http://centermovement.org CenterMovement.org is an Internet political journal for Centrists, Moderates, Refromers and all people interested in civil discourse. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:35:58 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Oblivious to reason or even practical political considerations, President Obama and the Democratic Leadership in Congress are on a jihad. They are blowing up all of their own political capital in a narrow-minded, quixotic, and ultimately ideological drive for a single-payer healthcare system. Since the goal itself is ... http://centermovement.org/healthcare-reform/ideological-jihad-v-the-great-healthcare-compromise/ Americans’ top concerns these days are unemployment, deficits and debt. The rate of unemployment seems stuck at a level economically and ethically unacceptable, and efforts to bring it down appear ineffective and extremely expensive, especially in the context of runaway deficits and debt. It’s time to re-evaluate government ... http://centermovement.org/economic-policies/real-action-to-reduce-unemployment-eliminating-minimum-wages-and-suspending-payroll-taxes/ [caption id="attachment_965" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Evan Bayh and Barack Obama in an awkward dance"][/caption] American politics are in a state of upheaval not seen for generations. While most of the energy is on the Right, centrist Democrats are not standing idly by. Whether they are quietly critical of the Democratic ... http://centermovement.org/politics/democrats-gone-rogue-the-future-rise-of-the-center/ Health Care Reform was supposed to be on the operating table for all 7.5 hours of last week’s bipartisan Health Summit. But was it? And how many of the Congressional surgeons were practicing economics and how many were specializing in politics? Some came to the table quite skeptical of any ... http://centermovement.org/healthcare-reform/two-plus-two-is-four-or-is-it-obamas-health-summit/ Unless Republican Scott Brown's election in Massachusetts - the nation's most left-leaning state - was some freak accident resulting from an astrological convergence or Karl Rove’s tampering with Massachusetts voting machines, the Democrat Party is headed for an electoral disaster of historic proportions. Conservatives are going to ... http://centermovement.org/politics/the-3-strains-of-conservatism-stirring-in-the-political-ferment/ Early Record-Keeping for Social Security On February 18, shortly after submitting a $3.8 trillion budget with a $1.6 trillion deficit for 2010, President Obama officially created the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. Co-Chairs of the commission ... http://centermovement.org/social-security/national-debt-iv-making-seniors-more-secure/ Two notable events in the news this week showcase the Obama Administration's foreign policy. First, the Taliban's top military commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, was captured by Pakistani authorities at a madrassa near Karachi. Here the Administration's efforts to cultivate a better relationship with Pakistan bore fruit. Second, ... http://centermovement.org/foreign-policy/president-obamas-foreign-policy-report-card-part-ii/ Radical Reform of Social Security requires starting at the root, and that root is its real purpose and goals today, in 2010. What are we really trying to accomplish with this program? What are the basic problems for which we should supply social safety nets, and how ... http://centermovement.org/social-security/national-debt-part-iii-radical-reform-of-social-security/ Anxiety over exploding national debt has heightened and spread across the United States, particularly but not exclusively in response to President Obama’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year. One relatively painless way to reduce deficits and control the debt is to control healthcare expenditures, which account for ... http://centermovement.org/healthcare-reform/will-the-rush-to-emrs-really-save-money/ How bad is the national debt really? David Walker, the non-partisan former Comptroller of the United States declared that if we were each handed our own personal share of the national debt, we'd each owe five to six times what we earn in income each year. As bad as that sounds, it ... http://centermovement.org/federal-deficit/the-national-debt-getting-in-touch-with-reality/