2020 Presidential Candidates

[catherine]

I hadn't realized it was Thomas Friedman that coined the term "Green New Deal" twelve years ago. Today, the NYT linked to the original op-ed piece where he outlined what he felt needs to be done--and like the current GND concept, it involves a systemic approach--no shorter showers by well-intentioned individuals, but strong government incentives such as the ones the GNDers are proposing.

And he points out:

High standards force innovation, and innovation leads to conservation at scale.

And here we are, 12 years later, still duffing around, still short-sightedly trying to ignore, deny, defend, and blame our way out of addressing this issue.

On a related note, I read yesterday that all the healthcare industry lobbyists are lining up ready to attack "Medicare for all." And what are they using as their best argument? "Obamacare is flawed, but it's working for most people so if it ain't broke, why fix it." All of a sudden Obamacare is their best friend.

The GND proposal is like Obamacare. No one expects it to be perfect but it's better than what we've got--which is an administration that is setting us back relentlessly in our previous efforts. I'm hoping that in 12, or 15, or 20 years when we are putting the final stake through the heart of the fossil fuel industry, that the energy lobbyists will be acknowledging our new, sound environmental policies to be as entrenched as Social Security and Obamacare are now.

[jp1]

I would be much less skeptical with a climate crusade that wasn’t larded with a social agenda.

I assume this is in there because they realize that a change in policy on this magnitude will result in some people having difficulty transitioning to the new economic reality.

[LDAHL]

I assume this is in there because they realize that a change in policy on this magnitude will result in some people having difficulty transitioning to the new economic reality.

The resolution goes way beyond a dislocated worker problem. It promises “all Americans” a laundry list of entitlements from “economic security” to “access to nature”. It promises a trade protection regime and protecting all businesses from “unfair competition”. Plenty of pro-union language too.

This thing is a Trojan Horse for a hundred years of left wing daydreaming come expensively to life.

[JaneV2.0]

I'm glad to hear about the pro-union stance. (Is it Germany that mandates unions? Good for them.) A decline in unions is why Americans are so easily underpaid and let go for reasons like age, and why safety violations and whistle-blowing are so easily ignored. I belonged to unions for most of my work years, and my life is much better for it.

[jp1]

I suppose I'm not surprised that republicans would come out in favor of unfair competition.

[catherine]

The resolution goes way beyond a dislocated worker problem. It promises “all Americans” a laundry list of entitlements from “economic security” to “access to nature”.

Kind of like some wording I heard somewhere about people being endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Is that a Trojan horse, too? The GND resolution is a proposal or a manifesto, just like the Declaration of Independence. And in order to put yourself in a position to negotiate, you have to submit your highest and best offer.

[Alan]

Kind of like some wording I heard somewhere about people being endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Is that a Trojan horse, too?

No, the Declaration envisions an empowering society free from undue governmental oversight. The GND resolution envisions the opposite.

[LDAHL]

Kind of like some wording I heard somewhere about people being endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Is that a Trojan horse, too? The GND resolution is a proposal or a manifesto, just like the Declaration of Independence. And in order to put yourself in a position to negotiate, you have to submit your highest and best offer.

The Declaration refers to rights as something government is not allowed to interfere with. The GND refers to rights as things government must provide at the cost of a great deal of interference. The first seeks to limit government’s power over the individual. The second not so much.

[LDAHL]

I suppose I'm not surprised that republicans would come out in favor of unfair competition.

Republicans are suspicious of what progressives think of as “fair”.

[jp1]

It's going to be difficult to have life or pursue happiness if the planet becomes uninhabitable. But, hey, at least we'll have the liberty to all be dead.