For six decades, Democrats have been proud defenders of America’s most popular government program, Social Security. But the debate is now becoming so muddled that when the dust settles, Social Security may well end up partly privatizedwith George W. Bush getting credit for saving it. How could this have happened? Twenty years ago, it became […]
Robert Kuttner
Robert Kuttner is co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect, and professor at Brandeis University’s Heller School. His latest book is Notes for Next Time: Surviving Tyranny, Redeeming America. Follow Bob at his site, robertkuttner.com, and on Twitter.
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Bush is Bombing on Social Security
What was George W. Bush thinking when he proposed to replace part of Social Security with private retirement accounts? Bush has faced several legislative defeats lately, but nothing has quite bombed like his Social Security program. His Social Security commission was deliberately stacked with nominally bipartisan experts who had only one thing in common. They […]
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Gore’s Gamble With Lieberman
Jewish immigrants to America used to respond anxiously to any major public news event by asking: Is it good for the Jews? Al Gore’s embrace of Joe Lieberman invites a new twist: Is it good for the Democrats? I’m torn. On the one hand, Gore’s choice signals boldness. And it could give America an elevated […]
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Bush Is Playing With Religious Fire
Does George W. Bush appreciate what fire he is playing with when he stirs up the religious right? It is almost as if we are on the road to religious war. In so many corners of the globe, people are brutalizing their neighbors because each is convinced that he has a direct pipeline to the […]
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Comment: The Great Obfuscator
President Bush’s heavily choreographed decisionto support “limited” stem cell research generated the desired headlines and TVcommentary. He had anguished over the decision, we were told, and navigated aprudent course between zealous scientists who would play God and zealoustraditionalists who claim a pipeline to God. Under Bush’s guidelines, stem cellresearch can qualify for federal funding if […]
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Comment: Love-Hate Relationship
With the possible exception of Lyndon Johnson, no modern Democratic president has divided his own core constituency more bitterly than William Jefferson Clinton. The conversation between Clinton’s loyalists and critics, some of it published in these pages, often reads like a dialogue of the deaf. About the only thought both camps share is that Clinton’s […]
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Comment: Drug Stupor
The Democrats have had a pretty good month.President Bush has been unable tohold Republican legislators on an array of issues ranging from oil drilling tostem cell research. Particularly sweet was the Senate’s passage of thepatients-rights bill, with nine Republican defectors voting aye. The vote isawkward for the White House, which has threatened a veto that […]
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Comment: The Democrats Make Nice
What is Tom Daschle up to? “In this divided government,” he declared upon becoming Senate majority leader, “we are required to find common ground and seek meaningful bipartisanship.” He told the press he would not seek repeal of even the most ill considered portions of President Bush’s tax cut. In an op-ed in The New […]
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Comment: Who Governs?
W hoever wins, this will be the election that was stolen. Republicans have played the nastier hardball, throwing around phrases like coup d’etat, questioning the very legitimacy of courts to decide questions of law, intimidating vote counters, and shamelessly using election officials as partisan hacks. Thus energized, they are certain that George W. Bush truly […]
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Comment: Happier Prospects
As we go to press, the prospect of Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords switching parties has cheered despondent Democrats. However, it’s not clear where a party-switch free-for-all would end, since several maverick senators in both parties would be in play. Of course, having Tom Daschle as majority leader, and having the power to orchestrate hearings, could […]
