Matthew Yglesias makes a list of things progressives wanted and didn't get last year, pointing out that the agenda has been set by finicky centrists, not raging liberals:
— A $1.2 trillion stimulus.
— The forcible breakup of large banks.
— Universal health care with a public option linked to Medicare rates.
— An economy-wide cap on carbon emissions, with the permits auctioned.
— Repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.
— A path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
— An exit strategy from Afghanistan.
— An end to special exemption of military spending from fiscal discipline.
— An independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
— The Employee Free Choice Act.
Maybe the following things don't necessarily count as part of the "mainstream liberal policy agenda," but to Matt's list you could add the closure of Guantanamo Bay prison, some sort of legal accountability for the architects of the Bush administration's torture program, an end to warrant-less surveillance, no more use of the state secrets doctrine to block judicial scrutiny of executive wrongdoing -- and if we're really getting nitpicky, how about simply putting up a fight for liberal political appointees to federal agencies?
At any rate, both in terms of Obama's personal popularity and what actually got accomplished in 2009, the notion that Obama is guilty of some sort of sprint to the left that has hurt the Democrats is nonsense. What's hurting the Democrats is that so many of them are weak, frightened, petulant children who lack both convictions and the courage to stand up for principles in the face of any kind of political hardship.
-- A. Serwer
