The most recent "compromise" negotiated by President Obama has deepened the conversation about his tendency to compromise when the American people, and the rest of the world, expect real leadership. In the next few weeks we'll carry a number of different approaches to the President by cherry-picking from the web. In the present piece, political psychologist Drew Westen reconnects us with those heady days that followed the election in 2008 and shows us how the capable story-teller President failed to offer a counter narrative that "bends the arc of history toward justice." 

We see states (under Tea Party administrations and even MA's Democratic governor) cutting public workers' pay and benefits. But this is not just  to balance the state budgets. These state are starting a project that will reshape the economic future of our country.

There are other alternatives to budget problems, but there has been little in mass media about Vermont's progress toward a single-payer health care system. On May 5, the VT Senate passed a bill establishing a health-care system serving all Vermonters. See:

With health costs rising, Vermont moves toward a single-payer system: www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/blogs/the_angle/2011/04/vermonts_single.html

and: Vermont closing in on single payer: www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/vermont-closing-in-on-single-payer/2011/05/09/AFvtBmZG_blog.html

Two recent polls by Gallup affirm support for the idea that the rich must pay their fair share. On April 11, 2011, 59% of the respondents indicated that next year's budget should include "higher taxes on for families with household income higher than $250,000 and above." Another Gallup survey (on April 14, 2011) with somewhat different wording found a statistical tie in response to the question, "Do you think our government should or should not redistribute wealth by heavy taxes on the rich? The results should 47% choosing "should" and 49% opting for "should not" (with a 4 percent margin of error). Given the loaded wording, it is a remarkable percentage in favor of heavy taxation. Nearly 60% also indicated their preference that "money and wealth should be more evenly distributed" among Americans.

The New York Times editorial board has rightly called attention to the irrational nature of the US government's military spending. A further step is needed: recognizing that immediately ending the wars abroad and bringing all the troops home will increase our security, halt the bloodletting and stem our nation's economic overreach. Here's the Times editorial:

Naomi Klein is perhaps the leading North American intellectual of the anti-corporate globalization generation. Her evolution from writer-activist and documentarian to public intellectual of social democratic stripes housed at the The Nation marked a coming of age for that generation. Her decision to join the board of 350.org in the midst of their important campaign challenging the US Chamber of Commerce may signal another important and welcome transition for her generation and for the climate change movement. Klein sees the Chamber of Commerce campaign as signalling the climate movement's recognition that the "struggles for economic justice, real democracy and a livable climate are interconnected."