We Will Wonk You

A couple days ago Atrios had a post responding to some general criticism that the progressive blogosphere is more interested in process than policy, making it difficult to provide points of consensus and genuine statements of progressive principles. He sets out a list of policies which he believes liberal bloggers generally agree with.

I want to repost those here, because I think it is important in an election year to understand why we're fighting. On the domestic side:

Undo the bankruptcy bill enacted by this administration
Repeal the estate tax repeal
Increase the minimum wage and index it to the CPI
Universal health care (obviously the devil is in the details on this one)
Increase CAFE standards. Some other environment-related regulation
Pro-reproductive rights, getting rid of abstinence-only education, improving education about and access to contraception including the morning after pill, and supporting choice. On the last one there's probably some disagreement around the edges (parental notification, for example), but otherwise.
Simplify and increase the progressivity of the tax code
Kill faith-based funding. Certainly kill federal funding of anything that engages in religious discrimination.
Reduce corporate giveaways
Have Medicare run the Medicare drug plan
Force companies to stop underfunding their pensions. Change corporate bankruptcy law to put workers and retirees at the head of the line with respect to their pensions.
Leave the states alone on issues like medical marijuana. Generally move towards "more decriminalization" of drugs, though the details complicated there too.
Imprison Jeff Goldstein for crimes against humanity for his neverending stupidity
Paper ballots
Improve access to daycare and other pro-family policies. Obiously details matter.
Raise the cap on wages covered by FICA taxes.
Marriage rights for all, which includes "gay marriage" and quicker transition to citizenship for the foreign spouses of citizens.

I'm pretty much right there on all of these. I would add (and put at the top of the list) an Apollo Project for energy, to find a permanent solution to the inevitability of Peak Oil. That's about 5 years overdue.

On reproductive rights I believe in the 95 X 10 initiative, increased education on contraception and birth control, and generally the attitude of "safe, legal and rare."

And on education (pretty absent here), I would say moving toward a universal college system to anyone who wants it is desirable and would produce many positives. Certainly we need to eliminate predatory student loan financing that puts college graduates in a decades-long hole right from the start.

And increasing H1-B visas for skilled workers to expand the pool of workers in the knowledge economy, increase the tax base, and spur innovation here rather than abroad.

And a "three strikes law" for corporations (which I'll advance in a later post).

This is a very good exercise. Democrats that put their cards on the table will be rewarded.

P.S. There are also these:

Torture is bad
Imprisoning citizens without charges is bad
Playing Calvinball with the Geneva Conventions and treaties generally is bad
Imprisoning anyone indefinitely without charges is bad
Stating that the president can break any law he wants any time "just because" is bad

Yes. And sign Kyoto already.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: This article goes outside the wonk and cites Michael Tomasky's great article on "The Common Good." I think all of the aforementioned policies fit into that, and while allowing a narrative to carry us forward we shouldn't be afraid of the specifics.