Dana Goldstein

ABORTION AND DISABILITY. We are facing two scary pushes from the extreme right in terms of reproductive freedom. First, as reflected in the Supreme Court’s Carhart decision two weeks ago, there’s a new willingness to stop short of protecting women’s health and allow certain abortion procedures only in the extreme situation of a woman’s life […]

MAYDAY. I just returned from Taft Park outside the U.S. Capitol, where several hundred protesters gathered to support progressive immigration reform. Although mobilizations took place nationwide today, the D.C. event focused on the Asian and Pacific Islander community and featured boisterous traditional Korean drumming in addition to the rallying cries that resonated during nationwide street […]

THE CW ON INFANT MORTALITY. It�s well known that the United States has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the developed world (about 6 per 1,000 births). Progressive health care wonks have long suspected that sub par Medicaid coverage for pregnant women and cuts to programs like the State Children�s Health Insurance Program […]

THE FINE PRINT. Over at Feministing, Ann helpfully linked to Cynthia Gorney�s old Harper�s article on the politics of the SCOTUS-approved ban against dilation and extraction abortions. The article helps to clarify a few questions asked in comments here and elsewhere about yesterday’s decision: Yesterday�s Gonzales v. Carhart ruling contains a provision protecting the life […]

CHANGE THE SUBJECT, ALREADY. The Supreme Court made the historical (and very scary) decision this morning to uphold the Bush Administration 2003 �partial-birth� abortion ban, which affects certain abortion procedures as early as the 12th week of pregnancy and contains no exception at all for women�s health. This limiting of abortion rights is clearly unconstitutional […]

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT. As part of my day job at Campus Progress, I just heard a presentation from the Harvard Institute of Politics detailing the results of their most recent survey of 18 to 24-year olds. There was lots of encouraging news: Today�s young people are more likely than any other generation since the […]

REMEMBER THE VALUES VOTERS? Was it really only two years ago that Democrats were beating themselves up over “values voters,” those working class Americans who voted against their own economic interests because they were so grossed out by gay people and in love with fetuses? Back then, many progressives believed we could never again rise […]

THAT OLD HOUSE. Home ownership creates wealth, and long-term renting is akin to flushing money down the toilet. Right? Well, think again. A study by The New York Times‘s David Leonhardt finds that the benefits of renting aren’t exclusive to the sub-prime exurban buyers who can’t afford their mortgages. In every major metropolitan area, including […]

FAMILY VALUES. A current plot line on ABC’s hit show “Ugly Betty” (the most progressive show on network television) involves the travails of Ignacio Suarez, a Queens retiree with heart problems and no health insurance who is at risk of deportation even though his two daughters and grandson are all American citizens. Pegged to the […]

FLIP-FLOPPER. In 2001, John McCain talked to John Edwards, Tom Daschle, Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, and other Democrats about leaving the Republican Party, The Hill reports this morning, but abandoned the idea when Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords left the GOP and declared himself an Independent. The story is confirmed by former Rep. Tom Downey (D-NY), […]