Author Archive

January Endorsements

On January 28, 2010, the Cal Berkeley Democrats endorsed four bills, ballot initiatives, and policy positions regarding both state and federal government. Members voted unanimously to support AB 656, the California Democracy Act, an end to the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. AB 656 would place [...]

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Mills Health Care Forum

On December 7, Cal Dems Robbie Bruens and Nik Dixit spoke at a health care forum hosted by the Fem Dems at Mills College. Thanks to the Fem Dems for arranging the fantastic event! Photos are below, and videos can be found here.

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Nate Silver: The Health Care Elevator Pitch

Nate Silver addresses criticism from the left and makes another great argument for health care reform. His elevator pitch: Ben Nelson and Blanche Lincoln are probably willing to sign off on $900 billion in public subsidies so that poor and sick people can have better access to health care. Is there really no way we [...]

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Mills Health Care Forum

On December 7, Cal Dems Robbie Bruens and Nik Dixit spoke at a health care forum hosted by the Fem Dems at Mills College. Robbie discussed his work with Organizing for America, and the moral case for health care reform. Nik discussed the policy and politics behind the legislation in Congress. Watch excerpts of their [...]

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Krugman: Pass the Bill

Paul Krugman has a column which makes the same points I did, only more eloquently. I strongly recommend you read it: The result would be a huge increase in the availability and affordability of health insurance, with more than 30 million Americans gaining coverage, and premiums for lower-income and lower-middle-income Americans falling dramatically. That’s an [...]

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Pass Health Care Reform

Since Joe Lieberman killed the public option, many liberals, from Howard Dean to Keith Olbermann to Markos Moulitsas, have called on Democrats to shelve health care reform. They argue that without a public option reform is worthless, and Democrats should wait to pass “real” reform at a later date. Such a view, while understandable, is [...]

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The Need for Health Reform

On Monday, Cal Dems visited Mills College for a health care reform panel discussion. Members Nik Dixit and Robbie Bruens were among the presenters. Below is a screencast of Nik’s presentation: Part One: Part Two: Thanks to the Fem Dems for hosting the great event!

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Confirm Abel Maldonado

Following John Garamendi’s election to Congress, Governor Schwarzenegger has nominated State Senator Abel Maldonado for the post of Lieutenant Governor. However, the appointment is still subject to confirmation, and it’s unclear whether Democrats will play along. From a purely political perspective, they should. First, as far as Sacramento Republicans go, Maldonado isn’t that bad. He [...]

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The High Cost of Minority Rule

What’s wrong with California? Many of us ponder this question with alarming regularity. Unfortunately, our concerns are well-founded. This summer, we saw our state fall over the fiscal precipice. We issued IOUs for the first time in years, damaging both our credit rating and our pride. We made drastic cuts to services, including K-12 education [...]

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The GOP’s “Purity” Resolution

I thought the GOP couldn’t get any crazier. How wrong I was. This January, the Republican National Committee will consider a “purity” resolution for candidates. It would have ten planks, and candidates who violate three or more would be denied the party’s endorsement or funds: (1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits [...]

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