Autiello: Will True Christianity Please Stand Up?
Nick Autiello, Contributor
The notion that homosexuality is a sin and un-Christian is one that is less than a hundred years old. It is wrong, and has no basis in scriptural or historical reality.
SASSO: The Coming New Year
James Sasso, Associate Editor
As the tumultuous 2011 comes down to its final day, this column could contain an obnoxious summary of the year’s extraordinary events. Rather than once again discussing the protests around the world, the death of Osama Bin Laden, Fukushima, America’s political ineptitude, Europe’s demise or the increasingly frightful weather patterns, here I attempt to predict what 2012 holds in store.
SASSO: Kicking the Can
James Sasso, Associate Editor
For one of the first times in his tenure as Speaker, John Boehner has made a statement with which every American, Republican or Democrat, should fully agree; the two-month Senate bipartisan extension of the payroll tax cut fails to fix the nation’s problems sufficiently. Providing a short-term band-aid to a long-term dilemma contradicts what a responsible government should accomplish, but fits the pattern of contemporary American politicking.
CIOCCI: A Foolish Consistency
Mitt Romney is guilty of serial hypocrisy, Newt Gingrich is guilty of being a public intellectual constantly scrutinized by the media and others, and Ron Paul never ceases to remind me about one of my favorite quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Essays: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”
AKMAN: Jon Huntsman’s Meaningless Campaign
Josh Akman, Columnist
Jon Huntsman did not participate in the CNN Debate in Las Vegas on Tuesday night. Short of his family and small (and getting smaller) campaign staff, no one really noticed. In a bizarre and counterproductive effort to impress New Hampshire voters Huntsman skipped the debate to protest Nevada moving its caucus ahead of New Hampshire’s, which has always been the nation’s first primary. It’s bizarre because no one else skipped the debate. It’s counterproductive because right now, Jon Huntsman is polling 6% in New Hampshire.
SASSO: The 99% Rising
James Sasso
Associate Editor
For the past month a movement has grown out of Zuccoti Park in New York with the potential to grab at the very heart of America’s problems. “We are the 99%” is not simply a catchy phrase used by frustrated jobless Americans , but a commentary on the disgraceful economic inequality that has arisen in the United States since the 1970s.
AKMAN: President Obama, It’s Time to Fight
Josh Akman, Columnist
Democratic candidates in Congress are beginning to fight. As their majorities in Congress are disappearing faster than the ozone layer, Democrats are getting up and getting pissed. Now, as Democrats see a bleak gleam at the end of the tunnel (meaning their losses in November might just be disastrous, not catastrophic), the message to the president could not be more clear: FIGHT.
ALVAREZ: Physician Incentives and Our Future
Medical students are faced with a daunting task ahead of them as they approach graduation; become a primary care physician or a specialist. With an overwhelming amount of debt from student loans and academic backgrounds based on specialization, many graduating medical students make the decision to become specialists. In the United States, more than 70% of medical students become specialists, which is one of the main causes for the lack of structure in the US healthcare system. However, are these medical students really at fault? The structure of the US medical system seems to favor specialists and devalues the importance of primary care physicians. Specialists are reimbursed more by government sponsored insurances, make dramatically higher wages (about three times that of primary care physicians), and have manageable office hours. In order to have any sort of health reform be effective, the current health system needs to be restructured with a stronger primary care base. Because, although there will be 32 million more Americans with healthcare, there is no guarantee that these Americans will have access to care.
LIFSON: Republicans Make the Center a Moving Target
Matthew Lifson, Columnist
If Democrats want moderate bills, they must make liberal arguments and then move to the center only though debate and negotiations. Otherwise, Republicans will just continue to choose new, more conservative positions and move the center with them.
CUEVAS: The End of Medicare?
Jesse-Justin Cuevas, Columnist
Thanks to 1997 legislation containing major Medicare reform, doctors around the country now face a 21 percent cut in their Medicare reimbursements. For providers, this cut could mean a negative surplus in profits, which means that doctors will have to start seeing fewer patients per day to make up the difference or stop seeing Medicare patients at all.
NEAL: The Party of ‘No’ Nonsense
Malik Neal, Conservative
There is something noble and necessary about saying “no” in Washington. The GOP should continue to say “no” to excessive pork barrel projects and irresponsible spending. By saying no to nonsense, the Republicans can have numerous victories in the upcoming mid-term elections. When elected the GOP must say yes to prudent policies such as advocating for smaller government, lower taxes, and responsible spending.
BARON: What Progressive Strategy?
Noah Baron, Religious Progressive
I would much rather have one more moderate Democrat in the Senate and a Democratic majority than a failed progressive Democratic candidate, and no majority at all.
McCAFFREY: The Most Expensive Violin
Kathleen McCaffrey, Libertarian
No healthcare system is perfect. However, the way to debate healthcare reform is not through dueling anecdotal evidence.
AUTIELLO: A Return to Statesmanship
Nick Autiello, Moderate Republican
The American statesman is dead. The level of political debate in the United States today has sunk to an all time low, and it should be troubling to all Americans, regardless of political party.
BARON: Fighting for Rights in All the Wrong Places
Noah Baron, Religious Progressive
We are investing millions of dollars in referenda and lobbying to achieve marriage equality in the Northeast and West, and often losing in the process – and at the same time, we are leaving gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people in the mid-West and South behind.
HOLLINSHEAD: Limbaugh Loves (Socialized) Medical Care in Hawaii
by Kevin Hollinshead, Progressive
Upon his discharge from the hospital after being admitted for chest pain, Rush remarked that “there is nothing wrong with the American health care system. I received no special treatment.” Here, he inadvertently stumbled upon the real point here—American medicine is indeed a godsend. At least, for those who can afford it. No one in Hawaii is given special treatment, because, yep, everyone can afford it.
Carpenter: Stop Playing Games with Our Health
The public option is dead and the debate continues. The reality remains that Americans still need health care reform and it’s time to deliver it.
SIEG: Overcoming Path Dependence in Healthcare
Emily Sieg, Staff Writer Ideology: Social Democrat | Writing From: Washington, DC The long and tumultuous strive for healthcare reform in the United States could prove one of the greatest [...]
WALK: ObamaCare Would Repeat the Errors of RomneyCare
There are significant flaws with Massachusetts’ health care reform, which the Democrats’ health care plans are largely modeled on.
JACOBS: This Month’s Wonderful Liberal – Joe Lieberman
Alec Jacobs takes a break from his ‘terrible liberal of the month’ series to commend the bipartisan history of Sen. Joe Lieberman.