American Political Thought-Progressive Policies - Report Example

INTRODUCTION The election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United s energized the progressive movement in many ways. After an eight year hiatus that saw the Bush I and Bush II administrations literally pull the rug under the feet of the progressives and launch several policies that were characteristic of the ideological underpinnings of the “neo-conservatives”, the democrats found themselves back in power with a real chance to implement their progressive agenda. Given the fact that the democrats had control of both the House and the Senate and that President Obama was more progressive than the other democrat presidents (including Bill Clinton, who many progressives saw as having betrayed the democratic cause), this was the moment that the progressives were waiting for. The analysis considers four policies implemented by the Obama administration that had their ideological basis in the progressive movement and evaluates the success of these policies. The four policies that are considered are the Health Care Reform, Immigration Reform, Wall Street Reform and the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy followed by the Armed forces in the US. Though the relative success or failure of these policies would be apparent beginning after a few months from now, these policies serve as a guide to the way in which progressives have sought to remake the American political landscape in their mould. As explained in the above paragraph, the progressive movement has got a fresh lease of life with the election of Obama and it is time they seized the initiative to undo the “damage” unleashed since the time of Ronald Reagan. PROGRESSIVE IDEAS The leading progressive thinkers like Robert Kuttner and Paul Krugman have pointed to the ongoing financial crisis in the US as an instance of failed Conservative policies and have called for a realignment of the political structure towards “people first” policies and the need for the US to return to the “New Deal” way of politics where bipartisanship and a desire to reform the system takes centre stage over narrow interests that seek to enrich a “few” at the expense of the many. Further, many progressives saw the crisis as an opportunity and to quote the White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel, “You should never let a crisis go waste”. (Progressive Network, 2010) These sentiments meant that the progressives saw the present crisis as an opportunity to implement their policies in the areas analyzed tie in well with their progressive agenda. Rather than turning the “clock back on America” as the conservatives allege, the progressive want to turn the clock back on the failed neo-conservative agenda and ensure that the US becomes regains the principles of the founding fathers in establishing an egalitarian society and a country where the “average Joe” finds himself to be the center of the policies pursued by the government. Ever since the election of Ronald Regan as the president in 1980, the body polity in the US has taken a sharp right-ward turn and to such an extent that the progressives are indeed racing against time to undo the damage inflicted on the people by the pro-rich and the pro-business policies of the Republicans. (Krugman, 2007) HEALTH CARE REFORM The centerpiece of the progressive agenda is the Health Care Reform Bill that was passed by Congress in March, 2010. The passage of the Health Care Reform marks the crowning glory of the progressive movement’s push towards giving the body polity in the US a push towards progressive policies. This achievement by the Obama administration in passing HCR is all the more praiseworthy considering that this particular aspect of reform has eluded presidents for nearly a century. The last president to have come near to passing universal health care was Bill Clinton who marshaled all the resources at his disposal to take a shot at passing Health Care, only to see his efforts go in vain because of the unique nature of the legislative system in the US. The bitter lessons from this defeat were well learnt by the Democrats and the strategies employed by the Obama administration ensured that this time around there was no “slip between the cup and the lip”. Passage of universal health care was always the progressives’ dream and there are several instances of progressives alluding to Health Care Reform as the ultimate goal for them. The instances of progressive writers like Robert Kuttner speak passionately about the need for Universal Health Care in the US and hence the achievement of passing the Health Care bill was indeed the culmination of decades of struggle and advocacy by the progressives. As for the success of the HCR, though it is too early to judge the results, passing the bill was indeed the first step towards universal health care and the dream of the progressives to make access to health care as affordable as possible is turning into reality. WALL STREET REFORM Another center piece of the progressive agenda is the effort to reform Wall Street Banks in order to avoid a repeat of the Great Recession of 2007. The recently passed Wall Street reform bill aims to regulate derivatives, rein in the banks so that the regulatory authorities can break up those banks that they consider a threat to the financial system and do away with the issue of moral hazard implicit in the bailout of the banks during 2008-’09. That the progressives hold the belief that the Governmental policies must be aimed at protecting Main Street as opposed to Wall Street is evident from a cursory glance at the progressive agenda. However, the fact that this piece of legislation was viewed by some as a sort of compromise whereas other progressives saw this as the first step towards “real reform” indicates the divided nature of the progressives themselves. As has been pointed out in other sections, the progressive movement in the US is finding its feet after languishing in the wilderness for the better part of a decade or so and hence, it would take some time for the progressive ideas to be converted into workable policies. IMMIGRATION REFORM The Immigration Reform bill aims to legalize the status of undocumented immigrants and ensure that further immigration is legal thereby guaranteeing federally mandated wages for the immigrants and other benefits that accrue as a result of the illegal immigrants becoming legal residents in the US. Like all other policies pursued by the progressives, this has divided the political parties in a bitter partisan way and it remains to be seen how well this piece of legislation progresses in the House and Senate. The progressive agenda is built around the concept of a society that welcomes immigrants and also safeguards the country against illegal immigration. This requires a fine balancing act between the need to legislate for the rights of the immigrants and also ensure that the law is not twisted to enable abuses by unscrupulous interests. DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL The analysis in the preceding sections has looked at some of the policies of the progressives and how they have contributed to a change in the topic in the debate between conservatives and progressives. The repeal of the DADT or the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell that is being considered ensures that gays and lesbians can declare their preferences when joining the armed forces and need not fear persecution from the authorities for their personal preferences. This is part of the progressive agenda that seeks to build an inclusive society that takes care of all citizens in the same way. The repeal of the DADT rule is one policy area that has eluded many progressives in their quest for a non-discriminatory working environment in the military. CONCLUSION: TYING IT ALL TOGETHER The core beliefs of the progressives are centered on the principles of: building an inclusive economy that takes care of all sections of the society and not only the privileged few; providing access to universal health care and education for everyone irrespective of their income and social status; restoring the opportunities for everyone including immigrants who flock to the land of “milk and honey”; building share prosperity that does not involve transfers of wealth from bottom to up nor the false promises of “trickle down” economics and non-discrimination on the basis of any sort of personal characteristics.(Progressive Network, 2010) The central tenets of the progressive movement are basically a pro-working class and a drive towards an expanded role for the state. Instead of viewing the government as the “problem”, the progressives view government as a “solution” These beliefs have found expressions in the four policies surveyed so far As for the success of these policies in meeting their goals, the Wall Street Reform legislation is having an effect on the way Wall Street does business. As the provisions of the HCR kick in sometime this year, we can expect to see some real changes in the way insurers and the health care industry function. Further, the repeal of the DADT is indeed paving the way for a more inclusive military and has emboldened gay and lesbian activists to push for greater acceptance by the establishment. It can be said that the policies presented here are the continuation of the FDR era policies in as much as they seek to present the people with a new “New Deal” to restore the American dream and ensure that the economy rebounds and all people of whatever race, gender or personal disposition are treated equally by the law in spirit and letter. As for the contention that some of these policies have had unintended consequences, as the section on DADT explained, the progressive policies have energized the liberal activists and advocacy groups who are now pushing for greater reform and are setting their sights higher. These are the positive aspect of the unintended consequences and there are some negative ones as well. For instance, many companies are planning on increasing hiring of temporary workers as opposed to permanent positions so that they can avoid some of the health care benefits that are mandated by the new law. This is definitely an unwelcome development and it is hoped that the progressives take note of this. The passage of the HCR must not leave the workers getting stuck between the employers and the insurers which defeats the whole purpose of the law. In conclusion, it is pertinent to refer Arthur Schlesinger Jr. with regard to his book. The Cycles of American History that states the cycles of progressive and conservative ascendancies as the nature of the American body polity. (Schlesinger, 199) Though there are many who believe that Obama’s election marks the start of a “Forty Year” democratic rule, it would be facile to arrive at such a conclusion and this is where Schlesinger’s words caution as to the nature of political process. Given that the US political system is perpetually in an election mode, the progressives would be well advised to have a short term strategy combined with longer term vision to help them succeed in implementing their agenda. References Jr., Arthur M. Schlesinger. The Cycles of American History . New York: Mariner Books, 1st Edition 1999 . Krugman, Paul. The Conscience of a Liberal. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2007. Network, The Progressive Ideas. Thinking Big: Progressive Ideas for a New Era. New York: Berrett-Koehler, 2009. Read More