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| U.S.A. Politics 2009 |
Election analysis: What the big Abrahamson, Evers wins mean...John Nichols
WISCONSIN (TCT) - Shirley Abrahamson and Tony Evers broke the
curse.
Progressive candidates with labor, environmental and civil rights
movement backing might have been able to win presidential,
gubernatorial, congressional and legislative races in recent years.
When the party labels came off for each spring's nonpartisan statewide
elections, however, the conservatives started to win.
Until this year.
curse.
Progressive candidates with labor, environmental and civil rights
movement backing might have been able to win presidential,
gubernatorial, congressional and legislative races in recent years.
When the party labels came off for each spring's nonpartisan statewide
elections, however, the conservatives started to win.
Until this year.
Incumbents win big in Janesville School Board race...By Frank Schultz
WISCONSIN (JG) - Voters returned four incumbents and one newcomer to the Janesville School Board on
Tuesday.
The top vote-getter was Lori Stottler, followed by Greg Ardrey, DuWayne Severson, Peter D. Severson and
Diedre Richard.
Richard is the newcomer. She and Peter D. Severson, as the lowest two vote-getters among the winners,
will serve one-year terms. The top three vote-getters will serve for three years.
Tuesday.
The top vote-getter was Lori Stottler, followed by Greg Ardrey, DuWayne Severson, Peter D. Severson and
Diedre Richard.
Richard is the newcomer. She and Peter D. Severson, as the lowest two vote-getters among the winners,
will serve one-year terms. The top three vote-getters will serve for three years.
Obey seeks $333M for 89 projects
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Dave Obey's wish list for 2010 totals more than
$333 million, including $5 million for a Wausau company that is developing a
rugged new tire for U.S. military vehicles and millions more for other central
Wisconsin initiatives.
In all, Obey's requests cover 89 projects in his district and across the state.
Earmarks -- funding that members of Congress designate for specific projects
-- make up a tiny percentage of federal spending but have been at the center
of several lobbying and campaign finance scandals. Despite efforts to reduce
them, they remain controversial.
Obey's earmark requests are listed on his Web site, www.obey.house.gov, as
$333 million, including $5 million for a Wausau company that is developing a
rugged new tire for U.S. military vehicles and millions more for other central
Wisconsin initiatives.
In all, Obey's requests cover 89 projects in his district and across the state.
Earmarks -- funding that members of Congress designate for specific projects
-- make up a tiny percentage of federal spending but have been at the center
of several lobbying and campaign finance scandals. Despite efforts to reduce
them, they remain controversial.
Obey's earmark requests are listed on his Web site, www.obey.house.gov, as
required under new rules Obey and House leaders announced March 11. The number of requests submitted
by localities to Obey's office grew significantly over the previous year's total because of the recession,
according to a statement accompanying the list of projects.
"However, recognizing the budget realities, only a small percentage of projects being laid on the table for
consideration will actually receive funding," the statement read.
Among the local projects for which Obey is requesting funding is an effort by Resilient Technologies to
develop airless tires that would keep military vehicles running even after being riddled by gunfire or
explosives. Obey also is asking for $6.2 million for Clover Industries in Wausau to build a 10-meter antenna
that can be used to improve the military's mobile tactical communications.
Obey's other funding requests include:
•$20 million for a renewable-energy training center at Mid-State Technical College in Wisconsin Rapids.
•$11.9 million for the city of Abbotsford to build a new water tower and water treatment plant.
•$10 million to expand Highway 10 to four lanes between Marshfield and Stevens Point.
•$4.7 million for purchases to complete the Ice Age National Scenic Trail.
•$2 million for Marshfield Clinic to expand dental care in rural communities.
by localities to Obey's office grew significantly over the previous year's total because of the recession,
according to a statement accompanying the list of projects.
"However, recognizing the budget realities, only a small percentage of projects being laid on the table for
consideration will actually receive funding," the statement read.
Among the local projects for which Obey is requesting funding is an effort by Resilient Technologies to
develop airless tires that would keep military vehicles running even after being riddled by gunfire or
explosives. Obey also is asking for $6.2 million for Clover Industries in Wausau to build a 10-meter antenna
that can be used to improve the military's mobile tactical communications.
Obey's other funding requests include:
•$20 million for a renewable-energy training center at Mid-State Technical College in Wisconsin Rapids.
•$11.9 million for the city of Abbotsford to build a new water tower and water treatment plant.
•$10 million to expand Highway 10 to four lanes between Marshfield and Stevens Point.
•$4.7 million for purchases to complete the Ice Age National Scenic Trail.
•$2 million for Marshfield Clinic to expand dental care in rural communities.
Abrahamson, the chief justice of the state Supreme Court who was attacked by her challenger, Jefferson
County Circuit Judge Randy Koschnick, as a "liberal" and a "judicial activist," swept to re-election by a 59
percent to 41 percent margin statewide.
Evers, the teachers union favorite to replace retiring Superintendent of Public Instruction Elizabeth
Burmaster, was thought to be in a tough position after barely besting virtual schools advocate Rose
Fernandez in the February primary. But on Tuesday night, he was leading Fernandez by a comfortable 57-43
margin with more than 95 percent of the vote counted.
Former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, who led a chorus of loud objections to the political machinations of the
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce business lobby, which had been a major player in recent nonpartisan
races for statewide posts, said this year's races were essentially decided when WMC chose to stay on the
sidelines rather than back Koschnick and Fernandez.
"We see that when WMC doesn't get in, with all the outside money and negative ads, when we have a race
where the qualifications of the candidates and the issues are considered, the progressives win easily in
Wisconsin," said Soglin.
The victory in the Supreme Court race was particularly sweet.
Abrahamson ran scared from the start of her fourth statewide race, collecting endorsements from across the
political spectrum, hiring top political talent (including Heather Coburn, a well-regarded veteran of many state
and national campaigns) to manage her bid, raising money aggressively and beginning a television
advertising campaign before her challenger, Koschnick, had gotten his late-starting campaign fully
organized. And the veteran jurist had reason to worry.
Last year, Justice Louis Butler, a well-regarded jurist who was seen as sharing the liberal end of the bench
with Abrahamson and who had broad backing from the same groups that supported the chief justice, was
narrowly defeated by a previously unknown conservative challenger, Michael Gableman. The year before,
another conservative, Annette Ziegler, won an open seat on the high court bench in a bitter contest.
Republican strategists, who worked the supposedly nonpartisan court races in the political off-season, had
begun to brag that they had a fool-proof strategy for winning spring elections. In court contests, the strategy
was simple: Just yell "liberal" and wait for the WMC ads to start airing in court races. And veteran Republican
aide Brian Fraley thought he could turn the same trick in the superintendent race by banging on the
Wisconsin Education Association Council and waiting for ads funded by state and national school-choice
advocates to hit the airwaves.
But the conservative dollars did not flow to Koschnick or Fernandez.
Both Abrahamson and Evers outspent their opponents, and both benefited from independent ad campaigns
run by liberal and union groups. Fernandez bluntly blamed the teachers union for her defeat: "We could not
compete with our opponent, but most importantly, we could not fully counter the nearly three quarters of a
million dollars WEAC spent on his behalf." Koschnick more obliquely declared that he was honored "to have
run a grass-roots campaign that was not tethered by special interests."
While campaign money and special-interest engagement or disengagement were factors, it was also
significant that the ideological name calling that seemed to play so well for conservatives in past races failed
to connect this year.
Abrahamson said Tuesday night that the Supreme Court contest had offered voters "a choice between a
campaign who used labels to try and mislead" and a campaign "that used ideas to bring us together instead
of dividing us." That dynamic made the results "particularly gratifying," said the chief justice, who celebrated
victory over what she described as "a concerted effort to reshape the face of the court so it satisfied the
expectations of a few against the hopes of many."
Abrahamson won endorsements from not only Democrats like former Gov. Pat Lucey, who appointed her to
the court in 1976, and current Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, but also from Republicans like former Gov. Scott
McCallum and sheriffs, district attorneys and county judges statewide. She was even endorsed by many of
the state's most conservative daily newspapers, including the Green Bay Press-Gazette and the Beloit Daily
News.
Evers, who ran what many saw as a tepid campaign that caused even some of his supporters to wonder
whether he had the fire-in-the-belly that was needed to win a statewide race, relied on the more traditional
strategy of emphasizing his experience as an administrator, principal and teacher. The fiery Fernandez,
though under-financed, staked her claim on the word "reform" and gained enthusiastic boosters on right-wing
talk radio programs that have become powerful political players, especially in the Milwaukee media market.
But when the votes were counted, both Abrahamson and Evers demonstrated remarkably broad appeal,
carrying counties in all regions of the state, including conservative territory that voted last year for Republican
John McCain's presidential candidacy.
Predictably, Abrahamson ran high numbers in liberal Dane County, pulling 72 percent of the vote countywide
and winning the high-voting Madison isthmus wards by a 10-1 margin. (Ward 35, which votes at the Wil-Mar
Neighborhood Center, backed the chief justice by a 20-1 margin; ward 34, which votes at O'Keeffe Middle
school, voted for her by an 18-1 margin.)
But the chief justice was also sweeping Milwaukee County and winning with ease in most of the rest of the
state, gaining 65 percent in Kenosha County in the southeastern part of the state, 62 percent in La Crosse
County in the west, 61 percent in Brown County in the northeast and 68 percent in Bayfield County in the far
north.
Abrahamson even won conservative Walworth County with close to 60 percent of the vote.
Koschnick did win his home county of Jefferson, but only by a 54-46 margin.
Abrahamson, who campaigned in Jefferson County, actually carried the cities of Fort Atkinson, Lake Mills
and Waterloo and fell just short -- by 16 votes out of roughly 1,500 cast -- of winning the county seat of
Jefferson.
County Circuit Judge Randy Koschnick, as a "liberal" and a "judicial activist," swept to re-election by a 59
percent to 41 percent margin statewide.
Evers, the teachers union favorite to replace retiring Superintendent of Public Instruction Elizabeth
Burmaster, was thought to be in a tough position after barely besting virtual schools advocate Rose
Fernandez in the February primary. But on Tuesday night, he was leading Fernandez by a comfortable 57-43
margin with more than 95 percent of the vote counted.
Former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, who led a chorus of loud objections to the political machinations of the
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce business lobby, which had been a major player in recent nonpartisan
races for statewide posts, said this year's races were essentially decided when WMC chose to stay on the
sidelines rather than back Koschnick and Fernandez.
"We see that when WMC doesn't get in, with all the outside money and negative ads, when we have a race
where the qualifications of the candidates and the issues are considered, the progressives win easily in
Wisconsin," said Soglin.
The victory in the Supreme Court race was particularly sweet.
Abrahamson ran scared from the start of her fourth statewide race, collecting endorsements from across the
political spectrum, hiring top political talent (including Heather Coburn, a well-regarded veteran of many state
and national campaigns) to manage her bid, raising money aggressively and beginning a television
advertising campaign before her challenger, Koschnick, had gotten his late-starting campaign fully
organized. And the veteran jurist had reason to worry.
Last year, Justice Louis Butler, a well-regarded jurist who was seen as sharing the liberal end of the bench
with Abrahamson and who had broad backing from the same groups that supported the chief justice, was
narrowly defeated by a previously unknown conservative challenger, Michael Gableman. The year before,
another conservative, Annette Ziegler, won an open seat on the high court bench in a bitter contest.
Republican strategists, who worked the supposedly nonpartisan court races in the political off-season, had
begun to brag that they had a fool-proof strategy for winning spring elections. In court contests, the strategy
was simple: Just yell "liberal" and wait for the WMC ads to start airing in court races. And veteran Republican
aide Brian Fraley thought he could turn the same trick in the superintendent race by banging on the
Wisconsin Education Association Council and waiting for ads funded by state and national school-choice
advocates to hit the airwaves.
But the conservative dollars did not flow to Koschnick or Fernandez.
Both Abrahamson and Evers outspent their opponents, and both benefited from independent ad campaigns
run by liberal and union groups. Fernandez bluntly blamed the teachers union for her defeat: "We could not
compete with our opponent, but most importantly, we could not fully counter the nearly three quarters of a
million dollars WEAC spent on his behalf." Koschnick more obliquely declared that he was honored "to have
run a grass-roots campaign that was not tethered by special interests."
While campaign money and special-interest engagement or disengagement were factors, it was also
significant that the ideological name calling that seemed to play so well for conservatives in past races failed
to connect this year.
Abrahamson said Tuesday night that the Supreme Court contest had offered voters "a choice between a
campaign who used labels to try and mislead" and a campaign "that used ideas to bring us together instead
of dividing us." That dynamic made the results "particularly gratifying," said the chief justice, who celebrated
victory over what she described as "a concerted effort to reshape the face of the court so it satisfied the
expectations of a few against the hopes of many."
Abrahamson won endorsements from not only Democrats like former Gov. Pat Lucey, who appointed her to
the court in 1976, and current Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, but also from Republicans like former Gov. Scott
McCallum and sheriffs, district attorneys and county judges statewide. She was even endorsed by many of
the state's most conservative daily newspapers, including the Green Bay Press-Gazette and the Beloit Daily
News.
Evers, who ran what many saw as a tepid campaign that caused even some of his supporters to wonder
whether he had the fire-in-the-belly that was needed to win a statewide race, relied on the more traditional
strategy of emphasizing his experience as an administrator, principal and teacher. The fiery Fernandez,
though under-financed, staked her claim on the word "reform" and gained enthusiastic boosters on right-wing
talk radio programs that have become powerful political players, especially in the Milwaukee media market.
But when the votes were counted, both Abrahamson and Evers demonstrated remarkably broad appeal,
carrying counties in all regions of the state, including conservative territory that voted last year for Republican
John McCain's presidential candidacy.
Predictably, Abrahamson ran high numbers in liberal Dane County, pulling 72 percent of the vote countywide
and winning the high-voting Madison isthmus wards by a 10-1 margin. (Ward 35, which votes at the Wil-Mar
Neighborhood Center, backed the chief justice by a 20-1 margin; ward 34, which votes at O'Keeffe Middle
school, voted for her by an 18-1 margin.)
But the chief justice was also sweeping Milwaukee County and winning with ease in most of the rest of the
state, gaining 65 percent in Kenosha County in the southeastern part of the state, 62 percent in La Crosse
County in the west, 61 percent in Brown County in the northeast and 68 percent in Bayfield County in the far
north.
Abrahamson even won conservative Walworth County with close to 60 percent of the vote.
Koschnick did win his home county of Jefferson, but only by a 54-46 margin.
Abrahamson, who campaigned in Jefferson County, actually carried the cities of Fort Atkinson, Lake Mills
and Waterloo and fell just short -- by 16 votes out of roughly 1,500 cast -- of winning the county seat of
Jefferson.
U.S. lawmakers meet with Fidel Castro
HAVANA, Cuba (AP) -- Fidel Castro, the longtime Communist leader of
Cuba, met with visiting members of the U.S. Congressional Black
Caucus on Tuesday, a day after his brother, Raul, who succeeded him
as president, did the same, according to a U.S. official in Havana.
The meeting with Fidel Castro, 82, comes amid speculation that the
United States is considering a shift in relations with the Communist
nation that sits just 90 miles from the Florida Keys.
Upon returning to the United States, members of the caucus said it's
Cuba, met with visiting members of the U.S. Congressional Black
Caucus on Tuesday, a day after his brother, Raul, who succeeded him
as president, did the same, according to a U.S. official in Havana.
The meeting with Fidel Castro, 82, comes amid speculation that the
United States is considering a shift in relations with the Communist
nation that sits just 90 miles from the Florida Keys.
Upon returning to the United States, members of the caucus said it's
time to consider an end to the trade embargo and other diplomatic restrictions placed on Cuba for the past
five decades.
"Yes, we have history. We have good history and not-so-good history," said Rep. Laura Richardson,
D-California. "But the point is, it's history, and we need to move forward."
Three members of the caucus were visiting the Latin American School of Medicine, where students from
nations including the United States study, when they were invited to meet with the senior leader.
"Former President Fidel Castro is very engaging, very energetic," said caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee,
also a Democrat from California. "Our conclusion is, given the new direction in our foreign policy, that it's
time to look at a new direction in our policy toward Cuba.
"The 50-year embargo just hasn't worked," she said.
There was no immediate response from the Obama administration on the meeting. But asked earlier about
Monday's meeting with Raúl Castro, State Department spokesman Robert Wood declined to say what, if
any, role it could play in a possible warming of a decades-long diplomatic and economic freeze.
"Members of Congress have the right to travel where they want and to discuss issues with whom they want,"
Wood said. "And I am sure members of that delegation will be raising some of the concerns that the U.S.
government has with Cuba, in terms of allowing Cubans to have some of the same rights and freedoms as
other countries in the hemisphere."
Obama has said he is in favor of changing the relationship with Cuba but has not offered specifics.
Government officials have hinted that he may soon lift travel restrictions between the two countries.
In a letter published Tuesday in the online version of Granma, a state-run Cuban newspaper, Fidel Castro
wrote that an unnamed caucus member told him "he was sure that Obama would change Cuba policy but
that Cuba should also help him."
He noted that the group was in Cuba during the anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s April 4
assassination and visited a center dedicated to King.
"I value the gesture of this legislative group," Fidel Castro wrote. "The aura of Luther King is accompanying
them. Our press has given broad coverage of their visit. They are exceptional witnesses to the respect that
U.S. citizens visiting our homeland always receive."
The United States broke diplomatic ties with Cuba in 1961, two years after Fidel Castro took office. The
following year, the U.S. government instituted a trade embargo. Both policies still remain in effect.
Early last year, and with his health failing, Fidel Castro announced that he was resigning from the presidency.
The Cuban National Assembly appointed Raúl Castro to the post days later.
Fidel Castro led the revolution that, in 1959, overthrew Cuba's Batista dictatorship. He was credited with
bringing social reforms to Cuba but criticized internationally for oppressing human rights and free speech.
Despite widely documented health problems the past few years, including intestinal surgery in 2006 that
required him to turn power over to Raúl while he recovered, Fidel Castro seemed to be largely in good
health, the delegation said.
"Of course, he has been ill, but I think we will agree he was very healthy, very energetic and very clear
thinking," Lee said. "He was very engaging."
Two caucus members, Reps. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri and Bobby Rush of Illinois, preached sermons at
two Cuban churches to commemorate the anniversary of King's assassination.
While in Cuba, the delegation also met with family members of the so-called Cuban Five, a group
imprisoned in the United States after being convicted of spying. In 2005, a three-judge appeals court panel
overturned the convictions, but the full court later reversed that decision.
five decades.
"Yes, we have history. We have good history and not-so-good history," said Rep. Laura Richardson,
D-California. "But the point is, it's history, and we need to move forward."
Three members of the caucus were visiting the Latin American School of Medicine, where students from
nations including the United States study, when they were invited to meet with the senior leader.
"Former President Fidel Castro is very engaging, very energetic," said caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee,
also a Democrat from California. "Our conclusion is, given the new direction in our foreign policy, that it's
time to look at a new direction in our policy toward Cuba.
"The 50-year embargo just hasn't worked," she said.
There was no immediate response from the Obama administration on the meeting. But asked earlier about
Monday's meeting with Raúl Castro, State Department spokesman Robert Wood declined to say what, if
any, role it could play in a possible warming of a decades-long diplomatic and economic freeze.
"Members of Congress have the right to travel where they want and to discuss issues with whom they want,"
Wood said. "And I am sure members of that delegation will be raising some of the concerns that the U.S.
government has with Cuba, in terms of allowing Cubans to have some of the same rights and freedoms as
other countries in the hemisphere."
Obama has said he is in favor of changing the relationship with Cuba but has not offered specifics.
Government officials have hinted that he may soon lift travel restrictions between the two countries.
In a letter published Tuesday in the online version of Granma, a state-run Cuban newspaper, Fidel Castro
wrote that an unnamed caucus member told him "he was sure that Obama would change Cuba policy but
that Cuba should also help him."
He noted that the group was in Cuba during the anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s April 4
assassination and visited a center dedicated to King.
"I value the gesture of this legislative group," Fidel Castro wrote. "The aura of Luther King is accompanying
them. Our press has given broad coverage of their visit. They are exceptional witnesses to the respect that
U.S. citizens visiting our homeland always receive."
The United States broke diplomatic ties with Cuba in 1961, two years after Fidel Castro took office. The
following year, the U.S. government instituted a trade embargo. Both policies still remain in effect.
Early last year, and with his health failing, Fidel Castro announced that he was resigning from the presidency.
The Cuban National Assembly appointed Raúl Castro to the post days later.
Fidel Castro led the revolution that, in 1959, overthrew Cuba's Batista dictatorship. He was credited with
bringing social reforms to Cuba but criticized internationally for oppressing human rights and free speech.
Despite widely documented health problems the past few years, including intestinal surgery in 2006 that
required him to turn power over to Raúl while he recovered, Fidel Castro seemed to be largely in good
health, the delegation said.
"Of course, he has been ill, but I think we will agree he was very healthy, very energetic and very clear
thinking," Lee said. "He was very engaging."
Two caucus members, Reps. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri and Bobby Rush of Illinois, preached sermons at
two Cuban churches to commemorate the anniversary of King's assassination.
While in Cuba, the delegation also met with family members of the so-called Cuban Five, a group
imprisoned in the United States after being convicted of spying. In 2005, a three-judge appeals court panel
overturned the convictions, but the full court later reversed that decision.
LBJ and Reagan loyalists clash over Obama agenda
"Who controls the past controls the future."
It's a line from George Orwell's novel "1984." But it could also serve as
the rallying cry for two groups battling over President Obama's
ambitious domestic agenda -- and the legacy of two former presidents.
Critics of Obama's proposed $3.5 trillion federal budget say he's
poised to jeopardize the economic gains unleashed by President
Reagan. They say he will make the same mistakes that President
Lyndon B. Johnson did when he committed massive amounts of federal
It's a line from George Orwell's novel "1984." But it could also serve as
the rallying cry for two groups battling over President Obama's
ambitious domestic agenda -- and the legacy of two former presidents.
Critics of Obama's proposed $3.5 trillion federal budget say he's
poised to jeopardize the economic gains unleashed by President
Reagan. They say he will make the same mistakes that President
Lyndon B. Johnson did when he committed massive amounts of federal
money to create a slew of anti-poverty programs dubbed "The Great Society."
"The Great Society created a lot of programs and wasted a lot of money," said Kenneth Khachigian, a
former Reagan speechwriter and adviser. "The biggest war on poverty was the economic boom started by
Reagan." But others like Joseph Califano Jr., Johnson's senior domestic adviser, say the notion that the
Great Society was a failure is one of the "greatest political scams" in American history.
Republican leaders who have labeled Obama's budget proposals socialist are rehashing the rhetoric their
predecessors used to attack Great Society programs like Head Start 40 years ago, Califano says.
"I'm hearing the same round of arguments," Califano said. "The Republicans said that if you provide Head
Start and preschool education to poor kids, it would 'Sovietize' our kids and be communistic."
'Failure' of the Great Society
The clash between both points of view centers on Obama's plan for reviving the nation's economy.
The Senate and the House of Representatives passed similar versions of Obama's $3.5 trillion budget for
2010 last week. The budget didn't receive a single Republican vote in either chamber. Both chambers will
meet after Easter recess to produce a final budget.
Even before last week's vote, though, Obama's budget was creating a partisan wedge. Proponents said it
would use trillions of dollars to transform education, spark a green industrial revolution and provide health
care to all Americans.
analyst David Gergen said Obama's budget "set forth the most ambitious reform agenda of any president
since Lyndon Johnson."
Gergen's comment could be taken as a compliment or a reprimand, depending on one's historical point of
view. Craig Shirley, author of "Reagan's Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign That Started It All,"
took it as a warning. His model for reviving the nation is Reagan, who moved "power from the government to
the people" by cutting taxes and making government less intrusive.
Shirley, alluding to an alleged Reagan quip that "Johnson declared war on poverty and poverty won," says
out-of-wedlock births, illiteracy and bloated federal programs increased during the Great Society.
He says Medicare and Medicaid, two vaunted Great Society programs that provide health care to the poor
and elderly, are now virtually bankrupt. "All evidence says that the Great Society was a failure," Shirley said.
Khachigian, Reagan's speechwriter, says Obama's budget would also create tension between people who
fought their way up the economic ladder and those who did not. Under Obama, the well-off would be "brought
back down through higher taxes and subsidizing benefits for people who have not worked as hard."
Obama's budget is influenced by the president's previous job as a community organizer, Khachigian says.
"You can't have been a community organizer and not have in your mindset that agencies of the government
exist to, as Obama said, to 'spread the wealth,' '' Khachigian said.
If Obama wants to look at an economic blueprint for lifting the nation out of a nasty recession, he should look
at Reagan, Khachigian says. Reagan's tax cuts helped end the deep recession he inherited when he came
into office, he said. The economy took off, and everyone benefited.
"I would argue that the biggest war on poverty took place when the economy started booming in 1983,''
Khachigian said.
The 'myth' of Reagan's tax cuts
Other analysts had a different take on the legacy of the Reagan Revolution and what it can teach Obama.
Will Bunch, author of "Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts
Our Future,'' says Reaganomics is built on a fable. Reagan didn't prove that tax cuts and small government
lead to economic growth, because he never consistently did both, he says.
Bunch says Reagan did cut taxes in 1981 but raised them in succeeding years. He also expanded the
federal government and created a huge national debt.
"His initial 1981 tax cuts went so far that he was actually forced to increase taxes a half-dozen times in the
years that followed, something you never hear about," Bunch said.
Obama would do better to follow the example of Johnson, not Reagan, says Califano, Johnson's senior
domestic adviser. He says Johnson's Great Society was designed to give the most vulnerable Americans --
the poor, the elderly, the disabled and racial minorities -- the same opportunities as the affluent.
"The Great Society saw government as providing a hand up, not a handout," said Califano, who wrote about
his time with the president in "The Triumph and Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson."
He says the Great Society proved that government wasn't incompetent. Johnson persuaded Congress to
pass at least 100 Great Society proposals. Programs awarded college students financial aid, gave
struggling families food stamps and gave millions of Americans access to health insurance for the first time.
It also reduced poverty, Califano says. About 22 percent of Americans lived below the poverty line when
Johnson took office in 1963. By 1970, when the impact of Great Society programs was being felt, the
poverty rate dropped to 12.6 percent, Califano says. (The poverty rate in 2007 was 12.5 percent, the U.S.
Census Bureau reported.)
Califano, who calls Obama's budget a logical extension of the Great Society, says Obama personally
benefited from the Great Society "crown jewel": the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which ensured African
American participation at the polls.
"My God, Obama wouldn't be president if Lyndon Johnson hadn't passed that civil rights law," Califano said.
"He would not have gotten the votes to get elected."
Robert Weisbrot, co-author of "The Liberal Hour: Washington and the Politics of Change in the 1960s,'' says
the Great Society also helped lay the foundation for the modern environmental movement with its passage of
clean air and water laws.
"We can find much to celebrate in those years in the 1960s when we see a burst of reform when the
government is ready to face problems openly and decisively," Weisbrot said.
There may be, however, one point of agreement for supporters and critics of Obama's domestic agenda. It
was expressed by Khachigian, Reagan's former speechwriter. When asked whether he was miffed that
some people were now comparing Obama to Reagan, he said his opposition to Obama's budget was
based on something deeper: fear. He says the nation could become a Failed Society if Obama's approach
doesn't end a brutal recession.
"It's not a matter of pride but of practicality," he said. "If this doesn't work, we're all in deep doo-doo."
"The Great Society created a lot of programs and wasted a lot of money," said Kenneth Khachigian, a
former Reagan speechwriter and adviser. "The biggest war on poverty was the economic boom started by
Reagan." But others like Joseph Califano Jr., Johnson's senior domestic adviser, say the notion that the
Great Society was a failure is one of the "greatest political scams" in American history.
Republican leaders who have labeled Obama's budget proposals socialist are rehashing the rhetoric their
predecessors used to attack Great Society programs like Head Start 40 years ago, Califano says.
"I'm hearing the same round of arguments," Califano said. "The Republicans said that if you provide Head
Start and preschool education to poor kids, it would 'Sovietize' our kids and be communistic."
'Failure' of the Great Society
The clash between both points of view centers on Obama's plan for reviving the nation's economy.
The Senate and the House of Representatives passed similar versions of Obama's $3.5 trillion budget for
2010 last week. The budget didn't receive a single Republican vote in either chamber. Both chambers will
meet after Easter recess to produce a final budget.
Even before last week's vote, though, Obama's budget was creating a partisan wedge. Proponents said it
would use trillions of dollars to transform education, spark a green industrial revolution and provide health
care to all Americans.
analyst David Gergen said Obama's budget "set forth the most ambitious reform agenda of any president
since Lyndon Johnson."
Gergen's comment could be taken as a compliment or a reprimand, depending on one's historical point of
view. Craig Shirley, author of "Reagan's Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign That Started It All,"
took it as a warning. His model for reviving the nation is Reagan, who moved "power from the government to
the people" by cutting taxes and making government less intrusive.
Shirley, alluding to an alleged Reagan quip that "Johnson declared war on poverty and poverty won," says
out-of-wedlock births, illiteracy and bloated federal programs increased during the Great Society.
He says Medicare and Medicaid, two vaunted Great Society programs that provide health care to the poor
and elderly, are now virtually bankrupt. "All evidence says that the Great Society was a failure," Shirley said.
Khachigian, Reagan's speechwriter, says Obama's budget would also create tension between people who
fought their way up the economic ladder and those who did not. Under Obama, the well-off would be "brought
back down through higher taxes and subsidizing benefits for people who have not worked as hard."
Obama's budget is influenced by the president's previous job as a community organizer, Khachigian says.
"You can't have been a community organizer and not have in your mindset that agencies of the government
exist to, as Obama said, to 'spread the wealth,' '' Khachigian said.
If Obama wants to look at an economic blueprint for lifting the nation out of a nasty recession, he should look
at Reagan, Khachigian says. Reagan's tax cuts helped end the deep recession he inherited when he came
into office, he said. The economy took off, and everyone benefited.
"I would argue that the biggest war on poverty took place when the economy started booming in 1983,''
Khachigian said.
The 'myth' of Reagan's tax cuts
Other analysts had a different take on the legacy of the Reagan Revolution and what it can teach Obama.
Will Bunch, author of "Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts
Our Future,'' says Reaganomics is built on a fable. Reagan didn't prove that tax cuts and small government
lead to economic growth, because he never consistently did both, he says.
Bunch says Reagan did cut taxes in 1981 but raised them in succeeding years. He also expanded the
federal government and created a huge national debt.
"His initial 1981 tax cuts went so far that he was actually forced to increase taxes a half-dozen times in the
years that followed, something you never hear about," Bunch said.
Obama would do better to follow the example of Johnson, not Reagan, says Califano, Johnson's senior
domestic adviser. He says Johnson's Great Society was designed to give the most vulnerable Americans --
the poor, the elderly, the disabled and racial minorities -- the same opportunities as the affluent.
"The Great Society saw government as providing a hand up, not a handout," said Califano, who wrote about
his time with the president in "The Triumph and Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson."
He says the Great Society proved that government wasn't incompetent. Johnson persuaded Congress to
pass at least 100 Great Society proposals. Programs awarded college students financial aid, gave
struggling families food stamps and gave millions of Americans access to health insurance for the first time.
It also reduced poverty, Califano says. About 22 percent of Americans lived below the poverty line when
Johnson took office in 1963. By 1970, when the impact of Great Society programs was being felt, the
poverty rate dropped to 12.6 percent, Califano says. (The poverty rate in 2007 was 12.5 percent, the U.S.
Census Bureau reported.)
Califano, who calls Obama's budget a logical extension of the Great Society, says Obama personally
benefited from the Great Society "crown jewel": the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which ensured African
American participation at the polls.
"My God, Obama wouldn't be president if Lyndon Johnson hadn't passed that civil rights law," Califano said.
"He would not have gotten the votes to get elected."
Robert Weisbrot, co-author of "The Liberal Hour: Washington and the Politics of Change in the 1960s,'' says
the Great Society also helped lay the foundation for the modern environmental movement with its passage of
clean air and water laws.
"We can find much to celebrate in those years in the 1960s when we see a burst of reform when the
government is ready to face problems openly and decisively," Weisbrot said.
There may be, however, one point of agreement for supporters and critics of Obama's domestic agenda. It
was expressed by Khachigian, Reagan's former speechwriter. When asked whether he was miffed that
some people were now comparing Obama to Reagan, he said his opposition to Obama's budget was
based on something deeper: fear. He says the nation could become a Failed Society if Obama's approach
doesn't end a brutal recession.
"It's not a matter of pride but of practicality," he said. "If this doesn't work, we're all in deep doo-doo."
