Analysis and Opinion from Demos

Glenn Beck Cranks Up the Culture Wars by Rich Benjamin

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:44:00 EST

Despite his splashy show to celebrate the troops, Beck's rally was not about "honor" any more than the controversy over the Islamic center near ground zero is about a building -- or the immigration debate is about fixing the system. Instead, Beck's rally upped the ante on America's social divides, all the while appearing to champion unity. It was a clever head-fake disguising backward conservative zealotry as feel-good inclusion.

Originally Published: CNN.com

Simpon's 'Tits' Are the Least of It by Robert Kuttner

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 11:49:00 EST

The commission has given a platform to clowns like Simpson. But worse, it has lent credibility to the idea that Social Security is somehow a drag on the economy -- creating a vicious circle of hawkish legislators and dishonest pundits like Bai feeding on each other.

The reality, of course, is that if the economy (and Obama's fortunes) are going down the drain, the reason has nothing to do with Social Security's finances in 2037 -- and everything to do with slow growth, high unemployment, and the lingering effects of a damaged banking system right now.

Originally Published: Huffington Post

Women Call for Obama to Act by Linda Tarr-Whelan

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:33:00 EST

Today, a growing body of research that shows positive outcomes from having balanced leadership has been ignored. Other countries are addressing the fundamental issue of leadership in ways that have yet to gain much traction in the U.S. We can certainly do better.

Tapping the full range of talent that includes the skills, experience and leadership of women as well as men is hardly a radical idea. As the Economist magazine famously wrote in 2006, "Forget China, India and the Internet: Economic growth is driven by women." An increasing number of reports show that having at least 30 percent of women in corporate and governmental leadership roles improves decision-making, opens up institutions and removes barriers to full participation.

Originally Published: Bloomberg.com

Getting Insurers to Behave by Jonathan Cohn

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:55:00 EST

Community rating and guaranteed issue alone won't be sufficient to change the behavior of insurance companies. Even if insurers are required to take all comers at relatively nondiscriminatory prices...they'll still have financial incentives to restrict care.

Originally Published: American Prospect

Liberal Criticism of Obama is Out of Tough-Love by Robert Kuttner

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:57:00 EST

If Robert Gibbs, and the rest of Obama's too-small insider circle mistake this benign exasperation for ideological purity, they are passing up a chance to rekindle the groundswell of enthusiasm that elected this president. It wouldn't take all that much.

Originally Published: Boston Globe

The Problem With Billionaire Philanthropists by David Callahan

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:14:00 EST

When deep pocketed activists share your beliefs, they can seem like heroes. When they don't, it is hard to believe that it is legal for wealthy individuals to have so much clout in the world's oldest democracy, where policy outcomes are supposed to reflect the ideal of one person, one vote.

Originally Published: Huffington Post

The Real Liberal Elite by David Callahan

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:09:00 EST

The wealthy have long occupied an awkward place in liberal politics. Since the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a movement that purports to speak for the common person has occasionally relied on fabulously rich candidates and backers. Yet something new has happened in recent years: The wealthy have become more than episodic allies of the left; they are now central players in progressivism.

Originally Published: American Prospect

Why Haiti Can't Afford a Rap Star President by Rich Benjamin

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:14:00 EST

One might argue that Haiti needs inspiration; so Jean is just the right "icon" for the moment, an ideal figurehead for a nation clamoring for hope. This argument recalls our own president's election in 2008. Jean and Barack Obama are superstar cool -- handsome, smooth and inspirational personalities who embody change and progress. But the analogy ends there. Only Obama has the demonstrated intellect and decision-making skills to steer a nation out of duress.

Amid the hype swirling around Jean's declared candidacy, let us not fall into the trap of confusing stardom with ability, or good public relations with actionable skills. This confusion and celebrity-worship -- which adulates stars for dabbling in Darfur, or commenting on Earth Day, or singing for Haitian orphans -- trivializes the very problems celebrities purport to help.

Originally Published: Salon

As the Green Economy Grows, the 'Dirty Rich' are Fading Away by David Callahan

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 14:09:00 EST

The larger transition is clear: America is witnessing the twilight of the dirty rich and the inexorable move of economic power to the clean rich. What's more, environmental values are spreading fast through affluent America, with more super-wealthy individuals putting their money behind green causes and more upscale voters expecting government action to protect the planet. Climate legislation may be dead for now, but if big money really talks in America, the long-term prospects for tougher environmental rules would seem quite good.

Originally Published: Washington Post

A Gift the Wealthy Don't Need by Robert Frank

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 13:59:00 EST

Even a broken clock is right twice a day, so the notion that starving the beast is a bad strategy doesn't imply that its proponents are wrong about everything. With the economic recovery clearly sputtering, could they be correct to insist that the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy be extended?

Originally Published: New York Times

The Appeal of Austerity Is Fading by Robert Kuttner

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 22:16:00 EST

Where is the high-profile Obama speech making clear that the top priority for now is putting America back to work, that deficit reduction will come when the economy is back on track -- and that the budget will not be balanced on the backs of those who depend on Social Security, Medicare, and other key social outlays?

The misguided Erskine Bowles, with his austerity program, did not drop into the budget debate from Mars. He was appointed by Barack Obama.

The New York Times reported Sunday that Obama has been meeting with vulnerable Democratic members of Congress, offering to do anything to help them -- including staying out of their districts. The front-page piece, by political reporter Jeff Zeleny, was headlined, "To Help Democrats in the Fall, Obama May Stay Away."

Uh, why does this not sound like a winning political strategy? Maybe if Obama got serious about putting Americans back to work and explaining the real connection between an economic recovery and deficit politics, incumbent Democrats -- and voters -- might welcome the president into their districts.

Originally Published: Huffington Post

The Colombia Free Trade Pact is Bad Policy by Lauren Damme

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:06:00 EST

In their June 2 letter, 39 members of Congress state that "further delay risks sacrificing the entire Colombian market to U.S. competitors." In reality, that "entire" market will represent (about two decades down the line after full implementation of the FTA) less than a 0.05 percent increase in U.S. gross domestic product, and the International Trade Commission predicts that the FTA will have "minimal or no effect on output or employment for most sectors in the U.S. economy."

While the Colombia FTA would likely confer few benefits on U.S. workers, its effect on Colombian workers would be severely negative. In particular, the FTA would be devastating to rural agricultural laborers, who constitute 20 percent of the country's employment, provide 40 percent of its domestic food consumptionand generate 8 percent of Colombia's GDP. By tearing down barriers to U.S. agricultural products, the FTA would put Colombia's farmers in competition with giant U.S. agri-business firms subsidized by tax dollars. It is widely expected that thousands of rural workers would be displaced as cheap U.S. farm products - particularly rice, corn and beans - flood Colombia. Oxfam Colombia estimates that at least 15,000 rural jobs will be lost and small farmers' incomes, which average less than $3.90 per day, will be reduced by almost half.

Originally Published: The Hill

Women on the Verge by Robert Kuttner

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:55:00 EST

It would be comforting believe that greater gender equality, per se, will produce a more constructive substantive politics. Linda Tarr-Whelan has written an important book titled Women Lead the Way. Her research demonstrates that when women hit a tipping point of about 30 percent in leadership roles in organizations of all kinds, the dynamic changes and there is more receptivity to fresh thinking.

But we are a long way from that magic number in the House or the Senate, nor in large corporations, nor among President Obama's top financial officials. (Still, it is to Obama's credit that his first two selections for the Supreme Court have been women, as have two of his three recent appointees to the powerful Federal Reserve Board.)

The Atlantic recently ran one of its patented cover pieces that combine serious exploration of a complex topic with pop-culture hyperbole. This one, titled "The End of Men," speculated that something about post-industrial society at last will overthrow male dominance ("What if the economics of the new era are better suited to women?"), and that the displacement of males is already well advanced. But this breathless proclamation of writer Hanna Rosin may be a bit premature.

Originally Published: Huffington Post

Let's Not Forget Haiti's Anguish by Rich Benjamin

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:43:00 EST

After the USA's generous response to Haiti's earthquake six months ago, we suffer from compassion fatigue. Sometimes this fatigue is worsened by a suspicion that Haiti is a basket case, not worthy of long-term attention, just emergency-disaster charity.

But do most Americans realize that 1.5 million Haitians, displaced by the quake, live on a precipice of catastrophe, lacking housing, clean water, garbage removal, medical care, schooling, and civic institutions?

More than fatigue, we suffer from confusion. Americans are perplexed by the deep, complicated historical and political dynamics that keep Haiti in a headlock and how our nation can foster a farsighted global role.

Let's remember Haiti's bright spots, too. Our media reduce Haiti to a national caricature, The-Poorest-Country-in-the-Western Hemisphere. Portrayals of Haiti fail to grasp the rich tapestry of its culture, woven from Africa, Europe and the Americas: the delicious kidney-bean rice and stews, the lush visual arts, the sublime literature, all so exquisite, but unfussy.

Originally Published: USA Today

The Warren Drama by Robert Kuttner

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 21:47:00 EST

Much of the financial reform package is fairly obscure and technical. Mention the words credit default swap, and it just reinforces the impression that the government is in bed with Wall Street. But consumer protection is the easiest part to grasp. Do we want banks to gouge consumers on overdraft charges, mislead them on the cost of credit cards, and devise deceptive mortgage products? Most Americans would say no.

This is the fight Warren has been waging. If Republican senators want to hold hearings defending the poor misunderstood bankers, and giving the compelling Warren a hard time for protecting consumers, bring it on. It would make terrific television and nothing would be more clarifying about which party is the bigger stooge for Wall Street. This administration needs a few star players who stand up for regular people.

Obama needs to make his decision soon, because the longer this question hangs fire the more annoyed the Democratic Party base becomes with the White House and the more the Treasury invites pressure from the bankers to give the job to anybody but Warren.

Originally Published: Huffington Post

The Big Green Buy by Christian Parenti

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:38:00 EST

The fastest, simplest way to do it is to reorient government procurement away from fossil fuel energy, toward clean energy and technology-to use the government's vast spending power to create a market for green energy. After all, the government didn't just fund the invention of the microprocessor; it was also the first major consumer of the device.

Call it the Big Green Buy. The advantage of this strategy is that it is something Obama can do right now, without waiting for Congressional approval to act. As such, it amounts to a real test of his will to make progress in the fight against climate change.

Consider this: altogether federal, state and local government constitute more than 38 percent of our GDP. Allow that to sink in for a moment. The federal government will spend $3.6 trillion this year. In more concrete terms, Uncle Sam owns or leases more than 430,000 buildings (mostly large office buildings) and 650,000 vehicles. The federal government is the world's largest consumer of energy and vehicles, and the nation's largest greenhouse gas emitter. Add state and local government activity, and all those numbers grow by about a third again.

Originally Published: The Nation

Question for the Tea Party: Why the Free Ride for Republicans Protecting Bankers? by Robert Kuttner

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 20:30:00 EST

This reform bill may be a day late and a dollar short. But starting the process of reining in the banks is the antidote to the bailout and to future bailouts -- both politically and in terms of better policy. And it's Republicans and Wall Streeters who are trying to kill it. That's not so hard to explain. The president should be using his bully pulpit to shame the banking lobby and its Republican toadies, and to associate himself and the Democrats with stronger housecleaning.

If the final bill does manage to squeak through, this is only the beginning of reform. Several key provisions, such as the Volcker Rule separating commercial banking from trading and investment banking and the rules on derivatives, were seriously weakened by amendments. Others, such as the rules on capital requirements, too-big-to-fail, and consumer protection, leave a lot to agency discretion. So the same agencies that are far too close to the bankers, the ones that let this disaster happen, will be in charge of the details of reform.

Originally Published: Huffington Post

CEDAW FORUM: The Unfinished Business of Ratification by Linda Tarr-Whelan

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:40:00 EST

It is time for the US Senate to stand up and be counted for women here and around the world by ratifying CEDAW. It would provide international benchmarks for a national dialogue and action to close persistent gaps in women's equality. This country has made great progress and we must be international leaders for equality and justice for women and girls around the globe - and here at home. The numbers tell the story of persistent problems that remain - a major leadership gap of women at power tables in government and business, shocking figures in maternal health where we are 41st in the world (our infant mortality rates are also high), economic insecurity with women still averaging only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes with Hispanic and African-American women making considerably less, and violence against women by domestic partners impacting two million women a year with rape, sexual harassment and trafficking bringing violence to the doors of even more.

Originally Published: Real Deal Blog, NCRW

Traitors to Their Class by David Callahan

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EST

In the victory over John McCain, Obama had turned out the traditional Democratic base, but he was helped along by a less likely set of supporters, a group that Forbes dubbed "Obama'sbillionaires." The group included big names like George Soros, Warren Buffett, and David Geffen, but it went way beyond them. When it was all over, Obama had raised more money than McCain in eight out of ten of the wealthiest zip codes and won seven out of the ten wealthiest counties. He captured voters making over $200,000 by six percentage points.

Was this a once-in-a-lifetime fluke, or will these well-heeled backers still be around in 2012? That might seem unlikely after the fights over health care and financial reform. Campaign records show a shift in industry donations toward the Republican Party, and things could get uglier as Obama pushes his promised tax hikes on high earners, which are in the budget plan now before Congress.

But Obama's billionaires may just stick around. These are not your textbook plutocrats who are dead set against government and taxes. They worry about poor people and pollution.They want government to make sure that Americans have the kind of education they need to compete in the global economy. They don't seek to drastically upend an unequal economic order in which they have thrived, but they do want to sand down its harshest edges. They are post-New Deal liberals-cautious, technocratic, and non-populist-like Barack Obama himself and many of the people who work for him.

Originally Published: New Republic

The Strange Politics of Class in America by David Callahan

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:29:00 EST

Once upon a time, it was the poorer heartland that hated Wall Street and wealthy East Coasters who defended the banks and investment houses. Today, plenty of people in the heartland still hate Wall Street -- but apparently not enough to push their representatives in Congress to back reform. Those members of Congress who sided with Wall Street in last week's House vote were overwhelmingly from rural parts of the country. In New York State, the one Democrat who voted against the bill was not from Manhattan or Westchester -- those places where Masters-of-the-Universe types live. He was from a sprawling district that covers the most sparsely populated and remote reaches of northern New York. In California, it wasn't the members from coastal districts where bankers and hedge fund managers live who voted against the bill -- it was the members from the state's vast interior.

Meanwhile, every member of Congress from Connecticut and Massachusetts -- two states dense with financial services firms -- voted for the bill. So did most of the members from America's wealthiest metro areas, including Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.

Originally Published: Huffington Post

World Cup Ushers in a Loyalty to Humanity by Rich Benjamin

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:15:00 EST

The games allow us to enjoy the benign, dumby-friendly aspects of globalization, not the dismal ones. Who doesn't feel beaten down, dispirited by the latest sinister expressions of globalization, the eco-meltdowns, the ongoing war casualties, the brutish global corporations -Goldman Sachs, AIG, BP and even Facebook - which have become so evidently more powerful than many nation-states?

The World Cup is a quaint, charming anachronism given its unabashed celebration of nations in this post-national world. This festive brand of nation-building bubbles on our screens in determined contrast to Israeli battles with Hamas or the continued world economic crisis or the antics of Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai.

Originally Published: USA Today

A Voter from Day One by Tova Andrea Wang

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:20:00 EST

Given the obstacle voter registration has been shown to be in making the rate of voting lower for newer American citizens, the government should take the simple step of providing voter registration forms and assistance with their completion at the moment new citizens recite the oath of loyalty to this country and complete their citizenship at their naturalization ceremony. It is a process that all those who wish to become citizens must take part in, meaning that given current naturalization rates, hundreds of thousands of Americans could be registered to vote in a given year through this method.

All Americans, immigrants in particular, are rightfully reminded repeatedly about the importance and centrality of democracy and democratic values to our national identity. We prize it as what sets us apart from other nations of the world and, as we should, take tremendous pride in it. What then could be more American than getting our newest fellow Americans registered to vote at the first moment they are eligible to do so?

Originally Published: TPM

What Do Liberals Want From Obama? by Jonathan Cohn

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:50:00 EST

Look at the record: Obama has made a pair of liberal appointments to the Supreme Court, the second of whom appears to be on track to easy confirmation. He's populated the National Labor Relations Board with officials who actually believe in labor law. He's rescued the auto industry, and the region of the country that depends upon it, from economic oblivion. He'll likely get the chance to sign a major Wall Street reform package, just as he did an overhaul of the student lending program. And, of course, he led and won the fight for comprehensive health care reform.

Bob isn't that impressed and, I know, neither are many other liberals. Among other things, they think Obama made too many compromises. The recovery act was too small. Financial reform won't break up the big banks. Health care reform has no public option. Etc etc.

Originally Published: National Public Radio (NPR)New Republic

My Private Obama by Robert Kuttner

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 13:46:00 EST

I reluctantly conclude that whatever progressives might desire in our private visions of who Obama could yet be, he is who he is. It is like watching a needless accident in slow motion. Without a drastic and abrupt course correction, the missed opportunities will continue to accumulate this summer and fall. The whole country, not just the progressive movement, will pay dearly.

Originally Published: Huffington Post

Franklin! Carnegie! Einstein! Canseco! Brin! Why Immigrants Matter Independence Weekend by Rich Benjamin

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:44:00 EST

Americans fret over the quality, and even solvency, of basic public resources. Notably, many public institutions and services (Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, the state university systems, etc) did not exist or were in their infancy during the last era of great immigration, the 1880 to 1910 influx of southern and eastern Europeans. After this immense wave -- during the Great Depression -- government at all levels embarked new policies to help the nation's poor, sick, and suffering.

Now things have changed: Immigrants make claims on public goods and services.

From the New Deal to the first part of the 1960s Great Society programs, Democrats practiced a brand of liberalism quite different from today's. That liberalism "sought to expand both rights and prosperity. But it did something more: That liberalism was built around the idea that citizens should be called upon to look beyond their own self-interest and work for a greater common interest," according to Michael Tomasky, editor of Democracy journal.

How will immigration fare under Obama's brand of liberalism?

Originally Published: Huffington Post

Private Wealth, Public Needs by David Callahan

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 16:45:00 EST

Low tax rates and soaring inequality, starting under President Reagan, helped fuel the huge build-up of private wealth. Affluent Americans have been making far more money than they can actually spend - to the point that the top 1 percent of families now sit on some $19 trillion in assets.

Compare this vast sum to the deficits of all 50 states this year, which amount to $200 billion. California is reeling from budget cuts, yet it is by far the wealthiest state in the nation, with more millionaires than the entire East Coast, from Maine to Georgia. While the state's budgetary gap is big, $20 billion this year, consider that California's 82 billionaires - who together wouldn't fill a small movie theater - have a combined net worth of over $225 billion.

The Obama Administration is already seeking new taxes on upper class Americans. These tax hikes, though, will apply mostly to future earnings and leave current assets untouched.

Originally Published: Huffington Post

It's the Jobs, Stupid by Robert Kuttner

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:19:00 EST

In part, this general outbreak of austerity is the price that Obama is paying for giving too much attention to deficit-reduction at home, and not enough to jobs. The administration's own embrace of austerity, in the form of a freeze on domestic spending after this fiscal year, as well as Obama's fiscal commission, not only undercuts his credibility with the G-8. It gives ammunition to Senate Republicans and Democratic deficit hawks who refuse to appropriate another dime for jobs measures that are not "paid for" by tax increases or other spending cuts (which of course undercuts any stimulus effect.)

One good piece of news is the departure of OMB director Peter Orszag, the leading deficit hawk inside the administration. Orszag was the architect of the fiscal commission and the domestic spending freeze, and the foe of even modest increased outlays on jobs.

It's not clear that his successor will be a great deal better, though some of the names leaked to the press -- notably Laura Tyson or Gene Sperling -- are less hawkish.

If the Republicans make massive gains this November, the main reason will be the lingering economic slump, which now belongs to the incumbent Democratic administration.

Originally Published: Huffington Post

The President I Voted For by Robert Kuttner

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:10:00 EST

In many ways, our current economic situation is as dire a threat to our way of life as a war. We face the risk of a stunted generation: Young people who feel like failures before their adult lives have really begun, because they were born at the wrong time. Elderly people who have lost much of their home equity, and their 401k savings, and either have no pensions or face financial threats to the ones they have. People in the prime of life who are losing everything they have struggled for, including their self respect--all through no fault of their own.

In these circumstances, you have to have a heart of stone to be calling for cuts in Social Security and Medicare, or new taxes on the struggling middle class, as the cure for deficits that are mainly the result of the recession itself. But there are billionaires who lead lives of ease who want struggling Americans to tighten their belts as the solution to a deep jobs recession created by excesses on Wall Street.

Originally Published: Huffington Post

The Stealth Attack on America's Best-Loved Program by Robert Kuttner

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:14:00 EST

As Nancy Altman pointed out earlier in this series, the argument that Social Security is adding to the federal deficit is a bum rap. Ever since Congress in 1983 acted to anticipate the retirement of the baby boom generation by raising Social Security taxes and pushing back the retirement age from 65 to 67, Social Security has contributed trillions of dollars to a government surplus. The intent was to pre-fund the additional cost of the boomers. George W. Bush pilfered that surplus for his wars and his tax cuts for the rich, but even so, Social Security is still in great shape for at least 30 more years.

Social security taxes wages. Get wage growth back to historic postwar norms, and Social Security is in surplus forever. Restore the traditional fraction of wages that are taxed, so that affluent people do not get a free ride on part of their income, and the proclaimed crisis disappears. There is no need to further cut benefits, or further raise the retirement age, or raise taxes on working Americans. If only Citigroup's balance sheet were as healthy as Social Security's!

Originally Published: Huffington Post

Is This the End of the War on Crime? by Sasha Abramsky

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:38:00 EST

No part of the criminal justice system has had more of a racially skewed impact than America's antidrug strategy. Over the decades, millions of young Americans, mainly poor and disproportionately black and brown, have been arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to jail or prison for their involvement with the drug trade. It has been a staggering exercise in futility.

Yet these days, the "war on drugs," which Barack Obama denounced as an utter failure during his presidential campaign, is showing the fragility of old age. At the urging of the Obama administration and top Justice Department officials, Congress is working to eliminate the infamous crack and powder-cocaine sentencing disparities. And over the next few years, the Justice Department's Task Force on Sentencing Reform will likely recommend more proportionate sentencing for many drug offenses.

The era of "Lock 'em up and throw away the key" seems, slowly, to be drawing to a close. And over the next few decades, that will likely have the effect of gradually drawing down the size of the bloated prison population. Even seasoned conservative voices are cognizant of the winds of change.

Originally Published: The Nation