Monday, October 3, 2011

Once more...it's "Yes, We Can!' - not "Yes, He Can!"

E.J. Dionne columnizes at WAPO:
Why hasn’t there been a Tea Party on the left? And can President Obama and the American left develop a functional relationship?
That those two questions are not asked very often is a sign of how much of the nation’s political energy has been monopolized by the right from the beginning of Obama’s term. This has skewed media coverage of almost every issue, created the impression that the president is far more liberal than he is, and turned the nation’s agenda away from progressive reform.

Annals of Class Warfare

"The rich people are doing so well in this country. I mean, we never had it so good...It's class warfare, my class is winning, but they shouldn't be."

From Protest to Policy: "Three Concrete Demands to Hold Wall Street Accountable"

 Mike Konzcal of the Roosevelt Institute:
The (Occupy Wall Street) protesters emphasize that their demands are "a process" intended to allow people to "talk to each other in various physical gatherings and virtual people's assemblies ... [and] zero in on what our one demand will be, a demand that awakens the imagination."

Since they're looking for suggestions, here are three policy changes that should be on their list of demands. There is often a conflict between demands that are specific requests versus visions of where we want to end up. These three try to do both. They are specific demands that speak to the long-term end goal of a better, more just economy.