Editor's Cut

An Alternative to Escalation in Afghanistan

By Katrina vanden Heuvel

President Obama is expected to make a decision regarding his Afghanistan strategy after Thanksgiving. Before doing so, he would be wise to consider an alternative which has, until now, been excluded from the systematic review of the gravest decision a president must make. That alternative is laid out clearly in a just-released letter to President Obama from the Congressional Progressive Caucus' Afghanistan Taskforce.

Through careful consultation with a wide array of experts, including those who testified at a series of forums on Afghanistan earlier this year, the Taskforce has developed a smart, alternative approach that would be more effective in providing for both US and Afghanistan security, and far less costly in treasure and lives.

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November 20, 2009

Real Simple Economics

By Katrina vanden Heuvel

Chuck Collins, co-founder of United for a Fair Economy and a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies, describes the difference between this financial crisis and those of the past.

"The risk of this economic crisis is that people stay isolated, hunkered down and afraid," Collins says. "What's different from the serious economic crises of the past is the much greater potential for fragmentation and isolation--because we've lived through a couple generations of 'you are on your own' economics. So the idea that we can trust any kind of shared response is broken."

That's why in January 2009 the Institute for Policy Studies piloted Common Security Clubs to break through the isolation, and bring people together to learn, help one another increase their economic security, and ultimately take political action. The clubs are not an effort to turn away from government, in fact they are in part an effort to develop the skills and solidarity needed to advocate for a government that work for the common good.

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November 18, 2009

Affectionate Jousting with Michael Tomasky

By Katrina vanden Heuvel

My good friend Michael Tomasky has a blog over at The Guardian...

I consider it what he called it in his subject line--an "affectionate joust." (Mike is an ace former Nation intern, a longtime friend, a brilliant writer and not-frequent-enough-in-my-view Nation contributor.) In his blog he takes on (some of) my comments on MSNBC's Ed Schultz show last night. (A little friendly cherry-picking, Mike!) I don't disagree with much of what Mike writes. My first reflex is certainly not to blame Obama. (See my column on "Obama, One Year On"--posted below, for more on why I think progressives would be wise to avoid reflexive criticism.) But I do think President Obama could step forward at this time, challenge lobbyists more directly, speak out more forcefully about the cruel Stupak language, call out self-righteous egotists like Joe Lieberman, demand some party unity on a bill that will define not only the Democratic party's future in 2010--but for a long while. And why not bring in LBJ? Sure history by analogy is often imperfect, but there are also lessons to be drawn from models of Presidential leadership.

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November 17, 2009

Around the Nation

By Katrina vanden Heuvel

The opportunity to sit down and talk with the remarkable American writers (and Nation Editorial Board members) Toni Morrison, Tony Kushner, and Walter Mosley is rare enough one on one. The chance to talk with all three of them together, about the future of our culture, is extraordinary. If you're in New York on Wednesday night, you have that opportunity to do just that--at the second of two Nation "Salons." In these intimate discussions (with a cocktail party to follow) we're bringing together some of the best thinkers in the World to debate critical topics of our time. The first Salon last month asked "what will become of our media." Wednesday's Salon asks an equally provocative question: What will become of our culture, as technology, cultural shifts and political changes reshape the world. The event is a fundraiser for The Nation and helps support our investigative reporting. If you've ever wanted to meet Toni Morrison, Tony Kushner or Walter Mosley (or all three) there are still a few tickets remaining. Click here to register. Tickets are discounted for Editor's Cut readers--enter code RAC102 for half off.

(If you're not in New York, we'll have video up later this month.)

That investigative reporting was on full display here in the last week, as Reporter Aram Roston (supported by The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute) revealed that money is flowing from the Pentagon to insurgents in Afghanistan, including the Taliban. We're literally paying insurgents to let our supply lines pass, so that our soldiers have supplies to fight insurgents. It's an outrage, and it demonstrates once again the folly of escalation in the region as President Obama nears his fateful decision. Here's MSNBC's Ed Schultz and Brave New Film's Robert Greenwald discussing the story:

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November 15, 2009

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

By Katrina vanden Heuvel

When it comes to understanding the real economy and the struggles of ordinary Americans, Senator Bernie Sanders always seems to be ahead of the curve and fighting like hell for Congress to show leadership and be responsive.

Now he's doing it once again with his legislation to break up the Too Big To Fail financial institutions that pose a threat to our entire economy.

Sanders coined the phrase, "If you're too big to fail, you're too big to exist," back when he voted against the initial Wall Street Bailout in October 2008. Now, none other than former Fed Chairmen Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker are parroting it, and a lot of other notables from across the political spectrum have come around to support busting up the banks too, as the Senator describes below.

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November 12, 2009

Good Riddance to the MSM?

By Katrina vanden Heuvel

On October 27 I was part of the "Intelligence Squared" debate series, squaring off with NPR's John Hockenberry, Politico's Jim VandeHei, and Vanity Fair columnist Michael Wolff about the future of media. My side of the debate - with fine debating partners, David Carr of the New York Times and Phil Bronstein of the San Francisco Chronicle, was arguing against the "resolution" (this was a classic, Oxford-style debate) of "Good Riddance to the Mainstream Media." I'm happy to report that we won the faceoff -- 50 percent of the audience came into the evening opposing the resolution; after the debate was over that number had swelled to 68 percent!

As The Nations editor and publisher it was an unusual position for me to take given how regularly the magazine criticizes the MSM'S missteps. But the values and virtues of a vigilant, powerful press are more critical now than ever and the answer to media bias and infotainment is not to throw "the baby out with the bath-water", as I said, probably one time too many, during the debate!

The debate was lively, and at times contentious, with Carr quickly emerging as the star of the evening. He is an extraordinary and idiosyncratic character -- a cross between a figure out of David Lynch's Blue Velvet and Clark Kent with a deep, gravelly voice colored by life's vicissitudes. He employed a highly effective, if eccentric style of rhetoric complete with a powerful visual flourish at the end when he brandished a printout of Wolff's site Newser, a news aggregation site, with all references to the MSM cut off. The page, as Carr noted, strongly resembled swiss cheese.

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November 9, 2009

Around The Nation

By Katrina vanden Heuvel

One year on since President Obama was elected and as our John Nichols notes, the fate of his presidency could come down to one word: Jobs. But for progressives, figuring out how to feel about the Obama presidency is daunting. Do we play the betrayal sweepstakes--or soldier on in a more sustained campaign for progressive change that seizes the opportunities of the moment? In The Nation's print magazine this week I offered my thoughts on "Obama, One Year On"--you can read them here.

Also this week was our special issue on youth and youth politics. A big thank you to Editorial Board member and Wiretapmag.org Editor Kristina Rizga, who guest-edited. For a good overview of the main topic--where Obama's young supporters have gone, one year later--watch this VideoNation interview with Kristina and reporter Elizabeth Mendez Berry. We also revealed the winners of the annual Nation Student Journalism Contest. Our winner was Jim Miller, from Henderson State University in Arkansas. Read his fantastic winning entry on small-town America here.

Another video feature is launching this weekend at TheNation.com--an 8-week series of interviews with journalists and media insiders on the future of journalism. What will the media look like in 5 years ... 10 ... 15? Can investigative journalism survive? The Nation's John Nichols leads off, followed by Nick Penniman (Huffington Post Investigative Fund), Ana Marie Cox (Air America and MSNBC), Dan Rather, Jane Mayer, Mark Luckie (10000words.net) and Victor Navasky. You can view John's video here.

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November 7, 2009

Can We Get Some Small-d Democracy?

By Katrina vanden Heuvel

I have long advocated for a strong pro-democracy agenda to repair and strengthen our broken electoral system. The needs are many--from creating an Election Day holiday, to requiring voting machines that produce a voter-verified paper trail, to re-enfranchising former felons who have served their sentences, to public campaign financing.

Just this past week, when my 18 year old daughter was back from college for fall break and told me it was too complicated to go register this Tuesday, I realized why we need another important reform I've written about for these last few years--same day voter registration.

Last week, the Same Day Registration Act was introduced by Senator Russ Feingold (S.1986) and Congressman Keith Ellison (H.R. 3957) requiring states to provide for same day registration (SDR). With SDR, a citizen who misses a voter registration deadline can register at the polls on Election Day or the period leading up to it, and then cast a valid ballot.

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November 2, 2009

Around The Nation

By Katrina vanden Heuvel

It's hard to believe that a year ago this week we were watching President Obama's stunning victory. At The Nation, we were jubilant about a new era of possibility opened up by the election. New York City was filled with crowds cheering in the street. Since then it's been a bracing year - filled with promise and disappointment.

This coming Thursday in The Nation, we'll be taking a look at one critical element of Obama's success: Young people. While pundits and strategists have raised ill-informed criticisms of "Generation Obama" in the past months - "where were they at the healthcare town hall meetings!?" asked many - no media outlet has actually tried to answer the question. We tracked a group of 30 young Obama volunteers and staff and delved into where they are now one year later. On Thursday our special issue, "Youth Power," looks at just that - what "Generation Obama" has been doing since we woke up last November 5th with a new President. The answers are surprising.

A few other items of note this week. The Nation had a reporting team in Chicago last week for the American Bankers Association conference, which returned with some gripping images. Here is David Barreda's slideshow from the gathering, which drew mass protests from progressives and workers. And here is some of reporter Esther Kaplan's best analysis - done in spite of having her press credentials yanked by the conference organizers and being called a "mole for the protesters" by the ABA.

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November 1, 2009

Investigating the Mortgage Crisis

By Katrina vanden Heuvel

In a press release last week, Chairman Edolphus Towns of the House Committee for Oversight and Government Reform announced a major investigation "into whether mortgage companies employed deceptive and predatory lending practices, or improper tactics to thwart regulation, and the impact of those activities on the current crisis."

This investigation is much needed, and frankly, overdue, as the foreclosure crisis has now hit record levels.

The Committee has requested--and will subpoena if necessary--records from Wells Fargo, Bank of America (including Countrywide), JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Residential Capital (GMAC), and US Bank Home Mortgage.  It is also issuing a subpoena for records on Countrywide Financial's VIP program.

While the media seems focused on the Countrywide VIP program and questions of whether Towns himself benefited from it (he has denied doing so but will forward the documents to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct), I think the far more significant development here is the breadth of information the Committee is demanding from Big Banking.

The records in question cover 2000 to 2008, and include: the number and types of mortgages issued (whether fixed rate, adjustable, subprime, etc.); number of foreclosures and on which types of mortgages for every month during that time period; any marketing strategies and target audiences for residential mortgages, home equity loans, or similar products; special benefits provided to officials with a regulatory relationship with the banks; any draft legislation pertaining to mortgage lending that was offered to legislators; and any coordinated campaigns with other banks to fight mortgage regulation.

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October 28, 2009