.

· Improved diplomatic relations with a host of countries from Russia to Cuba.

· Restarted the nuclear non-proliferation talks and building back up the nuclear inspection.

· Sent envoys to Middle East and other parts of the world that had been neglected for years.

· infrastructure/protocols

Ethics and Open Government

Progress

· Ended media “blackout” on war casualties; reporting full information.

· The White House and federal government are respecting the Freedom of Information.

· Limits on lobbyists’ access to the White House and limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration.

Summary:
Your Elevator Bullet Points Answering the Question “What t Has Obama Really Done?”

Progressive Top 6

1. Saved the U.S. Economy from recession while promoting long term improvements in environment and education

2. Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act

3. Increased, for the first time in more than a decade, auto fuel economy standards

4. The Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act: Provides quality health care to 11 million kids – 4 million who were previously uninsured.

5. $20 billion increase for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), funding for food banks and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

6. Tripled the size of AmeriCorps

The A List - Obama: The Accomplishment President

 

Recently, comedians have been having a nice laugh over President Obama's supposed lack of accomplishments. SNL, Conan, even Jon Stewart have taken their licks.  His supporters can't be too thinned skinned after dishing jokes out to George Bush for so many years.  While we can have a laugh over the jokes, we must also remember that the digs have no merit.

I'm not sure how the "lack of accomplishments" impression got formed. Maybe it is because the President is faced with problems that simply can't be solved quickly. The economy is not going to turnaround quickly from a two year recession no matter what steps are taken. Similarly, peace in the the middle east and a reduction global warming are goals that will not, and cannot, be completed in a few months or even a few years. The very nature of the challenges the President has taken on are ones that can only be partially met 9 months into office. Maybe it was that the President dared to enunciate lofty goals, even when he knew they could not be easily achieved. Maybe opponents decried "he's done nothing" so many times that people just started believing it. 

Whatever the reason, the President deserves credit for tackling the major problems of our day and making real progress on many fronts. Below is a short list of accomplishments. Suffice to say, I could have gone on much longer but there are enough bullet points to show clearly and concisely that the guys done a lot.

Economy

Here's a simple summation– “He saved the economy from economic collapse.” How about a slightly longer one - “After a nearly a two year recession, and two years of total inaction, Obama steered the economy back to growth in only 9 months.” Here are the particulars:

· Developed and passed the  American Recovery and Reinvestment Act..  Even the Wall-Street Journal admits that the Recovery Act worked and independent audits suggest there is little or no fraud. Most Americans got a tax break. If you or know someone who is getting extended unemployment insurance or COBRA, you can thank this Act. See all that construction on the streets? Thank the Recover Act for that as well. You can debate how well the Act worked, but you can't debate that it did. You can debate how many jobs the Act created, buy you can't debate that it created or saved many, many jobs. As important is the fact that the projects funded by the Recovery Act will have a multiplier effect. For example, the investment in computerizing medical records creates jobs now and reduced medical costs long term.

·  The "Making Home Affordable" home refinancing plan allows people in trouble with their mortgage to refinance at lower payments and rates. 500,000 people have refinanced.

·  The President signed the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, expanding on the Making Home Affordable Program to help millions of Americans avoid preventable foreclosures, providing $2.2 billion to help combat homelessness , and helping to stabilize the housing market for everybody. 

·  The President launched a $15 billion plan to boost lending to small businesses.

 The President sighed the first time homeowner tax credit and cash for clunkers. 

·  The President signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act to protect Americans from unfair and deceptive credit card practices.

 

Civil Rights

• The President signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, restoring basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers.

Health Care

• Reform bills have passed every committee in both houses of Congress. No other President has pushed reform this far.
• The President signed the Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act, which provides quality health care to 11 million kids – 4 million who were previously uninsured.
• The Recover Act:
• Protects health coverage for 7 million Americans who lose their jobs through a 65 percent COBRA subsidy to make coverage affordable.
• Invests $19 billion in computerized medical records that will help to reduce costs and improve quality while ensuring patients’ privacy.
• Provides $1 billion for prevention and wellness to improve America’s health and help to reduce health care costs;
• Provides $1.1 billion for research to give doctors tools to make the best treatment decisions for their patients by providing objective information on the relative benefits of treatments; and
• Provides $500 million for health workforce to help train the next generation of doctors and nurses.

 

Foreign Policy:

• Won the Nobel Peace Prize for putting diplomacy back on the table.
• First U.S. President to address the Muslim/Arab world directly
  
• Appointed Special Envoys for Climate Change, Southwest Asia, the Middle East, Sudan, and a Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• Improved relationships with China and Russia
• Won commitments from Russia on tougher sanctions with Iran.
• Ended the expensive, ineffective and diplomatically disastrous missile program in Europe.
• Re-started nuclear non-proliferation talks
• Re-started talks between Israel and Palestine
• Had the U.S. join the U.N. Human Rights Commission
• Helped save the Turkey/Armenia peace agreement.
  

 

Hiring the Most Qualified Senior Staff that is Also the Most Diverse Group

Obama’s senior staff is generally acknowledged to be one of the most impressive, smartest, and qualified groups in presidential history. Here’s a fact – they are also the most diverse. He’s picked more women and minorities than any other president.    

Jerry Brown - Again

Early today I sent a glib Facebook update from a house party fundraiser for Attorney General Jerry Brown (not Gerry as I wrote in the post). So here are my thoughts on Jerry.

• The guy is really smart and has an incredible, detailed knowledge of the issues that face our state.
• He's thought a lot about these issues, and without downplaying the complexity of the problems, actually has some solutions. I left feeling somewhat optimistic about our state for the first time in a while. When he didn't have an solution, he'd tell you.
• Ideas get him excited.
• He came across as tough, funny, self-effacing, acerbic, smart, and genuine. I usually think the most genuine candidates wins.
• At 71, he looks great. Trim, athletic, and energetic
• Hasn't come up with an overarching idea or message for his campaign. OK, he hasn't announced yet, but an overarching idea of what his campaign is about and why he should be governor is crucial. Meg Whitman already has a theme.

Jim Carrol - Now Among the People Who Died

My brother just told me that Jim Carrol died today. The Jim Carrol Band was my first club show in Boston. I drove my mothers car in with a friend from high-school who ended up dating Mellisa Gilbert years later. When we came out of the show, my mom's car was stolen. We had to take the bus back to Worcester and my parents had to pick us up. Now that's punk rock. It was a great show and some of those songs on Catholic Boy are still among my favorites.

Sen. Kennedy - Personal Reflections

In my last blog post, I wrote that healthcare reform "may be the last bill that Sen. Kennedy ever votes for before the ravages of cancer catch him." As you know by now, that projection turned to be optimistic. Growing up in Massachusetts, Sen. Kennedy dominated our political lives, and I met him many times. As a young boy, I campaigned for Ted Kennedy during his presidential run in 1980 -- one of my first political memories. I was at the Democratic National Convention (my mother was a delegate) when he made his concession speech. Although spoken in defeat, it may have been the Senator's finest moment of oration.

In that speech, the Senator asked us "to renew the commitment of the Democratic Party to economic justice." I recalled these words often and they have been a light to me whenever it seemed that the cause of justice was hidden in darkness.

That speach also contained an impassed plea for healthcare reform.

[W]e cannot have a fair prosperity in isolation from a fair society. So I will continue to stand for a national health insurance. We must -- We must not surrender -- We must not surrender to the relentless medical inflation that can bankrupt almost anyone and that may soon break the budgets of government at every level. Let us insist on real controls over what doctors and hospitals can charge, and let us resolve that the state of a family's health shall never depend on the size of a family's wealth.

These seem like dark times for the Senator's dream of healthcare reform, but "we must not surrender."
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/tedkennedy1980dnc.htm.

On the Verge of History

What do Theodore Roosevelt, FDR, JFK, LBJ, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton have in common? They all attempted to provide comprehensive health insurance for Americans but failed. Ted Kennedy is one the most effective Senators in modern history, having helped passed the Voting Rights Act and scores of other landmark legislation. However, even he has failed, despite having been promoting health insurance reform since the late '60s.

As Jews, our desire for comprehensive health care goes back quite a bit longer than the 1960s. Maimonides, the great rabbi, philosopher and codifier of Jewish law from the 1100s, listed health care first on his list of the 10 most important communal services that a city had to offer to its residents (Mishneh Torah, Hilchot De'ot IV: 23). The Reform Movement has brought Maimonides' spirit to the modern era, having endorsed comprehensive reform since the mid-'70s.

America is now on the verge of meeting this basic moral obligation and fulfilling the dreams of so many. Most major committees in the House and the Senate have passed a version of a national insurance act. Indeed, the act may be the last bill that Sen. Kennedy ever votes for before the ravages of cancer catch him. We are closer to comprehensive health care than we have ever been in the history of our nation.

Those who have supported health insurance reform for decades should be ecstatic and motivated. Instead, the passion and energy seems to be on the side of those opposing reform. I'm not just talking about the tea bagging crowd trying shout down discussion.

Polls show those opposing reform are following the health care debate more closely than those who support reform.

So why the enthusiasm deficit? There are several likely suspects. Reforming a full sixth of our economy is truly difficult, and crafting legislative solutions is messy. The process by necessity involves compromises that can sap our most idealistic aspirations.

Maybe the focus on political horse-trading and technical aspects of legislation has made us forget the very citizens we're suppose to be helping. Sure, we can trot out statistics - such as the fact that 46.6 million U.S. citizens don't have health insurance and that premiums for the insured have doubled in recent years - but have the images of the people behind those numbers faded with the increasingly rancorous debate?

Let's remember who the health care fight is for. Take a look at one of the many sites dedicated to telling the stories of those who the current system has failed. On MyAmericanHealthcareStory.org, for example, you can listen to John and Sara explain how their insurance failed to cover the swine flu test for their 4 year old. Or to Sookie tell the story of his 18-year-old daughter, who has to choose between college and paying off her medical bills. Or to Trisha tell how her brother was without insurance after he returned from Iraq, after 15 years of military service, because he was "only" a reservist. Or to Chi-Wei, the retired cancer researcher whose insurance covers only a fraction of his Parkinson's medication.

These are the stories that should not happen in a caring, just society. Yet happen every day to folks at nearly every socio-economic bracket of society.

We owe it to these people to put any partisan feelings about the proposed health insurance reforms aside and increase our devotion to the legislation's passage. Remember, every major step forward from The Bill of Rights to Social Security to the Civil Rights Act was criticized at the time for being too tepid. Yet these laws are now seen as the bedrock of our civil society. The current health insurance legislation is the next step in creating a more perfect union. Now is time for us to make history together. http://blogs.rj.org/rac/2009/08/on_the_verge_of_history_wheres.html

Contact Sen Feinstein About Reform

On Sunday’s CNN’s “State of the Union,” Senator Diane Feinstein stated that healthcare reform should wait until “President Obama’s efforts to repair the economy and overhaul the financial-regulatory system [can] be measured.” We can certainly engage in good faith arguments about the best way to achieve comprehensive health care reform. (Taxing certain benefits? Government competition?) Yet, the goal of achieving such reform this year should be non-negotiable: healthcare reform is necessary part of the economy’s recovery, not a burden on it. Passing reform will become harder, if not impossible, in upcoming years, as Senator Dole recently pointed out as part of his argument to pass reform now. Having such a prominent Democratic as Senator Feinstein urging that healthcare reform be delayed, is unacceptable. If a former Republican presidential candidate is behind immediate reform, then Senator Feinstein should be as well. Please contact Senator Feinstein and urge her to publicly support comprehensive healthcare reform this year.

Contact Feinstein