Why Progressives Need a Big Idea

Eugene Robinson
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-the-progressives-need-a-big-idea/2011/07/28/gIQAMrPtfI_story.html
July 28, 2011

Those who would chronicle events in Washington can find
no richer source of analogy and metaphor than the Three
Stooges. These days, I'm thinking of the times when an
exasperated Moe, having suffered the indignity of an
accidental spritzing or clobbering, turns to Larry or
Curly and demands, "What's the big idea?"

The premise of the debt-ceiling fight is too far-fetched
for a Stooges film, since no audience could imagine
leaders of a great nation stumbling into such a mess.
Moe's trademark line is still relevant, however, even if
it's not followed by the two-fingered poke in the eyes
that our elected officials richly deserve.

It is clear that unless President Obama ends up taking
unilateral action to break a hopeless deadlock,
Republicans will win. The House, the Senate and the
White House are all working within GOP-defined
parameters: New tax revenue is off the table, painful
budget cuts are a given, everyone seems to accept the
principle that a debt-ceiling increase - which allows
the Treasury to pay bills Congress has already incurred
- must be tied to reductions in future spending.

The biggest sticking point is whether the GOP can force
Democrats to climb back into the ring for a rematch next
year. And why wouldn't Republicans want another fight?
They won the last budget battle, which was over a
possible government shutdown, and they must feel
confident of winning the next one, too. Momentum is on
their side, even though they control just one wing of
the Capitol - and even though they advocate measures
that most Americans reject.

Conservatives are on a winning streak because they have
a Big Idea that serves as an animating, motivating,
unifying force. It happens to be a very bad idea, but
it's better than nothing - which, sadly, is what
progressives have.

The simplistic Big Idea that defines today's Republican
Party is that taxes are always too high and government
spending is always wasteful. Therefore, both taxes and
spending need to be reduced.

That's basically it. There are a couple of asterisks:
Many conservatives, perhaps most, don't consider the
military a part of "government" per se and are more
amenable to defense spending; and even a Tea Party
freshman is more likely to keep an open mind about the
publicly funded infrastructure project in his or her own
district. There is also an overarching philosophy about
the relationship between government and the individual,
and some conservatives imagine a "return" to a
Jeffersonian Arcadia that never was.

But the essence of the far right's Big Idea fits neatly
on a bumper sticker: Cut taxes, cut spending. It's a
simple, powerful message that connects with everyday
experience. Who hasn't encountered an example of
government waste and inefficiency? Who enjoys paying
taxes?

I can think of no greater threat to our nation's
prospects than the GOP's policy-by-anecdote crusade
against government. The United States is falling behind
other nations in infrastructure, education and health-
care indicators such as infant mortality and life
expectancy. Income distribution has worsened, and upward
mobility - a huge factor in drawing generations of
talented immigrants to these shores - has become
sluggish.

At a time when the need to develop alternatives to
fossil fuels is clear and urgent, Asian and European
governments are making major investments in new energy
technologies; we lag behind. Money is needed for basic
research that might not produce practical results for
years - such as the government-funded research that
developed the Internet.

We're wasting human potential. We don't even talk about
poverty anymore. In the midst of a profound economic
slump, with unemployment at crisis levels, we've just
had a long and bitter budget debate that wasn't about
how government might try to create jobs. It was about
budget cuts that will eliminate jobs.

And what is the progressive response? Basically, all of
the above - which doesn't fit on a bumper sticker.
Democrats have utterly failed to develop and communicate
a Big Idea of their own.

Obama talks about "winning the future," but that's too
nebulous. I'd suggest something pithier: jobs, jobs,
jobs.

People may dislike paying taxes, but they dislike
unemployment more. Progressives should talk about
bringing the nation back to full employment and healthy
growth - and how this requires an adequately funded
government to play a major role.

The next time Moe asks about the big idea, Democrats,
say "jobs." You might avoid a slap on the noggin and a
poke in the eyes.

___________________________________________

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