DEAN BAKER: IF PROGRESSIVES WANTED TO WIN

Catherine · **Posted:** Tue Feb 08, 2011 11:21 am

IF PROGRESSIVES WANTED TO WIN

Mr. Baker has a very interesting viewpoint, and I am also posting a comment I saw at the link, too...which is also interesting! :bounce:

Quote:

As we mark the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth, his most important legacy has gone largely overlooked. Reagan helped to put a caricature of politics at the center of the national debate, and it remains there to this day. In Reagan's caricature, the central divide between progressives and conservatives is that progressives trust the government to make key decisions on production and distribution, while conservatives trust the market.

This framing of the debate is advantageous for the right since people, especially in the United States, tend to be suspicious of an overly powerful government. They also like the idea of leaving important decisions to the seemingly natural workings of the market.

It is therefore understandable that the right likes to frame its agenda this way. However, since the right has no greater commitment to the market than the left, it is incredible that progressives are so foolish as to accept this framing.

In reality, the right uses government all the time to advance its interest by setting rules that redistribute income upward. As long as progressives ignore the rules that are designed to redistribute income upward, they will be left fighting over crumbs. There is no way that government interventions will reverse a rigged market. For some reason, most of the people in the national political debate who consider themselves progressive do not seem to understand this fact.

MORE AT THE LINK

Catherine · **Posted:** Tue Feb 08, 2011 11:22 am

10 Vital Steps To Restoring The American Dream...POSTED BY revolutionary 1 at the link above.

1. Enact Fair Elections Now Act. $100.00 maximum donation

2. FCC mandate that all TV political advertising is a public service and therefore free

3. Permanently ban anyone who has served in federal office from becoming a lobbyist

4. Enact The Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010 – Eliminate $1 trillion in tax giveaways. Change the top individual income tax bracket to 70% to help balance budget

5. Break up the big banks and strengthen the Volker Rule

6. End ALL wars and reduce the bloated defense budget

7. Reduce health care costs by adding the public option. Allow Medicare to purchase drugs. Allow drug re-importation. The Medicare Independent Payment Advisory Board be given a broader mandate for cost control.

8. National Infrastructure Bank – Run by engineers, not politicians. Invest $2 trillion over 10 years to create jobs now and increase productivity later. Put millions back to work. Fund with millionaire's tax

9. Federal government invest 6% of GDP yearly on R & D to create quality jobs long term in areas like biotechnology, alternative energy, materials, science, alternative-fuel automobiles, clean technology, etc. Fund with 7% national sales (innovation) tax

10. Raise educational standards through a national core curriculum. Advocate the firing of the bottom 10% of teachers nationwide and replace them with good teachers. Make higher education free to families that can't afford it to encourage upward mobility in society. Fund with financial transactions tax

expiretheliars · **Joined:** Sat Nov 13, 2010 11:04 am **Posts:** 329

Catherine wrote:

10 Vital Steps To Restoring The American Dream...POSTED BY revolutionary 1 at the link above.

1. Enact Fair Elections Now Act. $100.00 maximum donation

2. FCC mandate that all TV political advertising is a public service and therefore free

3. Permanently ban anyone who has served in federal office from becoming a lobbyist

4. Enact The Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010 – Eliminate $1 trillion in tax giveaways. Change the top individual income tax bracket to 70% to help balance budget

5. Break up the big banks and strengthen the Volker Rule

6. End ALL wars and reduce the bloated defense budget

7. Reduce health care costs by adding the public option. Allow Medicare to purchase drugs. Allow drug re-importation. The Medicare Independent Payment Advisory Board be given a broader mandate for cost control.

8. National Infrastructure Bank – Run by engineers, not politicians. Invest $2 trillion over 10 years to create jobs now and increase productivity later. Put millions back to work. Fund with millionaire's tax

9. Federal government invest 6% of GDP yearly on R & D to create quality jobs long term in areas like biotechnology, alternative energy, materials, science, alternative-fuel automobiles, clean technology, etc. Fund with 7% national sales (innovation) tax

10. Raise educational standards through a national core curriculum. Advocate the firing of the bottom 10% of teachers nationwide and replace them with good teachers. Make higher education free to families that can't afford it to encourage upward mobility in society. Fund with financial transactions tax

A pure work of art!! Great post!!

(especially # 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9)

Catherine · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 2011 6:35 pm

Indeed...and I also liked #10!

During my teaching career, I saw several teachers in a variety of school settings who should have been fired before they were given tenure, but the principals never had the balls to do it. Instead, they would ask veteran (and successful) teachers like yours truly to "mentor" them...after they had already had three years of unsuccess! Most of them were terrible at managing their classrooms; hence, very little teaching and even less learning took place. :roll:

expiretheliars · **Joined:** Sat Nov 13, 2010 11:04 am **Posts:** 329

I don't see how teachers can cope in today's world, with our government consistently "defunding" it all the time. It's gotta be heartbreaking, for the teachers who want to make a real difference in young people's lives.

I had a few teachers at my local tech school, who either did it for "peanuts," because they had a regular full time job teaching at Purdue, or they had to take on a part time job, to support their families.

My teacher who was the head of the electronics department, spent a half hour one day, breaking down the costs, versus what she made every week. There wasn't too much left from her paycheck, that's for sure. Hiring people to grade papers, spending countless extra hours in lab, or in the classroom. Constantly going to meetings, all over Indiana. Further education, to keep up to date etc.

But I'll tell ya. Even after all these years, I can STILL, remember the few exceptional teachers that I had, and the mark it has left on me.

It just breaks my heart sometimes, when I see a politician, who themselves, are a public servant, bankrupting teacher's salaries!!

Christ, just look at the shit on t.v. nowadays. With the filthy right controlling OUR airwaves, should we be surprised, on what their priorities are?

In closing, I cannot possibly understand, how ANYONE, could take an online course!! (at least toward a degree) After the countless extra hours I've spent with a teacher, I find it hard to believe, how people can do this stuff "solo."

...you simply need a classroom setting, WITH A TEACHER PRESENT!!

(just my humble opinion anyway)

DEAN BAKER: IF PROGRESSIVES WANTED TO WIN

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