lincoln's holiday: obama's thanksgiving address

pres-elect obama: 2.5 million new jobs by jan. 2011

the house is more progressive than the senate

And Speaker Nancy Pelosi is way more awesome than Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

This election was obviously about change. Reid's interpretation of that was to keep the highly ineffective, Republican-supporting Sen. Joe Lieberman (Lieberman-CT) as the chair of the extremely powerful Senate Homeland Security Committee.

Pelosi's take? Put out the call to remove one of the major barriers to serious efforts to reverse climate change, (former) House Energy and Commerce Chair John Dingell (D-Detroit). In a huge victory for progressives, Pelosi won the fight, with fellow progressive and Californian Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) taking over the committee and paving the way for major changes to our energy policy.

Note that one of the big differences in this case was also that President-elect Obama did not step in on the behalf of fellow Congressional Black Caucus member Dingell the way he stepped in to protect Lieberman's chairmanship. Without a directive from the White House, the increasingly progressive House followed its better angels and laid the groundwork to help Obama achieve his prominent campaign promise to create 5 million "green-collar" jobs, make the United States the center of the fuel-efficient auto industry, and to reduce our carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 (not nearly enough to stop climate change, but a good start and more than we could do with Dingell blocking higher standards for emissions and fuel efficiency).

Go Progress!

stop pro-hate theaters from profitting off of the equality movement

Via pandagon, news that the CEO of Cinemark Theaters donated an astounding $9,999 dollars to the pro-hate, anti-marriage equality Proposition 8 campaign. A nascent effort is building to ensure that folks who watch Gus Van Sant's Milk, Sean Penn's portrayal of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official who was assassinated in 1978 (along with San Francisco's mayor), do not inadvertently help the pro-hate Cinemark Theaters from profiting.

So if you plan on watching Milk (which you should; looks good and I'd be shocked if it didn't clean up at the Oscars), make sure to avoid Cinemark theaters, including the "Century”, “CinéArts”, and “Tinseltown” theaters that are owned by Cinemark.

And join the Facebook boycott group, No "Milk" for Cinemark!

secretary of health & human services tom daschle

What does President-elect Obama's nomination of former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) to Secretary of Health and Human Services mean for health care reform? Families USA has a summary from January on Daschle's views of what we need to do nationally:

Here are some elements of his platform.

- Establish an autonomous oversight body for health care comparable to the Federal Reserve for our monetary sector. We need to give this group the ability to control costs, starting with chronic disease, which represents the largest block of costs to the system.

- Investments in information technology would result in quantum leaps in efficiencies and quality improvements.

- Pooling would aggregate the risks/costs for small business and individuals.

- Negotiate drug pricing. Build on and leverage the purchasing volumes that government already is responsible for.

- Prevention. Wellness, easy access and early intervention clearly saves enormous dollars.

- Comparative Effectiveness. As the Congressional Budget Office and Institute of Medicine have recently pointed out, an autonomous national institute that could use large data sets to identify the approaches that work best would clarify and unify clinical practice throughout America, and would have significant impact on both quality and cost.

- Transparency. We cannot fix our problems until we can see them more clearly.

- Medical Malpractice. Make it easier for physicians to make the best decisions, and protect them from frivolous legal actions.

- Patient-provider interactions. Take advantage of technology to smooth the flow of communications between patients and the health system.

- Universal Coverage. Increase access through health vouchers and coverage.

It's actually pretty expansive, and more impressive than I thought. Hopefully, between an expansive Daschle view, Sen. Max Baucus's universal (at least in name) proposal, and the return of Sen. Ted Kennedy to the Senate this week, signs look good for something that is a large-scale, major reform.

update: A good observation from Matt Stoller:

I guess it's good that Daschle has finally reunited health care White House policy with the Cabinet department charged with leading health care policy.

super obama world

h/t Mark. If you ever dreamed of being President-elect Obama (I love saying that), here's your chance!:

happy veterans day

From Ad Council, via dKos:

The campaign aims to address the mental health consequences of combat, which threaten to overwhelm a new generation of veterans. The 1.7 million men and women who have served, or are currently serving, in Iraq and Afghanistan are facing an increased risk of mental health issues. Nearly 20 percent of military servicemembers who have returned – 300,000 in all – report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression, yet only slightly more than half have sought treatment, according to a RAND Corporation study released in April 2008. Untreated mental health conditions can cause or aggravate other debilitating problems in the veterans' community including high rates of unemployment, suicide, homelessness, substance abuse, divorce and child abuse.

[...]

The ads direct audiences to a comprehensive new website, www.CommunityofVeterans.org, designed for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. The site provides a range of information that can help with their transitional and readjustment issues, including a searchable database of national and local resources on topics such as jobs, education and health. A private online community exclusive to these veterans will foster connections among veterans and allow them to communicate with each other.

walk it off.

pic by Dschwen, via wikimedia commons.

My doctor says I should lower my bad cholesterol (LDL), though my good cholesterol is quite high (thanks, grass-fed beef!) One way to lower my LDL is by exercising more, and one of the best types of exercise is brisk walking. Good thing I'm currently living in one of the most walkable neighborhoods in the country, with a "Walk Score" of 98.

At least, so says Walk Score, which rates how walkable your current or potential home is:

How It Works

Walk Score helps people find walkable places to live. Walk Score calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc. Walk Score measures how easy it is to live a car-lite lifestyle—not how pretty the area is for walking.
What does my score mean?

Your Walk Score is a number between 0 and 100. Here are general guidelines for interpreting your score:

* 90–100 = Walkers' Paradise: Most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a car.
* 70–89 = Very Walkable: It's possible to get by without owning a car.
* 50–69 = Somewhat Walkable: Some stores and amenities are within walking distance, but many everyday trips still require a bike, public transportation, or car.
* 25–49 = Car-Dependent: Only a few destinations are within easy walking range. For most errands, driving or public transportation is a must.
* 0–24 = Car-Dependent (Driving Only): Virtually no neighborhood destinations within walking range. You can walk from your house to your car!

In case you're wondering, President George W. Bush's Crawford Ranch, to which he will be retiring in 72 days, has a score of zero.

are you better off now than you were 30 years ago?

Sitting on the cusp of a new political era, it is important to consider the one that we are leaving. Here, in two pictures, Paul Rosenberg illustrates the difference between progressive and conservative economic policies:

First, the three decades following the New Deal and WWII (Progressive Economics):



Everyone's real income increased around 100% during thirty years of New Deal economics. Not too shabby.

Then, of course, there were the three decades of the Reagan Revolution (Conservative Economics):



The super wealthy, top 5% in family income, came out slightly worse but relatively the same, increasing their real income by a rate of 5% less than the previous 30 year period. But even the top 20% saw a drastic decrease in the rate of their income growth, at 53% versus 99% prior to 1979. The true middle-class saw an anemic 15% increase, compared to 111% pre-Reagan. So much for "a rising tide..." and all that.

One more picture, from the Liscio Report:



Keep in mind this graph is a bit outdated; it was made in early July, so the Bush 43 number shown here doesn't take into account the 700,000 or so jobs lost from August to October, for a loss of 1.2 million jobs this year and a 14-year-high 6.5% unemployment rate, 11.8% when including "discouraged workers" not actively looking for work. For those counting, that's about 22.6 million people.

Time for a change. Here are some places to start, from Campaign for America's Future, via Paul Rosenberg:

Impose new regulations on all parts of the financial system—limits on capital, leverage, exotic instruments, and compensation. The price of rescuing the financial system must be to get it back under control.

Strengthen the cop on the financial beat. We need regulators who will enforce the law, not scorn the responsibility they have.

Kick start the real economy, don’t just bail out the banks. We need a public investment initiative to get the economy moving, investing in renewable energy, rebuilding green, extending unemployment insurance, helping cities and states avoid deep cuts in health care, police and fire services, and more.

the american dream is real

From my most excellent friend Mark's Chicago Typewriter, putting it in perspective:

I think of the social or goverment worker, presented with a new application for food stamps for a single mother, over forty years ago. The baby’s father had left her, and she had child to feed. “Poor thing, raising a little boy on her own,” the worker must have thought, “and that poor child.” No, ma’am. Not a poor child. That child is rich in all the ways that matter. That child will be elected President.

I think of my clients, some on public assistence, trying to get past a raw deal and/or their own mistakes. When I look at the information for their children, I must now acknowledge that that child may one day be President. It is not an absurd story, nor simply a nice story. It is a story that happened, goddamit; it happened last night.

Opportunity in America is real, if we let it be and if we make it so. Here's to a new era of opportunity.

it's over

From John Gruber's Daring Fireball, a most poetic commentary, via the late, great Hunter S. Thompson:

Hunter S. Thompson, September 1972:

The polls also indicate that Nixon will get a comfortable majority of the Youth Vote. And that he might carry all fifty states.

Well… maybe so. This may be the year when we finally come face to face with ourselves: finally just lay back and say it — that we are really just a nation of 220 million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns, and no qualms at all about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable.

The tragedy of all this is that George McGovern, for all his mistakes and all his imprecise talk about “new politics” and “honesty in government”, is one of the few men who’ve run for President of the United States in this century who really understands what a fantastic monument to all the best instincts of the human race this country might have been, if we could have kept it out of the hands of greedy little hustlers like Richard Nixon.

McGovern made some stupid mistakes, but in context they seem almost frivolous compared to the things Richard Nixon does every day of his life, on purpose, as a matter of policy and a perfect expression of everything he stands for.

Jesus! Where will it end?

It ends here, today.

I love this country.

Me too, John. Me too.

thank you, america

Thank you, Ohio, with a special thank you to Jenn Brown who won us the swing part of the state from Canton, OH. Thank you for delivering the state that had illuded Democrats for so long.

But most of all, thank you, America. This was, as I wrote yesterday, a mandate election, and you were clear in your vote for change, for progress, and for hope.

Yes, we did!

one last day

In exactly 24 hours, the first polls will close in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia. If all goes according to plan, we will be told at the top of the hour that the networks are calling Virginia for Senator Barack Obama. If, at the top of the hour, the networks also call Georgia for Mr. Obama, we are in for a very, very good night. And Indiana...? I am doing my best to manage my optimism.

One last day until we have a President-elect. You have heard over and over that this is the most important presidential election of our lifetime. Despite now being an almost-cliche statement, I do not think that it is an overstatement. Our country faces great challenges, difficult problems that oftentimes seem intractable, challenges we have not seen in literally a lifetime. The average life expectancy for an American born today is 77.8 years, and it was 79 years ago when the Great Depression struck, and 76 years ago when Americans were last asked to put their trust in a relatively inexperienced man, one who had only held higher office for 3 years. But his breath-taking oration and ability to connect with the soul and spirit of America--at that time bent over from the intense suffering it faced--and to find within that seemingly endless reel of bad news some hope, some spark to rekindle the American Dream, that was more important than a lengthy resume. More important than conformation with the status quo and the so-called expert opinion of the time. And though many within his party questioned his credentials and critiqued the seeming lack of substance that he brought to the campaign, he became, in the eyes of many historians, the greatest President of the United States.



The challenges we face today are different, but no less monumental. Three decades of conservative attacks on the social safety net for all Americans and the responsible governmental checks and balances on the banking industry--put in place mainly during FDR's administrations--have eroded the economic infrastructure of our country, and we have paid a steep price, in the inability of many Americans to meet even those most basic needs of food, housing, clean air and water, and the opportunity for good health. A half century of irresponsible and gluttonous consumption of coal, petroleum, and other fossil fuels, a half century since the warning signs and science were very much available to any who was willing to look closely, has put us on the brink of the end of the world as we know it, of global famine, the complete destruction of vast ecosystems, worldwide famine, and of destruction of homes and lives. The world has become a smaller place, and our response of brash indifference to neighbors who live closer than ever has threatened our position as a leader and trailblazer for progress. Some would even argue that such a title was lost years ago, and that the challenge today is to find our new position in this world, either as a respected member, friend, and ally who will once again lead by example of what a democracy, a republic, and a nation committed to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness actually looks like; or as a shadow of what we once were, the beacon of hope for so many who saw us from distant shores and traveled unimaginable journeys just for a chance, not simple to be free, but to have opportunity to change their own destiny. To be American.

Let no cable news pundit tell you otherwise: this election is a mandate of the American people. In these final days, Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin have argued that Barack Obama is a socialist, that he is a member of the far left, a radical liberal the likes of which you have never seen before.

In many respects, they are correct. I have never seen someone so progressive run for President in my lifetime, and most likely, neither have you. But America has, and at the time he was the target of the same attacks: socialist, radical, a threat to free-market capitalism. But of course, even though as he was none of those things in the way that his enemies meant it, he was all of those, and for doing so, he steered the nation into a half a century of economic, social, cultural and political Renaissance the likes of which no American before had ever seen. And if he was a radical, which he was, it was for this idea:

We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.

One last day to the horizon.