Third Way Perspectives
Posts Tagged ‘health care reform’
Toddler-Care
June 28th, 2012
I have a two-year old son, and the Affordable Care Act is way too hard for him to pronounce. We’re still celebrating “cookie” and “Elmo”. But today’s Supreme Court decision will have a massive impact on him—and millions of other toddlers who will one day carry forward the American Dream. Read the rest of this entry »
White-hot politics, cool president
January 10th, 2011
This piece was originally published in Politico.
Jared Lee Loughner, who has now been charged in the Tucson, Ariz., shootings, has been described as a disturbed young man. Early scraps of evidence suggest his politics are a jumble. His list of “favorite books” veers from far left with “The Communist Manifesto” to far right with “Mein Kampf.” It includes dystopian literature, such as “Animal Farm,” “Brave New World” and “Fahrenheit 451,” rallying cries against authority with “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and fantasies that include “The Wizard of Oz” and “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”
For energy reform advocates, lessons from health care
August 2nd, 2010
This piece was originally published in The Washington Post.
With the United States struggling to recover from a job-killing recession, a Democratic president asks a Democratic Congress to pass sweeping reform of a major sector of the economy. “We can no longer afford to continue to ignore what is wrong,” he explains. “We must fix this system, and it has to begin with congressional action.” The public, however, rejects this plea. The proposal dies in Congress, and recriminations begin. Chastened and disappointed, advocates regroup and seek a new path forward.
Key to U.S. growth is building wealth, not entitlements
May 6th, 2010
This piece was originally published in Politico.
For much of the 20th century, progressives put their political capital into building a safety net to protect Americans against market excesses. They aimed for economic security from cradle to retirement.
Today, many on the left say that health care reform is just one more step in this effort.
But it would be a mistake for Democrats to make expanding the entitlement state the defining goal in the 21st century as well.
Rather, they should focus on a new signature cause: policies that build national and individual wealth.
Profiling Arizona’s Immigration Law
May 1st, 2010
This piece was originally published in National Journal.
Politics is about seizing opportunities.
When a California health insurance company hiked individual premiums as much as 39 percent in February, congressional Democrats seized the opportunity to showcase the urgency of health care reform. Last month, when the Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit against Goldman Sachs alleging fraud, Democrats seized the opportunity to build momentum for financial regulation.
Now Democrats are warning that the federal government had better pass reasonable legislation to deal with illegal immigration, or else. Or else what? Or else more states could pass Arizona-style immigration laws that threaten to turn America into a police state. The Arizona statute authorizes the police to detain anyone who appears to be an illegal immigrant and isn’t carrying documents that prove otherwise.
Polarized Parties Play Parliament
April 16th, 2010
This piece was originally posted in National Journal.
American politics is becoming more parliamentary. British politics is becoming more presidential. Oddly, though, the countries are moving further apart, not closer. In the United States, the major parties are shifting toward greater polarization. In Britain, where an election has been called for May 6, all signs point toward a more centrist government.