5 Count 'Em 5 Democratic Ideas: Rohm Emanuel on Meet The Press

[omega minimo]

“And I think the tax policies we have in place reward the type of culture of cronyism where, in fact, what we're doing is protecting the most well off while we throw middle-class families in front of the train.”

<snip>

“That says fiscal discipline and investing in the American people by reputting people first.  The policies that the Republicans have offered have gotten us in the ditch we have today. “

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9542948/

Bush_Eats_Beef started a thread earlier (video links)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2129393

On Meet the Press, Tim Russert interviewed Congressmen Rahm Emanuel and Thomas Reynolds.

Rep. Emanuel laid out FIVE POINT DEMOCRATIC PLAN for reform and advocated standards to measure “where we are” in Iraq instead of continuing to let Bush operate with a “blank check” to perpetuate incompetence.

5 Democratic Ideas:

One, we make college education as universal for the 21st century that a high school education was in the 20th.

Second, we get a summit on the budget to deal with the $3 trillion of debt that's been added up in five years and structural deficits of $400 billion a year. 

Third, an energy policy that says in 10 years, we cut our dependence on foreign oil in half and make this a hybrid economy. 

Four, we create an institute on science and technology that builds for America like, the National Institutes has done for health care, we maintain our edge.

Five, we have a universal health-care system over the next 10 years where if you work, you have health care.

From the interview:

REP. RAHM EMANUEL, (D-IL): 

On Iraq, we have a false choice between stay the course and get the same results and just pull up.  I think Senator Levin laid out a very good agenda, which is we're going to have measurements.  You can't say after two and a half years, like you asked the general before, two and a half years, nearly $400 billion, and we have one Iraqi battalion?  We're going to set standards every way and measurements from the political process, economic process and also on the military and national security where Iraq has to stand up.

<snip>

REP. EMANUEL:  But the Congress has an obligation to hold a standard.  We have given the president a blank check.  It's been a rubber-stamp Congress that sent troops in there without Kevlar vests, without Humvees.  We have to have a standard in which Iraq and the administration measure up over the two years, and at that point we'll evaluate where we are.

MR. RUSSERT:  So was it a mistake for Democrats in the Senate and House to vote to authorize the war?

REP. EMANUEL:  Given the information that we were given them, they made their decision.  What has been a mistake is to let this type of administration basically run a policy of incompetence when it comes to Iraq.  Let me address, though, the future of this country.  I'll give you five quick ideas.  One, we make college education as universal for the 21st century that a high school education was in the 20th.

MR. RUSSERT:  And who pays for that?

REP. EMANUEL:  The American people, because it offers--Let me get to it. Second, we get a summit on the budget to deal with the $3 trillion of debt that's been added up in five years and structural deficits of $400 billion a year.  Third, an energy policy that says in 10 years, we cut our dependence on foreign oil in half and make this a hybrid economy.  Four, we create an institute on science and technology that builds for America like, the National Institutes has done for health care, we maintain our edge.  And five, we have a universal health-care system over the next 10 years where if you work, you have health care.  That says fiscal discipline and investing in the American people by reputting people first.  The policies that the Republicans have offered have gotten us in the ditch we have today.

MR. RUSSERT:  In order to pay for those programs, you'd consider raising taxes?

REP. EMANUEL:  I think in this time and age, when we face the challenges we have, everybody has skin in the game.  And I think the tax policies we have in place reward the type of culture of cronyism where, in fact, what we're doing is protecting the most well off while we throw middle-class families in front of the train.

[leftofthedial]

1. I can not get behind this principle:

"Five, we have a universal health-care system over the next 10 years where if you work, you have health care."

health care coverage should NOT be tied to employment at all, in any fashion. It should be universal, period.

[FloridaPat]

2. Agree on that. But it's a start.

When Clinton left, the national debt was around $3.5 trillion. It's now near $8 trillion. My math comes up with around $4.5 added to the national debt for putting up with *.

[omega minimo]

6. A start tied to employment could lead to universal.

:hi:

[Benhurst]

9. When, oh when, is this pathetic dump of the country going to

join the rest of the world and have a national health plan for all its people. "The World's Only Superpower." Yeah. Sure.

As the late Bette Davis once said, "What a dump!" A sad, pathetic dump at that.

[omega minimo]

3. Did you see MTP? He was very forceful and direct-- IDEAS

is what DU has been clamoring for, eh? He came out and said what Dems are about.

We need to fill the gap as the GOP circles down the sinkhole.

:patriot:

[leftofthedial]

5. I like what he did.

I just don't agree with his version of universal health care. It needs to be UNIVERSAL--for ALL Americans, not just those who happen to be employed at a given moment. It is typically those who can't get work who need health care the most.

[BlueEyedSon]

4. I'm with you LOD

from the inside (i was in a job very close to that industry) health plans work only if the groups include even the high risk and/or low premium members.

[leftofthedial]

8. rockin!

:thumbsup:

[Benhurst]

7. ...

:thumbsup:

[longship]

10. but political reality...

I know, I know. Those who don't work and cannot afford healthcare end up being paid for by the rest of us anyway. But it would be exceptionally difficult in this political environment to put a healthcare for *everybody* into place. There would have to be a bellweather change.

So, let's start making that change. Then we'll have our healthcare for all, just like the rest of the world.

[FreedomAngel82]

26. I think over all it's a good start

even if I disagree with the healthcare plan. It's something to sell people on. I'm sure there are a lot of people who have a job but not health care for whatever reason. :shrug: But it's a very attractive plan and now when the republicans say we don't have any plans it's way not true. Good going for them!

[madokie]

40. Worked in construction all my life

42 years of working and not one job that offered health insurance. All good paying jobs too.
any attempt is better than no attempt at all.

[leftofthedial]

33. no offense, but getting a fair fucking election

will be exceptionally difficult in this political environment

much less the slightest progressive legislation

[longship]

35. Troll!

I'm not going to bite.

[omega minimo]

11. Hey Whiners! Ya wanna unhijack and start a thread-- this is about MTP

Ingrates!

We finally get a good strong performance on TeeVee and some IDEARS and yer all CARPING!!

:hi: :bounce:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Before sending everyone to college, I'd like to see real upgrading of

K-12 education to world standards.

Otherwise, we'll just have a bunch of people taking 16 years to learn what Europeans and Asians learn in 10.

Other countries educate their average citizens to high levels before college in their public schools. We need to find out what works best in other multi-ethnic countries and then do it.

[mestup]

13. Very good point!

We're not getting a decent result from the money we're currently spending on K-12 public education. Why create even more $ waste by expanding an obviously flawed system.

[omega minimo]

14. EXcellent point-- 2 meny collige gradz cn't spik or spl or thenk good

These could be 5 jumpin off points

:bounce:

[Tatiana]

18. Why can't we do both?

My former job used to be in assisting with a university "bridge" program. This program was for students who did not make the mainstream qualifications (ACT scores, grades, other relevant assessments) for entry into the college. Students are required to give up their summer in order to attend this program in preparation for their college coursework. The actual bridge program is two semesters: summer and fall. Later,, the students transition into mainstream academics.

We've got a 76% graduation rate, which is phenomenal considering the fact that there were actually some students who couldn't write a 3- paragraph essay response or read beyond an 8th grade level.

I agree we need to fix our K-12 system. It's a sad fact that one can graduate from high school and not know the meaning of the word "gentrification," even though he/she has been a victim of it. However, I don't agree that we should hold people back who are perfectly capable of catching up and succeeding.

[FreedomAngel82]

27. Yes

Once we take back the government we can seriously do that. I don't like Bush's whole little NCLB plan. He doesn't fund schools who need it. What about the innercity schools with not enough books and desks? Not enough school buses? No heat or air? Windows have hole's in them? There are so many problems. And plus the NCLB act just teaches kids how to take a test and not actually learn. When they get to college they'll just have to re-learn it and then waste time.

[Benhurst]

16. If we are making a TV presentation, maybe we should start

pointing out that we are already paying more per person for health care than any other country in the world, and yet we don't even make the top 50 countries according to WHO when it comes to providing basic health care to our people.

Something smells in the United States and it ain't the cheese.

[omega minimo]

22. maybe somebuddy should

follow the money $$$$$
$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[FreedomAngel82]

25. I agree

That's my problem. What about those who are laid off and can't find a job? They're just supposed to stay sick and maybe even die from it? I don't think so. I'm one of those people who don't have health care now and it's dangerous living. There should be national health care no matter what. If Canada can do it so can we. We're supposed to be the best country in the world but we have the most expensive health care program. How sad is that? What about the elderly who don't have jobs and are retired or widow's? My grandmother and my grandma are both widow's and I don't think they have health insurance.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

39. If it is tied to employment, then it just shifts corporate costs to gov't.

[Zuni]

49. but it also breaks the death grip of insurance profiteers

and could lead to government fighting pharma costs to keep the price down

[Mich Otter]

47. leftofthedial says, "It should be universal, period."

Absolutely, right on.
Let's not set another standard of discrimination in this country about who gets the privilege of having health care.

[Zuni]

48. it is an improvement

and it could be a "trojan horse" to get universal coverage in.

Besides, most unemployed are eligible for medicaid

[omega minimo]

15. The point was he made his points well & offered a Dem vision of 5 points

My new campaign of Radical Positivity on DU is not POINTLESS, I trust.

When a Democrat finally goes on TeeVee and bests a Repug slug on MTP, can we mebbe talk about that, instead of immediately punch holes in all the way things CAN'T work and dig our heels into the mud our sticks are in?

:loveya:

This was my gift to you DU.

[rosesaylavee]

17. I'm with you omega

This is what we are looking for - democrat talking points. Y'all get on the same page and we will sort it out when we get back in power.

:hi: :kick:

[omega minimo]

21. Surreally nice to meet you, rosesaylavee

:evilgrin:

We gonna feng shui the Dems :kick:

[FreedomAngel82]

28. Yes

And the plans are easy to understand too. I just think once we do get back the government to make notice to them about our concerns with the health care plan. Other wise to sell the plan and to have something laid out it's all a good start.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. I'd like to see a more radical and non-piecemeal vision

How does he envision his ideal America? What glorious picture can he paint for a crowd? How do his five points add up to a vision?

To elaborate on the education part of it, some foreign observers razz on Japan for providing equal educational opportunity throughout the country. Even students in little podunky villages take the same classes and have the same level of qualified teachers as students in the cities and suburbs. What a waste of money! say the cynics. Yet we could do that by requiring that all schools be given whatever money it takes to bring them up to the opportunity levels offered in the most afluent district in the state. Students in Richkydde High School, students in Ghettoblock High School, and students in Haystack High School would all have well-paid, well-trained teachers and the opportunity for a rigorous academic education.

And one of the principles of negotiation is to start by asking for more than you realitically think you can get. Making sure that everyone who had a job got health care would be a desirable ending point (not ideal, but desirable), but it's too timid and half-hearted to be a starting point. How about health care as a right to all legal residents to be paid for by finding and recovering the two trillion dollars that the Pentagon has been unable to account for over the past twenty-five years?

The wild ideas are where you start. Compromise later if absolutely necessary, not at the beginning.

[omega minimo]

20. Dream big

Maybe it's only my impression-- but I thought the disenchantment b/w DU and Dem leaders and Dem reps included a call for Someone to actually Say Something (and I am not being :sarcasm: ) and take a strong stand.

The negativity that sometimes dominates the DU boards spawned the notion that it IS time for Dems (and DU) to start filling in the space where the imploding GOP used to be.

DU runs in a lot of circles around whatever latest travesty/crime/outrage the Repugs have committed.

I thought it was timely that this man showed up on MTP today. He did a GREAT job for Democrats.

Let's get these ideas goin and get em out there. Even as we deal with the layer of black muck the receding tide of Repuglican Rule has left on the nation.

:patriot: Wild ideas-- here we come! How bout we start with FREE AND FAIR AND VERIFIABLE ELECTIONS!! :woohoo:

[Hello_Kitty]

23. Repukes constantly ask "What ideas do Democrats have?"

And here are some excellent ones, though not necessarily new in reality. But new to most Americans!

[Oeditpus Rex]

36. I'm watching a MTP repeat

and Tom Reynolds, D-NY, said just that in the first segment — "slash and burn," no alternative solutions, etc. I was thinking, "I gotta alternative solution for ya, pal — STOP FUCKING UP THE COUNTRY!"

Asshats. :mad:

[regnaD kciN]

24. Sorry, but this amounts to just more blah blah blah...

One, we make college education as universal for the 21st century that a high school education was in the 20th.

A noble sentiment, but I suspect that, right now, college education is less common in the 21st century than it was in the (at least late) 20th century. And college costs have gone, and continue to go, through the roof, with little sign that they can be contained any more than medical costs have been. Any attempt to significantly boost the percentage of high school graduates being able to afford to go on to college, let alone making it universal, is going to require one of the most massive and sustained public investments in any nation's history. Which is great, but comes into immediate and fatal conflict with:

Second, we get a summit on the budget to deal with the $3 trillion of debt that's been added up in five years and structural deficits of $400 billion a year.

The fact is that Republicans have damn near succeeded in their goal of "starving the beast." :-( There simply isn't the money, and won't be for decades, to allow massive social programs like universal college education. Even if we stopped the bleeding by immediately ending George & Dick's Excellent Iraq Adventure, and rolled back the Bush upper-income tax cuts, most of that savings would have to be earmarked toward servicing the deficit and nothing more.

Third, an energy policy that says in 10 years, we cut our dependence on foreign oil in half and make this a hybrid economy.

Haven't we heard this twice a decade or so since the '70s? Actually, this may be not only doable but necessary, since the demand for energy in the far east, plus the possibility of the earth's reserves starting to run out, may mean that half of what we're using right now might be all that we can get by 2015. But, then comes the "gotcha!" -- if that happens, energy prices will continue to go up and up, so that half of what we're currently using may well cost as much or more than what it's costing us now. Savings: less than zero.

Four, we create an institute on science and technology that builds for America like, the National Institutes has done for health care, we maintain our edge.

The old siren song of "more math and science!" This is probably the only one that might get bipartisan support, as assigning research to the public sector will work to the benefit of the private sector. But a National Institute of Technology and Science (NITS?), given the impossibility or irrelevancy of the other points found here, is a pretty thin plank on which to build a platform to "take back America."

Five, we have a universal health-care system over the next 10 years where if you work, you have health care.

As others have pointed out already, if it's based on working, it ain't universal. (And, if it's based on mandating employer coverage, it also gives businesses the impetus to further "rightsize" :puke: their workforces to save healthcare costs.) I wonder if this definition of "universal" also applies to the promise of universal college education?

In other words, much verbiage with little point. And certainly not the sort of simple, pithy action plan with any chance of appealing to voters the way Newt's Contract on America did in winning Congress for the GOP in 1994. :-(

[FreedomAngel82]

31. Even a community college can get pricy for some people

My school total cost to join classes and all that is around $300 and then you have to think of your books and that can get pricy too. To someone who is middle class or below middle class this is really adds up. Especially each term you take and if you fail a class and have to take it again and all that. I also know a lot of people who just don't care about college and want to get a job and make money and own their home etc. I also wonder how can we afford to up the minimum wadge as Kerry wanted? Didn't he want to tax more the top 2% instead of one like Clinton? I think that's the only way we're going to get back to where we were and also with closing the loopholes to send jobs overseas so everyone can contribute and stop the tax cuts. I agree about the math and science thing. I heard that when I was in high school and I graduated in 2001. I remember on taking the TCAP it was mostly math, English and science.

[omega minimo]

32. Is the glass half full or half empty?

Or as the man said on "Lost"-- "There's a glass?" :evilgrin:

You may be right. Let's face it, we're all screwed. So, what the hell.

I think what may have happened on MTP today was an example of a Dem adroitly (:applause:) sidestepping the typical Repug muck and sending OUR message instead of always reacting to their high crimes and misdemeanors.

That message wasn't perfect, but it was A message-- it opened a door, it provides opportunities to develop and grow. I think the tactic of sending signals of leadership-- not just reactionary chasing after Repug repulsive behavior-- is a good move. And he did a good job of it. Maybe it was bluster. Maybe it was purposeful bluster.

Dems need to come out strong. It could be stronger or better messages. Today, at least there IS a glass.

And then I saw your sigline:

"Like it or not, we either add to the darkness of indifference and all-out evil which surround us, or we light a candle to see by."
-- Madeleine L'Engle

:hi:

[Oeditpus Rex]

37. A good public servant would say

the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

:think:

[NoBushSpokenHere]

29. Watched it today - Emanuel was awesome! n/t

[omega minimo]

34. That's what I thought

:kick:

[Selatius]

30. Many business Democrats will fight this just as hard as Republicans will

Until the corporate element can be cut out of the Democratic Party and until the Party can ween itself off corporate dollars, I will not trust the Democratic Party to push through these reforms free from loopholes and gimmicks that would defeat the purpose of these reforms.

[hedda_foil]

43. Nah. Rahm is a DLCer's DLCer.

He represents the corporate element. Look at that laundry list. Is there any underlying theme or frame that tells viewers WHAT DEMOCRATS STAND FOR? Without that, there's no reason for anyone to believe that any of these issues amounts to a hill of beans.

[omega minimo]

45. Fuck "Framing"-- He's an effective communicator-- we all could learn

Effective communicator-- it a bit manic-- he held it together and exhibited the SKILLS NEEDED TO TAKE ON REPUKES AT THE CURRENT EVER-RISING LEVEL OF Newspeak and Doublethink.

Some of us are not enamoured of a specific template that MUST be adhered to or else there is NO consideration ("underlying theme or frame" aka Lakoff Kool-Aid)

We don't need MORE cliches. We need effective communicators who will challenge and exhaust Repug cliches with fresh views.

Maybe these issues don't amount to --whatever
Maybe he is compromised
HIS SKILLS AS A COMMUNICATOR is what I wanted to share with DU

:loveya:

[ladylibertee]

38. I saw this .I am proud that we are finally saying something.

[Vinca]

41. Why is raising taxes about as popular as

drinking Kool-Aid at Jonestown if you're going to get great benefits in return? Education, health care, improvements to society. What have we got now? A maniac with a credit card charging up wars and tax cuts for the wealthy. I don't agree with the health plan Emanuel suggested (shouldn't be tied to employment), but at least he put out 5 things to shut off the "Democrats have no ideas" mantra.

[omega minimo]

42. We don't need RAISED taxes-- we need REDISTRIBUTED taxes

:kick:

[Norquist Nemesis]

44. Have I been in solitary confinement or something?

Democrats HAVE been giving ideas! Most of the time, their amendments and ideas don't get out of committee and if they do they're shot down along partisan lines.

The MSM doesn't report what Democrats have been saying. Instead, they give face time to RW shills who claim Democrat Desperation, and repeat They Have No Ideas ad infinitum.

The difference THIS time was Reynolds acknowledge ideas were stated instead of responding with some 'same old tired, nothing new, tax and spend' lines.

[omega minimo]

46. Zackly

Thankyou

....and hence the NOTEWORTHY level of communication abilities that cut through the apparatus of claptrap to deliver ANY Dem message on MTP. IMHO the credit goes to the agility of Rep. Emanuel and not the tact of Russert.

:hi: