Somewhere between the capitalist’s market and the citizen’s state lies the lost land of community, sought after by humane conservatives, liberals, and social democrats alike. Herewith a modest progressive agenda for repairing some of the damage moder
Health & Social Policy
Posted inEconomic Policy
From “Projects” to Communities: How to Redeem Public Housing
Saving public housing will require more than bootstrap lectures and selling off units to tenants. To transform housing projects into safe communities requires a new balance of rights and responsibilities—and real resources.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
Feminism and Caregiving
Career-minded feminists intent on devaluing caregiving should instead be doing its opposite—increasing its currency among men and women.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
States First: The Other Path to National Health Reform
As a state legislator in Massachusetts since 1985, I have seen the best and worst of state health policy-making. In 1988 the Massachusetts Legislature approved a measure intended to guarantee health insurance to all 600,000 uninsured state residents. The early steps under the law, covering students, the unemployed, and disabled adults and children, were preludes […]
Posted inLaw and Justice
Rehnquist’s Road to Serfdom: The Ominous Message of -Rust v. Sullivan-
An Orwellian Supreme Court decision creates a false choice between social benefits and individual rights.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
Why the States Can’t Solve the Health Care Crisis
One of the enduring metaphors of American federalism is that states serve as laboratories for the federal government. States are the basement tinkerers that generate ideas to solve big national problems. They are the crucibles for testing the safety and efficacy of new ideas before the whole country adopts them. State leaders, the argument goes, […]
Posted inEconomic Policy
Social Support for Self-Reliance: The Politics of Making Work Pay
Millions of the working poor earn less than the minimum needed for self-sufficiency. Enabling these families to achieve security is good policy—and smart politics.