Here’s an interesting piece on what the Dems need to do in order to become the dominant party in America. I won’t throw in my spin yet (we’ll wait for the comments to roll in:) Here’s a bit…
“It’s simple. Barack Obama put it exquisitely in his victory speech: “Government can help provide us with the basic tools we need to live out the American dream.”
Here’s a dirty little secret. The Republicans know this. Nothing scares them more than us returning to our simple answers…
Democratic congressmen can do that, for example, by making a credible collective pledge that if you vote Democrat enough you will never pay another medical bill as long as you live. You really think people wouldn’t stop voting Republican then?
It makes a virtuous circle. The most important exit poll finding from last year’s election was not about moral values. It was all the people who said they disagreed with Bush on the issues, but they were voting for him anyway because they knew what he stood for.
What I call “superjumbos”—grand policy commitments that span generations—add value by the very credibility of the commitment.”
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0531,perlstein,66378,2.html
Not just grand policy statements- but pointing out the logic of those statements.
For example- healthcare. As of 2002 (the most recent numbers I have) we paid 13% of GDP for healthcare costs. That is a combination of private funds and medicare-medicaid spending. Other countries with comparable living standards (the UK for example) spent 6 to 7% with better live birth and equal life spans. these numbers don’t include vast new spending for the medicare Rx drug bill or the above norm inflation rates for healthcare costs.
crap- now I have to write the healthcare thing. I can’t just leave it there.