This post was written for the Commonweal Institute Progressive Op-Ed Program. I am a Fellow with the Commonweal Institute.
Tags: Politics, Huffington Post, Government, Dave Johnson
U.S. Sen. Al "Landslide" Franken kicked off a national meeting of progressive leaders in Duluth earlier this month with an opening declaration that "moral indignation is great!’’
Then he added, a little sheepishly and with his trademark perfect timing: “It’s just not very attractive. It's a lesson I've learned.”
His confession, about how his own indignation made his election closer than it should have been, drew knowing laughter from the crowd of about 200 think-tank directors, advocacy groups organizers, and Duluth citizens at a meeting sponsored by the A.H. Zeppa Foundation and directed by the Commonweal Institute, based in California.
And the Progressive Roundtable conference that followed was suffused with the theme that if there is to be a progressive renaissance, it needs to be animated by a spirit of constructive and practical problem-solving, piece-by-piece, and state-by-state.
Tags: values, Progressive Roundtable, Networking, MN, infrastructure, Duluth, Al Franken
Today, many of us know someone who has no health insurance and we
worry about what would happen if they got seriously sick. Early last
year a friend was diagnosed with cancer. Fortunately he had an
excellent outcome with treatment. But two months later, he lost his job
and—after he and his wife struggled to keep up with the insurance
payments for eight months while he searched for a new job—they finally
stopped paying for insurance. The choice came down to keeping a roof
over their heads or paying their COBRA bill. They know they are now
playing the lottery with his health. And God forbid his wife or son
gets sick. This is the dilemma too many of our families, our friends
and our neighbors are facing right now.
Reforming the health-care insurance market is not only a primary
goal of President Barack Obama, but is also a major requirement for the
economic health of the United States because it will prevent the
bankruptcy of our country and its citizens.
As the Dow Jones Industrial Average inches upward, there will be a strong temptation--especially from financial news outlets--to equate recovery by shareholders with the recovery of economic security in our country.
Tags: Thinking Big, Bail Out, economy, PIN, Progressive Ideas Network
With all of President Obama's lofty rhetoric on education, surprisingly few innovative policies have materialized.
"We're All In This Together"
A talk by Commonweal Institute Fellow David C. Johnson to supporters of public education, presented March 7, 2007.
A couple of weeks ago I was thinking about how to start this talk, when I came across this video clip from the Sean Hannity show on Fox News:
Tags: media, Education, Dave Johnson, conservative strategy
On February 15, 2009, Mike Lux energized an audience of some 75 progressives at the Mercury Lounge in San Francisco. Referring to his new book, The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be, Lux put events of the tumultuous recent past in historical context. He spoke about the conflict taking place since the time of the nation’s founding between progressive advances for the common good and conservative retrenchments that favor the wealthy.
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