Compare and Contrast

Today, as the official Party Unity movement gets underway in, well, Unity, New Hampshire, it's worth thinking about those issues and values that bind us as Democrats. Regardless the dynamics that had kept us at odds,  the auspicious fact is: most Hillary Clinton supporters share the goals expressed by Barack Obama's Economic Policy Director Jason Furman in today's Financial Times. Furman told the paper that 

Among Mr Obama’s priorities would be restoring public investment levels in basic scientific research, middle class education and creating a system of universal health insurance. He would also push fiscal redistribution by eliminating most of Mr Bush’s tax cuts for those on more than $250,000 a year while pushing through a $1,000 tax cut for middle class households. In addition, the wealthy would be subject to Social Security taxes on earnings above $250,000.Mr Furman also drew a contrast with Mr McCain’s tax plans, which include a sharp reduction in the corporate rate to 25 per cent. 'This race is not over who is cutting taxes. The question is: Who are you going to cut taxes for? http://ft.com

The answer Democrats regardless of Primary affiliation, would say, is to cut taxes in a way that averts the national crisis brewing in a system that, throughout this Republican Decade, has snubbed the concept of the Common Good that is the foundation of our Party and seals the Social contract implicit in the United States Constitution. 

And one more unifying theme:

Barack Obama's commitment to creating a green economy. While he dismayed many of his early backers, including myself, with a suspiciously Iowa-oriented interest in corn ethanol, Senator Obama's most recent policy papers indicate that he will promote sufficient energy development diversification so that agribusiness doesn’t benefit at the expense of energy security, ecosystem preservation, and national distribution of the economic benefits of cultivating vital alternatives to carbon-based fuels. For a comprehensive account of his energy policy, please go to: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/newenergy.