America was and should be the land of opportunity. Yet increasingly we are becoming a nation of cynical opportunists.The cynical use of these kinds of opportunities can’t sit well with true conservatives. They wreak of fiscal irresponsibility. This kind of behavior grows the influence of government while reducing the rights and freedoms of our citizens. These kinds of policies weaken the nation now and unless reversed, cripple the nation in the future.More Info >
News
That Which Entertains
This is not a rhetorical attack on the media. It’s not meant to be a self serving indictment of the media, but rather an appeal to our newspapers and especially our television news to renew their efforts to make a genuine contribution to our society. In this modern era of hyper-partisanship, when trust in government, trust in commerce and trust in each other are at historical lows, the fourth estate is needed more than ever.More Info >
Religion
The idea that religion, being religious, being a good person of high moral character is the explicit domain of one party is as corrupt, confused and cynical an idea as anyone could have. Exploiting religion for personal gain, for political gain, to distort truth itself is as fundamental a misunderstanding of the word as there could possibly be.More Info >
Government
The voices on the right want you to believe that government is always evil, and business is always good. Neither of these is true, nor is the opposite. This stark unyielding mythology of government and business has done much to harm our nation and push people out of the process.More Info >
Energy
Current Energy Policy Strengthens Others While Weakening Us.
If the need for a national energy policy is so vital to our nation’s future, then yet again the right has failed to deliver a meaningful or beneficial strategy. Any responsible energy policy would look at responsible uses of today’s energy while developing a comprehensive strategy to move to the energies of tomorrow.More Info >
Trickle Down Economics
We’ve been hearing about trickle down for decades. No matter the problem, no matter the circumstance the right argues that the answer is to concentrate more wealth in the hands of the wealthy. They argue that when the wealthy have money it will trickle down.
Unfortunately, the facts of the last 30 years don’t support our national experiment with trickle down economics.More Info >
Conservative
Conservative, as defined by Merriam-Webster means one who supports existing views or institutions. So let's break this definition down and weigh the claims of the modern conservative against it.More Info >
Leader
One who waits until it’s too late. One who follows polls while ignoring information.
The problem of leadership is among the most critical factors affecting the future of our nation. This isn’t intended to be a rhetorical attack on our elected officials, this is intended to point out that we have been devoid of leadership for at least several decades or at the very least, the political climate in our country is such that even the most well intentioned leader finds it nearly impossible to lead. Put simply we have a terrible habit of policy that is a penny wise and a pound foolish.
In 2012 we have an opportunity to choose our leaders, let us not be the ones who do nothing.More Info >
Policy
Ideologically Driven Politics Are Robbing Us Of Data Driven Decisions
Purposeful division, repetition of rhetoric, obstinance, and the constant stream of red herrings has brought meaningful policy development to a grinding halt. Politics used to be a method of achieving a policy goal. Politics as a means to an end, but in the modern day, politics has become the end. Politics is the end goal that ends all goals.More Info >
Exceptionalism
It’s better to be than to seem.
American exceptionalism is a key theme of the right. America is great simply because we are. Regardless of the facts, regardless of the trends, regardless of what other nations are doing, America is exceptional. What makes America great is greatness. The moment at which we stop manifesting greatness, we can no longer make the claim. Which is better, for America to be great, or for America to think it is great?More Info >
Ethics
That which is spoken, to be leveraged rhetorically but not acted upon, but intended to hide one’s actual actions.
Ethics, while not religion, exist in the domain of right and wrong behavior. The right has spent much time and effort over the last few decades trying to convince us that they are the party of religion, they are the party of ethics, they are the party of right moral and ethical conduct. The reality of the right is that they have claimed the ethical ground as a way of framing the debate so that anything from the left starts as being devoid of ethics.More Info >
Honesty
We Cannot Move Forward Until We Go Back
In the midst of the deficit and supercommittee debate, Paul Ryan, the GOP and Newt Gingrich attack the Congressional Budget Office as a “reactionary socialist institution.” When words begin to lose meaning, when we smile at the “naive” notion of truth in politics, we have begun to lose ourselves. The mere suggestion of honesty in politics is so naive a notion that discussing it here may seem as if it borders on being pointless.More Info >
Lazy
A Convenient Excuse To Avoid Confronting The Realities Of Modern American Society
Lazy is the insult heaped upon so many other injuries Americans endure on a daily basis. Lazy is the convenient excuse used by the right to belittle those they oppose and to mitigate the guilt of defending the wealthy few. Lazy is the laziest possible approach to solving our problems.More Info >
Medicare
The Facts Are Clear, The Rhetoric Is Wrong
The US doesn’t have a Medicare problem, we have a healthcare cost problem. The US “fails to achieve better health outcomes than other countries, and . . . is last on dimensions of access, patient safety, coordination, efficiency, and equity.” When compared to the majority of OECD countries and WHO countries, we are the most privatized, least social medical system in the world, and our nation spends more than any other nation while achieving some of the worst outcomes.More Info >
Greed
Good for the haves but abhorrent in the have nots.
It’s interesting to watch the voices on the right point and ridicule all of us lazy Americans who are taking government handouts. If one were to believe the right, it is the greed of the poor and middle class that is killing America. More Info >
Social Security
The Sky Is Most Certainly Not Falling
Social Security is one of the most successful programs in American history. It is supported by large majorities of voters regardless of party or political affiliation. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) recently noted "When [Social Security] was developed, 50 percent of seniors lived in poverty. Today, poverty among seniors is too high, but that number is ten percent. Social Security has done exactly what it was designed to do!"More Info >
Patriot
What has our love of country become?
Beyond the divisiveness, beyond the cheapening of patriotism by turning it into a talking point, the real concern about the loss of the word patriot is that it begins to elevate cynical views that weaken us, while weakening the best among us. Patriotism is not a word, it is a behavior. Patriotism is about character. Patriotism is about fulfilling our collective obligations to our communities, to the people around us. Patriotism is about true love of country, not superficial love.More Info >
Entitlements
An Opportunity For America To Remain Great
Simply because the modern right uses a term does not mean that we should indulge them. How did retirement and health care for the elderly and disabled become an entitlement? Why do democrats use this language, and worse still why won't they fight to save these programs? When did the idea that forcing our senior citizens to live in poverty was a good thing for our nation?More Info >
Taxes
A Brief History Of The Last 50 Years
There are many ways to look at many issues. Typically we hear how complicated the world is and how complicated the issues are. Taxes however are pretty simple. The right argues that it is our excessive taxation that is the source of America’s problems. Americans are overburdened. We can’t create jobs. We can’t live our lives. We can’t solve the critical problems ahead of us because of taxes.More Info >
Corporate Personhood
A simple understanding of the english language would allow anyone to conclude that our founders use of words like "people" and "[wo]men" clearly indicate that citizens are, well, people. This truth is self-evident.More Info >
