The Public Option: If you think this is a debate about healthcare, you're wrong...

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Monday August 17, 2009 · 2:53 PM PDT

2009/08/17 · 14:53

...or at least, missing the point.

Why is a public option so important? Yes, it's the right policy. But this debate is not just about healthcare.

It's about controlling our own destiny.

Yes, the public option is the best way to keep costs down. Yes, the public option is the best way to keep private insurers honest through competition. But that's not all.

It's about building a system which we can strengthen over time from within.

It's about responding to the will of the people.

It's about restoring people's faith in effective government.

It's about combating fear, cynicism, and the inequitable concentration of political power.

It's about proving that change does not have to be incremental or temporary, that our system of governance is capable of heeding calls for substantive and lasting progress.

It's about accepting our responsibility to ourselves and to our neighbors: We will protect each other from harm and empower each other to thrive.

neatnate

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Friday May 01, 2009 · 12:40 PM PDT

2009/05/01 · 12:40

OK, so I'm not a lawyer, let alone a constitutional scholar like President Obama. But seeing as Justice Souter has announced his intention to retire, I thought it would be fun to think about the questions that Obama (or Senate Judiciary Committee members) should ask of a (potential) Supreme Court nominee.

First, general questions about deciding cases from a Constitutional perspective:

How would you characterize your approach to constitutional interpretation, as contrasted with that of colleagues you have worked with?

What is the role of precedent in deciding cases, and on what grounds may a precedent be overturned?

Fairness under the law is perhaps the chief responsibility of a jurist. But this is extremely subjective. Why is it the case that two intelligent people such as Justice Stevens and Justice Scalia can have contradictory views about what is fair in a particular situation?

(More below the fold.)

neatnate

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Tuesday January 13, 2009 · 10:08 AM PST

2009/01/13 · 10:08

In one week, Barack Obama will fulfill his first obligation as President under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution by declaring:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Then, he will fulfill his first unofficial obligation: addressing the nation.

The AP writes of the great expectations for next Tuesday's speech. Will it go down in history as commensurate with the great speeches of JFK, Martin Luther King, or Obama's hero, Abraham Lincoln? Those were no ordinary orators—but neither is Obama.

In the spirit of ultimate political nerdiness, I think it's worth speculating about the themes and rhetoric that will grace the first words of 44.

neatnate

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Saturday November 22, 2008 · 7:51 AM PST

2008/11/22 · 07:51

This morning, upon firing up my browser and scanning the news, I was hit by this NYT headline:

Obama tilts to center, inviting a clash of ideas
Reported cabinet choices show preference for pragmatists over ideologues

Ka-bam! That sound you heard may indeed have been a "clash of ideas": the ideas put forth in the article clashing with reality. Leaving aside the question of whether nominating Clinton and company actually represents a shift to the "center," the article immediately implies that centrists are pragmatists, and everyone else is just an ideologue. And the bias conveyed by the article, by White House Correspondent David E. Sanger, doesn't stop there. Excerpts and commentary below the fold.

Poll

118 votes Show Results

Did you ever play a musical instrument?

118 votes Vote Now!

Did you ever play a musical instrument?

Yes, piano or other keyboard instrument.

17 votes

Yes, a stringed instrument.

19 votes

Yes, percussion.

5 votes

Yes, a wind/brass/horn instrument.

34 votes

Yes, voice.

2 votes

Yes, something else.

0 votes

Multiple instruments.

25 votes

Nope.

16 votes

UC Berkeley Student on Cable News: Campus Republicans Make a Fuss, Democrats Make a Difference

neatnate

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Wednesday November 01, 2006 · 4:33 PM PST

2006/11/01 · 16:33

Last week, conservative host Larry Kudlow of the CNBC program "Kudlow & Company" interviewed the presidents of the Democratic and Republican clubs at Berkeley. Thanks to YouTube, you can watch the segment online.

Kudlow asked whether, as a recent Wall Street Journal article suggested, we are in the midst of a conservative resurgence on college campuses—even (if you can believe it) the bastion of progressivism that is Berkeley! Needless to say, those of us actually at UC Berkeley take issue with the reporter's glowing characterization of campus Republicans.

More after the break. Read More

Healthy Values: Why universal health care is MORAL

neatnate

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Wednesday July 12, 2006 · 12:11 PM PDT

2006/07/12 · 12:11

Recently there have been some great diaries looking at different aspects of health care policy and justifying why a single-payer universal health care system is the most efficient, equitable approach.

I'd like to take a step back and consider the question: Why is universal healthcare MORAL in the first place? Why do progressives believe that access to care should be a right for all citizens, not a privilege for those who can afford it?

Our perspective on all sorts of issues--including health care--comes from a few fundamental progressive values, and it is critical that we identify these values and explain them when arguing for change. This means articulating a moral alternative to the conservative every-man-for-himself approach to health policy. Once we explain how the current state of affairs fails to satisfy these values, we can lay out our goal for health policy and convince people of the best way to get there. I'll take a look at some of the key values on our side of the health care debate. Read More

Hackett's Iraq Strategy: Can it lead to victory?

neatnate

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Friday August 05, 2005 · 1:55 PM PDT

2005/08/05 · 13:55

After weeks of following the race, I've spent the past couple of days thinking about how Paul Hackett came so close to representing my overwhelmingly Republican district in Congress. Leaders of both parties have discussed the power of his tough, straight-shooting image, his anti-Bush message, his just-back-from-Iraq credibility. While I agree that his message and image were compelling, I want to focus on one simple aspect of his message that John Kerry struggled so much with last year: the Hackett Iraq Strategy. Read More

So now the U.S. cares about the Geneva Convention!

neatnate

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Thursday June 02, 2005 · 5:59 PM PDT

2005/06/02 · 17:59

A federal judge has ordered the release of photos and video of prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib.

The government declined to comment on the order, but had argued that turning over the documents would violate the Geneva Convention because soldiers could be identified.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein has ordered that the images—with identifying features removed—be released by June 30.

Stem Cell Debate

neatnate

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Tuesday May 24, 2005 · 2:04 PM PDT

2005/05/24 · 14:04

The debate continues over H.R. 810, a bipartisan bill that would provide federal funding for embryonic stem cell research with cells already destined to be discarded. The bill's restrictions would require the donors to provide written consent for the embryos to be used for research, and the research must not be for the purposes of cloning. One pithy quote from the floor of the House this afternoon in response to the assertion by a few Republicans that the bill would promote the killing of embryos:

"If you wish to give them life, then let them give life to others." --Jay Inslee (D-WA)

'Moral Values'

neatnate

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Wednesday May 18, 2005 · 3:54 PM PDT

2005/05/18 · 15:54

How's this as a sound bite for where Democrats stand on moral values:

Democrats trust parents and families to teach morality to their children, not Washington politicians like Tom DeLay.

Just wanted to get it out there before I forgot.

I'm delighted to read that the mock filibuster is spreading from campus to campus as nuclear war in the U.S. Senate is gearing up. I can attest from my own experience here at Berkeley that the experience is a lot of fun, and definitely worth the effort. Kudos to all fellow filibusterers!

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UC Berkeley Student on Cable News: Campus Republicans Make a Fuss, Democrats Make a Difference

Healthy Values: Why universal health care is MORAL

Hackett's Iraq Strategy: Can it lead to victory?

So now the U.S. cares about the Geneva Convention!

Stem Cell Debate

'Moral Values'