The Iraqi Confederation

I understand the Bush administration's desire for momentum and a quick adoption of the Iraqi constitution, but why is it they think they can do a better job than Sam Adams, Roger Sherman, Gouvernor Morris, and [the original] Josiah Bartlett?


Of course it's important to get the parties to agree on a constitution, but no one should think a timetable so clearly driven by an outside power should last even as long as the United States' own first try, the Articles of Confederation.

A Democratic Agenda

Over at TPMcafe, Curt asked for suggestions on a Democratic Contract with America:

What, exactly, does today's Democatic Party stand for? What would we do with our mandate? What kind of society would be strive toward? What are our priorities?

I don't know. Nobody does.

So I invite readers to create a Democratic "Contract With America" that will suggest the direction, priorities, and values they would like to see in a revitalized Democratic party.

Here is my 8-point contract:

1) A universal portable health care plan that covers (a) the most basic preventive treatments and (b) catastrophic illness. It would NOT be as comprehensive as the plans offered today by most employers, but it would be affordable enough to make it universal fairly quickly.

2) A universal portable retirement savings plan. 401ks, IRAs, and 529s are too damn complicated for most folks to track -- and the employer incentives vary from place to place. Every American working family should have something like the federal employee Thrift Savings Plan, which has a few basic investment options and a significant employer match to encourage savings.

3) A universal education loan system that permits everyone to finance college and/or continuing education through a loan program whose payments are a function of future income. Participation in the college program would be contingent on ...

4) ... National service. Anyone who serves one year in the military or reserves, or who participates in community service -- including volunteer work for USAID-funded NGOs abroad -- would be eligible for education support.

5) Universal access to pre-school. There's no greater bang for our education buck. Since certification and curriculum are much less standardized even than elementary schools, my preference is cash vouchers on a sliding scale up to $60-80K in income. But I'm open to other mechanisms.

6) A new commitment to veterans and military families: (A) Better health care, especially for disabled veterans (and that includes mental health care), and (B) income support for National Guard members called to active duty. Such support should focus on housing and college savings assistance for their families.

7) Expanded federal home loan caps to help middle-class families participate in an often out-of-reach housing market.

8) Exempt the first $20,000 in income from payroll taxes, with an increase in the existing $90,000 cap to make it budget neutral. Such a change would make it significantly cheaper to create new jobs for working families, and it would amount to a budget-neutral tax cut of up to 7.65% for everyone earning less than $110,000.

Which way in Iraq?

Lots of thoughtful commentary today on Iraq, which has prompted the Duke to work through a much longer piece. In the meantime, don't miss Reed Hundt, The Duke's response, an apparently undecided Ed Kilgore, and why it all matters here and here.

Plame Grand Jury

Former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega dismantles most of the armchair lawyering that the Intelligence Identities Protection Act is not applicable to Karl Rover or Scooter Libby. True confession -- I half-believed the pundits (shame!) and was expecting Patrick Fitzgerald to focus on obstruction or other lesser charges related to releasing classified data. Until I see a rebuttal as detailed and informed, this observer is betting on a Rove indictment. (Hat tip to TomDispatch.)

One Fish Two Fish Red State Blue State

By popular request, here's a hat tip to Robert Kuttner for writing that the country is not irrevocably divided into Red and Blue. If a die-hard liberal like Kuttner is acknowledging that most Americans live comfortably in the middle while they work, worship, and break bread with people of different views, maybe there really is hope for a big-tent governing coalition.

He uses Tennessee as an example of a "red" presidential state that's really "blue" if you look at its governor and 5-4 Democratic edge in its U.S. House delegation. For those who really want to understand how to win in the Indigo world, read this bio of Rep. Lincoln Davis and its emphasis on bipartisanship and family values.

His folks -- our folks -- are right smack dab in the middle of the "culture gap" that Stan Greenberg had to go all the way to Wisconsin and Arkansas to find.

Sad story in Iraq

Sorry for the brief respite from posting, several crazy things going on in real life.

In the interim, don't miss Larry Diamond's discussions over at TPMcafe. When someone like Diamond -- who dropped everything to try to help set up a functioning Iraqi government -- decides that too many precious opportunities have been squandered, it's time to sit up and pay attention.