Salon.com worked up a New Declaration of Independence... it's... interesting, but doesn't do much to advance Progressive Politics away from socialism- which is something that's sorely needed, in my opinion. Kids, I've said it before and I'll say it again: if socialism doesn't work and capitalism doesn't work (or at least doesn't in its present form) then we need to figure out what does. Which means getting down to the nitty gritty of what government should and shouldn't do...
Anyway, I was curious about what Salon had to say, so I careful read the thing. Here's my take:
Point 1: Debt relief, while sexy sounding misses the real problem- too much waste in higher education. Too much administration and institutions that so far, have encountered no resistance from consumers when passing on wasteful spending to students in the form of constant tuition hikes. That's the real problem with higher ed. In terms of student loans, I tend to agree with the Great Guru Instapundit's proposition: make student loans dischargeable by bankruptcy- but only five years after graduation and put schools on the hook for 10% of any loans that default. If nothing else, that should make higher ed more aware of how much their product costs. Homeowners... well, I think keeping homeowners in their homes makes sense. More aggressive moves would be cautiously welcomed by me- but the government also needs to back off. Let banks determine if people can handle a home loan. They at least know money. The Government just spends it.
Point 2: Wow. A sexy notion, but how do we pay for it? Progressives seem to struggle with this- people want the government to do things for them, they just don't want to pay for it. That's asking for fiscal disaster. But I'm not totally against this idea either...
Point 3: Ummmmm... I'm increasingly against this. The moves against early cancer screening are sparking an early, unforeseen consequence in the battle for ObamaCare: namely the politicization of the health care process- every medical decision the government makes (it's starting to look like) is up for grabs and debate. I have this sinking feeling that if ObamaCare lasts, it could spark another bloated tentacle of bureaucracy and lobbying that will do little, if anything to reduce costs. Individuals know what's best for their health- put power square in the hands of the people. Design me a public system that keeps Washington far, far away from my health care and we can talk. Until then, I'm going to need convincing.
Point 4: Re-regulating Wall Street would not be a bad idea. Breaking up the megabanks, instituting the Robin Hood Tax that OWS proposed awhile back-- all good ideas. The government needs to make sure people are playing by the rules- not get played by people breaking all the rules.
Point 5: End the War, trim back Defense spending and abolish the Department of Homeland Security? Maybe? Perhaps?
Point 6: Repeal The Patriot Act- no problems from me.
Point 7: Tackle Climate Change.... hmm. My personal environmental policy tends to run in the direction of: 'we have one planet, we should take care of it.' I tend to be dubious when the media gets boners over a scientific phenomenon and with good reason. In the 70s, overpopulation was going to kill us all. In the 80s, it was the coming ice age. In the 90s, it was the hole in the Ozone layer and in the 00s, it's global warming. We've still got ozone, there's no ice age, and although we just hit 7 billion people, birth rates in Europe have crashed and they should start to level out over the next few decades as people have fewer children. But we should take better of the planet- subsidizing biofuels and ethanols needs to stop and we should achieve full energy independence while we do it. You're against imperialism and the wars? Fastest way to get the hell away from the Middle East is to drill and pump our own oil and get to work perfecting green technology to replace it. Don't major in Women's Studies, major in science- and save the world!
Point 8: End the Drug War! Heck yes!
Point 9: Full equality for LGBT community? Yep. No problem here...
Point 10: Fix the tax system... this is a tricky one. The tiresome 'pay their fair share' bullshit needs to stop. End the loopholes, end corporate welfare and then lower taxes across the board. Turn 'pay their fair share' into 'everybody pay something' and you would have a truly equal tax system for the first time ever. Good idea from Salon, but needs some work.
On balance: not all bad. It needs some refinement here and there and I wish, wish, wish the Left could work all the hippy dippy socialism out of it's system once and for all- but there's a lot I could get behind here. Reason.com has a different take on things, of course- and I have to say I'm put in an interesting position. I agree with a lot of what Salon said and I think Reason's critique hit the nail right on the head. See for yourselves, kids.
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