Cass R. Sunstein: Obama: The University of Chicago Democrat

[babylonsister]

Good article, worthy of a read all the way through. I just couldn't snip it all.

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/open_university/archive/2008/06/12/obama-the-university-of-chicago-democrat.aspx

Cass R. Sunstein
Obama: The University of Chicago Democrat

snip//

Obama speaks of "change," but it is reasonable to ask: Will he be able to produce large-scale changes in a short time? An independent issue is that all the enthusiasm might serve to insulate him from criticisms and challenges on the part of his own advisers--and, in view of his relative youth, criticisms and challenges are exactly what he requires.

Fortunately, the candidate's campaign proposals offer strong and encouraging clues about how he would govern; what makes them distinctive is that they borrow sensible ideas from all sides. Some people are describing Obama as a conventional liberal, or as "the most liberal person in the Congress," but these descriptions are preposterous. Obama is a pragmatist, first and foremost, and he defies the standard political categories. In this sense, he is not only focused on details but is also a uniter, both by inclination and on principle.

He is strongly committed to helping the disadvantaged, but his University of Chicago background shows. He appreciates the virtues and power of free markets. In some of his most important disagreements with Senator Clinton, he suggested caution about mandates and bans, and stressed the value of freedom of choice.

Transparency and accountability matter greatly to him; they are a defining feature of his proposals. With respect to the mortgage crisis, credit cards, and the broader debate over credit markets, Obama rejects heavy-handed regulation and insists above all on disclosure, so that consumers will know exactly what they are getting.

Expect transparency to be a central theme in any Obama administration, as a check on government and the private sector alike. It is highly revealing that Obama worked with Republican Tom Coburn to produce legislation creating a publicly searchable database of all federal spending.

snip//

As president, Barack Obama would be a genuine uniter, drawing ideas from multiple points of view. If he proves able to achieve great things, it will be above all for that reason.

--Cass R. Sunstein

[babylonsister]

1. This is for Tellurian! Learn! nt

[Cha]

3. It's

gone to pizzahaven.

[babylonsister]

4. Really?

I'm surprisingly not upset about that! :D :hi:

[Cha]

5. Really:)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6363324#6363502
:hi:

[babylonsister]

7. Ahh, a twofer!

They were warned.

[Cha]

9. This is a great article..I'm saving it..

:bounce: :patriot: :kick: :party:

Yeah, we don't need disruptors.

[Warren Stupidity]

17. Wow - when did that happen?

Personally, I'm getting tired of pizza. Can we get something else next time?

[Cha]

2. Only time will tell if we can get

real change accomplished but with a leader like Obama I feel it's possible and a good start.

There's been enormous change already with how Obama has run his campaign..the only things that haven't changed are the mainstream media's manipulation techniques and the gop's Smear AND FEAR campaign.

You only have to look at the rnc site to see what they're made of.

"He is strongly committed to helping the disadvantaged, but his University of Chicago background shows. He appreciates the virtues and power of free markets. some of his most important disagreements with Senator Clinton, he suggested caution about mandates and bans, and stressed the value of freedom of choice."

I didn't like mandates", either. And, I'm not sure what the "bans" are?

Thanks for the article, babylonsister..I'll be sending it to a recent supporter of Obama:)

[K Gardner]

6. Excellent find ! K&R

[babylonsister]

8. Kick! nt

[Romulox]

10. Just FYI: University of Chicago is infamous for rightwing economics...

"He is strongly committed to helping the disadvantaged, but his University of Chicago background shows. He appreciates the virtues and power of free markets."

[IndyOp]

16. You are right about U of Chicago, but Sunstein is an amazing exception...

check out my post about Sunstein's Second Bill of Right in this thread

[Warren Stupidity]

18. It's business school is the heart of darkness

but it is not evident that the foul spawn of Milton Friedman contaminate the rest of one of our great universities.

[amandabeech]

11. Thank you for posting this article.

I think that the public will be happy with a pragmatic, non-partisan approach. Let's hope that Congress will as well.

The only real cautionary comment I have concerns transparency. I like transparency, and I wish we had more of it in the foreclosure/credit crunch areas, but I do see that it has its limits.

In a former life, I wrote prospectuses for the sale of corporate stock, including for some start-up companies whose finances were not, as we say, stable. For selling stock, the SEC and the laws and regs it enforces, emphasize transparency. For example, a company is supposed to let the stockholders know where the problems are--companies, of course don't want to--but the SEC tries, at least when under Dem control. Many start-ups have on the front of their prospectuses language in huge bold type that say, in so many words, "DON'T BUY THIS STOCK UNLESS YOU CAN AFFORD TO LOSE ALL YOUR MONEY," and "THIS STOCK IS AN INCREDIBLY RISKY INVESTMENT--DON'T BUY IT UNLESS YOU'RE RICH." On the inside, the paragraphs, at least the ones I wrote, were filled with cautionary language.

But did that deter people from buying the stock back in the late '90s. NO! People bought stock that their stupid brother-in-law's broker were hyping and mutual fund managers were no better. Lots and lots of people bought stock with all the warning bells on it, and then lost all their money. The NASDAQ, where this stuff was listed, is half what it was 8 or 9 years ago, and there is no thought that it will get back up there any time soon.

So anyone reading this, believe the warnings.

Sen. Obama, ask your buddies who teach securities at U-Chicago about the dot.com bubble and the warning labels on the stock.

The herd theory of human behavior and plain, stupid human greed can easily defeat the value of transparency any day.

[babylonsister]

12. Seems like good advice; I'm hopeful his economic minds will take

the dot.com bubble into consideration as it made such a 'pop' when it exploded and deflated.

I've heard that this current crisis with oil might go the way of the dot.coms and speculators will be left holding the bag. I know virtually nothing about that, economics or stock trading, but am learning every day.

[amandabeech]

13. Until a year and a half ago, I lived in a small city and had lots of time on my hands.

I developed a real interest in energy and energy policy.

IMHO, the specs are in, but only account for $15 or so of the price. The rest of the problem is increased demand from developing countries and the lack of good quality crude that today's refineries can make into gasoline and diesel. A lot of the stuff coming on the market from Saudi, etc., is heavy and laced with impurities like sulfur. We need to either redo our current refineries or build new ones to accommodate the lower grades.

Even then, the amount of conventional oil (excluding extra heavy, polar, tar sands, etc.) and the condensed liquids from natural gas wells has not increased much over the last four years or so. There was a little bump-up this year, but I don't expect that there will be the significant increases in available conventional crude that the energy information agency is predicting. Their problem is the failure to recognize that many of the older big fields have declining yields that cannot be fully resurrected. Mexico is a case in point.

In short, I don't see lots of relief any time soon. Expect oil to hover in the $110 to $150 for some time. And that's optimistic.

[OhioChick]

14. K&R

Thanks for posting. :)

[IndyOp]

15. Whenever I start to have doubt about Obama, I think about Sunstein...

and The Second Bill of Rights: FDR's Unfinished Revolution and Why We Need It More Than Ever by Cass R. Sunstein

FDR's Second Bill of Rights - “The Economic Bill of Rights”

Excerpt from President Roosevelt's January 11, 1944 message to the Congress of the United States on the State of the Union<1>:

It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.

This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.

As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.” People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens.

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A great DU thread about The Second Bill of Rights