dcdanny's Blog

dcdanny recommended Beware Authoritative "Inside Washington" Sources Who Say The Public Option is Dead by Robert Reich

2009-08-28T13:57:00Z

dcdanny Commented on Size Matters: Why We Need a Big Bill by dcdanny

2009-08-31T15:59:35Z

The problem with a voluntary tax credit solution is that -- to make the system affordable -- we need young and healthy people to purchase insurance. We need as many people as possible in the risk pool.

The mandate works as long as subsidies (whether via tax credit or other means) are adequate and insurance companies aren't allowed to offer crappy plans.

dcdanny Commented on Size Matters: Why We Need a Big Bill by dcdanny

2009-08-31T15:43:10Z

I'm just hoping Obama will come back from vacation fired up and ready to go. The House bill would be a major, major policy advance. Obama's got to fight for it -- with activists' help -- and win.

dcdanny Commented on Size Matters: Why We Need a Big Bill by dcdanny

2009-08-31T13:57:03Z

Doesn't anyone disagree? I've never posted a diary that got so few comments....

dcdanny recommended What is Josh Marshall Trying to Create at TPM Cafe? by Dan K

2009-08-30T22:55:31Z

dcdanny Commented on What is Josh Marshall Trying to Create at TPM Cafe? by Dan K

2009-08-31T02:05:49Z

P.S.

I agree with Dan K that folks should refrain from writing or pimping substance-free diaries.

I disagree that Josh or TPM are guilty of anything beyond some second-rate site design.

Also disagree with the blanket condemnation of Cafe diarists. Many diaries are quite good and thought provoking.

dcdanny Commented on What is Josh Marshall Trying to Create at TPM Cafe? by Dan K

2009-08-31T01:25:45Z

I think TPM Cafe needs three things:

1) More prominence on the home page for top posts (will attract better bloggers)

2) Log in required to recommend (defeat spamming, build community)

3) More self-policing posts like Dan K. (intentional community building)

Internecine pissing is actually a very healthy thing for an online community. No one complains unless they care.

Daily Kos went through huge intra-community pie fights regularly while it was gaining momentum.

I don't want TPM to become like dKos, though. It needs to be different, more thoughtful and policy oriented. Just as posters at dKos stood up for productive activism, posters like Dan K (and me, I guess) need to stand up for substantive discussion.

dcdanny recommended Size Matters: Why We Need a Big Bill by dcdanny

2009-08-30T16:31:49Z

dcdanny Commented on Dear Wobbly Progressives: Insiders are Not Always Your Enemy by dcdanny

2009-08-24T20:05:42Z

Good story. The Townhall protests really shouldn't have been a surprise. As a matter of tactics, the Dems AND the advocacy groups should have been better prepared for the recess. Can't make the lies go away - nothing to do but fight them.

dcdanny Commented on Dear Wobbly Progressives: Insiders are Not Always Your Enemy by dcdanny

2009-08-24T15:01:03Z

I think we can get hung up on labels and the "purity tests" generally lead to ineffective politics. Obama's explicit goals for health reform -- expand coverage, make it more affordable, restrain system costs -- are consistent with progressive values.

dcdanny Commented on Dear Wobbly Progressives: Insiders are Not Always Your Enemy by dcdanny

2009-08-24T14:14:01Z

Obama was/is sincere in seeking GOP votes, and the effort made sense on two counts: (1) it had a chance of working. One could imagine a scenario in which Grassley calculated that he had more to gain from being seen as the great dealmaker than a loyal party man. Collins, Snow, Specter (he was still GOP when this started) and maybe a few others would have joined him. And (2) the effort at compromise is good politics and fulfills his promise to "change the tone" in DC. If (and I'm not saying success is certain) we get a worthwhile bill on a party line vote, Obama and Dems generally will be better off this way than if they had immediately pursued a Dem only strategy.

Keep the pressure on by demanding a strong public option and a decent level of subsidies (as important as the public option, but less understood). Call out Baucus and the Blue Dogs. But anger at Obama, at this point, seems misplaced.

dcdanny Commented on Dear Wobbly Progressives: Insiders are Not Always Your Enemy by dcdanny

2009-08-24T11:25:53Z

Fred, that's a really thoughtful comment. One note on your prognostication: I seriously doubt co-opts will make it into the final bill or even the Senate bill. The media loves a "centrist compromise" and so keeps talking about Conrad's co-op scheme as if it's viable politically. But the co-ops are a terrible policy on the merits (they've been tried and just don't work) and they make no one happy politically except the small club of small, red state democratic senators. The GOP doesn't like (will be perceived as a win for Obama in the short term) and most Dems don't like it (our base will be enraged). Finally, unlike the public option, the co-ops do nothing to reduce the CBOs score of the bill's cost.

dcdanny Commented on Stephanopoulos Grovels Before McCain Today on Republican's Sleepover with Colonel Gadhafi by NobleCommentDecider

2009-08-23T23:55:27Z

Here's what changed him: Money. In the late 90s, the market was good for GOP-friendly "centrists."

dcdanny Commented on Dear Wobbly Progressives: Insiders are Not Always Your Enemy by dcdanny

2009-08-23T21:56:40Z

I hadn't considered that Obama's conciliatory approach -- which many have decried as appeasement -- can be seen as an Alinsky organizing technique. Interesting.

A president is pretty much by definition an insider, though. I get frustrated with progressives who seem to expect Obama to act like the leader of a movement (fiery, aggressive, inspirational) rather than a head of state.

dcdanny recommended Dear Wobbly Progressives: Insiders are Not Always Your Enemy by dcdanny

2009-08-23T20:03:49Z

dcdanny recommended Time for Ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy to Resign by Comment Planet

2009-08-21T03:36:17Z

dcdanny recommended Lieberman: I Stand With The Small Minority Of Americans Who Oppose Public Option by Brian Beutler

2009-07-01T13:12:48Z

dcdanny recommended HELP Committee Leak Details Likely Outline Of Public Option; Andy Stern Pleased by Brian Beutler

2009-06-30T15:28:08Z

dcdanny recommended What the Next 24 Hrs. in Tehran Will Tell by Jim Sleeper

2009-06-17T19:42:15Z

dcdanny recommended Health Care Debate: Democrats Grow A Pair? by steve katz

2009-06-12T23:18:31Z

dcdanny recommended This is how ridiculous our medical system is by Candide

2009-06-07T18:25:48Z

dcdanny recommended How Pharma and Insurance Intend to Kill the Public Option, And What Obama and the Rest of Us Must Do by Robert Reich

2009-06-06T02:19:00Z

dcdanny recommended Racism And Obama's Reverse "Southern Strategy" by steve katz

2009-06-03T22:24:42Z

dcdanny recommended Who Gets to Shout "Identity Politics"? by Todd Gitlin

2009-06-01T12:50:00Z