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Can California Be Fixed?

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Pema Levy - Sep. 27 (Interview) - In the coming weeks, the coalition Repair California will begin the official process of calling a state constitutional convention, submitting ballot-initiative language to Attorney General Jerry Brown's office. Repair California proposes to restructure government through a state constitutional convention. The Prospect talked to John Grubb, official spokesperson for Repair California, about the crisis in California and the emerging movement to reform government.

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Meet The New State Secrets Policy, Not So Different From The Old State Secrets Policy

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Adam Serwer - Sep. 23 (News Analysis) - The Obama administration's abuse of the state secrets privilege mirrors the Bush administration's, and that's despite months of promises to reform its use.

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Health Care's True Price | The American Prospect

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Paul Waldman - Jul. 09 (Opinion) - Health-care wonks worth their salt will tell you that the big issue in the current effort to reform our abysmal health-care system is cost control. They say if we don't do something to rein in the spiraling cost of health-care, it will eventually bankrupt us all. This is also a key argument made by advocates of what has become the ideological fulcrum of the health-care reform debate: the public option. Those who want to give Americans the choice of a government insurance plan have talked a lot about the public option's potential to save money over private coverage. And it would -- not only because the government could negotiate lower reimbursement rates but because it wouldn't have to spend money on the things that private insurers do, like underwriting (figuring out whom to avoid covering), marketing, multimillion-dollar executive salaries, and of course, profits. Competition from a less expensive public plan would also force private insurers to become more efficient.

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Delivering Affordable Health Care

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Miriam Perez - Jul. 08 (Special Report) - State licensing fights may be the first step for these midwives, but it's not their last. Now they're turning their attention to the federal health-care reform debate, and a look at the maternity-related health-care costs quickly explains why. Childbirth is among the top five causes for hospitalization, and the No. 1 cause for women. According to Childbirth Connection, Cesarean section is the most common operating-room procedure, and in 2009 the C-section rate hit an all-time high according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at 31.8 percent of all births. These rates account, in part, for the increasing cost of maternity care in the U.S. -- maternal and newborn charges totaled $86 billion in 2006, 45 percent of which was paid for by Medicaid. The federal government is already footing a huge portion of the U.S.' maternity-care bill, and these midwives think they can help reduce costs significantly, and not just for low-income women.

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An Uncertain Fate for Voting Rights

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Heather K. Gerken - Jun. 24 (Opinion) - Yesterday the Supreme Court wrote a cliffhanger of an opinion on the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), one of the most powerful weapons in the civil-rights arsenal. In the Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One (NAMUDNO) v. Holder opinion, the Court raised serious questions about Section 5's future, but it didn't pull the trigger. The question is how this story will end.

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Wealth-Care Reform

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Ezra Klein - Jun. 19 (Opinion) - he disease still haunts his life, however: In particular, it haunts his finances. Health insurance consumes 40 percent of the family's income. They have no retirement savings. Loan officers casually mention bankruptcy, a word that breaks Amy's heart. "This is not who we are," she said. "We have done everything we were supposed to do."

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WHAT TO MAKE OF PAYGO?

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Tim Fernholz - Jun. 11 (News Analysis) - What's the actual impact of making these congressional rules in to law? Since both rules have emergency waivers (designed for situations, like the current recession, where running a deficit is a good idea, but often abused by congress), Horney says that making the rules into law "doesn't make an enormous amount of difference. If you've got the votes to waive the congressional rules, you've probably got the votes to waive the statutory rule. [But] It heightens the visibility for [and] makes it a little bit harder for members of congress to vote for waiving the statute. The main question is whether that somehow builds more support for living by the pay-go rule. Get people to commit to living by it."

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Regulation and Credit Industry Blackmail

Tue, 19 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Tim Fernholz - May. 19 (Opinion) - Get ready. Every time the government threatens to regulate any kind of industry in the financial sector, whether the big banks, mortgage lenders, or, in today's case, credit card companies, you can expect a claim along these lines: The industry says that the proposals will force banks to issue fewer credit cards at greater cost to the current cardholders. You want to regulate us? Well, credit will 'dry up.' The article reports that the credit card industry will be unable to profit from hidden fees and near-usurious interest rates when the government bans them in new regulations currently under debate in the Senate (and other new regulations that will be implemented by the Fed in 2010). Now, this is factually true, but akin to a thief complaining that it's going to be so much harder to make money now that he can't just steal things anymore. White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee gets how credit card lenders are eliding responsibility of their actions: “The card industry is giving the argument that if you didn’t want to be carjacked, why weren’t you locking your doors or taking a different road?” Mr. Goolsbee said.

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Is the Threat of Homegrown Extremism Real?

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Michelle Goldberg - Apr. 22 (Opinion) - Last week's leaked DHS report has some asking if we need to train a closer eye on fringe political groups. But we shouldn't overlook the potential for abuse with government surveillance.

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Beat the Press

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Dean Baker - Apr. 21 (News Analysis) - The standard housing series show that house prices must fall another 15-20 percent in real terms to return to their trend levels.

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We've Already Won the Battle Over Gay Marriage

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Paul Waldman - Apr. 15 (Opinion) - Gay marriage advocate Beth Robinson, center, holds back tears following the passage of a gay marriage bill in Vermont. The state became the fourth to legalize gay marriage last Tuesday. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot) It sometimes seems as though American domestic political history is one long conflict between the guardians of tradition and the forces of progress. The controversies change, but the essence of the battle remains the same, whether the contestants are arguing over slavery, women's suffrage, Jim Crow, or abortion rights.

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Outside Activism, Reconsidered

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - Apr. 11 (Interview) - The American Prospect asked six individuals working on post-Katrina recovery to discuss how their organizations are balancing rebuilding, commitment to community, and local autonomy with the desire of outside volunteers to participate in the recovery.

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The Beatification of Ben Bernanke

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Dean Baker - Apr. 09 (Editorial) - The Washington Post gave a glowingly positive account of Ben Bernanke's efforts to deal with the economic crisis. Missing from this discussion was any mention of the fact that he deserves a large part of the blame for this crisis. Bernanke was a persistent and vigorous bubble denier, first in his capacity as a member of the Board of Governors and then on his becoming Fed chair in January of 2006. Even as the bubble began to unwind in the winter of 2007 he gave assurances that the problems would be contained in the subprime market. After he engineered the takeover of Bear Stearns in March of 2008, Bernanke told Congress that he did not see another Bear Stearns out there. Needless to say, he was surprised by the collapse of Lehman and the market's response six months later. It might have been worth including some acknowledgment of the fact that, in addition to being the person trying to lead us out of this crisis, Bernanke was also one of the people who deserves the most blame for leading us into the crisis. The media have a tendency to write glowing accounts of people in positions of power in the United States. I recall when a person I knew quite well was given a high position, the news reports described this person as being brilliant and having a sharp intellect. I personally liked and respected this person, but I doubt very much that anyone who knew this person would have made a point of talking about their brilliance or sharp intellect. Unfortunately, reporters often seem to believe that it is their job to promote confidence in the people in power. It isn't.

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A Politics of National Sacrifice

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Kevin Mattson - Apr. 08 (Opinion) - Looking back now, the malaise speech indicates a turning point in our history, one that helps define Barack Obama's recent victory. The age of conservatism -- from Reagan's 1980 election up through the end of George W. Bush's second term -- has been framed not by Carter's tones of humility but by celebratory nationalism.

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Breakfast at Hugo's

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Tim Fernholz - Apr. 02 (Opinion) - The diplomatic rift between the U.S. and Venezuela is more rhetorical than substantive. Chávez used George W. Bush as an international foil, but the U.S. remains the largest consumer of Venezuela's oil -- the single economic factor that allows Chávez to continue the social programs that constitute his "Bolivarian revolution."

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Our Man in Kabul

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Tara McKelvey - Mar. 30 (Special Report) - As the special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Holbrooke is arguably one of the most important figures in U.S. foreign policy. Up until this point, discussions about Afghanistan have centered on Gen. David H. Petraeus' military strategy and his efforts to weaken the hold of the Taliban. That strategy is currently under review, however. And diplomacy is more important than ever, particularly in the short term.

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Has the Post Ever Had a Headline About the "Whoppingly" Inefficient Health Care System?

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

American Prospect - By Dean Baker - Feb. 16 (News Analysis) - Okay folks, this is 2-year stimulus, not a 1-year package. (Actually, as the Republicans were fond of pointing out, much of the spending will not take place until 2011, year 3 of the package.) That means that there is a word to describe the Post's claim that the package is more than 5 percent of GDP: "wrong." Of course, if the Post was interested in accurate reporting it might also have noticed that the package saved the government $140 billion by reversing a change in the tax code put in place by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that allowed banks to write off the bad debts of banks that they acquire. That would substantially reduce the long-term cost of the stimulus. If might also have been helpful to put some of the items highlighted by Republicans in context so that their importance would be clearer to readers. The $198 million for Filipino World War II veterans comes to 0.024 percent of the stimulus package. The $50 million for the National Endowment of the Arts is 0.006 percent and the $25 million for the Smithsonian is equal to 0.003 percent of the stimulus.

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Dealing With BANKRUPT Banks: Nationalization or Welfare

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

American Prospect - By Dean Baker - Feb. 08 (Comment) - The Post editorial page carried on with this deception. An editorial on saving the banks dismissed nationalization because it would involve the government in running the banks. Then it discusses the idea of buying bad assets and warns, "but there is a huge risk that the government would badly overpay in the first place."

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Beat the Press

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

American Prospect - By Dean Baker - Jan. 10 (Opinion) - The headline of an NYT article tells readers that "Obama Promises Bid to Overhaul Retiree Spending." The first sentence warns that "overhauling Social Security and Medicare would be 'a central part' of his administration’s efforts to contain federal spending, signaling for the first time that he would wade into the thorny politics of entitlement programs." This certainly makes it appear as though President-elect Obama intends to use the Wall Street generated crisis as a pretext for cutting Social Security. However, it is not clear that the headline and lead sentence accurately represents Obama's comments. At a press conference, he responded to a question about the deficit saying

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Why American Youth Will Vote

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

American Prospect - By Courtney E. Martin - Nov. 04 (Opinion) - It's hard to counter the deeply entrenched notion that all hard work is equally rewarded in the good ol' U.S. of A. But on this day, November 4, Election Day, every single person that walks in that booth -- first-generation American, Thomas Jefferson's great-great-great grandson, black, white, Latino, Asian, Ivy League-educated, junior-high drop out, gay, straight, disabled, skinny, fat, male, female alike -- is granted equal say in our shared destiny. Your daddy doesn't have to own the booth. You don't have to have a special voting prep course. You don't need to use big words or dress in business casual. You only need show up and pull that lever.

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Is the Southern Strategy Dead?

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Harold Meyerson - Oct. 27 (News Analysis) - The jobs they were coming to were high-skill, high-tech and high-pay. North Carolina had an aggressive industrial policy, drawing pharmaceutical, semiconductor, and financial companies from around the nation. The state population grew by 51 percent between 1980 and 2006. And the new professionals had no affinity for the low-road politics of Helms. By themselves, they didn't constitute a critical mass for a new, more progressive politics. But with the Obama campaign registering record numbers of African Americans and young people, a new Democratic Party, larger in size and no longer so parochial in its beliefs, has been created. Like Virginia, North Carolina simply isn't as Southern as it used to be. For Republicans, who've relied for 40 years on their Southern strategy, a more devastating development is hard to imagine.

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John McCain's Anger Problem

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Ezra Klein - Oct. 16 (Opinion) - And so it is that George W. Bush now looks like he will beat McCain twice. McCain will have lost to the ruthless aptitude of Bush's campaign in 2000, and to the inadequacies of his presidency in 2008. It must be a wrenching realization.

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Overhyping Georgia

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Matthew Yglesias - Aug. 14 (Editorial) - But while Russia's punishment of Georgia may not have major consequences for America or for world security, a hysterical American response just might. Most obviously, if we were to take things like John McCain's Aug. 12 proclamation that "we are all Georgians" seriously, we would be in the midst of a shooting war with Russia and literally risking the end of human civilization in a nuclear exchange.

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The Politics of Masculinity

Fri, 30 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Ezra Klein - May. 30 (Opinion) - Barack Obama's effort to do exactly that has been, by far, the most exciting element of his campaign. His policies -- particularly his domestic policies -- have not been half as innovative as his politics. But his willingness to double down on opposition to the gas tax holiday, to battle back on negotiating with dictators, to respond to attacks by pressing the point, has been genuinely exciting. And though he has been confident and even aggressive in all of this, he has not been "tough." He has not pretended to go shooting, or driven on to Jay Leno's show on Harley. He's essentially been making his own rules.

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Political Theatre of the Absurd

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Paul Waldman - Mar. 21 (Opinion) - What worked for the civil-rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s is not going to work today. And the truth is that comparing the civil-rights marches to a bunch of people carrying signs with "No more war!" on one side and "Free Mumia!" on the other is an insult to everyone who took part in the civil-rights movement. The civil-rights activists weren't just looking to feel good about themselves. The political actions they undertook were carefully planned and well executed. They knew exactly which levers of mass and elite opinion they needed to press and how to do it. They weren't trotting off for a Sunday to hang with some friends and speak their minds -- they were engaged in a deadly, serious enterprise, one with enormous personal risks, and they approached it with the seriousness it required.

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