Lesser of two evils

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Friday June 24, 2022 · 5:32 PM PDT

2022/06/24 · 17:32

How many progressives subscribe to this concept?

“Always vote for the lesser evil. That way, we have the best shot of electing less evil in our politicians.”

I would love to see ALL of our progressive leaders and organizations making this principle clear to potential voters that follow their words.

Voting is a declaration of a preference, a choice, between options. It is not an endorsement, or recommendation, or an award of universal approval. Too many democrats of my acquaintance get this confused, while none of the republicans I’ve spoken with have a problem with this concept.

Note that Rusty Bowers can follow up his righteous resistance to T****’s coup attempt with a statement that he would still vote for T**** over Biden in 2024 because it’s the lesser of evils in his eyes. OMFG. I know that he needs to revisit that Bible about what it says about evil, but it’s a recent example of how clearly conservatives have learned the principle that underlies actual political power.

I’m a 60-something veteran of voting strategically: always vote, and always vote for the least bad option on the ballot. I have passionate beliefs in good progressive public policy, but I have had to register as a republican in my R+35 district so that I can vote for a less evil R (think say, Adam Kinsinger) so that truly evil R (think Jim Jordan) doesn’t win the R primary—the winner of which is an automatic winner in the general. It works; we get less evil. I never considered my vote to be an endorsement of ANY of the policies of the least-bad R, merely a means of choosing not-crazy over venal-and-crazy.

We are going to need to make a case to our widest set of voters that they can get less evil if they do whatever it takes to vote for it. To see that there is a less-evil option on the ballot, and not to vote for them, is at least a half-vote for greater evil.

Eliminating the Filibuster would actually make bipartisan bills more likely, not less

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Wednesday March 03, 2021 · 1:40 PM PST

2021/03/03 · 13:40

In a closely divided Senate such as the one we have today, with a handful of relative moderates in each party, the presence of a 60-vote cloture threshold actually lessens the incentive for any moderate minority party (Republican) to participate on majority party legislation.

If Collins or Portman or Romney might actually like some parts of a publicly popular (one that polls well even with Republican voters) Democratic bill, and have a meaningful opportunity to contribute to their crafting, they can only benefit politically IF it actually gets enacted. They can only run on their participation in legislation that benefits their constituents if it passes and is signed into law.

Now, they will pay the disloyalty-to-party price no matter whether it passes or not, so it would be strategically prudent for them to either: 1) avoid the bill completely, or 2) join it only when it can pass and be enacted. The first scenario exacerbates strict partisanship, whereas the second is only remotely likely if there isn’t a 60-vote threshold for legislation.

The usual assumption that the filibuster causes bipartisan legislation isn’t always true. From a game theory perspective it would seem bipartisanship is best when the vote threshold is closest to the partisan threshold. 50+1 votes needed with 50-50 partisan split offers a great opportunity to see some Republican votes on really popular legislation—particularly when 7 republicans have already shown that they can stand up to their party’s groupthink already.

Have Manchin and Sinema heard this argument?

A winning tax cut strategy

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Friday November 05, 2010 · 10:35 PM PDT

2010/11/05 · 22:35

I think I've spotted the mother of all wedge strategies that the Dems could use with respect to the expiring Bush tax cut issue.

At the moment, it appears that Dems are slowly but inexorably headed toward caving on the conservatives demand to include the top 2% in the tax cut extension--at least for a year or two. They are too afraid that they can't battle the attractive lie that giving tax breaks to the rich "stimulates the economy," "creates jobs" or some other such nonsense. What if there's a way to come out with a big win--policy and political--no matter how the Republicans decide to play the issue? Details below.

Poll

28 votes Show Results

What would the Republicans do if we followed this approach?

28 votes Vote Now!

What would the Republicans do if we followed this approach?

Agree to the Democratic plan not including the upper end taxpayers in the extension.

1 vote

Allow all tax cuts to expire in the belief that the pain will be attached to Dems

19 votes

Compromise so that the Dems get large investment in infrastructure in exchange for some upper end tax cuts

3 votes

Have an intra party pie fight

2 votes

Other

3 votes

Proposal: Foreclosure Mitigation, Credit Crisis, and MBS valuation

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Monday February 16, 2009 · 2:18 PM PST

2009/02/16 · 14:18

The criticism of the Obama administration’s rollout of the financial system recovery plan, as presented by Sec. Geithner, focused on the "lack of details" and that it left too much "uncertainty" in play with respect to the mortgage-backed securities and their derivatives that have been made "toxic" by the avalanche of foreclosures and potential foreclosures throughout the country.

Below, I propose a plan that, I believe, has the potential to:

Give strong incentives to both borrowers and lenders involved with underwater mortgages to avoid foreclosure in a way that still exacts substantial accountability for their financial decisions;

Create a means to compute a market valuation for these mortgages and the securities which derive from them;
Offer a means whereby a lender can immediately mark-to-market (for investor transparency) while reducing its asset base more gradually;
Help prevent millions of mortgages from reaching foreclosure will still requiring borrowers to pay 100% of their borrowed money back;
Offer a chance that the taxpayers might accomplish all of the above at a profit.

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Saturday February 24, 2007 · 7:36 PM PST

2007/02/24 · 19:36

Progressives all recognize the lengths to which the GOP will try to frame their policies as "good vs. evil", "us vs. them", "winning vs. losing", and other variations of zero-sum formulations. But do we recognize how often play along, even as we battle their frames?

More about the War Frame and how Obama is handling it on the flipside...

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Thursday October 19, 2006 · 10:59 AM PDT

2006/10/19 · 10:59

As I've been doing neighborhood canvassing and informally talking to colleagues and friends, I've noticed that NOBODY really defends the Republican excesses--not even the committed Repubs in this dark red county of mine (71% Bush in 2004). There is, however, a very stiff resistance amongst many social conservatives and tax conservatives to voting for Dems.

I've found an alternate approach to these folk that's very promising. Details below. Read More

New Ideas: Progressive Tax Relief, part 2

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Sunday April 17, 2005 · 1:22 AM PDT

2005/04/17 · 01:22

[The UNI tax idea discussed in this diary was first presented in Progressive Tax Relief, part I]

How many progressive ideas get ground up in the political grinder of "Democrats just want to raise your taxes?"

Well, the UNI tax concept would allow Democrats to combine the ideas of economic justice AND tax relief, instead of always having to argue for the former at the expense of the latter.

This diary suggests some of the positive political synergies that are enabled by the UNI tax concept and why promoting the UNI tax idea in all 50 states can help Dems--particularly those in red states--freshen their image as a party of new ideas. Read More

New Ideas: Progressive Tax Relief, part I [long]

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Thursday April 14, 2005 · 4:02 PM PDT

2005/04/14 · 16:02

This is the first of a series of diaries attempting to outline a new direction and suggest some policies that are simultaneously: 1) good policy, 2) part of a long-range strategic shift to sustainability, and 3) form a strong platform from which to retake the "red states."

Many of these ideas aren't mine and they aren't necessarily brand-new. But they haven't been connected, as far as I know, together into a coherent whole. I would hope that Dems running in 2006 and 2008 for national and state offices--particularly those running in "red" districts and states--considering trying some of these out.

In Part I (after the break) I discuss one of the centerpiece components--revisioning our tax system so that it changes the usual political alignments utterly and makes truly progressive approaches to social investment much more feasible. BTW, this revisioning actually allows Dems to be in favor of tax relief... Read More

SDCC: Here's Our SS Plan

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Friday February 04, 2005 · 3:22 PM PST

2005/02/04 · 15:22

I like it that the Dems seem fit to go to the mat against the corporate Republicat agenda for social security. But I'm disappointed that they don't seem to be willing to grasp firm hold of a ready-made opportunity to give the GOP a Wedgie....wedge issue, that is.

Recently diaries by georgia10 and SanJoseLady have vehemently questioned why the Dems seem adverse to presenting a competing plan for SS reform. Add me to the list because not only do we have an alternative, but it's one that will put the GOP into quite a difficult spot.

More after the break. Read More

An Attack Ad to Change the Conversation w POLL

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Sunday August 22, 2004 · 1:06 PM PDT

2004/08/22 · 13:06

Here's an ad to change the field of battle. Read More

It's the Debates, Stupid

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Wednesday August 18, 2004 · 11:55 AM PDT

2004/08/18 · 11:55

I suggest that the reason Kerry hasn't put the Iraq war vote flip-flop controversy to rest is because the ideal time hasn't yet arrived for it. Many, many sympathetic pundits and bloggers have said how easy it would be to forcefully regain the upperhand on the Iraq issue, so why doesn't he? I believe that he is playing a clever waiting game-waiting to deliver the knockout blows at the debates. When the question comes up (we all know it will), he can look Shrub in the eyes and answer it as follows:

"Mr. President, when I voted to give you the authority to go to war I honored you, as millions of Americans honored you, with our trust. We trusted you to check and re-check your evidence before you committed us to war. We trusted you to exhaust all diplomatic avenues before you committed us to war. We trusted you to have a detailed, organized, flexible, effective plan for the post-war before you even considered committing us to war. Sir, you did none of these well, and I and a majority of Americans feel betrayed by your performance. You didn't listen to dissenting voices in the CIA about the evidence. You didn't listen to generals, long-time allies, fellow Republicans-anybody who didn't already agree with you-even though they had legitimate concerns that would have improved planning. You didn't listen to anybody who suggested that our troops might not be met with flowers. You committed us to war in such haste that you sent our troops on their way without adequate armor. The buck stops with you, sir. Americans trusted you with the decision about going to war; I trusted you with my vote. Now you call us flip-floppers because we hate how you misused our trust. Sir, have you ever acknowledged to the American people that you made a mistake, any mistake, in taking us to war the way to did?"

Addressing this to his face, talking to him (no matter who asks the original question), delivers a powerful non-verbal signal of strength-that Kerry has the cojones to speak truth to power. It also has a good chance of triggering a reaction in Bush that will finish him as "leader." Doing this earlier, in stump speeches, doesn't leverage the direct authentic power (not to mention the audience) of the face-to-face confrontation and it allows Bush and the evil spin conglomerate to test all kinds of responses and lessen the blow. By saving it for the debates, he gets to have Bush respond without any benefit of spinmeister advice and he gets to confound expectation positively by laying a groundwork of "nuance" and "waffling" only to destroy it suddenly in the debates.

New Tax Reform Approach for Progressives

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Tuesday August 17, 2004 · 5:26 PM PDT

2004/08/17 · 17:26

Bush recently suggested that "looking at" the Fair Tax/National Sales Tax idea of replacing the income taxes with a 23% national sales tax (plus state sales taxes on top of that !?!). Love to see him put into the Repub platform because it will play into the Two Americas theme perfectly (very regressive - puts poor workers into the 35-40% tax bracket, combining payroll and sales taxes) (discussed more fully by E.J. Dionne). But don't get your hopes up.

However, it does bring up an issue for us. We need to find a coherent approach to taxes and reform that gives us a chance to correct the Bush deficit nightmare AND address Social Security and Medicare underfunding AND wage and employment stagnation AND social necessities such as universal healthcare and quality education funding. Although K/E have pragmatic positions and ideas for all of these in the short-term, they don't form a coherent approach for the medium and long term. The Repugs will, once they're in the opposition again after Nov 2, have a field day trying to divide and conquer our agenda (diary) with the "how will it be paid for?" and "it doesn't add up" and "taxes are stifling our economy". We can probably keep fighting this old fight for a while (with renewed vigor thanks to the appalling ineptitude of the Bushcons), but I think we have an opportunity to support an approach that will change the lines of class warfare permanently for the betterment of us all.

The idea I like is the Automated Payments Transaction tax (APT tax) which was proposed by a retired U of Wisc economics professor, Ed Feige. His paper and a forum discussing the proposal are online. Interestingly, this idea appeals to the economic libertarian conservatives and has recently been promoting on some right-wingish radio talk shows. But, I believe it cuts very well for progressives as well and I'd prefer that we be in the discussion from the beginning. Check it out and let me know what you think. I summarize the idea and discuss its possible implementation and political implications in more depth below the fold. Read More

RSS

Lesser of two evils

Eliminating the Filibuster would actually make bipartisan bills more likely, not less

A winning tax cut strategy

Proposal: Foreclosure Mitigation, Credit Crisis, and MBS valuation

Barack Obama and the War Frame

Innovative GOTV/Canvassing Idea (partic. in Red districts)

New Ideas: Progressive Tax Relief, part 2

New Ideas: Progressive Tax Relief, part I [long]

SDCC: Here's Our SS Plan

An Attack Ad to Change the Conversation w POLL

It's the Debates, Stupid

New Tax Reform Approach for Progressives