1. A DEMOCRATIC BUDGET WOULD BE MUCH BETTER AT CONTROLLING THE FEDERAL DEFICIT:
“In federal budgeting, what is said and what is done can be very different. Past talk of spending cuts by Republicans has not panned out. A comparison of Bush policies, judging by performance to date, suggests that a Howard Dean Administration would be doing much better with regard to control of deficit spending.
Polling data suggest that much of the electorate favors a winding down of the U.S. mission in Iraq, the continuance of domestic spending programs, and better control of deficits. Some popular commentary holds these goals to be mutually exclusive. This chart compares two illustrative fiscal scenarios, one based on the current policies of President George W. Bush, and the other based on a fictitious Howard Dean Administration. (All estimates were prepared by staff of the Congressional Budget Office.)“
-from the Economic Policy Institute’s “Economic Snapshots” series.
2. SECRETS DO NOT EQUAL SECURITY:
“Don’t just say ‘spying’…-Despite the spreading concern over the NSA domestic spying scandal and the PATRIOT Act, President Bush and his cabinet are winning the political debate. When Americans of all political stripes protest the ‘violation of rights,’ the President and his team respond that these programs have ‘saved American lives.’
It is time for all of us to stop tiptoeing around the issue and use better words to frame this debate:
4 WAYS TO REFRAME NSA-PATRIOT DEBATE:
Secret Police (“…Bush has brought secret police to America…”)
Chilling Vision (“…Cheney’s chilling vision reminds me of East Germany…”
Fear Spreading (“…fear spreading to every corner of America…”)
Crack Down (“…threatens to crack down on ordinary Americans…”).
-excerpted from Jeffrey Feldman’s post on FRAMESHOP.
3. OUR TEN WORDS: HEARTLAND PAC’s website is soliciting and collecting submissions that “can spark our imagination.” This is a place to be part of the effort to find better ways to exchange all of our ideas. Some recent examples:
“1. We must unite nationally, lest we fall behind globally.
2. Tell the plain truth and trust the people to understand.
3. Freedom and Security for a United America
4. Democrats represent REAL security, for our country, for our people!
5. Invest in the productive capacity of our people
6. Honest,truthful,open government with single payer health care7. Economic security, universal healthcare, educational excellence, safe sustainable renewable energy
8. American Leadership, Broad Prosperity, Social Responsibility, Accountable Government, Personal Privacy
9. Shared responsibility, civil liberty, strong defense and diplomacy, honest government
10. Strong Active Responsible Conscious Patriotic Thoughtful Sure Growth-oriented Community Real.”
Update [2006-2-10 23:54:10 by howieinseattle]: RNC Chair Ken Mehlman gets his message out tonight, “GOP chairman questions Democrats’ ability to protect Americans.” This reminds us why we need to keep working on ours and find ways to disseminate them, which is yet another challenge. While Mehlman gets to play the “terror card” in the “traditional media,” Howard Dean’s interview on Good Morning America is ignored.