One of the most revolting recent Republican responses to the Flint, Michigan water crisis was made by Jeb Bush, when he said that the problem was “too much regulation.” This was pushing the Right’s mantra about the wonders of a “free market” shorn of all regulation to a truly horrifying extreme. The children of Flint […]
Category: Social & Economic Justice
Say: “Smart on Prison Dollars” not “Smart on Crime”
With recent reports that aspiring presidential candidates Scott Walker, governor of Wisconsin and Senator Marco Rubio, have both bucked the growing wave of bipartisan agreement about reforming criminal justice in this country, suddenly what looked like a slam dunk reform movement may be in jeopardy again. Up until recently, there has been a growing bipartisan consensus […]
See our “Speaking American” TEDxVail Video on YouTube.
See our “Speaking American” TEDxVail Video on YouTube. Our short 1.09.15 TEDxVail Talk video, How Speaking American Can Help Save America, is still available on YouTube. It’s about how to address those who don’t agree with us. And it includes proof that with the right verbal and social tactics, it’s possible for grass roots Americans […]
Reframing Obamacare Now
The administration’s decision to adopt the Right’s “Obamacare” frame for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been incomprehensible for a long time. But now it is becoming mortally dangerous.(1) And not just for Obama and the Democrats—for all the sick people who suddenly can get care now via the ACA, care the Right wants to […]
Say “Rules,” Not “Regulation”
Smart Healthcare Includes Preventive Earthcare
Lately we’ve been hearing a lot about the need for preventive health care, and rightly so. Private insurance companies have been unwilling to pay for it (what were they thinking?), and the uninsured can’t afford it. We taxpayers end up covering the high cost of the emergency room result. However, the price of ignoring preventive […]
The Grass Roots Stimulus Story
As the wheels of D. C. slowly crank out top-down, compromise solutions for our problems, out in the grassroots some people are taking matters into their own hands. When Republicans decide to make life more miserable for the hardest hit Americans, who dares rely on D.C. alone? Some communities are getting more interested in urban gardening, […]
Re Torture: Pain Breeds Lies
Dear MP Network, This month’s post has already been published by Alternet on November 30th, in their Rights and Liberties Section. My short summary of the piece is that the Mukasey nomination result shows that we progressive activists must take on the job of educating the public on this issue now. The most powerful argument […]
Speaking American About Economic Justice
(Published in Words That Work: Messaging for Economic Justice, a joint project of Tides Foundation and Spin Project) Today, success in promoting economic justice demands that we speak honest American. To be heard above the public din, we need to be able to reframe our own messages as part of the best American story. We […]
Talking Opportunity in America
To create change, we must frame our messages as part of the hopeful American story -a story about what America should be. Fortunately, telling this story isn’t much of a stretch, because it authentically is our dream: a fair nation that consistently creates prosperity and protects opportunity for all. To best tell this story, we […]