Archive for February, 2010
February 22, 2010
Chapter 8: Recent Developments in 2010
Two things to note at the start of 2010 The President’s commitment, in the 2010 State of the Union Address, to ending the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military. He said this. “This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans […] read more »
February 22, 2010
Immigration Reform in a Time of Recession
By David Coates and Peter Siavelis 2010 is supposed to be the year of comprehensive immigration reform. President Obama promised comprehensive immigration reform when campaigning for the White House. He committed himself to a 2010 (as distinct from a 2009) timetable when meeting the Mexican president in May. His head of Homeland Security reaffirmed that […] read more »
February 21, 2010
Delusions at CPAC
Watching CPAC is never great fun for progressives. It wasn’t last year, when Rush Limbaugh made his now notorious call for President Obama to fail; and it wasn’t again this year, when Marco Rubio brought the conference to its feet with his denunciation of the direction of White House policy. read more »
February 19, 2010
Chapter 6: The Story in 2009
A lot of water has passed under the health care reform bridge since Answering Back went to press in March 2009. The spine of developments since then has been Congressional – the long and hard-fought struggle to turn the Obama commitment to health care reform into actual legislation. That struggle was initially anchored in the […] read more »
February 13, 2010
The “health” side of the health care debate
Michele Obama’s initiative on child obesity is to be welcomed as long overdue. Like so much of what emerges from this White House, however, the intention is laudable but the impact will be small. Mobilizing the great and the good to improve the labeling on processed food, to redesign physical education programs, and to get […] read more »
February 12, 2010
Chapter 3 – Recent Developments in 2010
The contested impact of stimulus money (on the details of which, see the 2009 story below) was politically center-stage in the first quarter of 2010. In the context of an economy with no fewer jobs in 2010 than in 2000, but with 11 million more Americans seeking them, unemployment was stubbornly high: stuck at 9.7% […] read more »
February 7, 2010
Will Obama disappoint? Probably. Should that surprise us? Probably Not
When judging the Obama administration, both now and in 2012, there is (and will be) some virtue in remembering that progressive governments, both here and abroad, are always in some sense a disappointment to their more committed supporters. One trick for mental health is to remember how much better they are, even as they disappoint […] read more »
