Live from the Nuke Free Zone

According to a MoveOn member posting at Daily Kos, the organization recently asked its membership to volunteer ideas for the Democratic Party to run on and is in the process of whittling the ten most popular ideas down to 3 that they’ll come out with next month. Thanks to the Kossack infiltrator, we’ve got a look at MoveOn’s ten big ideas and I’m going to do a little analysis.

• Balanced Federal Budget.
  This is good political strategy: take one of an opponent’s surrendered weapons (one of their best, in my opinion) and turn it against them. It’s also good fiscal policy to not run deficits all the time. However, as we’ll see, some of MoveOn’s other ideas run contrary to this one. Tang’s score: [****] minus one * for each budget-busting idea accompanying it in the final 3 if they go with this one.
• Global Leadership Through Diplomacy.
  Strengthening the country’s diplomatic position is a good thing. However, the country’s leadership must understand that diplomacy and military might are not contrary objectives but in fact compliment each other when used right. Diplomacy alone is not enough to avert war when the enemy is insistent upon it, such as in the cases of Adolf Hitler and George W. Bush. Because the US’s allies and interests in the global economy can lie all over the world, the ability to project force globally must be maintained. Diplomacy is also necessary, to build beneficial relationships and prevent others from fracturing. Expanding and correcting the US’s diplomatic efforts is a good thing, but this phrasing makes it sound like they’re giving up on the military. Tang’s score: [**oo]
• Publicly Funded Elections.
  Elections already are publicly funded to a degree; that’s what the checkbox on your tax form about the presidential campaign is for. The idea behind publicly funding campaigns is to get big money out of politics and set all the parties on an equal ground. However, the idea of outlawing campaign contributions is going to upset a lot of people. If somebody wants to spend their own money printing bumper stickers for a candidate, they don’t see why they shouldn’t be allowed to. We already have personal contribution limits so that while candiadates aren’t on a perfectly level playing field, we make sure some candidates are not ‘more equal than others’. The notion of publicly funded campaigns also has the problem that it isn’t guaranteed to promote freedom of choice, as the public funding system we have now excludes even the Greens and Libertarians, the largest parties outside the Democrats and Republicans. From a purely tactical standpoint, this plan will make enemies of people the Democrats will most want to donate to them in the election cycle they’d be proposing it in. Tang’s score: [oooo]
• A Living Wage For All.
  Mathematically impossible. While a living wage for full time workers might be a nice platform to run on, a living wage for all is a ridiculous proposition. High schoolers in their first job do not deserve family-of-four wages and if they all are given one, it will soon cease to be a living wage as the standard of what is a “living wage” goes up. If the Democrats go with this, they might as well campaign on “Let’s give everyone a million dollars and we’ll all live like millionaires”. Tang’s score: [oooo]
• Energy Independence: Clean, Renewable Sources.
  Yes, yes, yes. With the gas prices the way they are, this platform is a sure-fire winner. Even Bush has picked up the standard. If they’re not there yet, we won’t find them unless we put the R&D effort into it to try. Tang’s score: [****]
• Verifiable, Accurate Elections.
  When people learn what voting machines are capable of, they’ll get scared. Also, I think the Republican party’s reputation is poor enough that accusing them of stealing the last two elections is going to resonate now. Tang’s score: [***o]
• Preserve Our Natural Resources
  This one has been around for a few decades and anyone taking a position on it already has. The environment doesn’t seem to be a big concern anymore unless a new subdivision is ruining the view from someone’s backyard. It’s still a worthwhile plank and a politician can go far explaining why and how they would preserve natural resources. Tang’s score: [**oo]
• Health Care For All.
  All the polls say this is a huge winner, but how do you pay for it? I say fix the insurance industry before establishing universal government-funded health care. Still, I’d like to be able to go to a doctor’s office without having to think about how much it would cost me. Tang’s score: [***o]
• High Quality Education For All
  This is a nice versatile slogan that can fit in anywhere between “fix our public school system” and “free university education”. It’s also another “how do you pay for it?”, but it’s hard to go wrong with proposing a better education system. Tang’s score: [***o]
• Restored Constitutional Rights.
  Duct-tape the mouths of the gun-grabbing section of the party and go for it. Talk in terms of restoring the rule of law and justice, and this could be a winner. This is a very divisive set of issues, but it’s a matter of principle. Tang’s score: [****]

At this time of writing the DKos crowd seems to be enamored of restoring the constitution and universal health care, with a third place tie for energy independence and verified voting. There’s some overlap between the two groups and so I’d imagine two or three of these four will end up as the 3 that MoveOn eventually chooses to go forward with.