Monday, January 5, 2009

Obama and the Status Quo

There have been only two moments besides this one, in modern American history, when an economic crisis caused a political sea change: the 1890s and the 1930s. Despite today's announcements of anti-torture national security personnel, I worry that Obama has little interest in advancing a progressive agenda. He named Larry Summers to his cabinet, after all.

When I say "a progressive agenda," I mean not only infrastructure but also training, public assistance, and arts programs. I mean re-working mortgages that resulted from predatory lending practices. I mean developing sensible regulatory frameworks (which respect the human tendency toward greed) and sensible tax brackets (which quite rightly expect more from those who have benefited the most).

We all benefit when we look after one another, imho.

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