Still Fighting

Activism

Final DFA-List Vote. A little while ago, we mentioned that Democracy for America was taking submissions for its first DFA-List Endorsement. Well, the preliminary votes are in, and now there are 10 candidates available for you to choose from. The winner will get a spot on the DFA-List, an endorsement that carries a lot of weight with progressives. If you want a say in your government, and want to help shape a progressive future, head on over and vote for your candidates of choice. They're all candidates in red districts, and will need your support in 2006, but it's never too early to start!

News

US Republicans Split Over Paying for Hurricane Aid. According to Republicans, there are two options to this conundrum. Option A is to cut funding to other programs. Option B is to just let the debt rise. Apparently, Option C, raise taxes, isn't an option. Given the tremendous outpouring of support and money from the American public, plus the rising debt thanks to Iraq, we're flummoxed as to why the Republicans won't even consider raising taxes. Well, no, we're not. Republicans don't want another black eye against them, and they feel that raising taxes will cause that black eye. Plus, they promised their souls to Grover Norquist, who made them swear to never ever ever ever raise taxes ever. It's a foolish thought, because it shows that the administration, rather than building on public support, will instead punish that support by cutting money from vital programs or passing the buck to the next president. Truly cowardly, and it shows a complete lack of understanding by the ruling party.

Bush Proposes Vouchers for All Displaced Students. $1.9 billion. Bush's NOLA aid package would devote $1.9 billion dollars in vouchers to evacuated parents who want to enroll their children into private schools. Think about that number for a bit. $1.9 billion dollars, and it's available to any parent who wants it. Instead of using that money to, say, rebuild schools in NOLA, Bush is purposely using federal money to entice students to private schools. The Department of Education hides behind the stance that "Parents may choose to send children to private schools. They may not. But this is their choice." Rubbish. It shouldn't be a choice at all. And who can blame parents who will want to send their children, for free, to lower-sized classrooms? School vouchers have been on this administration's agenda for 4 1/2 years now, and this is a blatant attempt to pander to religious conservatives and push a program that Congress wouldn't vote for.

What Could Have Been. It's incredibly frustrating to look back at the 2004 election and realize what could have been. The fact is that John Kerry and John Edwards are good, principled leaders who care deeply about America. Unfortunately, they couldn't figure out how to show it, at least not when it counted. But earlier this week, both stepped up with fantastic speeches addressing some of the fundamental injustices that Katrina brought to light. With this speech, Kerry seems to find the inspiring voice that he lacked all through his campaign: "Rarely has there been a moment more urgent for Americans to step up and define ourselves again. On the line is a fundamental choice. A choice between a view that says “you’re on your own,” “go it alone,” or “every man for himself.” Or a different view - a different philosophy - a different conviction of governance - a belief that says our great American challenge is one of shared endeavor and shared sacrifice." And Edwards' was no slouch either, proposing multiple programs to alleviate deep poverty, an issue that he has been working on for a long time. We're not saying that these guys should run in 2008, we're just saying that it'd be nice if other Democrats followed suit in finding their voices.

Editorials

Comparing Schizophrenia Drugs. An editorial in the New York Times gives us yet another way in which the health care system in this country is screwed up. The study referenced compares five drugs used to treat Schizophrenia. The study, financed by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, found that the newer drugs (which are prescribed more often and cost more) are no more effective than the older, chepaer drugs. In fact, one of the newer drugs, Zyprexa, may be slightly better, but it also causes massive weight gain and increases the risks of diabetes. So, if NIMH has these results from 5 drugs for one disorder, how much can be extrapolated? We're not suggesting that every new drug on the market is just as effective as it's older predecessor, but something isn't right here. There are not only serious problems with our health care system, but with the FDA as well. If the FDA is recommending to doctors to prescribe drug X, when drug Y is just as effective and cheaper, then the system simply isn't working. (You can read more about the actual study here).

How About Looking at the Democrats' "Secular" Problem? Democrats, long perceived as the party of religious tolerance, now face a different battle. Due, in part, to the Democrats' reluctance to jump up and shout against the religious right, a new poll shows that only 29 percent of Americans believe the Democratic Party is "friendly toward religion," whereas that number was 40% a year ago. Laura Olson writes how that's a good place for reporters to start. More and more we're seeing a crossover of politics and religion, and therein lies the catch-22. Democrats are obviously very high on the platform of church and state seperation, as they should be. The result means that Democrats tend to be a little afraid to speak of their faith, and so they come across as against religion. We're not suggesting that walking the line to show religious tolerance for all religions is easy; far from it. But until Democrats take a stance (on, well, anything, but religious tolerance in particular), we can expect these poll numbers to continue to fall, and that's going to have an extremely negative impact on elections.

Blogger Commentary

The Humiliation of Occupation. Hooman Majd writes about the occupation of Iraq. You know, that faux-sovereign country. The country that arrested some British soldiers (who, as memebers of the Coalition, are immune to arrest). Because of this logic, we cannot possibly consider Iraq a sovereign country. A sovereign country has laws, and all those in the country follow those laws (diplomats excepted). But how can Iraq be considered sovereign when British soldiers, involved in a shootout, can be exempt from the law? British officials demanded the release of the soldiers, and the Iraqi government said "No." So British officials had to stage a military action to "free" the soldiers. Can someone please tell us what the hell is going on in Iraq, and who's going to fix it? (Our unofficial answers, respectively: No one really knows, and your children and their children.)

Election Hijinks. We don't like to let too much time go by in between mentioned of the election problems we have in this country. A month ago, John Cole published a link this little article about Republican hypocrisy. Publicly, they claim to have no tolerance for voter suppression and fraud. But we know that such methods are their bread-and-butter, which is why they've been paying for the defense of the New England chair of Bush's 2004 re-election campaign. It seems Mr. James Tobin is "charged in New Hampshire federal court with four felonies accusing him of conspiring with a state GOP official and a GOP consultant in Virginia to jam Democratic and labor union get-out-the-vote phone banks in November 2002." A man that crafty sure would be useful to future Republicans wishing to engage in election hijinks...