Month: October 2012

How Elizabeth Warren saved taxpayers $1 billion

Elizabeth Warren’s work keeping tabs on the bank bailout is a great argument for good government. (Salon)

While Mitt Romney and Barack Obama battle nationally for the right to occupy the White House for the next four years, perhaps the second most contentious significant race in the entire country is occurring in Massachusetts. That is where the Democratic Party’s candidate for Senate, self-described advocate for the middle class Elizabeth Warren, faces off against Republican Scott Brown. Polls show the race is close, and the bitterness of the rhetoric matches the polling.
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The progressive case against Obama

Bottom line: The president is complicit in creating an increasingly unequal — and unjust — society. (Salon)

A few days ago, I participated in a debate with the legendary antiwar dissident Daniel Ellsberg on Huffington Post live on the merits of the Obama administration, and what progressives should do on Election Day. Ellsberg had written a blog post arguing that, though Obama deserves tremendous criticism, voters in swing states ought to vote for him, lest they operate as dupes for a far more malevolent Republican Party. This attitude is relatively pervasive among Democrats, and it deserves a genuine response. As the election is fast approaching, this piece is an attempt at laying out the progressive case for why one should not vote for Barack Obama for reelection, even if you are in a swing state.
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Trans-Pacific Partnership: The biggest trade deal you’ve never heard of

A huge but little-known trade agreement could transform America’s foreign relations. What it is and why it matters (Salon)

If you listened to the debate last night between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney on foreign policy, you would have heard a great deal on Israel, Iran and Libya, and a bit on China. The two rivals even touched on education policy, military spending and tax cuts for the wealthy. What you would not have heard was any mention of what could potentially be the most significant foreign and domestic policy initiative of the Obama administration: the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This agreement is a core part of the “Asia pivot” that has occupied the activities of think tanks and policymakers in Washington but remained hidden by the tinsel and confetti of the election. But more than any other policy, the trends the TPP represents could restructure American foreign relations, and potentially the economy itself.
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