Winning Progressive

(By Mark Bridger, cross-posted at ThatMansScope)

In the NYTimes recently, columnist Joe Nocera discussed his choices for Obama’s new cabinet. Below is a summary of his choices for some of these posts:

TREASURY:     Tim Geitner → Sheila Bair
STATE:              Hillary Clinton → Bill Clinton
ATTY.GEN:       Eric Holder → Ken Feinberg
DEFENSE:        Leon Panetta → David Petraeus
ENERGY:         Steven Chu → Fred Krupp
EDUCATION:  Arne Duncan → Randi Weingarten (AFT)
S.E.C.:              Mary Schapiro/Elisse B. Walter → Sean Berkowitz

For the record, here are the remaining ones: AGRI, COMMERCE, HLTH&HUM. SERV., HOMELAND SEC., H.U.D., INTERIOR, LABOR, TRANSP., VETERANS SERV.

I am in favor of Sheila Bair for Treasury.  She is a Republican who is a firm believer in controls over Wall St and who just finished a 5-year term as chair of the F.D.I.C. to which she was appointed by George Bush. Since Elizabeth Warren is currently occupied as Senator from Massachusetts, Bair is my first choice.

Bill Clinton as Secretary of State is not a great idea. It is unclear how interested he would be in the day-to-day functioning of the office, or how closely he could work with Obama. I think he might be better as special envoy to the Middle East. At the moment Susan Rice seems to be Obama’s choice for State, and I don’t see anything objectionable in her filling the role; also, Republican opposition to her seems to be moderating.

I am not that happy with Eric Holder who seems to embrace the disastrous “War on Drugs” (but then, so does the President). He also didn’t go out of his way to prosecute central figures in the 2008 economic collapse. Ken Feinberg is really a cipher on issues other than disbursing money to victims of 9-11 and the BP oil spill. I have no special knowledge of other deserving nominees.

David Petraeus for Defense seems quixotic. (If we were going to install well-known philanderers in the cabinet, I would have proposed Eliot Spitzer for Attorney General — but see below.) In any case, it is my understanding that someone who served so recently in the military is ineligible to be Secretary of Defense. Also, Panetta seems to have done a decent job so far.

I for one think that Steven Chu has done a fine job in Energy, so unless he wants out I think he should continue. It never hurts to have someone who actually knows some science in this position. Fred Krupp, as head of the Environmental Defense Fund has some enviro-cred, but he is also a big proponent of fracking, a technology whose dangers have not been investigated nearly enough.

For Education I think that the president of the American Federation of Teachers is too provocative, even if she is a very good person (which she seems to be): I doubt that she could be confirmed. Fortunately, Obama could put forward Diane Ravitch who has been a very pointed and knowledgeable critic of just about everyone and everything in the field. For a long time she was just about the only really thoughtful voice on the right in matters educational. Recently she has changed her mind about many things and has become a very progressive voice. I have read a lot of her essays and found them quite impressive.

For S.E.C. I think that Eliot Spitzer would probably be the best choice if he can overcome the fallout of his sex scandal. Sean Berkowitz, though, is not a bad choice: he was one of the major prosecutors in the Enron case, who helped to nail Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay. He could arguably be better as AG than Ken Feinberg.

Anyway, I’d like to invite readers of this blog to make a case for their favorites for any of these cabinet positions (and SEC). Please use the “Comments” section directly below. I’ll collect those that seem most convincing and devote at least one blog to them.

As we “go to press”: Sarah B. reminds us not to forget former senator Russ Feingold (AG?) and former Sec. of Labor Robert Reich (Council of Economic Advisors?). SB has named this the “The Fantasy Cabinet Game”.

Which reminds me of the other “good” Bob: Bob Kuttner (and not the “bad” Bob: Rubin). He should also be on the Council of Economic Advisers.

For this weekend’s reading list we have articles on the Chicago teachers strike, charter schools, tax rates and economic growth, social mobility, and taxpayer subsidies to professional sports teams.

Two Visions For Chicago’s Schools – education expert Diane Ravitch details the differences at stake in the Chicago teacher’s strike between the education “reformers’” strategy of charter schools, testing, and busting teacher’s unions, and teacher’s efforts to strengthen our public education system.  For an explanation from a Chicago teacher of why he is striking, check out this article.

Taxes and the Economy: An Economic Analysis of the Top Tax Rates Since 1945 – a study by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service finds no correlation between the top marginal income tax rate or the capital gains tax rate and economic growth, but finds that the top tax rates are correlated with income inequality.

Promoting Social Mobility - a forum debating whether early childhood intervention can help reduce economic inequality and, if so, the best methods and programs for achieving such results.

Charter Schools: Finding Out the Facts – an overview of research regarding the performance of charter schools, which finds mixed results and that, on the whole, charter schools perform no better than the public school system.

In Stadium Building Spree, U.S. Taxpayers Lose $4 Billion – an accounting of how tax free municipal bonds used to finance the construction of a rash of new professional sports stadiums will cost U.S. taxpayers $4 billion while the value of professional teams has doubled over the past decade.

For this weekend’s reading list we have articles on contraception and gender equality, how the safety net helps those in need, the lessons we can learn from the success of schools in Finland, the dangers of fracking, and what needs to occur in Afghanistan as our troops start coming home next year.

If you have comments on any of these articles, or would like to recommend an article for next weekend’s reading list, please let us know below or at the Winning Progressive Facebook page.

10 Facts About Contraception (and How It Changed the World) – a good overview of how contraception has helped increase gender equality throughout the world

Contrary to ‘Entitlement Society’ Rhetoric, Over Nine-Tenths of Entitlement Benefits Go to Elderly, Disabled, or Working Households – deconstructing the conservative myth that social safety net programs are somehow destroying the work ethic in the US

Schools We Can Envy – an overview of education success in Finland, and how it contradicts the testing and anti-teacher union agenda of education “reform” advocates here in the US

Why Not Frack? – a review of two books and a movie about the dangers of fracking and the impacts that the natural gas industry is having on local communities

Beginning of the End – a good overview of things that need to occur in Afghanistan as we prepare to begin bringing our troops home.

For this weekend’s reading list, we have essays lamenting our nation’s failure to raise its political discourse after 9/11 and calling on us to feel empathy for innocent people who die in conflicts throughout the world, a reminder about the prison uprising that happened at Attica 40 years ago this weekend, how a recent federal court ruling on health care reform bodes well for the law being upheld, how school “reform” advocates are missing the boat, and how the failure to focus on economic recovery in the wake of World War I helped create the societal conditions that led to World War II.

If you have any feedback on these articles, or would like to recommend an article for next weekend’s reading list, please let us know at Winning Progressive’s Facebook page

9/11: What Didn’t Change - an essay discussing and lamenting the fact that we did not use 9/11 as an opportunity to lift up the quality of political discourse in America

Grief and Empathy in New York City - an essay written soon after the 9/11 attacks about the grief and empathy we rightly felt for the people who died in those attacks should also extend to innocent people who die in conflicts throughout the world

After the Attica Uprising - on the 40th anniversary of the largest prison uprising in US history, a discussion of how inhumane treatment and protests continue to occur in prisons across the country

Latest Health Care Ruling a Double Win for Obama – an analysis of the recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to dismiss two challenges to health care reform on jurisdictional grounds, which could provide the Supreme Court with a way out of having to rule on the merits of the legislation

School “Reform”: A Failing Grade - a review by noted school “reform” critic Diane Ravitch of a book trumpeting the efforts of the school “reform” movement and of a second book arguing that the real problems with our education system lie in the fact that our society is willing to allow so many children in the US live in poverty

Keynes, Schumpeter, and the Great Post-War Mistake - an interesting essay discussing how the failure of the US and Europe to focus on economic recovery in the wake of World War I set the stage for the societal conditions that culminated in World War II

For this weekend’s reading list, we have articles on how Sweden and Denmark show that higher taxation doesn’t hurt economic growth, how conservatives are crashing England’s economy again, the sustainability of historic buildings, how GOP budget plans would prevent action on climate change, and an interview with education advocate Diane Ravitch.

If you have any feedback on these articles, or would like to recommend an article for next weekend’s reading list, please let us know at Winning Progressive’s Facebook page.

Is Heavy Taxation Bad For the Economy? – At his interesting blog Consider the Evidence, Lane Kenworthy examines taxes and economic growth in the U.S., Sweden, and Denmark since 1960s and finds no evidence of economic harm from the higher tax rates in Sweden and Denmark

Old Buildings Combine Sustainability, Preservation – why re-using old buildings is as good, or even better, for the environment as is constructing new “green” buildings.

A Weekend Interview with Diane Ravitch on Teachers, Testing, and Florida’s Progress – a newspaper editorial board interview with Diane Ravitch, a noted critic of standardized testing and other education “reform” theories being pushed by charter school advocates

Global Spending Cap Would Make It Virtually Impossible to Enact Climate Legislation – Another bad result that would be created by conservatives’ efforts to slash government spending that they do not like

U.K. Economy Returns to the 1930s, IMF Applauds – A helpful warning from England, where recently-enacted conservative austerity measures have sidetracked economic recovery and created a double-dip recession.