Response to Harold Ford: Eliminating corporate studies and actually putting a market price on pollution are not exactly radical corporate regulations-- hell, The Economist and honest capitalists who believe prices should reflect costs are with the DLC there, so I'm unconvinced.

But let me bring front and center Mr. Ford's proposal that I find more than "intriguing" but a radically progressive position that if Mr. Ford is serious, I'll give him serious props. Not paid family leave, where the DLC is in pretty mainstream company, but his speech where he said:

Major employers should promise parents who leave to raise a child that their job will still be waiting for them any time over the next five years.

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The problems many of us have with the DLC is summarized in the fact that in Harold Ford's list of six challenges, he includes "Holding Government Accountable for Results" but nothing about holding corporations accountable. Which reflects many peoples' beef not just with the policy the DLC promotes, but the sense that it reflects its corporate funders' interests more than the grassroots needs of the population (although Ford does discuss a surprisingly radical pro-family proposal in his linked speech, something I'll come back to).

The DLC's policies seems tailored to dump the costs of the capitalist economy onto taxpayers -- while not demanding that the corporate sector pay its fair share of taxes -- while leaving profits of that economy in the hands of society's winners in an increasingly unequal society. That may be admitedly better than doing nothing for those losing out in the global economy, but it does reflect the interests of a certain sector of the business community more than democratic interests.

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I appreciate Zach's focus on organizers listening to people, but that's just emphasizing that the real dichotomy has never been Leninists versus Alinskites, but good organizers versus failed organizers.

Every successful organizer -- be they a Communist, civil rights campaigner, neighborhood organizer or religious fundamentalist building a mega-church -- has always tapped the intelligence and leadership of those they are seeking to organize.

There are admittedly lots of bad organizers out there, but no decent organizer would disagree that identifying local leaders is THE essential part of organizing. But Zach's hailing of "the People" begs the question of what organizers actually DO.

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