I remember reading about how movie stars down on their luck will look for a project to resurrect their status. They may not even make a lot of money on the film but it is such a good opportunity to get back in the public eye that they will take the role almost for free. A film project like this is frequently referred to as a 'vehicle'... as in to carry the actor out of the darkness and back into the limelight.
Ever since Nov 2 I have been thinking the Democrats need a 'vehicle' and they need one soon. One that may not offer HUGE immediate rewards but will re-crystallize what we stand for in the eyes of the general public... especially among those 'middle grounders' we lost last November.
I think I have found one. And it should not be a surprise to learn it will be delivered Christmas present-like from the Whitehouse.
I was reading atrios this morning. They had a
piece up on Mankiw's musings over social security privatization and the up front cost. In the blog entry there was a reference to a WaPo
article from yesterday (Friday 10/3) titled
"Whiplash at the Whitehouse"... it covered Mankiw's effort to justify social security reform based on there being 'no free lunch'... fine. That issue will be hashed out for years.
But in that article I also saw this...
The Role of Economic Theory
Jonathan Weisman and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum wrote in The Washington Post two weeks ago that the Bush administration was considering paying for cuts in investment taxation by eliminating the deduction of state and local taxes on federal income tax returns and scrapping the business tax deduction for employer-provided health insurance.
Today, Weisman explains that the theoretical reasoning behind that proposal can be found in this year's Economic Report of the President.
"There, White House economists assert that the [health insurance] deduction unfairly subsidizes employees of some companies while encouraging overly generous health policies that focus on routine medical care" and "that the deductibility of state and local taxes -- especially property taxes -- 'lowers the price of local public services' and unfairly favors local government services over privately provided services."
Weisman writes that Bush supporters say people don't appreciate that "[i]n crafting a broad agenda for his second term, Bush is trying to adhere strictly to economic theory, perhaps even more so than during the Reagan administration's early battles over deregulation and taxes."
And yet, Weisman notes: "Critics say the White House's theoretical arguments may fly in the face of empirical evidence."
The part that caught my eye was NOT the bit about them being captive to ideology... anything less would have surprised me... but the part about them wanting to scrap the business tax deduction for employer-provided health insurance... If they do this, a huge percentage of the companies in the US will drop health insurance for their employees and very abruptly. I am a small business operator working with larger corporations. I know this will be the result... I understand the numbers.
There are two ways I can see this might be proposed: (1) Just drop the deduction and see what happens - typical Bush WH approach (2) Require that corporations pass the benefit value of the health insurance premiums through to their employees as 'regular income' in their W2's - this is what I feel the GOP congress will prefer. Regardless white collar red state suburbia is going to be in one helluva a shock when they learn what their boys (and girls) have been up to. We need to be ready to pounce on this topic and ride it.
You will also notice in the article they want to remove state and local income tax deductions as well... Those high middle income republicans are going to get a double whammy. We need to 'be there' too.
But as bad as tax increases are to these people there is no topic in Middle America - including terrorism - that inspires as much fear as losing health insurance. Nothing brings a middle class family into poverty as quickly as a health emergency and Middle America knows this even if their pandering ideolog GOP representatives don't.
And while the effects of Social Security privatization are serious, the full effect is unclear and at best will not be felt for two or three decades. Pulling the tax deduction out from under our current health insurance system will probably destroy the health insurance system as we know it and quickly. Maybe even before the 2006 election cycle.
This 'vehicle' - provided by the Whitehouse itself I might add - can be driven to a number of different end points... If played right it might even get us to a workable single payer system.
But if nothing else, in the short run it is a topic that is salient to most of America and especially so to middle class red staters and can be used as a vehicle to get us back into the spot light in a positive and relevant way.
Watch for this 'coming to a theatre' near you.